Deep thanks to all of you who have donated items to our friends of First Baptist Church, Asheville! They were so appreciative, and have buoyed our sister church as they serve their community. We will be taking another load to Asheville in a week.
You are likely already seeing a variety of ways to donate and act for the good of our neighbors. To that end, we invite anyone to join in our First on Fifth efforts to do the following:
1. Give money. We are partnering with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s coordinated Disaster Response efforts, which you can read more about here and donate directly through CBF here. If you’d like to donate to our supply collection, you can do so online here and designate your gift for the FBC Missions Fund. Thank you!
2. Donate items. Our church house shares the same architectural design with a handful of Baptist churches around the Southeast, one of which is First Baptist Church of Asheville. Our church family has a number of friends, family members, and ministers within the congregation, and it is our gift to support our “twin sister church” and their efforts to give urgently-needed supplies to their neighbors. We will be collecting the following items in the Baraca Room between now and Sunday (10/20). Please note that these specific supplies are requested by the church, and no others can be received at this time.
Food pantry staples
(cereal, peanut butter, canned meats, etc.)
Cleaning Supplies
Baby Supplies
Personal Care Items
Cases of water bottles or gallon-sized water jugs
3. Serve on a cleanup mission trip. One of CBFNC’s partner organizations is Baptists on Mission, a group uniquely equipped to provide first responders in times of disasters. We are gathering information from them about the possibility of a multi-day cleanup / missions trip to Western North Carolina. More to come, but if you are interested in this possibility, please contact Pastor Kyle (kyle@firstonfifth.org).
This will be a long road to recovery for our neighbors in the west, and we will surely continue our support over the weeks and months ahead. Thank you for these tangible modes of support and for embodying the words and spirit conveyed in The Servant Song hymn:
We are travelers on a journey
Fellow pilgrims on the road
We are here to help peach other
walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ light for you
in the nighttime of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.