Ministry Highlights: Builders for Christ Trip
| Ministry Highlights | Dr. Wayne Splawn
In June, we sent a group of church members to Appleton, Wisconsin to serve with Builders for Christ. Ed Wills helped lead the trip and shared a reflection about their time serving Valley Baptist Church.
I would like to thank the members of MBBC for allowing our mission team to travel to Appleton, Wisconsin to build a new worship space and additional education space for Valley Baptist Church. We could not have made this trip without the financial support and the prayers from the membership of this church. Each of you helped make this trip possible. Thanks!
Our team was made up of nine construction missionaries. We were joined by members from Meadow Brook Baptist, Valleydale Baptist Church, Journey Baptist Church of Amery, Wisconsin, and members from Valley Baptist Church. On a typical day we had 70 on the job site. This is smaller than most years due to COVID-19.
In 1994, Builders for Christ built the sanctuary for Valley Baptist. They have outgrown their existing worship area. We were excited to be able to assist this congregation in constructing a 17,000 square foot facility which includes a new/larger worship area, and a few Sunday School classrooms.
We were unsure what our team would be doing since subcontractors were lined up to install the heating and cooling and the electrical systems. An agreement was made to discount the contractors bill to Valley Baptist for work that the volunteers accomplished. Our mission team was able to do electrical work, install duct work for the heating and cooling, put the shingles on the roof, and ate. We prepared and ate all of our meals at the job site. The cooks work very hard and we eat well.
Throughout the summer, it is expected that over 500 volunteers will travel to Appleton, Wisconsin to construct this new facility/tool for this congregation. This sounds great, but the main reason we go on these trips is not to build a new building, but to help grow the kingdom of God. Every year, the local church gets major news coverage regarding the building project. This is free publicity for the kingdom of God. People see the project as they are driving to work. Many folks will inquire as to what is going on. This will open the doors to invite folks to church and maybe lead them to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
There is always room for more participants. If you or you know someone that would be interested in participating in the future, let us know. No experience is necessary.
We need to continue praying for the hundreds of volunteers that will travel to Appleton, Wisconsin for the remainder of the summer, but also pray that leadership and members of Valley Baptist Church Bible Chapel will use the new building as a tool to help their community have a closer relationship with Christ. Also pray for our church as we embark on our own building project. Pray that the project will create excitement in our congregation and that we can use this new tool to win others to Christ.