Mobile Baptist Association

Please include the news and opportunities presented here in your bulletins, church newsletters, or on your bulletin boards.

MBA NEWS ALERTS

• EMERGENCY DR TRAINING OPPORTUNITY SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

• HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS

• HELPING SURVIVORS OF HURRICANE HARVEY

• EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

• #PRAYERWALKMOBILE CATCH UP DAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2017

• PREPARING FOR RETIREMENT SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

• ANNUAL MISSIONS CELEBRATION OCTOBER 1, 2017

• METRO MOBILE BAPTIST CAMPUS MINISTRIES

• CAMP WHISPERING PINES EVENTS - SEE YOU AT THE POLE RALLY AND GIRLS AND BOYS WEEKENDS

Emergency DR Training Opportunity September 12, 2017

Hurricane Preparedness

Hurricane Irma's uncertain track means local Emergency Management has begun preparation for a possible Cat 4. It would be wise to beat the rush and make preliminary arrangements. Be prepared for three to five days without electricity. Get your propane, fill gas tanks and prescriptions, gather water, batteries and non-perishable food. Check your generator and locate the boards for the windows. One of the many good preparation lists is available at http://hurricanesafety.org/prepare/hurricane-safety-checklists/.

Helping Survivors of Hurricane Harvey

MBA Disaster Relief (DR) is monitoring and coordinating Hurricane Harvey Response in Texas and Louisiana. Please contact Carolyn Battle, MBA Volunteer DR Coordinator or any of the MBA staff,  disasterrelief@mobilebaptists.org, 251-661-7111.

Coordinating Response
MBA DR has identified Houston churches needing help and willing to serve as a hub for community evangelistic ministry. Let us know if you are looking for a place to send teams after the water recedes. Please also let us know if you have identified a location and can partner with other MBA churches for supplies and volunteers. By supplies, we mean gift cards unless specific lists have been provided by specific locations.

Current Assignments
SBC Incident Management (Admin) Teams, Chaplains, Feeding, Laundry/Shower, Communications, Chain saw, Water Purification and Cleanup/Recovery/Mud-out teams are on site or on the way.

Financial Donation Options
Giving through Southern Baptist Disaster Relief ensures volunteers willing to meet spiritual as well as physical needs. One hundred percent of the gifts go to the disaster; a very important question to ask as you look at the groups asking for your donations. Your church financial secretary can include a Disaster Relief designation on your monthly Remittance form used to send CP and Associational missions tithes. Write in “DR-Texas” on the line “other designated gift” and designate the amount. You can also give online or send a check via www.SBCDR.org/Texas or http://sbtexas.com/evangelism/disaster-relief/hurricane-harvey-dr-information/.You can also donate through the North American Mission Board by texting SENDRELIEF to 41444 and aid the residents on the Texas coast who are impacted by severe flooding from #HurricaneHarvey. https://t.co/tKT4OBvXqB.The MBA also can accept and process your financial donation designated to Texas DR.

Collecting Gift Cards
Please limit the collection and transportation of supplies to specific lists from specific locations. Instead of the actual items, please give gift cards so affected families can get the food they like, clothes that fit and cleaning supplies they prefer.People really like the satisfaction of putting a case of water (etc.) in a trailer to be hauled to a disaster affected area. But: 1) The needs change so rapidly that water (etc.) needed today is in surplus before collection and delivery can be made, 2) The cost of delivering the goods would be better used on current priority needs, 3) Delivered goods must be unloaded, stored and distributed. Gift cards are inexpensive to transport and are easy to store and distribute. Many Walmart stores are already reopened and listed on their website, as are Lowes and Home Depot, some using generator power.

Cards can be distributed by church staff in the partner churches, ensuring priority needs are met. Ask your donor to sign the cards with a sharpie to make them personal.

Trained and Untrained Teams
SBC credentialed volunteers are first to be assigned. We cannot begin until the home-owner and their insurance have given written approval. Teams closest to the disaster receive the first call up. These volunteers are trained in the safety and process protocols. Consistency allows subsequent teams to be functioning under the same parameters. FEMA/Homeland security is more likely to permit credentialed volunteers to have access to the disaster areas.

We are coordinating with host churches to use non-credentialed volunteers. Local training will be provided. Homeowners prefer knowing that the persons removing their sheetrock or trees have experience or training.

A word from Rick Lance, ALSBOM:

In this Hurricane Harvey relief update, Disaster Relief Strategist Mark Wakefield answers some of the questions Alabama Baptists are asking about how they can participate in the relief effort. Click on this link to watch it: https://youtu.be/2OVbrAU6D00

The post How Can You Participate in Hurricane Harvey Relief Efforts? appeared first on SBDR.

Watch our FB page for updates https://www.facebook.com/mobilebaptistassociation/.

Executive Committee Meeting September 11, 2017

Monday, September 11, 2017
11:30 a.m.
Government Street Baptist Church

for the Executive Committee meeting.

Please bring $5 p/person for lunch.

Every MBA church member is welcome. Every senior pastor is a member of the Executive Committee. Join us to help communicate why churches support Associational Missions.

• Enlistment Committee report

• Proposed 2018 MBA budget

• Report from #prayerwalkmobile

• Update from Future Focus Committee

• Report of upgrades and repairs at CWP

• International Ministries report

• Church Development report

• Metro Mobile Baptist Campus Ministries report 

***Our Executive Committee has overall responsibility for the directions, strategy, and processes of the MBA. It is composed of the general officers of the Association, the Executive Officer of each of the several Associational programs, the Chair of each standing committee, the pastors of the churches, and one lay member of each church in the Association having a membership of up to and including 1,000, and one additional member for each additional 1,000 members or fraction thereof, providing that no church shall have more than a total of four members.

#prayerwalkmobile Catch Up Day September 16, 2017

Preparing for Retirement September 19, 2017

Annual Missions Celebration (Annual Session) October 1, 2017

Annual Missions Celebration (Annual Session)
Sunday, October 1, 2017
4:45 p.m. - Displays, Dinner, and Children's Choir Rehearsal
5:45 p.m. - Pres-session music and Children's Mission Fair begins
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Missions Celebration

Crawford Baptist Church
3000 Sun Valley Drive, Mobile

ABBREVIATED FORMAT:

4:45 p.m. - Dinner, Displays, Registration, and Children's Choir Rehearsal

Meal Tickets:
Pulled pork or chicken, cheese and macaroni, baked beans, Cole slaw, and chocolate delight

Cost $10 p/person – Tickets must be purchased at the MBA office by Monday, September 18.

5:45 p.m. - Pre-session music and Children's Mission Fair begins ($2 per child for a pizza dinner)

6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Business, reports & presentations celebrating the results of your cooperative support of Associational Missions; including #prayerwalkmobile, a year long simultaneous effort to pray for the people on every street in Mobile County.

Children's Mission Fair for K5-6th grade - make reservations  with the MBA by NOON, Thursday, September 28. Please bring $2 per child for a pizza dinner.

***Childcare available for those younger than K5 upon making reservations with the MBA by NOON, Thursday, September 28.

Metro Mobile Baptist Campus Ministries