Brothers and Sisters,
Last week, we held our very first Foster Support Group meeting. As your pastor, I want to be completely transparent with you—this event was a big stretch for me. It wasn’t the craziest thing I’ve ever done, but we didn’t have a lot of time to pull it together. That’s why I want to give a huge shout-out to our Missions Team and the volunteers who said “Yes” to this opportunity. It was a big lift, but we did it! That makes two mission events in July that Fellowship has tackled.
To be even more honest, missions has not always been an active area for our church—but we’re seeing the needle move in a big way.
As your pastor, I want to encourage you with this: we’re seeking to be simple in how we approach missions. Needs are everywhere, which means we have to say no to a lot so that when we say yes, we can give it everything we’ve got. This event was one of those unexpected yeses. The Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries (ABC&FM) saw the work we did for VBS and extended this opportunity to us because it aligned with our heart for local missions.
Even with limited time, we had childcare, dinner, handwritten thank-you cards, and donated gifts for our guests. It was a lot—but our church stepped up and pulled it off.
Tonya, who works with ABC&FM, told me to stop referring to Fellowship as a “small church.” She said, “You all are doing a huge work, so stop calling yourself small.”
The Why:
On July 24th, we got to care for the children of families who are saying yes to foster care. We gave those parents a chance to breathe and be poured into. We served those who are moving toward the needy. We opened our kids’ area to children who may have experienced trauma. For those two hours, we weren’t just saying we care for the orphan—we were living it.
God is doing great things at Fellowship Baptist Church.
In Christ,
Travis Smith
Servant of Jesus Christ
Lead Pastor, Fellowship Baptist Church
