MACAU, China — Eager hands reached for strips of paper. “This one goes next,” voices shouted as the group of Chinese students pieced the strips together to tell the story of Christ's birth. The problem: the story had been written in English, cut apart and scrambled. The goal: to be the first team to put the story together correctly.
Several congregations in Virginia, along with First Chinese Baptist Church of Los Angeles and South Edmonton Alliance Church of Alberta, Canada, worked alongside Macau Baptist Church in China to facilitate the competition, which was part of language camps provided through the ministry of Coopertive Baptist Fellowship representatives Larry and Sarah Ballew in Macau, China.
The experience impacted kingdom work in Macau and strengthened the relationship among three Virginia churches that coordinate stateside cooperative efforts on the Ballews' behalf.
“It was a blessing to many folks here to see the three teams from different areas of North America come together,” Sarah Ballew said. “The servant attitude and actions of the teams and the cooperative nature made a big impact on people here.”
In an effort to continue to impact Macau, representatives from Blacksburg Baptist Church, Vinton Baptist Church and First Baptist Church of Radford have formed a multi-church team to find ways in which to support the Ballews' efforts and minister to them.
The three churches' connection began with relationships with the couple. Blacksburg Baptist is Sarah's home church, where members of her extended family still worship, and she was a member of First Baptist while a student at Radford University.
Vinton Baptist's connection took a circuitous route. The church's minister to children had worked with Sarah's father, Roland Byrd, and brought the Ballews to pastor Bill Booth's attention. “Their story resonated with our church,” Booth said.
Blacksburg and First Baptist have covenanted to pray with and for the couple. The congregations support the Ballews with financial gifts, networking with others, wellness/care support and mission teams.
The Vinton church has not developed a covenant but is committed to supporting the couple, Booth said.
Working through the support team provides each church with opportunities to meet needs together. Team members meet quarterly to discuss ways in which to assist the Ballews and how to promote the work. They keep communication open to facilitate getting word out about prayer and other needs in the Chinese province.
They also enlist church members for short-term service in Macau. Three members of the Radford church and one from Blacksburg participated in last year's effort. They are recruiting from among Virginia churches for a 2008 trip.
“There are more mission needs than one church can fund. [The coordinated effort] is a good way for churches to get involved directly,” said David Smith, who represents First Baptist on the multi-church team.
“Missions is important to our church and to our faith,” said John Dooley, a member of Blacksburg. “The opportunity to network … to share a common vision and a common project helps with church understanding and with cross-cultural understanding. I believe in the strong connection we have with the Ballews.”