Churches Prepare to Serve
Churches in Sampson County, NC, are preparing to join the statewide Inasmuch event on April 28 and May 5. The following article appeared February 24, 2012 in The Sampson Independent on ClintonNC.com
Operation Inasmuch puts the hammer to Jesus’ words
by Billy Todd, Staff Writer
Putting the word of Christ into action has become very important to many local Christians who don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk, too, offering to put action behind the belief that it is important to reach out and help your fellowman.
Opportunities for ministry vary from person to person and congregation to congregation. Jesus said in essence, “Inasmuch as you serve the least of these, you serve me.”
Operation Inasmuch is an opportunity for anyone who wishes to take an active roll in doing some type of mission work to expand the kingdom of God….
Operation Inasmuch started at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville but is now a national organization. The goal of the day is to show the love of Jesus Christ in a tangible way by being involved in service projects in the local community. This year, North Carolina Baptist Men is encouraging their churches to build wheelchair ramps in a push called Rampin Up as a part of Operation Inasmuch. Their hope is to set a world record that day for building the most wheelchair ramps in one day in history and provide more mobility to hundreds of people across N.C., explained the Rev. Dr. Paul Langston, director of Missions for the Eastern Baptist Association….
Langston shared, “This year’s Operation Inasmuch One Day Missions Blitz will be held on Saturday, April 28 and the focus will be on building wheelchair ramps, but many teams will do a variety of other projects.” Ramp-building teams will coordinate with Sampson County’s Office of Aging Services, N.C. Baptist Aging Ministry, their respective denominations, or local churches to meet the needs of those who are limited in their mobility without an appropriate wheelchair ramp. Other teams will visit nursing homes, do yard work for the elderly, beautiful parks and other sites, make pillows for children in the hospital, and be involved in a wide variety of other projects limited only by the creativity of the volunteers.
“I have received requests from Sampson County Office of Aging Services and Duplin County Services for the Aged that our teams build wheelchair ramps for them on April 28,” noted Langston. “Both of these agencies will provide materials for ramps done for approved clients. If you are willing to coordinate a team and have not already made arrangements to build a particular ramp, or be a part of a ramp building team, please let me know as soon as possible. Some churches may already have agreed to build assigned ramps through N.C. Baptist Aging Ministry or a need they have become aware of in the community. For those who want to build but do not have an assignment, I need to know how many ramps we can commit to building for these county agencies,” asserted the director of missions.
There will be a meeting for all interested at the EBA office in Warsaw on Thursday, March 22 at 7 p.m. “Even if you are building a ramp independently and are new to the process this will be a helpful meeting,” shared Langston.
Anyone interested in getting their church involved may call Carol Adams, who is the Sampson County coordinator for Operation Inasmuch, at Salemburg Baptist Church, or Langston at the Eastern Baptist Association.
“Throughout the Bible, God shows His compassion for the sick, the poor, the hungry, orphans, prisoners, and immigrants, in short, anyone in need.Jesus was the Great Samaritan who laid down His life to rescue us, his neighbors in deep spiritual need. And He commands the church to follow His example. We are overwhelmed at times to watch this Compassion Revolution move forward! We have been amazed as church after church moves outside of its four walls to serve the disenfranchised, needy, and hurting in its community. And we would be honored to equip many more churches to follow suit,” asserts David Crocker, executive director Operation Inasmuch, Inc.
Visit the folloiwng links for more information: http://www.baptistsonmission.org/Projects/North-Carolina/Operation-Inasmuch; or http://www.operationinasmuch.org.
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