ATLANTA (ABP) — Young adults at Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk, Va., got their hands dirty for missions at a seamen’s center. Teens at Metro Baptist Church in New York City learned the value of feeding the homeless, talking with them and hearing their stories.
The two churches were among 20 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship partner congregations and organizations that participated in this year’s 11-on-11 day of service, held on and around Sept. 11. Facilitated by Current, CBF’s young-leaders’ network, the local mission projects offered a constructive way for CBF supporters to make a difference in their communities and honor the memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States.
 Members of WOW Church in Freeport, Fla., worked at the new Freeport City Hall building as part of CBF’s “11 on 11” ministry project. (PHOTO: Courtesy of WOW Church.) |
The Freemason Street group worked at the International Seamen’s House in Norfolk, a hospitality ministry for merchant seafarers.
“This is a ministry that our congregation has supported for decades. But most of our group had never even seen the section of Norfolk where the house is located, let alone known anything about this ministry,” Thornton said.
“With a few hours of work, we were able to improve a space enjoyed as a home away from home by people from all over the world, and also have our own worldviews — and community-views — broadened a bit.”
Metro Baptist Church, located in Manhattan just a couple of miles away from where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood, has participated in 11-on-11 the past two years.
This year, Amanda Hambrick, director of youth programming at Metro-sponsored Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries, took a group of teens from a youth center associated with the church to work at a Madison Avenue homeless shelter.
“[It was] kind of funny that we’re on Madison Avenue and there’s a homeless center here,” said Angelo, one of the youth. “That’s like the most extreme money and the poorest in the same place. Something’s not right about that.”
“I was happily amazed that Angelo, a freshmen in high school, was able to notice the blatant injustice present in his own city; something that some people never notice, or choose not to notice,” said Hambrick, a CBF field worker.
At the center, four young people served hot lunches while the rest played games and talked with clients.
“Our teens’ initial responses to the homeless were challenged,” Hambrick said. “We projected that if everyone would take the time to hear people’s stories, events like 9-11 could possibly be prevented.
“I loved seeing the youth from the teen center — youth who themselves have stories that often include homelessness, economic strife and exposure to gang and domestic violence, drug abuse and other realities of urban life — realize that the gift of their time on a Saturday morning, their willingness to listen to another’s story and their ability to see the homeless as dignified and significant members of society are some of the greatest things they can offer the world.”
Ashley Gill, associate pastor at University Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, Miss., and Shannon Rutherford, minister to college students at University Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, La., coordinated the projects.
Some additional projects completed on 11-on-11 Day include:
— University Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, La., put a tarp on a couple’s roof in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, and cleaned a room in a child development center.
— The Oaks Baptist Church in Lyons, Ga., provided care and cleanup at a hospice house.
— Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Va., worked with a shelter for families facing homelessness and abuse;
— Gayton Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., worked with a non-profit organization helping families transition out of homelessness.
— Columbus Fellowship Church in Columbus, Miss., created a community garden wall and cleaned up a local park.
— The Cooperative Student Fellowship of Mercer University worked with HIV/AIDS patients in a housing/resource center.
— University Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, Miss., cleaned and made minor repairs at the local Christian Women’s Job Corps office.
Sponsors included the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Campbell University Divinity School, CBF Church Benefits Board, CBF of Florida, CBF of Georgia, CBF of Mississippi, CBF of North Carolina, CBF Virginia, Duke Divinity School, Kentucky Baptist Fellowship, McAfee School of Theology, and PASSPORT Inc.
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