Mission

Thank you to all those who participated in the initial information meeting about Safe Families For Children!

Read below for the next steps for those who continue to have interest in helping with SFFC.

We'd like to know your level of interest and to get you on our email list. You can also RSVP for the training event at the Auer's Home this Saturday.

"I'm Interested" Form

We are excited to tell you about an opportunity to get involved in our community through a ministry called Safe Families for Children. Safe Families is a volunteer ministry that exists to provide biblical hospitality, love, and support to families in crisis, largely through providing parents with safe places for their children to stay while they work to resolve whatever crises that they are experiencing, such as unemployment, homelessness, or financial difficulty. This ministry equips churches like ours to create support networks for desperate people in our community who have no one to turn to in times of crisis. They do this through creating teams of people to come alongside of these families in various roles. This is one of the really neat things about Safe Families - that there are many ways to be involved.

Last November our church members sponsored 100 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes for boys ages 10 -14. OCC receives the least number of boxes for this particular group so we choose to focus solely on packing quality boxes that included school supplies, comb, soap, socks, small toys, and either a soccer ball and pump or a small tool kit. The Mike Noel Home Group hosted a packing party and all 100 boxes were registered to be tracked as to their final destination. So where did they go?

I would like to share with you a little bit about my beloved home country, Japan. I am mostly Japanese with a mix of Chinese and Caucasian. I was born in Japan and grew up there until I was 11 years old. Although I had always had a special love for Japan, I had very little contact with the Japanese community and the culture after I moved to the states. Even after I became a believer and I began praying for and reaching out to unbelievers, I did not have any special focus on the Japanese. It was not until I heard about the tsunami in Fukuoka in 2011 that the Lord put a special burden on my heart for Japan and it’s people.

"Not all of us are eloquent or engaging. Not everyone can think on their feet. Some people are simply not good at speaking to strangers and forming new friendships. One of the practical benefits of the three-strand model of evangelism [building relationships, sharing the gospel, introducing people to community] is that it gives a role to all of God's people. By making evangelism a community project, it also takes seriously the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in distributing a variety of gifts among his people. Everyone has a part to play--the new Christian, the introvert, the extrovert, the eloquent,…

This past Sunday a group of us met for what we called a "missions round table." The point of the meeting was to talk with others at SGC who are especially interested in the cause of foreign missions. We all agreed that the gathering was encouraging and exciting. God is accomplishing his purposes throughout the world, and it is a joy to hear about some of that. (Don't miss the end of this post where I explain who was there and what they contributed.)

THE BIBLE AND THE NATIONS

We began with a brief look at the Bible's promises regarding…

In June two of our families, the (Joby) Ruhls and the Greguses, went to the Agua Viva Children's Home in Guatemala. Here is a letter from the Ruhls.

Dear Friends,

Below is a family update and a praise report from our mission trip to Guatemala. We are continually grateful for the friendship and support from each of you as we walk through life together. We look forward to continued growth in our relationship with each one of you as we walk through life together here at our new "home" in NC.

Family Update

We moved into our new…

Church, here is an update from Mike Seaver at Sovereign Grace Church of the Lowcountry in Charleston, SC.

Thanks so much for praying!

We have a collaborative effort of several local churches called 1Charleston that we have been doing for about a year. We are in great position to mobilize (and we have been mobilizing) and we are calling all Charleston pastors across racial and denominational lines to pray together. We are gathering on Tuesday night, June 30th in Emanuel AME Church.  Please pray for that time together.

We are then calling on folks from the city to have…

Hi! This winter, I will be taking a course called Perspectives that is about the role each believer plays in God's plan to reach the nations. It is put together by the US Center for World Mission, the publishers of Mission Frontiers magazine.

My name is Joy Sasser, and I was one of the 32 from SGC that recently ventured down to Agua Viva Children’s Home in Guatemala. Speaking for the team is tough because everyone took something different away from the experience and of what God did through us and in us. There are a few things I can confidently say from the group.