BECAUSE YOU GIVE…… we are able to partner with the Virginia Baptist Mission Board in expanding God’s Kingdom in Panama!

Communion Meditation

“Surely Not I, Lord?”

Matthew 26:20-25

Feburary 5, 2012

On Sun, Feb. 5, 2012,

As many of you have heard, our mission trip to Oma in the Chiriqui in Panama has not gone quite according to plan. Last Tuesday, before we arrived, a group of natives blocked the Pan American highway at/around the town of San Felix in protest of a bill now going through the Panamanian government. As I understand it, the lands on the native reservations are currently protected by law from mining. This current legislation would lift that protection and open the door for new mining operations on this resource rich lands. In protest, the natives have blocked the road with downed trees, large boulders, and lots of people. We learned of the protest as soon as we arrived on Wednesday. It was clear that the road block and miles of blocked and stuck traffic would prevent us from traveling to the Chiriqui. We rearranged our itinerary and waited several days in hopes that the situation would be resolved and the road would be opened allowing us to travel to the Chiriqui and begin our work. This was not to be. The clash between the protesters and the government continues to escalate and our window of opportunity for going to Oma is now closed.

Over the past several days, our team and mission liaisons have been working with the Panama Baptist Convention leadership on several contingency plans. These include working on the Baptist Seminary where we are now staying that is in much need of repair, helping several members of the churches lead by the Panama leaders, and potentially other projects later in the week as things continue to fall into place. There is much need in this area, the challenge is that though all of these churches could use help, none of them anticipated our help and so are having to make up time to get projects in order.

Here is our present challenge – our team members, with the help of Missions funding from the cell tower fund, paid the VBMB for travel, lodging, food, and other transportation. All of the building materials and tools that were allocated for the work sites in the Chiriqui did not come from the VBMB or our team, but from the Panama Baptist Convention and other donors. This means that even though our teams did not make it to the Chiriqui, the money for those projects is still allocated for the Chiriqui, and those projects will be completed by future groups. This also means that even though there are contingency plan work sites for our team this week, because they were not anticipated, they were not budgeted for.

Essentially at this point everyone is improvising and working creatively to identify helpful projects and also secure funding for those projects. As we began work at the seminary last Thursday, after some dialogue with our mission liaisons, it was clear that the seminary and convention leadership had a great desire for us to accomplish the work, but did not have the funding to provide the tools and materials. Before we left, the missions council graciously allocated $1,500 for our team to use on the ground for “unexpected expenditures”. At this point we have spent aprox. $500 of that money on tools and supplies in order to keep people working.

As we reorient our mission for the week and set our sites on the seminary the question remains how we can fund the work here. There are two issues at hand. The first is a question of how much we would want to contribute to the improvement of the seminary and other local projects. While these are important projects, until this week they were not any concern of Second Baptists. However, the second issue is more pressing – without additional funding 13 guys who gave hours of prayer and preparation and 10 days away from work and family to serve in Panama will essentially be tasked with low budget “touch-up” projects for the remainder of our time here. These teams have come to terms with the fact that we have missed out on our adventure in the Chiriqui. Now they are ready to work and work on something substantial. They have come along way and sacrificed much to be here, I am hoping that we can make this trip worthwhile for everyone by providing the funding necessary for the task.
There were so many hopes and expectations coming into this trip that will remain unfulfilled, and at this point that is very difficult to swallow. But we all also understand that so many things are out of our hands, and we are trying to understand God’s will in these present circumstances. We are determined to give our all to whatever opportunities come our way with the hopes that our work here is meaningful, appreciated, and a benefit to the kingdom of God. We are ready to give this our all . . . .

Since we are staying at the seminary for the remainder of our time in Panama, I do have access to the internet and can check and respond to emails. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the work here in Panama or my request for additional funding, please send me an email and I will respond as I am able.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. After everything we prepared for, for this trip, none of us would have ever anticipated something like this happening. Morale is still high – but these guys came to work and are getting restless. Please pray for a good and productive week. Pray for clarity, quality communication, and decisiveness on the part of our Panamanian hosts. Pray that they understand our deep desire to work and serve and that they continue to develop good projects through the week.

A brief aside of praise – this morning we traveled to a small village to worship at a Baptist church predominantly made up of the Kuna people of Panama. The Kuna are another indigenous tribal group the VBMB is working with. We were so blessed and enjoyed meeting the people and playing with the children. You should have seen all of our rough, burly construction working men turn into big softies around these kids. It was truly a kingdom moment. Our plan is to return to this village later in the week and spend an afternoon with the children playing games, soccer, frisbee, and other activities. Worship with the Kuna this morning was certainly a highlight!
Thank you all for your support. Keep up the prayers!

