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The Mobile Baptist
December 2021 - February 2022
Volume 24 Issue 4
MBA Office Closings:
December 23 - January 3 - Christmas and New Year's
January 17 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
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Stay informed of news and events within the MBA by clicking here and signing up for the weekly email News Alerts.
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International Ministries News and Events
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THANK YOU!
Mobile Baptists, you continue to bless as you give selflessly to help reach Internationals who frequent the Port of Mobile or live here. The annual Walk for Bibles and International Ministries was held October 16. At the central location, Medal of Honor Park, 143 people participated. Additionally, some churches gathered their own groups and walked for Bibles and International Ministries elsewhere. To date, more than $12,500 has been received.
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These funds are vital to the work of reaching internationals here in Mobile County. Year to date, we have visited 705 ships, given 801 English NT Bible packs, and given 857 International Language Bibles. This would not be possible without your generosity. Thank YOU! God gets the glory!
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Because of your support, we have also provided free shopping transportation for at least 1,134 Seafarers. We have assisted in coordinating COVID-19 Vaccinations for more than 1,300 Seafarers. We could not do this without you! I am amazed at how the LORD has used you to bless internationals here in Mobile. –Gerald Burch, Director of International Ministries and Church Planting
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International Ministries (IM) staff have begun putting together the Christmas gifts for seafarers. The goal is gifts for 80 ships, which is 1, 680 gifts. If you or your small group have free time the next few weeks, we ask you to join us in putting together these special gifts. Each Monday and Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. to noon the gifts are assembled. If you or your small group are available at other times, please contact IM at 251-433-7953 to schedule a time you can help put together gifts.
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Sharing Hope Conference
January 30, 2022 - January 31, 2022
Dauphin Way Baptist Church
3661 Dauphin Street, Mobile, AL 36608
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Early Bird Tax Conference
Thursday, December 9, 2021
9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, Prattville and Online
What tax changes will be taking place in the New Year? This conference will help answer questions to get you started outright. For questions, contact Lee Wright at lwright@alsbom.org; 334.613.2241.
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This conference will be offered both in person and online! If you choose to take part online, feel free to come and go as needed to listen to the sessions that are most helpful for you.
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10:00 a.m. What’s New?
10:15 a.m. Year End Procedures – Jo Ellen Johnson
11:15 a.m. IRS Forms and What is Taxable
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1:00 p.m. Contributions, Designated Contributions and Substantiation
2:00 p.m. Minister Housing Allowance and Accountable Reimbursements
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Church Tax Conference
Monday, January 24, 2022
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Mobile Baptist Association office
(616 Azalea Road)
Taxes will never be simple. Let us help you navigate the complexity. This conference will cover several special emphases’ including IRS forms & deadlines, what is taxable, special tax rules about Ministers and housing allowance and contribution rules. Get the latest updates on tax changes affecting ministers, staff and churches. You will receive a packet filled with information directed at ministers, church employees, and the church itself.
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Minister's Tax Conference
Monday, February 21, 2022
9:00 a.m. - Noon
MBA Office (616 Azalea Road)
How can ordained ministers save tax dollars? Ministers, financial secretaries, personnel, and finance committees will benefit from this conference.
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All Ministers and their spouses are invited to a time of celebration and recognition for all the hard work you do. The dinner event will be Monday, February 7, 2022. Time and place will be announced soon. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for further details.
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Don't miss the 59th annual conference of the Alabama Association of Baptist Secretaries (AABS). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 conference was postponed until 2022. This 3 night and 3 day conference is packed full of classes to help you on the job as well as classes to lift your spirits. There is great fellowship with like minded people from across Alabama. Visit alabamabaptistsecretaries.com or facebook.com/1AABS for all the details.
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Camp Whispering Pines is available for all your groups, small and large. Contact us today at 251-866-7868.
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A GREAT WAY TO START THE YEAR!!
Revolution Camp 2022
January 15-17, 2022
for students who have completed grades 6-12
Early Bird price: $99 (if registered by December 15, 2021)
Full price: $109
Deadline to register, with a $50 deposit, is December 31, 2021.
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This Camp Relief Fund is essential for the camp to survive. CWP will run out of money next month. If your church has not yet participated in the Covid related Relief Fund, please do so now.
THANK YOU to all who have given thus far.
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December 2021 to February 2022 Wright Word
Thomas Wright, Associational Missionary
Emphasizing Biblical Prayer, Evangelistic Ministries, Church Development, Church Planting, Partnership Missions
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Stay on Task
Nehemiah 6:3 records, “So I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?’” (HCSB) Distractions easily refocus us from the Biblical Task to less important issues. Please do not allow distractions to compromise the eternal work.
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What is the biblical task?
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BIBLICAL TASK: The MBA Executive Committee has endorsed five biblical emphases. 1) Biblical Prayer, 2) Evangelistic Ministries, 3) Church Development, 4) Church Planting and 5) Partnership Missions. In which of these are you personally involved? Which of these are strongest in your church? Which are weakest?
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Three dangerous distractions seem to be keeping believers from praying for, and sharing Jesus with everyone in Mobile County.
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- COVID DISTRACTION: Each church is struggling to satisfy the maskers and anti-maskers, the vaccers and anti-vaccers. Many people are praying for the pandemic to end. The more appropriate prayer request may be to learn the spiritual lessons and cry out for our nation to turn to Jesus.
- BUILDINGS DISTRACTION: In Matthew 24:1-2 Jesus warned the spiritual elite their precious Temple would not survive. They had grown too committed to the temporary and too unconcerned about the eternal. Their commitment to a building distracted them from their commitment to reach people. God removed the distraction.
- MEDIA DISTRACTION: The abundance of spurious news and media outlets has caused many to lose discernment. We are distracted by too much time in news we cannot trust and too little time in the Word of God that deserves absolute trust! The Lord is doing a great work through Mobile Baptists. Please help us make an eternal difference through those five emphases.
EMERGENCY CWP Relief Fund to Offset Crippling Pandemic Losses
Thank you to the 25 churches and 46 individuals that helped raise $50,552 to keep CWP open. Please pass the word to individuals who have been blessed by CWP and want to see the ministry continue. We had 32 decisions in just one week during the summer.
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Please help encourage the other 90 MBA churches who have not yet responded. The goal of $120,000 is still needed to bring in a new director and provide for ministry expenses. We currently anticipate enough funding to remain open until the end of November.
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We prefer our churches use the camp instead of us having to fund raise. We had a good summer, but we are still under required summer income. CWP already would have closed without a PPP loan and MBA underwriting from savings. Our savings accounts are dangerously depleted.
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Please review the year to date receipts report. Our ministries thrive through the sacrificial support of so many churches. Many church members are surprised to learn their church provides no, or minimal support, to the Cooperative Program nor the MBA.
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Mobile Baptist Association Emphasizing:
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