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FBC back from mission trip

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By Kathy Thomson

Six adult members of First Baptist Church’s mission team, along with three youth workers, spent the first week of July in Del Rio repairing a building during the congregation’s annual summer mission trip.

“We had a good trip,” said team leader Dinty Bowman. “We were working in an old church building that is being utilized to teach young children things like hygiene including hand washing and brushing teeth, basic reading, and art.”

The church building was old, rundown, and needed some TLC, according to Bowman.

“We replaced the doors and changed the double front doors into a single door, took the ceiling out of the big room and installed new lights, taped and floated and replaced some of the plaster, and installed some electrical outlets so that they no longer needed to use extension cords to plug in window air conditioner units,” said Bowman. “Plugging air conditioners into an extension cord just isn’t safe.”

Around 15 children six years of age and younger currently attend the program at the old church building, and the local mission group took them a bunch of art supplies.

The FBC workers stayed at a location they worked on two summers ago.

“We stayed with Granny B,” said Bowman. “She can handle up to around 24 people, and it sure beats sleeping on the floor or even staying in a motel. All you have to take are your clothes.”

Bowman said that the group uses the furnished kitchen and brings ice and frozen casseroles with them to help keep down expenses.

First Baptist Church members have often traveled for hours, driving or flying out of state or even out of the country on mission projects, but they also tackle projects here in Albany. 

“We need some new blood to join us,” added Bowman. “Several of us are in our 70s, and we could use a fresh influx with the same kind of enthusiasm we have been running on for the 25 or so years that we have been doing missions.”

Bowman said that the building projects done by the mission team help change lives and open hearts toward God.

“You may not ever see the end result, but you’ve planted a seed,” Bowman said. “Once we accept Jesus as Lord, aren’t all of us supposed to be missionaries, planting seeds, watering, and/or harvesting for God.”

In addition to Bowman, others who went on the Del Rio trip were Ramona and John Ross Reames, Rick Davis, Kathy Herrell, Karen Young, David Hardin, Landry Reames, and Riley Reames.

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