Church Missions Annual Report News Letter for 2022
2022 was a great year for Meredith Center Free Will Baptist Church. We supported, we learned and we shared. We hosted our fist mission’s Sunday of the year in March and continued with several other missions Sundays. When some organizations visited us, we had free will offerings and your generosity was astounding. Thank you on behalf of the organizations we have had come to us to share.
We hosted Adult and Teen Challenge, Aspire pregnancy center, CRU ministries and Harley Davidson’s Riders for Christ this year. In addition to hosting certain groups on Mission’s Sundays, we made significant donations to others, such as; Interlake’s Christmas Fund, Cemetery wreaths, ABC Ministries, Daily Word booklets for congregation use, Camp Sentinel, Brigid’s House of Hope, American Baptist Retired Ministers Fund, Samaritan’s Purse, our new church diaconate fund, our Veteran’s Breakfast as well as the Meredith Food Pantry. We also supported donations through the Aspire pregnancy center’s baby bottle campaign.
How a small country church could do so much, is certainly amazing. We couldn’t be effective without your support and donations. We are so grateful for these opportunities. Our prayer shawl ministry provides ongoing support to those who need comfort, and also our weekly food pantry collections have grown to the point where we had to appeal for extra help to get deliveries out. That is a very good thing!
We continue to partner and support Isaiah 61 Cafe in Laconia who has expanded to an all-night shelter in addition to sharing the Gospel. They help and they continue to amaze us with their strong care for our homeless population. Our most successful mission’s Sunday was with the Adult and Teen Challenge. We will be having them back again in 2023. Our hearts were touched by stories of recovering from addictions and their work towards sobriety and how faith has truly helped guide recovery. Your support of this group was “mind blowing”, in fact. The Holy Spirit truly was at work. We also hosted a well-attended veteran’s breakfast and reached out to our community to honor all those who served in the United States Armed Services.
We look forward to another great year in service to our Lord. Currently our mission’s team has an opening and we are prayerful that a heart will be touched and a new person will come forward to join our team. We serve our Lord and Savior and further his wishes. If you are interested, please let us know and we would be happy to have you join us, or as a guest at our next meeting to see how we operate.
We seek to continue supporting the truly great organizations that we have gotten to know and to find new faith based and community organizations where we may show support. If you have any questions about our ongoing ministries, such as the prayer shawls as well as our ongoing food pantry contributions, do not hesitate to ask. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions.
Thank you for all your support in 2022.
Your Church Mission’s Team
Fred Fabian, Bill Garbati, Linda Heminway and Rev. Daniel Ward
We hosted Adult and Teen Challenge, Aspire pregnancy center, CRU ministries and Harley Davidson’s Riders for Christ this year. In addition to hosting certain groups on Mission’s Sundays, we made significant donations to others, such as; Interlake’s Christmas Fund, Cemetery wreaths, ABC Ministries, Daily Word booklets for congregation use, Camp Sentinel, Brigid’s House of Hope, American Baptist Retired Ministers Fund, Samaritan’s Purse, our new church diaconate fund, our Veteran’s Breakfast as well as the Meredith Food Pantry. We also supported donations through the Aspire pregnancy center’s baby bottle campaign.
How a small country church could do so much, is certainly amazing. We couldn’t be effective without your support and donations. We are so grateful for these opportunities. Our prayer shawl ministry provides ongoing support to those who need comfort, and also our weekly food pantry collections have grown to the point where we had to appeal for extra help to get deliveries out. That is a very good thing!
We continue to partner and support Isaiah 61 Cafe in Laconia who has expanded to an all-night shelter in addition to sharing the Gospel. They help and they continue to amaze us with their strong care for our homeless population. Our most successful mission’s Sunday was with the Adult and Teen Challenge. We will be having them back again in 2023. Our hearts were touched by stories of recovering from addictions and their work towards sobriety and how faith has truly helped guide recovery. Your support of this group was “mind blowing”, in fact. The Holy Spirit truly was at work. We also hosted a well-attended veteran’s breakfast and reached out to our community to honor all those who served in the United States Armed Services.
