RICHMOND — This summer the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's Mission Connection Celebration (MC2), formerly called Family Missions Week, will offer a wide variety of opportunities for missions learning and service.
To be held at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center July 23-28, MC2 will feature multiple schedule options and numerous mission/service project choices. The keynote “storyteller” will be Denton Lotz, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance and an international speaker, author and missiologist who looks at how the context in which people live can best be used to bring them to the gospel.
“MC2 is for everybody, from preschoolers through senior adults,” said Diane Smith, VBMB children's ministry strategist. “It's for families, for individuals, for youth groups …. We want to be as flexible as we can and include as many different options as we can to get people involved in learning about missions and doing missions.”
During the mornings, preschoolers and children will be involved in missions learning, while youth and adults will choose a mission/service project at Eagle Eyrie or in the greater Lynchburg area. Project options for youth include construction, yard work, music and drama teams, ministering in a juvenile detention center or nursing homes, working with children through sports camps or Bible clubs, and various others.
Adults may join a work team doing minor construction or yard work or may participate in Bible study, skill sessions, and prayer time.
In the afternoons, participants will have free time for entertainment and recreation activities. Skill equipping sessions on various topics will also be offered.
Evening sessions will provide learning and reflection opportunities for children and youth, as well as the chance for adults to hear from the following missionaries who serve or have served with Virginia Baptists' international mission partners:
• Credo Mangay, who coordinates the Baptist Union of South Africa's “Deeds of Love Ministries.” Virginia Baptists have a partnership with the Free State Baptist Association in South Africa, which is a part of the BUSA.
• Giuseppe Miglio, who will be representing the Italian Baptist Union, another partner, and is bringing a group of Italian youth to MC2.
• Kent and Ann Brown, members of Gretna Baptist Church, who have volunteered as missionaries at the Precious Children's Home in India through Virginia Baptists' partnership with the India Baptist Convention in Kerala.
Speaker will also share with children about the culture of these countries during the morning learning sessions.
Each day will conclude with a multi-generational, culturally-diverse worship experience for children, youth and adults. During the Friday evening and Saturday morning worship times, Lotz will share stories from his international ministry in an informal, personal setting.
Families who would like to remain together throughout each day rather than participating individually in age-level activities will be able to register for a separate Family Track option, coordinated by Bruce and Tracie Powers, co-pastors of Westhaven Baptist Church in Portsmouth. In the mornings, these families will share Bible study, service projects, and prayer time together. They will have free time in the afternoons and a devotional time together in the evenings before joining other MC2 participants for worship.
Those who cannot attend MC2 for the entire week can register for partial week schedules. Another registration option will be specialized skill sessions on Friday and Saturday that will cover various topics and are intended to help youth and adults sharpen their ministry skills.
Several additional opportunities will be offered as a part of MC2. During the week, Virginia Baptists will partner with Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity to “blitz build” a house for a low income family. Also at MC2, the VBMB will offer training for persons who are interested in possible certification as Crisis Care Chaplains or who would like to serve with the VBMB's disaster relief feeding unit or temporary childcare unit.
Registration information for Missions Connection Celebration, the Habitat Blitz Build, and the Crisis Care and Disaster Relief training is available on the MC2 Web site, www.mc2-va.com.