Faithfulness and Generosity
Thank you for giving during the second quarter of 2014. Because of your generosity, God has multiplied your gifts in tangible ways, filling the lives of children physically and spiritually.
When I wrote to you in April at the end of the first quarter, we were off to a slow start financially and slightly below our giving from last year. Now our giving has increased 6.7% from last year at this same time. This increase not only overcame our first quarter but has now given us solid footing in the summer. Thank you so much, and praise the Lord!
Received as of June 30 Budget Needs as of June 30
2013 $1,207,143 $1,338,735
2014 $1,289,726 $1,464,684
Let me share just one example of the tangible ways your giving has touched lives. On June 7, the Youth Choir Tour was finishing their mission tour, and Vacation Bible School was about to begin. That same day, by giving to the operating budget, you provided 3,600 meals to hungry children in Leon County through a partnership called “A Full Summer.” Over 120 FBC volunteers prepared meals for hungry children in Leon County Schools. It was a hands-on mission trip across the generations. One of those volunteers was Leah Larsen.
Leah is a 4th grader at Sealy Elementary. She’s been very active in our church over the last few months and has a wonderful legacy here. Betty Lake is her great grandmother. On Mother’s Day, she was baptized into the fellowship of First Baptist. “A Full Summer” was her first mission project since her baptism. She managed the funnel while bagging beans and rice. She served beside her friend, Sarah Grace Dodson; her mom, Jennifer; Sarah Grace’s mother, Laurie; and Susan Stahl. On their team were also friends from our neighbors and partner church, St. John’s Episcopal. Each team of 10-12 formed an assembly line to sack, bag, weigh, seal, and box various food items.
We partnered with Hope4Haiti, a local organization that normally prepares food for a third world country. What they regularly do internationally, they equipped us to do locally. Becky Liner from First Baptist and Laurye Messer from St. John’s co-chaired the event. Second Harvest Food Bank distributes the meals to families in the county. Because half of children in public schools require meal assistance during the school year, this day multiplies quickly.
When Jesus fed over 5,000 hungry people in John 6, a little child brought 5 loaves and 2 fish. He brought the food to Jesus, and Jesus distributed the food. On this day, First Baptist, St. John’s, and Hope4Haiti brought the food, Jesus blessed it, and disciples like Leah prepared the food for distribution. The miracle is multiplying in Leon County this
summer.
Because of your faithfulness, we’ll be able to knock out several projects that are overdue. In the days ahead, our roof project will begin. We will be installing new gutters on the sanctuary as a part of this work. We have leased two new 15-passenger buses from Carpenter Bus Company in Nashville and traded in the old ones. They’re already being put to use on the Builder’s for Christ Trip and Fifth Grade trip. The cost to repair the old ones were exceeding the replacement costs. This is good stewardship and fits our current budget plan.
Your budget gifts make these and so many other ministries possible. Thank you for loving our church the way you love Tallahassee.