A group from Westwood is going to Ecuador this summer. They have Boston Butts for sale to help raise money for Bibles, Evangecubes, and discipleship materials for their upcoming trip. The Butts are $25 each and can be purchased by going to www.goe3.net . Deadline is Thursday, April 7.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
BackPack Buddies
My small group (by the way, you need one of those if you don’t have one) has been looking for some type of mission project that we can do that our kids can also do with us. We found out that several organizations in our area and across the country have been doing a project called “Backpack Buddies”. Counselors at the schools identify kids who might need food over the weekend and discreetly pack easy to prepare/serve food in their backpacks such as fruit cups, pudding, macaroni and cheese, etc…. Organizations provide this food.
So this is what we did:
- We selected a large neighborhood in our community. On Friday night we went door-to-door and left a grocery bag with a note attached explaining what we needed and what we were doing. This was easy for our kids to do. We explained ahead of time to the kids what we were doing and they got it! Even my three year old explained to someone what we were doing. “We are getting food for the hungry children.”
The note instructed people to put the requested food items in the bag and leave it on the porch on Sunday. We would return that afternoon and pick up the bags.
- After distributing the bags we hung out and talked and the kids played. Great community!
- All weekend my girls prayed (mostly unreminded) that people would remember the food and that it would be sunny.
- After church on Sunday we put our walking shoes on, jumped in trucks, and collected bags. The kids were so excited to run around and find bags, though many were too heavy for them to tote back to the truck. They loved it and we filled the bed of a truck with food!
- We came back to the church office where we had cleared out a children’s ministry closet. The kids helped sort the food and then they filled the closet.
- Our next step will be determining how many packs schools need each week. We will then distribute from what we have stored.
I felt this project was a God thing because:
- We are serving a real need of real kids in our community. Kids should not be hungry.
- We were able to get out into our community and outside of the walls of Westwood.
- Our families were able to do this together.
- It is something we can do again – there are lots of neighborhoods we can hit!
---- Jenny Funderburke and Home Group
So this is what we did:
- We selected a large neighborhood in our community. On Friday night we went door-to-door and left a grocery bag with a note attached explaining what we needed and what we were doing. This was easy for our kids to do. We explained ahead of time to the kids what we were doing and they got it! Even my three year old explained to someone what we were doing. “We are getting food for the hungry children.”
The note instructed people to put the requested food items in the bag and leave it on the porch on Sunday. We would return that afternoon and pick up the bags.- After distributing the bags we hung out and talked and the kids played. Great community!
- All weekend my girls prayed (mostly unreminded) that people would remember the food and that it would be sunny.
- After church on Sunday we put our walking shoes on, jumped in trucks, and collected bags. The kids were so excited to run around and find bags, though many were too heavy for them to tote back to the truck. They loved it and we filled the bed of a truck with food!
- We came back to the church office where we had cleared out a children’s ministry closet. The kids helped sort the food and then they filled the closet.
I felt this project was a God thing because:
- We are serving a real need of real kids in our community. Kids should not be hungry.
- We were able to get out into our community and outside of the walls of Westwood.
- Our families were able to do this together.
- It is something we can do again – there are lots of neighborhoods we can hit!
---- Jenny Funderburke and Home Group
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Home Groups Collect Food for Kids!
Several Westwood Small Groups are collecting food items for children in the Shelby County Area. Here are some of the foods that they are looking for:
*Ravioli or other pop-top type meal item
*Granola bars
*Oatmeal or grits
*Applesauce or fruit cups
*100% juice boxes
*Pudding cups
*Cheese or peanut butter crackers
If you have food items to donate, you can deliver them to the Information Desk at either campus on Sunday Mornings.
More information on the project:
(Jenny Funderburke)
Our home group had a great meeting tonight. I just wanted to share with you what God has led us to do. We are burdened for the hungry children within our own community. We want to partner with and volunteer to help Sowers of Seed this summer, but we are also burdened about the weekend needs of these same children. We were made aware that at Creekview Elementary there is a group that provides food for children that is easy to self-prepare. Counselors pack this food in the kids' backpacks each Friday. They are only able to do this for 25 kids. Additionally, the group has stated that two other schools that are at-risk for hungry kids are Thompson Intermediate and Calera Elementary.
There shouldn't be hungry kids in our backyard.
We will canvas a neighborhood and then pick the food stuff up the next day. We will sort and pack bags to take to the school each week. We plan on starting with Thompson Intermediate. When we see how much we collect, we can determine how often to do this and if we can help other schools too!
- Jenny Funderburke and Home Group
*Ravioli or other pop-top type meal item
*Granola bars
*Oatmeal or grits
*Applesauce or fruit cups
*100% juice boxes
*Pudding cups
*Cheese or peanut butter crackers
If you have food items to donate, you can deliver them to the Information Desk at either campus on Sunday Mornings.
More information on the project:
(Jenny Funderburke)
Our home group had a great meeting tonight. I just wanted to share with you what God has led us to do. We are burdened for the hungry children within our own community. We want to partner with and volunteer to help Sowers of Seed this summer, but we are also burdened about the weekend needs of these same children. We were made aware that at Creekview Elementary there is a group that provides food for children that is easy to self-prepare. Counselors pack this food in the kids' backpacks each Friday. They are only able to do this for 25 kids. Additionally, the group has stated that two other schools that are at-risk for hungry kids are Thompson Intermediate and Calera Elementary.