Welford

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On Fri, Feb. 3, 2012 at 11:28 PM,

Subject: Friday Recap

Good eveninf familia y amigos,

Today has been a prodcutive day. We spent the day working at the seminary. Though there is much to do we were challenged by the fact that we wanted to be able to leave as soon as the roads opened so we did not want to start any projects we could not finish in a few hours. So our orders were to help – but not too much! Some scraped and power washed exterior walls to prepare for painting, others repaired and redid questionable to dangerous electircal wiring, some repaired floors and stairs with cement, while still others hung sheet rock. Tomorrow we will work here one more day as we wait again on the road – then it will be make or break time and if circumstances do not change, we will have to make difficult decisions tomorrow night about where we will be working for the rest of the week.

A little history on the seminary. The Panama Baptist Theological Seminary was formed in the 1950′s by what was then the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. It later fell under the care of the International Mission Board until the mid-90′s when the SBC began to change their philosophy on foreign missions. Much more emphasis was placed on church planting and leadership development through theological training was abandoned. The SBC stopped funding the seminary and the school was not in a position to support its operations and maintenance costs on its own. As a result, the building has deteriorated for more than 15 years and the faculty and academic programs have struggled. Some time after the Panama Baptist Convention took up office space in te seminary. The convention and seminary are not directly offiliated, but share a friendly relationship. Similar to the way that CBF Virginia has office space at BTSR even though BTSR is not an explicitly CBF school. To make that long story short, Since Virginia Baptists partner with the Panama Baptist Convention, the seminary allows missionaries to use the dormitory facilities greatly reducing the cost of living for groups and individuals that come through. The seminary will require 100′s of thousands of dollars of facilities repairs and updates to get where they hope to be, if they ever can make it. It is sad to see this once thriving school falling apart and struggling to find teachers and students. It begs the question – who will pastor the churches that were planted by the faithful missionaries 20 years ago? So we are happy to save the school money and time with our free labor over a few days.

An update on the roads: The UN is now involved, so this is not looking good. Apparently, frustrated motorists are blocking Red Cross workers from getting aid to hungry/thirsty protestors. There have been some altercation as well. The president is calling the protest leaders to come to Panama City, but they are insisting they will only negotiate on their own turf. Many are without water and have trouble getting medical assistants.

I do want to make clear some things – 1) we are in no danger. This unrest is hundreds of miles from us and other than preventing us from reaching our mission site, has no noticable bearing on our week. 2) Though the protest is related to the Ngobe people and their lands, the protestors are extremists and many of them are also hired protestors who are not even part of the Ngobe people group but are paid to protest. We want to make sure that as we continue to pray for the mission sites and as we consider future teams, that this incident does not negatively affect our view of this people group or our desire to want to return at a future time and serve them. This is an unfortunate turn of events, but does not mean that the Chiriqui is a dangerous place.

Some fun news – this evening, after the work was finished we were feeling a little playful. So Jerry, Russ, Scott, Glenn and I – along with some friends from Orange – explored the seminary grounds in search of fresh fruit. What luck! We found a banana tree with a bunch hanging from it – 20-30 bananas. Jerry and Russ made short work of this and the bunch came down. Delicious bananas. The rest will ripen and be enjoyed with breakfast and meals tomorrow. We also found a cocunut tree with coconuts within the reach of our 36′ extension ladder. We maxed out the ladder, but Glenn and I were able to bring down some fresh coconuts. One of our Panamanian friends – Omar – is a native islander and was able to open the coconuts for us. We all gathered and shared bananas and coconuts right out of the tree – Panamanian rite of passage.

At this point we are giving ourselves one more day to wait. If the situation does not change by tomorrow night, we will have no choice but to pull the plug on our Oma trip. There will simply not be enough time left to make the trip and accomplish the work. It will be a sad decision to make, but necessary in order that we not waste more time spinning our wheels. Once we are reassigned, we will be able to poor our strength and heart into whatever project we are given with as much enthusiasm as we would have given in Oma. We are all convinced that God has us here for a reason, and that we are here, and not in Oma for a reason. We are grateful that the protests happened when they did, and not while we were already on the road to Oma. We are grateful that we continue to strengthen our relationships with the guys from Orange and with our Panamanian hosts – Omar (see coconut story) is an incredible young man with a very inspiring story you will certainly hear at another time. Moises and Antonio work with the convention and seminary respectively and have been great new friends. We still have 7 days to serve and make friends and we will make the most of those days wherever we are called to go. But we are not giving up hope. Though the protests and roadblocks seem like insurmountable obstacles (literally) we know that miracles can happen and this can be resolved tomorrow. If the road block is moved tomorrow, we will get an early nights sleep Sat and hit the road super early Sunday to be in Oma by 9-10am. This is our hope, and our prayer.

