THE KINGDOM FOCUS

Ezekiel 40:4 “And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

“You guys are gonna make me cry,” Jessica said. Before I explain why let me tell you what led up to this. Five men set out on a journey to catch the vision God has for the city of Toronto. Two pastors, two church members and one God loving, sin fighting machine of a DOM. We had been told of the numbers: 7 million people, the most International city in North America, 96% of the people are unchurched, and 1 church per 103,319 people. How could a city be so lost? We heard even more terrifying information when we got there. It is better to have been born Catholic and never been to church than to claim to be a Christian. Let this sink in, most Millennials do not know one single verse of scripture. Their great grandpar-ents were the last generation to be heavily involved in church attendance. That’s three genera-tions that have been out of church. The fourth largest city in North America has a sin prob-

lem, but it also has a SEND prob-lem.

We left High Point Bap-tist Church at 3am on Monday morning so when we arrived after 12pm we were ready to explore, but even more important, we were ready to eat. Our journey began by walking through some of cleanest and most kind neighborhoods I’ve ever seen. There was a mixture of historical buildings and brand new skyscrapers, but soon there be-came a common theme on our walk. There displayed in the win-

dows, flying high above buildings, painted on the roads, and even on the road signs was the rainbow. We were hungry and yet completely surrounded in an area called, “the village.” During the tour it was pointed out that they have a month long celebration and about 2 million people come out for the pa-rade the city has. God set the tone. You are surrounded by sinful people who have no light. Who will God SEND? Find the complete report on the WBA website . Click on the newslet-ter link, then click on 2016 Toronto Vision Trip Report

Inside this issue:

WMU News 2

BCM Update 3

From the DOM 4

Pastor Appreciation Dinner 5

Prayer Retreats 6

Coastline Update 7

October 2016

Volume 33, Issue 10 2016 TORONTO VISION TRIP REPORT

Important Dates: October 9—Global Hunger Sunday

October 17—WBA Fall Quarterly Meeting, FBC Surfside, Meal at 6:00 p.m.; Meeting at 7:00 p.m.

October 17—National Bosses Day

October 30—DOM’s birthday

November 7—Baptist Women’s World Day of Prayer

November 15-16—SCBC Annual Meeting, Irmo, SC

November 14-21—Operation Christmas Child National Collec-tion Week

November 24-25—WBA office closed for Thanksgiving

Leaders, children in grades one through six, members of Waccamaw WMU Leadership Team, and volunteers gathered on Saturday, September 24, for the “Walk-a-thon for Janie”, a Season of Prayer for State Missions event. What better response for children (and adults) to learn obedience than YES, LORD! Led by members of the Waccamaw WMU, this year’s Walk-a-thon was held at the Conway Recreational Center and enjoyed by all. Fun, fellowship, and missions educa-tion included introductory activities, in-teraction, learning about missionaries and their ministries in South Carolina, prayer walking, hearing about Janie Chapman, history of State Missions, and giving for Janie. What a blessing when one says YES, LORD! Deep appreciation to mem-bers of the Waccamaw WMU leadership team and volunteers who made the event special! Plans for the fall include the Baptist Women’s World Day of Prayer event hosted by Maple Baptist Church on No-vember 7 (5:30 pm) and “We’re Here for You” (canned food drive) on Saturday, November 12 are in the making (take

study will be held in January 2017, so mark your calendars! Unscripted em-powers believers to shake off stale tech-niques and pick up the spiritual power needed for effective witnessing and meaningful relationship building. Continuing to raise awareness of and to share how churches can help individ-uals who suffer from post-traumatic stress will be a primary focus of Waccamaw WMU in the coming months as the Project HELP issue. Check out these SC WMU-sponsored events and plan to partici-pate: GA Super Saturday at Camp LaVida Oct 8 Carolina Girls Oct 21-23 Women’s Get Away Nov 4-5 We’re Here for You - Nov 12 Waccamaw WMU wishes great joy and tremendous success in all that you undertake during this church year! If there is any way in which we can help you, contact us through the Associ-ation Office. God bless, Peggy Jones, WMU Director

