St Asaph's Hosts Visitors from Italy on Mission Trip
(Comments and news article below slide show)
Comments from Bambi. . .
Tonight we roasted a pig and hosted close to a hundred folk, mostly teenagers from Caroline County and Italy engaged for a week doing service projects in Caroline County. They are weeding and painting at the middle and high schools, organizing a back yard Bible Club in Bowling Green, delighting folk at the Bowling Green Rehabilitation Center, and repairing private homes. And tonight, with the help of Pastor Giuseppe, we worshipped together in English and Italian! Tonight we also gave a $2000 check from the diocese to Salem Baptist Church to support the ministry of Glory Outreach. Tonight was a good night.
Earlier this week I received an an email from an army chaplain in Afghanistan thanking us for an old army chaplain's kit we discovered in the office closet and which we gave to him to use during his deployment in Afghanistan. The picture he sent is on the bulletin board.
I am aware that St.Asaph's is beginning to weave a global thread, connecting to folk from Caroline County to Italy and Afghanistan.
And what I also know is those relationships are being established because Joey Hancock and his son Chris got up at 7:00 a.m. this morning to ready the pig; that Gary Gravatt leaped into the lurch when Chris cut his finger; that Dale and Gilbert Brittle made tea and took pictures; that Jean Young, Sherry Gravatt and Michael Thomas led us in Taize chants for our worship tonight; that the families of Sarah and Annelizabeth Ferrigan and Alexis Kelleher got the girls to the places they needed to be; that Susan White and Dawn Maine and a host of others insured we had enough desserts to satisfy these hungry teenagers. And I also am remembering Annelizabeth Ferrigan presenting John Nunnally with a certificate of appreciation last Sunday for teaching them how to respond when our hearts stop, and Susan Hafey and the Polar Bear Plunge and Karen Nunnally and Shoebox Sunday.
Everything we do, no matter what, has consequences we cannot even begin to imagine. This week I have been reminded that St.Asaph's is having a global impact! We will never know what God will do with what we give. But if we do not give we will never know.
We sang, as our closing hymn this night, "Dona nobis pacem" - God, give us your peace.
I do believe we have a peace at St.Asaph's we are meant to share with others and I do believe this peace will have consequences we cannot even begin to imagine.
News Article written by Dale Brittle:
Salem Baptist Church in Caroline County sponsored a “mission adventure” for an adult and youth delegation from northern Italy during a two week period in July. Salem invited other county churches to participate; these included Wright’s Chapel Methodist, St. Asaph’s Episcopal Church, Bowling Green Baptist, Calvary Baptist, Bethel Baptist, Zion Grove Baptist, St. John Baptist, and Ebenezer Baptist.
Last year Salem Baptist youth travelled on a mission trip to Pordenone Italy to work with Pastor Guiseppe Miglio at Pordenone Baptist Church on community mission projects. This year Salem reciprocated and sought to involve as many churches as possible in Caroline County to assist the group of 12 Italians including Pastor Guiseppe and Caroline youth.
Young people from Caroline and Pordenone worked in teams painting and weeding at Caroline middle and high schools, entertaining residents at the Bowling Green Rehabilitation Center, initiating a back yard Bible Club in a local apartment complex, helping repair private homes and other projects. Language differences did not seem to be a concern.
One evening, St. Asaph’s hosted the group of 100 at the church’s pavilion. St. Asaph’s men served up southern cooked meals which included chopped barbeque with tangy sauce, slaw, and baked beans, homemade pies, cakes, fruit cobbler and cookies. Chris Hancock provided a mega-roaster and began cooking a whole hog at 7:00 a.m. in preparation of the 6:30 p.m. evening meal. Gallons of ice tea and soft drinks were consumed. Prior to the evening service, Rev. Bambi Willis presented Salem’s Pastor Kevin James with a $2000 donation from the Diocese of Virginia for Glory Outreach, a ministry of Salem Baptist Church in which St. Asaph’s participates. The Diocese generously showed its support of St. Asaph’s ministry in partnership with other denominations in the Caroline community.
During the week of the Caroline County Fair, St. Asaph’s, assisted other church volunteers with ticket sales and parking lot duties. Money earned will assist one of the Italian adults with his stay in the county. His 90 day visa will allow him to work to develop creative ways to help youth in Italy become more actively involved their church experiences.
