Knock, knock...

JOIN OTHER FREE WILL BAPTISTS TO IMPACT A COMMUNITY FOR CHRIST

by Richard Atwood

What is Operation Saturation?

Operation Saturation is a plan designed for groups and individuals to visit Home Missions churches and help them saturate their areas with information about their church. The last Saturday in September is traditionally set aside for this event. This year, September 24 is the day when many home missions churches will host this special gathering. This date is flexible, however, and some churches may choose another date that better fits their schedule of activities.

What can be accomplished in Operation Saturation?

You can share information about the newly established mission church with people in that area. Your visit greatly encourages the missionary and the new congregation. The people there realize that they are a part of something bigger than just their church; they are in the family of Free Will Baptists.

The visit and work will be a time of spiritual growth and blessing, both for you and your group. “Give, and it shall be given unto you...” Luke 6:38a.

Ken Akers, Master’s Men general director, and I will participate in two special Operation Saturation events this year.

Operation Saturation North will be September 17, 2005, at the Grace Free Will Baptist Church in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with home missionary John Reed.

Operation Saturation South will find us joining home missionary Rue Dell Smith and Landmark Free Will Baptist Church in Monroe, Louisiana, on October 8, 2005, for a time of fellowship and Christian work.

Plan now to get out of the house, get out of town, and help a home missionary this year! If you would like to participate in this challenge, please contact the home missionary of your choice to see when and how you can best be of help. You may also obtain missionary information by visiting www.FWBNAM.com.

Richard Atwood is director of missionary assistance for the Home Missions Department. Contact richard@nafwb.org

touching the heart of texas

One youth group makes a difference through Operation Saturation

by Eric Thomsen

Ka-thump. Ka-thump. Ka-thump. The rhythmic slap of tires against concrete created a hypnotic cadence across the long miles of northeastern Texas. I peered wearily through the van’s windshield at the heat waves rising ahead. With a yawn, I glanced in the rearview mirror. What I saw made me chuckle. All fourteen members of the youth group were sound asleep, contorted in every imaginable position. Sunburned faces, exhaustion, and wrinkled clothes marked the last day of an unforgettable trip to Houston, Texas—a trip to lend a hand to North Point Free Will Baptist Church. A trip one youth group member called “an irreplaceable memory.”

For a week, our schedule included work and outreach in the morning, Vacation Bible School at night . . . and fun all day long. We painted fences and classrooms, helped install an air conditioner, and built storage shelves. We handed out bottled water and information about North Point to motorists creeping along the busy highway. We turned the church into a desert island, played games and sang songs with VBS kids, and watched God work through our efforts. Lives were changed—our own most of all. Perhaps youth group member Jonathan Lawrence said it best. “Our trip was truly incredible. I never knew how much fun it could be to serve God. It was really amazing to see God working in the hearts of those kids.”

As I grinned at the sleeping kids in the mirror, I knew one thing was certain. Beneath the sunburn and wrinkled clothes were hearts that would never be the same.

Eric Thomsen is the youth pastor at Bethlehem Free Will Baptist Church in Ashland City, TN.

Get more information about Operation Saturation by visiting the Home Missions website at www.FWBNAM.com.