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Aug
20
E Leader , F Leader

LIFE Groups on Mission: Rachel McRae Edition

[A great example of how an entire LIFE Group can be on mission through the efforts of sending one person off . . . not to mention everything else they do! What will our culture become when every LIFE Group is represented on non-local missions every year?]

 
By Rachel McRae, Growing Deeper LIFE Group Leader, Brentwood Campus

As a LIFE Group, we annually participate in Engage, Reboot, Cul2vate, and Operation Christmas Child. We also participate in other opportunities and needs that arise during the year.
I am on the board for The Matzevah Foundation, a nonprofit that serves to care for Jewish cemeteries in Poland, commemorate mass graves, and provide Holocaust / Shoah education. It was officially started in 2010, but the work began earlier . . . and Brentwood Baptist Church is a big part of it. Poland has been a mission journey destination for many years. In the early years, we partnered with IMB missionaries in Warsaw. One of those missionaries, Steven Reece, was working in a Jewish cemetery outside of Warsaw. Teams from BBC went over to help. It was there that I, along with others, caught the “bug.”
The Matzevah Foundation includes 4 BBC members who serve on the board and one that serves on the advisory board. BBC continues to be an invaluable partner in our work by including a trip each year as a mission journey opportunity.  While the work is focused on clearing an overgrown and forgotten cemetery, the ultimate goal is to bring reconciliation between Jews and Polish; and man with God. God has used our work to open conversations about why a bunch of Baptists would come over and do this work (to serve with loving kindness) and what drives our actions (the love of our Messiah, who is Jewish). We have formed wonderful relationships with Polish believers over the years and have been blessed to be a part of their Christian walk for so many years.
My LIFE Group has been a big supporter of my work. Several have shown up at fundraisers and many are always curious about the work. They have prayed over me as I go on trips. I know that they are praying for me each day as we work, and I’m grateful. I head off to Ukraine this week for a project and they sent me off with well wishes and commitments to pray for us as we work!
 

Jul
30
E Leader , F Leader , I Leader , L Leader

Celebration, Communication, Community

By Sarah Becky Spain, active member of the Oasis LIFE Group, a women’s group that meets on Sunday mornings at 9:30 and is led by Sarah Samuel.

The Oasis Class bulletin board is a way to celebrate, communicate, and share life within our class community. Practically speaking, it’s a space where we can purposefully and effectively share things of value with our group.
We want group members to be informed about key parts of our group, even if we can’t spend a lot of class time talking about them. We’ve chosen to include highlights from our weekly emails, sign-ups for upcoming group events, photos from past events, and announcements about our monthly Oasis Gives Back campaign. We have a section of the board devoted to our class missionaries, which includes a picture and short bio, as well as prayer points. We’ve also chosen to add favorite verses on note cards and a few book recommendations from group leaders. We’re able to communicate a lot of important class information without words, which allows more class time for studying the Word.
We’ve found that our board is a great way to build community within the group. We can see everything that’s going on and coming up. We are reminded to pray for our missionaries in the world when we see their bios and pictures. We love looking at our class pictures and celebrating all the blessings we collectively share. It also speaks volumes about our group with first-time visitors and future Oasis members.
It was a team effort to decorate the board and now we have one person designated to manage the postings. The entire project was the brainchild of Karen Clark, one of our faithful members and the driving force behind many of our wonderful group activities. It really takes amazing people like Karen to make things like this happen.
Our class board has created a welcoming presence in our room which perfectly reflects the intentional heart of our leader, Sarah Samuel. As a class, we echo the words of Jesus in saying “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” and “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (Matthew 11:28-30, John 10:10). We hope that everyone who visits room 2000 will be enriched and challenged by the study of the Word, as well as encouraged by what God has planned for our impact in His Kingdom.