Tonight we roasted a pig and hosted close to a hundred folk, mostly teenagers from Caroline County and Italy engaged for a week doing service projects in Caroline County. They are weeding and painting at the middle and high schools, organizing a back yard Bible Club in Bowling Green, delighting folk at the Bowling Green Rehabilitation Center, and repairing private homes. And tonight, with the help of Pastor Giuseppe, we worshipped together in English and Italian! Tonight we also gave a $2000 check from the diocese to Salem Baptist Church to support the ministry of Glory Outreach. Tonight was a good night.
Earlier this week I received an an email from an army chaplain in Afghanistan thanking us for an old army chaplain's kit we discovered in the office closet and which we gave to him to use during his deployment in Afghanistan. The picture he sent is on the bulletin board.
I am aware that St.Asaph's is beginning to weave a global thread, connecting to folk from Caroline County to Italy and Afghanistan.
And what I also know is those relationships are being established because Joey Hancock and his son Chris got up at 7:00 a.m. this morning to ready the pig; that Gary Gravatt leaped into the lurch when Chris cut his finger; that Dale and Gilbert Brittle made tea and took pictures; that Jean Young, Sherry Gravatt and Michael Thomas led us in Taize chants for our worship tonight; that the families of Sarah and Annelizabeth Ferrigan and Alexis Kelleher got the girls to the places they needed to be; that Susan White and Dawn Maine and a host of others insured we had enough desserts to satisfy these hungry teenagers. And I also am remembering Annelizabeth Ferrigan presenting John Nunnally with a certificate of appreciation last Sunday for teaching them how to respond when our hearts stop, and Susan Hafey and the Polar Bear Plunge and Karen Nunnally and Shoebox Sunday.
Everything we do, no matter what, has consequences we cannot even begin to imagine. This week I have been reminded that St.Asaph's is having a global impact! We will never know what God will do with what we give. But if we do not give we will never know.
We sang, as our closing hymn this night, "Dona nobis pacem" - God, give us your peace.
I do believe we have a peace at St.Asaph's we are meant to share with others and I do believe this peace will have consequences we cannot even begin to imagine.
News Article written by Dale Brittle:
Salem Baptist Church in Caroline County sponsored a “mission adventure” for an adult and youth delegation from northern Italy during a two week period in July. Salem invited other county churches to participate; these included Wright’s Chapel Methodist, St. Asaph’s Episcopal Church, Bowling Green Baptist, Calvary Baptist, Bethel Baptist, Zion Grove Baptist, St. John Baptist, and Ebenezer Baptist.
Last year Salem Baptist youth travelled on a mission trip to Pordenone Italy to work with Pastor Guiseppe Miglio at Pordenone Baptist Church on community mission projects. This year Salem reciprocated and sought to involve as many churches as possible in Caroline County to assist the group of 12 Italians including Pastor Guiseppe and Caroline youth.
Young people from Caroline and Pordenone worked in teams painting and weeding at Caroline middle and high schools, entertaining residents at the Bowling Green Rehabilitation Center, initiating a back yard Bible Club in a local apartment complex, helping repair private homes and other projects. Language differences did not seem to be a concern.
One evening, St. Asaph’s hosted the group of 100 at the church’s pavilion. St. Asaph’s men served up southern cooked meals which included chopped barbeque with tangy sauce, slaw, and baked beans, homemade pies, cakes, fruit cobbler and cookies. Chris Hancock provided a mega-roaster and began cooking a whole hog at 7:00 a.m. in preparation of the 6:30 p.m. evening meal. Gallons of ice tea and soft drinks were consumed. Prior to the evening service, Rev. Bambi Willis presented Salem’s Pastor Kevin James with a $2000 donation from the Diocese of Virginia for Glory Outreach, a ministry of Salem Baptist Church in which St. Asaph’s participates. The Diocese generously showed its support of St. Asaph’s ministry in partnership with other denominations in the Caroline community.
During the week of the Caroline County Fair, St. Asaph’s, assisted other church volunteers with ticket sales and parking lot duties. Money earned will assist one of the Italian adults with his stay in the county. His 90 day visa will allow him to work to develop creative ways to help youth in Italy become more actively involved their church experiences.