We look forward to another great year in service to our Lord. Currently our mission’s team has an opening and we are prayerful that a heart will be touched and a new person will come forward to join our team. We serve our Lord and Savior and further his wishes. If you are interested, please let us know and we would be happy to have you join us, or as a guest at our next meeting to see how we operate.
We seek to continue supporting the truly great organizations that we have gotten to know and to find new faith based and community organizations where we may show support. If you have any questions about our ongoing ministries, such as the prayer shawls as well as our ongoing food pantry contributions, do not hesitate to ask. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions.
Thank you for all your support in 2022.
Your Church Mission’s Team
Fred Fabian, Bill Garbati, Linda Heminway and Rev. Daniel Ward
Missions News: May 2022
Dear Church Family,
This is an update from our mission’s team to keep you up on what is happening at our church. It’s nice to know where the money that goes into the collection plate goes, aside from church upkeep and general expenses. Our church tithes and 10% of our church budget goes towards missions. Members of the congregation are always welcome to make separate contributions geared just towards missions, as well.
Our mission team has been busy working on so many things and we sometimes forget that you are not there during our monthly meetings and may not know everything else that goes on. So, this is a good time to update you and share. We pay careful attention to every dollar, and where it goes. Many of these organizations have come to chat with us on mission’s Sundays, or will come in the future. We love sharing these people and places with you. We promise there will be more!
These are supported missions that our mission team has been actively involved with. Some, we have made, or will make contributions to from our mission’s budget. There will be other efforts made during the year that we will be sharing with you that are community based. Don’t ever hesitate to bring up your ideas to us.
1. Prayer shawl ministry. We have prayer shawls available at the front of the church on a rack near the entrance to our fellowship hall. You may take one for a person you know in need and sign our log. There is a plastic tote with gift bags as well as a letter that you may give this person. Let us know if you have questions. If you are a knitter or crochet, patterns to make prayer shawls are in the bin. Contact Linda Heminway should you have questions. [email protected]
2. Food Pantry collection. We have an ongoing food pantry bin at the front of the church where you may place non-perishable items to donate to the Meredith Food Pantry. These items are taken regularly. Many thanks to Bill and Lillian Garbati for their time collecting, and delivering, the collected items. We made an annual contribution to the food pantry, as well, from our budget.
3. Evangelical Living Military Ministry (ELMM) meets regularly at our church the third Saturday morning of each month. This mission is to help veterans overcome the tragedies of war through faith. This is our church’s own mission and our mission team member Fred Fabian leads. It is a Christian based ministry serving all veterans. It does not matter what denomination, or beliefs, are as long as you believe. Fred thanks veterans for their service and is chaplain of American Legion Post 58 in Belmont. Contact Fred at [email protected] or text him at 603-520-4229 for information. For security purposes, Fred requests you text him your name and number prior to contact.
4. Ongoing collection for retired ministers. In the pews are envelopes and if you choose to donate, these funds will be directed to the American Baptist Church to aid retired pastors. Our church has made a contribution from our mission’s budget towards this ongoing need. If you would like to donate, please put whatever you would like in one of the envelopes and put it in with our weekly collection.
5. Aspire Pregnancy Center. Our church donates regularly to support this faith centered organization that helps anyone with pregnancies from testing all the way to help with giving birth. Regular check-ups, ultrasounds, counseling, adoption services, etc. are part of this. We’ll be participating, yet again, in the Aspire Baby Bottle campaign this coming month. Baby bottles are taken to your home, if you choose to donate. The bottles are to be brought back to church on Sunday, June 5th. We welcome Vera Cheeseborough from Aspire on June 5th to speak with us about this important ministry.
6. Brigids House of Hope. This is a new ministry in New Hampshire that provides safe housing, job training and assistance to human trafficking victims. There is a confidential safe house where people can get help and escape a terrible situation. Childcare, job search assistance and a place to stay until people are ready to life independently is available. Our church donated for the first time in 2021 and will be donating again in 2022. We hope to have their director come to speak at some point.
