RICHMOND — The Virginia Baptist Foundation has awarded grants totaling $40,000 to six Virginia Baptist ministry partners according to Ronald C. Hall, president and CEO of the foundation.
“We are able to award these dollars due to the Christian stewardship of others,” he said. “This is remarkable when you consider the economic downturn of 2008.”
The following ministries were named as grant recipients:
• African Christian Community Church in Richmond, meeting in the facilities of Hatcher Memorial Baptist Church, for the purpose of supporting the Barnabas Project, a ministry that addresses the physical, educational and spiritual needs of African refugees in Central Virginia;
• The Latino Network of Virginia Baptists, through the John Leland Center for Theological Studies School of Ministry, for the purpose of supporting the Latino Leadership Development Initiative among congregational leaders;
• The Ray & Ann Spence Network for Congregational Leadership, for the purpose of producing various media collaterals to enhance the network's development efforts;
• Shiloh Hope Builders in Culpeper, for the purpose of supporting a Christian mentoring program for impoverished and abused women;
• The Virginia Baptist Mission Board's emerging leaders team and Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia, for the purpose of constructing a Habitat for Humanity partnership house in Lynchburg during the Missions Connection Celebration at Eagle Eyrie in July;
• The VBMB's Impact Virginia, for the purpose of supporting youth construction camps in Abingdon, Bluefield, the Eastern Shore and Wise County this summer.
E. Stuart Crow, chairman of the board of trustees of the Foundation stated, “The grant program has been made possible by the generosity of deceased Virginia Baptists who dedicated both their lives and their resources to the Lord's work. “
Grant applications for 2010 will be available on the Foundation's website (www.vbfinc.org) in November 2009.