NC Baptists Moving Out to Serve

Scroll down to read several articles about the April 28 statewide Baptist Inasmuch event in North Carolina.

The following article appeared Friday, Apr 27 2012, in Cleveland County, NC’s shelbystar.com.

Hundreds of volunteers branch out for two days of service

Friday, Apr 27 2012, 11:59 am
by Jackie Bridges

This weekend and next, volunteers from 24 churches in Cleveland County will be serving the community by providing meals, building wheelchair ramps, showing appreciation to firefighters and even helping to buy gas for unsuspecting customers.

The acts of kindness are part of “Operation Inasmuch,” a ministry supported by the North Carolina Baptist Men, said David Brown, county coordinator.

The event, which gets its name from Matthew 25:40 — “Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”  — is a one-day missions blitz that will be taking place Saturday and on May 5 in all 100 North Carolina counties.

Churches participating are Buffalo Baptist, Bethany Baptist, First Baptist Shelby, Zoar Baptist, Second Baptist Kings Mountain, Elizabeth Baptist, Plainsview Baptist, Dover Baptist, Eastside Baptist, Westview Baptist, Carpenters Grove Baptist, New Hope Baptist, Trinity Baptist, Hopper’s Chapel, Sandy Plains Baptist, New Bethel Baptist, Calvary Baptist, Camps Creek Baptist, Second Baptist Shelby, Northside Baptist, Beaver Dam Baptist, Ross Grove Baptist, Zion Baptist and Poplar Springs Baptist.

Volunteers will be building wheelchair ramps, repairing homes, serving firefighters a steak dinner, giving away clothes and food, picking up litter, raising money for Relay for Life, hosting a block party in the Ramblewood area, working at Special Olympics and sponsoring several other projects for the elderly, families, children and others.

Members of the Cleveland County Operation Inasmuch committee are Melanie Shull, Katie Harris, Janet Brown and the Rev. Jerry Welch.

Sponsors are:

Gold — Hoke Enterprizes, Cleveland County Home Builders and Keeter Ford

Silver — Restco, Monroe Tire, Carolina Crossings Restaurant, First National Bank, Joey Hamrick Construction, Business Consulting Group, Hendrick Appliance, What’s Up Shopper/WOHS, H&H Pest Control, Elizabeth Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church and Putnam Distributors

Reach Jackie Bridges at 704-669-3337.

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The following article was published in Dunn, NC’s The Daily Record in April, 2012.

North Clinton Avenue To Hold Operation Inasmuch Event

On Saturday, North Clinton Avenue Baptist Church, along with hundreds of churches in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, will conduct Operation Inasmuch.

According to organizers, Operation Inasmuch is a way for a church to show the love of Jesus Christ in a very real way. The name Inasmuch is taken from Matthew 25:40. Operation Inasmuch began in Fayetteville in 1995 and has spread across theUnited States and into other countries.

North Clinton Church will offer a “yard sale” giveaway. Clothing and household items will be given away to those who are in need in the community. A community garden also will be planted to provide those in need with fresh produce later in the spring. These projects will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday.

A ticketed barbecue dinner will be served that evening from 4 to 6. Tickets can be picked up onSaturday morning at the church. There are a limited number of tickets available. This will be a dine-in only event.

North Clinton Church is also participating in a Food Roundup for the Baptist Children’s Home. Canned food and other staples can be donated at the church anytime Saturday.

North Clinton Avenue Baptist Church is located at 507 N. Clinton Ave., Dunn, where the Rev. Billy Stines is pastor.

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The following article appeared April 26, 2012 in The King, NC Stokes News:

Pine Hall Missionary Baptist to participate in outreach day

Pine Hall Missionary Baptist Church is preparing for Operation Inasmuch, which will be held on April 28th. Operation Inasmuch is a one-day mission event where hundreds of churches and thousands of volunteers throughout the state share the love of Jesus Christ with people in their communities.

Operation Inasmuch encourages churches to minister to those in need in their communities through hands-on projects. The Rev. Richard F. Lowery, pastor of the church, not only leads members in prayer and gives them their charge before the teams depart for their various projects — he also visits the site of each project during the day, encouraging the members and ministering to those he comes in contact with.

Projects that Pine Hall did previously were to build a handicap ramp and deliver Baskets of Love to law enforcement agents, firemen, EMS workers, and nursing home residents. They also visited the sick and shut-in, repaired an elderly member’s furnace and gave away clothing at Fowler Park.

This year members will do yard work at an elderly member’s home and visit sick and shut-in members to deliver homemade soup to them. Again this year from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., a clothes giveaway will be held at Fowler Park in the heart of Walnut Cove. Also this year, the church has partnered with Ingles Grocery Store to allow customers to purchase items needed at East Stokes Outreach between 9 a.m. and noon. Members will be on hand to collect the items (a list will be displayed of the items most desperately needed), and they will be delivered to the mission after the event.

Operation Inasmuch provides the opportunity to people in the various communities. It is a time to bless others as God has blessed you.

The first Operation Inasmuch event was held in 1995 as an independent ministry of Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville. Since then, Operation Inasmuch has helped train churches to conduct one-day missions events in communities across North Carolina and also in other states.

More than 1,600 churches in 21 states have participated in one-day service events. The outreach takes its name from Matthew 25:40: “Truly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”

Anyone interested in more information or volunteering can call the church at 336-548-9556.

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