Thank you for your continued prayers. They are felt and appreciated.

We are all healthy and blessed. You are all dearly missed and loved.

Peace,

Welford

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On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 7:15 AM,

Good morning all. I drafted this up last night but the internet was no longer available when I finished. Have a great day!

Good evening all,

We had an eventful day in Panama city. We spent the morning in old town Panama near the president’s palace and the old french fort overlooking the mouth of the canal. After lunch we visited the Panama canal and watched a Pan Max travel through the locks. A pan max is the largest ship that can pass through the canal. It leaves only .5 meters on each side.

This evening we enjoyed a great worship/hymn sing time with our new friends and brothers from Orange Baptist. A positive consequence of our being stuck here for 2 days is that we have made 5 new friends. They are great guys and we are all enjoying one another’s company.

The latest on the highway: unfortunately the road is still blocked and we will be here another day at the seminary. The government is unwilling to resolve the issue by force but not wanting to negotiate with the protesters. Both lanes are blocked in both directions. Vehicles are unable to even turn around and go back. Travelers and truckers have been stuck on the highway for more than 36hours. People are hungry, tired, and angry. Produce and perishables that were on the trucks are wasting. People are being fed from these trucks. The country has lost millions already in only 1.5 days. We continue to pray the road will be opened. As soon as we receive word we will make our plans to head to Oma and begin our work. Our other prayer is that the situation with the protests does not escalate to violence, injury, or worse before it is resolved.

The good news is that there is more than enough work to do here at the seminary and we will get to work here tomorrow. The seminary has not been well maintained over the past 60 years and there is much to fix – weeks worth of projects. We will work here until the road is cleared.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. We have been reminded so clearly that even when we have the best plans in order, there is still so much that is out of our control. So we stay flexible and celebrate each blessing we receive that would not have been possible had everything gone according to plan.

Please pray for continued strength and patience for our team. Pray that we would be helpful at the seminary tomorrow and that we would grow closer with our brothers from Orange. Pray for the Ngobe people and that we might have the opportunity to meet them soon. Pray for one another as we are away.

We are all healthy and blessed. You are all dearly missed. We love you all!
Peace,
Welford
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sign Up Today for the High School Ski Trip to Wintergreen. We will leave Friday afternoon, spend the night at the Richardson’s Wintergreen home, ski all day Saturday, and come home Saturday night after dinner.

This is a wonderful time of fun and fellowship with our High School friends. The cost covers food and rentals/lift tickets for those who wish to ski.

What to bring? - bring a sleeping bag, change of clothing, a trash bag for wet stuff, your Bible and pen, pillow, deoderant and toothbrush and paste.  Because of the numbers who attend, showers will not be an option, so take a bath before you leave!  Plan on bringing your swim suit as the hot tub will be available as well!  For those that want to hang out and not ski, bring your favorite movie or game. You will need to bring money for lunch on Saturday at the resort.

Here is our schedule for the weekend -

Friday, March 2

4:30 p.m.   Leave Second Baptist

6:00 p.m.   Arrive at Wintergreen

6:30 p.m.   Dinner

11:30 p.m. Lights Out!

Saturday, March 3

7:00 a.m.   Breakfast

8:00 a.m.   Travel to Ski Lodge to get rentals and lift tickets

9:00 a.m.   Slopes open

12:00 noon Lunch on your own

4:30 p.m.    Slopes close and head to house for dinner

7:00 p.m.    Pack and leave from Wintergreen

9:30 p.m.    Arrive home at Second Baptist

Here is the information on the cost -

Cost:

$115 lift/rental/food

$80 lift/food

$55 rental/food

$20  food only

Tubing info.

If you want to tube instead, you can buy a ticket on line for $28 for a 2-hour block of time.

Deposit $40 ($25 for those who are not hitting the slopes) due on Feb 26th.

