“On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.’” John 7:37-38
Ghana Water and Wellness Virtual 5K
Kettering Baptist Church Legacy Center (KBC) will host a “Ghana Water and Wellness Virtual 5K,” on September 18-20.
“In 2018 and 2019, our Missions Ministry was able to serve and carry out the Great Commission in Cape Coast, Ghana,” shared Christina Farmer, a member of KBC. 
“During that time, we connected with a local pastor who took us to a local village with over 1000 souls. Located on the edge of a national forest, this village has no access to clean or running water.” Farmer was part of the 2019 team and was cut to the heart to see the incredible burden. “Local villagers have to walk for miles to obtain water from a stream shared with wild animals, which often causes illness and, at times, death.”
The purpose of the virtual 5K is to raise funds to develop a water well and provide health and wellness supplies to this village.
The walk or run, coordinated by Missions Ministry Chair, Heather Chapman, can take place any day or time between Sept. 18-20. Additionally, consider joining for a special live event on Saturday, Sept. 19, at noon.
All are welcome to participate or to make a monetary donation. Register online.
Clinton Baptist Church members give school supplies to locals in the community to help children transition to online learning.
Follow the progress on Facebook and Instagram @ketteringlegacycenter and the event hashtags #GhanaVirtual5K and #KBCLegacyCenter for updates.
For additional questions about this event, email missions@ketteringministries.org or visit the church website ketteringministries.org (submitted by Christina Farmer).
“Grab N’ Go” School Supply Giveaway
On August 30, dozens of members from Clinton Baptist Church (CBC) in Maryland, led by Senior Pastor Colin Pugh, II and First Lady Jeanette Pugh, packed and distributed more than 150 bags of school supplies to families who lined up in cars in front of the church.
The bags contained dry erase boards, headphones, notebooks, pens, pencils, paper, folders and other essential school needs to help families with children with the transition to online learning.
CBC’s vision is “We Grow, We Serve, We Love.” Members expressed their service and love by giving away school supplies to their community (news adapted from press release submitted by Tamara Drummer).
Churches partner for ministry
Severna Park Baptist Church (SPBC) members headed west to deliver supplies to Bruce Outreach Center (BOC) in Westernport, Maryland. The team took bags of clothes for BOC’s clothing ministry and school supplies to fill 70 backpacks
Members of Severna Park Baptist church delivered school supplies and clothes to Bruce Outreach Center. They also delivered blankets provided by Faith Baptist Church in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
for BOC’s homeschool ministry. The SPBC team also delivered bags of quilts for a BOC nursing home ministry, provided by Faith Baptist Church in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
“We are blessed to have so many friends and partners,” said Steffan Carr, BOC’s senior pastor.
Tim Bonner retires from Army
Tim Bonner, the pastor of Georgia Avenue Baptist Church, in Silver Spring, Maryland, retired from the US Army on July 13. He served in the Army as a chaplain for over 30 years. Two ceremonies took place at Fort Myer Army Base in Virginia on June 25. One ceremony was a group retirement commemoration and the other was a private awards ceremony.
Quotable Quotes
Georgia Avenue Baptist Church Pastor Tim Bonner retired from the U.S. Army after serving for 30 years.
“There is no promise God cannot keep, no prayer God will not answer, and no problem too hard for Him to solve.” Adrian Rogers
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.” D.L. Moody
History Bites
Clifton Thomas became the became executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (BCM/D) in 1949. During his leadership, the number of churches and missions increased from 105 to 178; membership rose from about 27,000 to 47,000; and the newspaper circulation increased more than fivefold from 2,200 to 12,000. Cooperative Program gifts rose from $109,000 in his first year to $350,000 in his last, before Roy Gresham succeeded him as the executive director in 1958.
In 1989, the BCM/D headquarters relocated from Lutherville to new Baptist Center in Columbia, Maryland.
(Adapted from Gofwd, A Southern Baptist Retrospective, a special feature publication of BaptistLIFE.)
Cover Photo: A member of Clinton Baptist Church gives a bag of school supplies to a family during the church’s “Grab N’ Go” school supply giveaway (photo submitted by Clinton Baptist Church).