items to the WBA office). Please mark your calendars and plan to attend and participate in these special events. And don’t forget about OCC shoeboxes and prisoner packets! We provide Christ-mas packets for the J. Reuben Long Deten-tion Center and have committed to take 500 packets to Columbia. Help! “Walking the Talk” at Coastal is a wor-thy event as members prayer walk the cam-pus. Let us continue to pray for Coastal and HGTC, students, and staff. We are happy to participate and welcome opportunities to share with students. By All Means is the new emphasis for 2016–2018, and WMU will challenge Christ followers to: follow His example; step into the world around them; cultivate relationships; and create opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ. Watchword: “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Cor. 9:22b–23 NIV). Unscripted: Sharing the Gospel as Life Happens is the 2016 emphasis book. A

Page 2 THE KINGDOM FOCUS

C.I.T.Y.—CHURCH IN THE YARD

WMU NEWS

C.I.T.Y. (Church In The Yard) held their first evangelistic outreach on Septem-ber 10th in downtown Fair Bluff, N.C. The mission for C.I.T.Y. is to not just "go" to church but to "BE" the church. This ministry is not focused on one church, ministry or personalities. It is all about having a heart to reach people, build the kingdom and take the Gospel right where people are. On September 10th, God fulfilled that vision. We saw God move through the evening in worship and in the Word that was preached. There were bounce houses for the children, food, and tons of fun and activities all evening long. C.I.T.Y. Band brought us into worship and Pastor Aaron Butler from Spring-field Baptist Church, Loris S.C. gave the Gospel message. God blessed this event with 249 in attendance, 75 food boxes given to needy families, and 68 workers

from area churches. Most importantly we saw 7 decisions for Christ! To God be the glory!!

C.I.T.Y's next outreach is planned for October 15th, in Nichols, S.C. at the amphi-theater. The event is from 5pm to 7pm. Please connect with us on Facebook to find out what God might do through His serv-ants who want to build the kingdom.

https://www.facebook.com/Churchintheyard/ (Contributed by Pastor Nate Watts, Spring Branch Baptist)

MINISTERS SEMINAR WBA Fall Quarterly Meeting

Monday, October 17, 2016

FBC Surfside Beach 711 16th Avenue N.

Surfside Beach, SC 295754

Meal at 6:00 p.m. ($5.00 per person

payable at the door)

Meeting at 7:00 p.m.

Special Guest: Tom Tucker, President of the South Carolina

Baptist Convention

Call the WBA office if you have any questions.

Good Hope Baptist—Will have Homecoming on October 2 beginning at 10:30 a.m. fol-lowed by a meal. Everyone is invited.+

Sweetwater Branch—Will observe Homecoming on Oct. 2 at 10 a.m. Special guest is Preacher Doug Smith. Dinner on the grounds will follow. All welcome.

Timberlake Baptist—Is prayerfully searching for a PT MUSIC DIRECTOR and a FT YOUTH DIRECTOR. For more details, look under Job Postings on the WBA website.

Monday, October 24th 9:00 a.m.—Noon

(Lunch following) Caravelle Resort

6900 N. Ocean Blvd., Myrtle Beach, SC

Cost: $35 (includes Minister’s Tax guide book and lunch)

Seminar Leaders:

Beverly Worth, Worth Tax & Financial Service

David Bryson, Regional Director for Ministry Benefits Advisors

Please call Lynda at 843-448-4221 to register by

Thursday, October 13th

WBA CHURCH NEWS

and the forming of gospel relation-ships and building community. We are also trying to form a mis-sion team to serve during the Christmas holidays, so please be in prayer for that.

At the next association meeting, I plan to present a proposal for part-ner churches to come alongside BCM and participate in some tan-gible ways. If you can be there, I would greatly appreciate it, but if you cannot and your church would like to connect and commit to a partnership, please let me know and I will gladly come visit you! Thank you for your prayers and partnership for the ministry at CCU.

Praying and serving alongside you, David Neace , BCM Director davidneace@hotmail.com

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

I t is hard to believe that school during this month, this se-mester will be half way over. Studies show that most stu-

dents have created patterns and habits that will define their year. Yet in the midst of habits, patterns, and even sin we are praying that God redefines life for students, as they understand the hope that is Jesus Christ. We had a productive

first month on campus, as we were able to connect with over 200 stu-dents during different events. We have only seen a portion of those 200 attend our weekly gathering, Ignite, but we are still reaching out and praying for those we haven’t seen. Will you pray for us and for our leaders to connect with fresh-men that have a vision to be used by God to see CCU come to Christ?