Forms – all participants must have the following forms turned in before we depart on the 2nd

1. General_Permission_Form_2011_2012

2. High School Ski Trip Brochure/Permission Form

3. Wintergreen Assumption of Risk Waiver – for everyone under the age of 18

Sign up Now!

Save the date! 

Spring 2012

February 22 – Ash Wednesday Service

April 1 – 6  – Holy Week Services

• Noon Services, held in the Chapel
• Lunch will be serviced following each service (price TBD)

April 5 – Maundy Thursday Service

April 8 – Easter Sunday

• 6:45 AM Sunrise Service
• 7:30 AM Sunrise Celebration Breakfast
• 8:45 AM Early Easter Service – Sanctuary
• 9:45 AM Sunday School for all ages
• 11:00 AM Late Easter Service – Sanctuary
• All are welcome to bring a flower and help us decorate the cross outside of the Sanctuary befor ethe Easter Worship Services! 

May 23 – Children’s Choir Program

Summer at Second 2012

June 25 – 29 – Vacation Bible School

July 11 - August 17 - CLC Play Dates

• For Childrens ages 2 through entering Kindergarten.
• Meets Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; 9AM – 12Noon
• $80.00 per week
• Register through the CLC Website
• For more information call Susan Hill at 740-9342 or email her at shil@clcrichmond.org

July 16 – 20 – Music Week at Eagle Eyrie (Contact Judy Mawyer for more details)

The first Lakewood Manor trip this year will be on Wednesday, February 8^th, for the Melody Makers Choir (gr. 1 & 2) and the Music Makers Choir (gr. 3).  As usual they go to their choir rooms at 6:20 and return from our trip around 7:30 p.m.  Our mission groups also prepare something to take to these friends.  We do need a signed permission slip returned to their choir leader as soon as possible if you child plans to go.  (Extras will be in their rooms and at the commons desk.)  This form is necessary for your child to be allowed to ride the bus. Please also provide an email address in case there are any last minute changes because of weather.

Your precious children are weekly reminders of God’s gift of singing.  We are so thankful for your children and for your commitment to our children’s music ministry at Second Baptist.

Children’s Sermons III

“Esau, the Shortsighted”

Genesis 25:29-34

January 22, 2012

We have a full summer planned of great missions opportunities for all of our students – grades 6th-12th. Take a look at each of these trips and prayerfully consider joining us as we travel near and far in faithful response to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19)

Download – 2012 Student Ministries Summer Missions Hot-Sheet

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Impact Panama!

This is our 11th and 12th grade international trip. This year we are partnering with the Virginia Baptist Mission Board and traveling to Panama with Impact Panama!

June 23^rd – July 1^st

-          Cost – $375

-          Eligibility –

• volunteer for at least 2 Upward Basketball Concession (or coaching/commissioner) shifts
• maintain %75 average attendance for Sunday School and Youth Connection beginning in 2012
• participate in 3 hour long (aprox.) pre-trip planning meetings held on Sunday afternoons after church – dates TBD

-          Forms/Information (check back soon)

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Passport Choices

Passport choices is open to all 6th-12th grade students. It is a week of worship, Bible study, service projects and fun and games! Hosted by Wingate University in Wingate, NC (30 east of Charlotte) this is a great trip for all ages and experiences. It is an especially good intro trip for students new to week-long trips away from home.

July 8^th – July 13^th

-          Cost – $325

-          Eligibility

• We’ll take anyone! Just sign up and come!

-          Forms/Information (check back soon) -
-          Register for Passport Choices Online Here!!!

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C.L.U.E. Camp – NYC Mission

CLUE camp is open to all completed 9^th-12^th grade students. We will spend a week with the staff of Metro Baptist Church in Manhattan and Greater Restoration Baptist Church in Brooklyn leading CLUE camp, a day camp for local children. We stay in the living quarters of Metro Baptist, only a few blocks from Time Square and enjoy many low budget outings to explore the city.

July 21 – July 28

-          Cost – $250 = ($150 registration fee and $100 activity fee for NYC group activities.)

-          Eligibility

• Complete C.L.U.E. Camp application and be accepted by planning team for participation
• maintain %75 average attendance for Sunday School and Youth Connection beginning in 2012
• participate in 3 hour long (aprox.) pre-trip planning meetings held on Sunday afternoons after church – dates TBD
• participate in site specific planning meetings as needed and determined by the team to prepare for the week of camp

-          Forms/Information – C.L.U.E. Camp 2012 Student Application (DUE Feb. 15th – team will be decided and notified by Feb. 29th)