7. Isaiah 61 Café, Laconia. Our church has pledged to partner with Isaiah 61 and we donate $1200 a year for this purpose. This is a faith-based mission that helps the homeless and those suffering from addictions. Their mission statement is: “Our friends become oaks of righteousness, stable and displaying God’s splendor. They rebuild their families and in turn revive the Lakes Region so future generations are built on the rock of Jesus Christ.” Isaiah 61 has recently expanded and provides overnight stays as well as lunches for the needy. We hope to be able to provide a lunch for 60 people at some point. Let a member of the mission’s team know if you feel you would like to coordinate a lunch.
8. CRU ministry is a faith-based organization that spreads God’s love at Plymouth State University. They run a mental health workshop for young adults/college aged people. They coach what the bible teaches about boundaries, dating and marriage. CRU will be in to speak with us before the start of the school year.
9. Camp Sentinel is a faith-based camp for children and the facilities are open year-round for school and community experiences. Their main focus is summer camp for children with outdoor and faith experiences. Adult retreats and other opportunities are available. We have donated to them in the past and will contribute this year. We hope to have someone come to speak with us about their facility.
10. Samaritan’s Purse. Not only have we regularly sponsored the Shoebox collection for needy children but we have also recently donated a portion of our mission’s budget to Samaritan’s Purse’s efforts to assist the people of The Ukraine with mobile “Mash-like” hospital units providing all sorts of aid and assistance to the people of this war-torn country.
11. Adult and Teen Challenge. In March our most successful yet mission’s effort was having men from this program come to witness to us and share their experiences. We were amazed that contributions from our church, combined with our free will offering and pledges for support totaled $2380.00. We plan to have them return to us next year and we know you all loved these people. Adult and teen challenge is a men’s ministry and we hope to also sponsor a women’s ministry in the near future.
12. Other donations made from our budget: Cemetery wreaths, The Meredith Food Pantry as well as Interlake’s Christmas fund, ABC Ministries and The Daily Bread booklets available to members of the congregation.
Thank you for your continued support and contributions to our church’s missions’ efforts. We continue to review ongoing needs in our community and world. Your mission’s team, Fred Fabian, Bill Garbati, Linda Heminway, Bonnie Linda Vlk
Dear Church Family,
This is an update from our mission’s team to keep you up on what is happening at our church. It’s nice to know where the money that goes into the collection plate goes, aside from church upkeep and general expenses. Our church tithes and 10% of our church budget goes towards missions. Members of the congregation are always welcome to make separate contributions geared just towards missions, as well.
Our mission team has been busy working on so many things and we sometimes forget that you are not there during our monthly meetings and may not know everything else that goes on. So, this is a good time to update you and share. We pay careful attention to every dollar, and where it goes. Many of these organizations have come to chat with us on mission’s Sundays, or will come in the future. We love sharing these people and places with you. We promise there will be more!
These are supported missions that our mission team has been actively involved with. Some, we have made, or will make contributions to from our mission’s budget. There will be other efforts made during the year that we will be sharing with you that are community based. Don’t ever hesitate to bring up your ideas to us.
1. Prayer shawl ministry. We have prayer shawls available at the front of the church on a rack near the entrance to our fellowship hall. You may take one for a person you know in need and sign our log. There is a plastic tote with gift bags as well as a letter that you may give this person. Let us know if you have questions. If you are a knitter or crochet, patterns to make prayer shawls are in the bin. Contact Linda Heminway should you have questions. [email protected]
2. Food Pantry collection. We have an ongoing food pantry bin at the front of the church where you may place non-perishable items to donate to the Meredith Food Pantry. These items are taken regularly. Many thanks to Bill and Lillian Garbati for their time collecting, and delivering, the collected items. We made an annual contribution to the food pantry, as well, from our budget.