There shouldn't be hungry kids in our backyard.
We will canvas a neighborhood and then pick the food stuff up the next day. We will sort and pack bags to take to the school each week. We plan on starting with Thompson Intermediate. When we see how much we collect, we can determine how often to do this and if we can help other schools too!
- Jenny Funderburke and Home Group
Updates on Spring Break Mission Trips
Both Mission Teams have made it safely to their destinations. Today, Monday, begins their work week.
Student Mission Team- Check out the video updates!
Belize Family Mission Trip- Check out their latest blog update!
Student Mission Team- Check out the video updates!
Belize Family Mission Trip- Check out their latest blog update!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Westwood students and families going on mission!
Many students and families from Westwood are going on Mission in the next week during their Spring Break. Find out more about their trip and how you can pray for them!
The Student Ministry of Westwood is partnering with Oak Park Baptist Church, in Jeffersonville, IN, in efforts to reach the community with the love of Jesus Christ. They will do this through canvassing area neighborhoods, hosting community block parties, various community service projects, and other random acts of kindness. They will also have nightly worship and Bible study. View a list of the team members and more details for the trip.
Several Westwood Families are going to Belize on a mission trip. They will be experiencing life with Westwood's partner church in Belize. They will assist in the school and the church. They will be assigned families to befriend and get to know better. View a list of the team members and more details for the trip.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Westwood Live
Thursday, March 31 the Brazil Mission Trip team is hosting an event called Westwood Live. There will be a spaghetti supper at 5:30pm in the Atrium at the Alabaster Campus. The cost of the dinner will be $5 a plate and the proceeds will go to purchasing supplies for their trip.
Following the dinner, there will be a free concert where several of the former and present praise band members will be singing a cut from their CDs then participating in praise and worship as a group for an awesome event. They will also be selling their CDs in the Atrium.
The Brazil Team is also collecting reading glasses. They will use these glasses in the clinic as they see patients. A doctor will be examining the patients and prescribing them the correct glasses. If you have glasses that you would like to donate you may bring them to the Information Desk at either the Alabaster Campus or the Calera Campus beginning Sunday, March 13.
Following the dinner, there will be a free concert where several of the former and present praise band members will be singing a cut from their CDs then participating in praise and worship as a group for an awesome event. They will also be selling their CDs in the Atrium.
The Brazil Team is also collecting reading glasses. They will use these glasses in the clinic as they see patients. A doctor will be examining the patients and prescribing them the correct glasses. If you have glasses that you would like to donate you may bring them to the Information Desk at either the Alabaster Campus or the Calera Campus beginning Sunday, March 13.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Update on the February SafetyNet Academy Mission Project
God has really laid it on our hearts that we have an opportunity to be reflections of God's love to these kids at Safetynet who so desperately need it. So each month, a group of men and women from Westwood and other churches take a Saturday to spend with the kids at Safetynet, playing games, spending time with them and just being Godly men and women who care about them enough to spend the day with them. These kids don't get that a lot, and they haven't gotten that in the past, so the power of someone just caring enough to spend a day with them, in God's hands, is incredible.
The trip in February was AMAZING. We had around 30 people in all who went, including Kevin Derryberry and some of the praise team. The group left Westwood around 10, then boarded the buses for Safetynet (outside of Selma). We got there around 12 and helped setup for the afternoon events. Brent, the pastor on site at Safetynet, had a great afternoon of events laid out. First, the kids got to play games in the Gym. Then Brent pulled them all together for a short lesson, followed by some awesome desserts (which again, they kids don't get that often), and finished with Kevin and some of the praise team from Westwood leading in praise and worship songs in the Chapel. All through the afternoon, the men and women jumped in where they felt lead, and felt comfortable. Everyone helped set up, but the rest, playing games, interacting with the kids, talking to them or just spending time with them is all what you feel comfortable doing. Some played games, some helped set up and serve the desserts, some spent time talking to the kids and just getting to know them. It was an amazing afternoon, where men and women gave God some of their time, to invest in these kids that have so very little. We wrapped up around 5 and made it back to Westwood around 7. It was truly a blessing to be a part of it.
The trip in February was AMAZING. We had around 30 people in all who went, including Kevin Derryberry and some of the praise team. The group left Westwood around 10, then boarded the buses for Safetynet (outside of Selma). We got there around 12 and helped setup for the afternoon events. Brent, the pastor on site at Safetynet, had a great afternoon of events laid out. First, the kids got to play games in the Gym. Then Brent pulled them all together for a short lesson, followed by some awesome desserts (which again, they kids don't get that often), and finished with Kevin and some of the praise team from Westwood leading in praise and worship songs in the Chapel. All through the afternoon, the men and women jumped in where they felt lead, and felt comfortable. Everyone helped set up, but the rest, playing games, interacting with the kids, talking to them or just spending time with them is all what you feel comfortable doing. Some played games, some helped set up and serve the desserts, some spent time talking to the kids and just getting to know them. It was an amazing afternoon, where men and women gave God some of their time, to invest in these kids that have so very little. We wrapped up around 5 and made it back to Westwood around 7. It was truly a blessing to be a part of it.
Randy Watts
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)