As we move later into the semester we have a couple of large events being planned. We have Fall Re-treat which is the last weekend of October, and if you would like to help support a student attend or even contribute to the cost of the

retreat, please contact David. Last year, this retreat was vital to our ministry

Page 3 Volume 33, Issue 10

BAPTIST COLLEGIATE MINISTRY UPDATE

QUARTERLY MEETING

FROM YOUR DOM

2016 Christmas Prisoner Packets

Please place the following items into a one gallon Ziploc bag:

One black non-retractable pen (no wire clip, no other ink colors allowed)

One 5.8 oz. or larger toothpaste (no travel size)

One adult individual factory-sealed toothbrush (no multi-packs)

One 4 to 6 oz. bar of soap (no travel size)

One junior legal or no larger than 5½” x 8” writing tablet (no wire bound or composi-tion books)

Five first class stamp embossed #10 (long) envelopes (purchase at US Post Office)

Two rolls of candy (Lifesaver, Mentos or BreathSavers type)

All items must fit in the zipper bag with zipper closed se-curely.

Prisoner bags are due to the as-sociation office no later than Thursday, December 1, 2016.

I read the following article written by Thom Rainer. He does a great job describing dysfunctional churches; sadly this article describes lot of our churches here in South Carolina.

Rainer says, ”If you want to hear about really sick churches, then stick with me on this post. If you are tired about many of us writing about the sordid state of congregations, I un-derstand. Skip this article and I will return with more good news in the near future.

So what is a dysfunctional church? By definition, it is a congregation that no longer carries out essential biblical purposes. In other words, the church does not function properly; it is thus dysfunctional.

Unfortunately, I did not have to look far to find over 20 current examples of dysfunctional churches. In my quest, I found six recurring themes. In every one of the congregations, the church manifested at least three of these symptoms.

Severe theological errors are per-vasive in the church. I’m not referring to differences over minute matters of es-chatology. These errors to which I refer were denials of the essential truths of the Christian faith. In some cas-es, leadership no longer held to the exclusivity of salva-tion through Christ.

The church is known as a “pastor-eater.” The congregation often terminated pastors on a regular basis. At the very least, pastors felt the pres-sure to leave. Short pastoral tenure was thus normative.

The congregation experiences se-vere conflict. Any group will eventually have some level of conflict: families; fellow employees; students; and churches. But dysfunc-

tional churches take conflicts to a new level, often resulting in emotional outbursts by members and leaders.

Hardly anyone in the community knows the church exists. One of the simple steps I take in many consultations is to visit businesses within about a mile radius of the church. I ask them for directions to the church. If no one has ever heard of the church in that close proximity, I know something is wrong.

The church is declining while the community is growing. An example works better here. Suppose your church has de-clined in worship attendance by 3% the past two years. Now suppose the community in which the church is located has grown by 4% the past two years. The contrast between the two growth rates is stark, a symptom of a dysfunctional church.

The church is “family owned and family operated.” One par-ticular family, even if it’s an extended family, makes all the decisions in the church. Nothing gets done without the nod of typically the patriarch or matriarch of the family. The church exists largely to meet the needs of one family.

Of course, when I write articles about the negative state of many congrega-tions, I am rightly asked about poten-tial solutions. We are putting together an entire video series on revitalization this fall. Stay tuned.”

Tommy (Source: h p://www.chris anpost.com/news/6‐symptoms‐of‐a‐dysfunc onal‐church‐122820/)

THE KINGDOM FOCUS Page 4

PRISONER PACKETS

Volume 33, Issue 10 Page 5

2016 PASTOR APPRECIATION DINNER

Thank you, Pastor Bruce Crawford for organizing, hosting and making this year’s dinner a huge success!!

Page 6 THE KINGDOM FOCUS

Believe - A Ladies Prayer Retreat November 11-12, 2016

Are you in need of spiritual renewal? Do you need to reconnect with God? Do you need restora-tion? Would you like a renewed passion for prayer?