3. Evangelical Living Military Ministry (ELMM) meets regularly at our church the third Saturday morning of each month. This mission is to help veterans overcome the tragedies of war through faith. This is our church’s own mission and our mission team member Fred Fabian leads. It is a Christian based ministry serving all veterans. It does not matter what denomination, or beliefs, are as long as you believe. Fred thanks veterans for their service and is chaplain of American Legion Post 58 in Belmont. Contact Fred at [email protected] or text him at 603-520-4229 for information. For security purposes, Fred requests you text him your name and number prior to contact.
4. Ongoing collection for retired ministers. In the pews are envelopes and if you choose to donate, these funds will be directed to the American Baptist Church to aid retired pastors. Our church has made a contribution from our mission’s budget towards this ongoing need. If you would like to donate, please put whatever you would like in one of the envelopes and put it in with our weekly collection.
5. Aspire Pregnancy Center. Our church donates regularly to support this faith centered organization that helps anyone with pregnancies from testing all the way to help with giving birth. Regular check-ups, ultrasounds, counseling, adoption services, etc. are part of this. We’ll be participating, yet again, in the Aspire Baby Bottle campaign this coming month. Baby bottles are taken to your home, if you choose to donate. The bottles are to be brought back to church on Sunday, June 5th. We welcome Vera Cheeseborough from Aspire on June 5th to speak with us about this important ministry.
6. Brigids House of Hope. This is a new ministry in New Hampshire that provides safe housing, job training and assistance to human trafficking victims. There is a confidential safe house where people can get help and escape a terrible situation. Childcare, job search assistance and a place to stay until people are ready to life independently is available. Our church donated for the first time in 2021 and will be donating again in 2022. We hope to have their director come to speak at some point.
7. Isaiah 61 Café, Laconia. Our church has pledged to partner with Isaiah 61 and we donate $1200 a year for this purpose. This is a faith-based mission that helps the homeless and those suffering from addictions. Their mission statement is: “Our friends become oaks of righteousness, stable and displaying God’s splendor. They rebuild their families and in turn revive the Lakes Region so future generations are built on the rock of Jesus Christ.” Isaiah 61 has recently expanded and provides overnight stays as well as lunches for the needy. We hope to be able to provide a lunch for 60 people at some point. Let a member of the mission’s team know if you feel you would like to coordinate a lunch.
8. CRU ministry is a faith-based organization that spreads God’s love at Plymouth State University. They run a mental health workshop for young adults/college aged people. They coach what the bible teaches about boundaries, dating and marriage. CRU will be in to speak with us before the start of the school year.
9. Camp Sentinel is a faith-based camp for children and the facilities are open year-round for school and community experiences. Their main focus is summer camp for children with outdoor and faith experiences. Adult retreats and other opportunities are available. We have donated to them in the past and will contribute this year. We hope to have someone come to speak with us about their facility.
10. Samaritan’s Purse. Not only have we regularly sponsored the Shoebox collection for needy children but we have also recently donated a portion of our mission’s budget to Samaritan’s Purse’s efforts to assist the people of The Ukraine with mobile “Mash-like” hospital units providing all sorts of aid and assistance to the people of this war-torn country.
11. Adult and Teen Challenge. In March our most successful yet mission’s effort was having men from this program come to witness to us and share their experiences. We were amazed that contributions from our church, combined with our free will offering and pledges for support totaled $2380.00. We plan to have them return to us next year and we know you all loved these people. Adult and teen challenge is a men’s ministry and we hope to also sponsor a women’s ministry in the near future.
12. Other donations made from our budget: Cemetery wreaths, The Meredith Food Pantry as well as Interlake’s Christmas fund, ABC Ministries and The Daily Bread booklets available to members of the congregation.
Thank you for your continued support and contributions to our church’s missions’ efforts. We continue to review ongoing needs in our community and world. Your mission’s team, Fred Fabian, Bill Garbati, Linda Heminway, Bonnie Linda Vlk