BELIEVE is a retreat designed for ladies who are seeking a closer, more intimate relationship with the Lord through prayer. It will be a time of personal, small group and corporate prayer in a non-threatening environment. There will be two large group sessions in which scripture is shared to encourage preparation and practices of prayer. In addition, ladies will meet around the fire pit for a time of prayer and fellowship.

ABIDE—Men’s Prayer Retreat December 2-3, 2016 ABIDE is a time for men of God to come apart for a while, seek God and just abide in His presence. This will be a time of prayer for each other, our churches, and our association. There will be times for personal prayer to connect with God, times of group interaction and times for intercesso-ry prayer and praying for one another. Join us for a time of renewal and re-connection with God through prayer.

Both the ladies and men’s retreats will be held at the SCFFA camp located at 1069 FFA Circle Road off of Little River Neck Road in Cherry Grove. This is a rustic, but scenic location that will provide the opportunity to withdraw from the rigors of daily life and demands to commune with God in a beautiful, natural setting. Accommodations will be bunk style dorms with single sized beds – from 6-10 people per room (upper and lower bunks). The cost is $30 per person and includes three meals, snacks, lodging and materials. The retreat will begin with dinner on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. and will end around 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The ladies retreat will be led by Diane Hutto and Mary Horn. The men’s retreat will be led by Wayne Golden, Founder and Director of Global Intercessory Prayer Ministry.

Register now by calling the WBA office at 843-248-9358 or download the registration forms on

our website under Upcoming Events. Deadline to register and pay for the ladies' retreat is October 22. Deadline to register and pay for

the men's retreat is November 23. If you have questions or need more information,

call the WBA office or email Diane at diane@waccamawbaptist.org.

UPCOMING PRAYER RETREATS

Here are the statistics for the Sunburn Unit Ministry for the 2016 season:

9 churches participated

43 individuals volunteered

4399 people were reached

Make plans now to serve next year with this ministry. If you have any questions at all, please call Martha

Bullard at 843-995-1320.

Greetings from Coastline,

As you may know we are growing leaps and bounds. We have never been so busy with clients as we are now which requires more help. We have a need for volunteers. Please share this need with your churches. You may announce it or put it in your bulletins. Anyone with interest can contact me personally. We also are still in need of monthly dona-tions. This may be a surprise but cur-rently we only have 10 churches that support us monthly from their budget. If your church does not support us please prayerfully consider. One thing we know- we can not do what we do with-out the Body of Christ. We can not rely on businesses, the government, the state, we only have the Body of Christ which

is all we need to rise above and defeat the enemy if they will get on board. I have never needed support as I need it now. We are short staff, volunteers, and re-sources. I am leaning on the Lord to move the hearts of His people. Please contact me if you have any questions and join me in praising the Lord for all the great things He is doing. We are saving lives and saving souls eter-nally daily! Who wouldn't want to be a part of that! Please pray for our Board, staff, and volunteers.

Life Abundantly,

Jeannie Smith, Founder/CEO Coastline Women's Center

Volume 33, Issue 10 Page 7

Every October, a serious problem arises for churches. It's called Pastor Appreciation Month. How exactly are we to celebrate our pastors? How can we show them that we care? What is the perfect gift? Many churches feel clueless when they contemplate ways to express gratitude to their cherished leaders. So we made a list. Here are 10 suggestions to get the creative juices flowing. 1. Write Lots of Letters— On Sunday before Pastor Appreciation Day, distribute stamped envelopes addressed to the pastor. An instruction note invites each church member to write and mail a personal note of encouragement and appreciation to the pastor dur-ing the week. 2. Customize a T-shirt—Order a "Best Pastor in _______" T-shirt, cap or plaque, and present it with flourish. 3. Create Original Art—Laminate bookmarks created by the children in your church, featuring their art and signatures. Allow kids to present the bookmarks to the pastor personally. 4. Place Your Church in a Frame—Prepare a beautifully framed photo or painting of the church building. Even better: take a group photo of church members in front of the building. Use extra wide matting and ask every church member to sign the mat before adding glass. 5. Purchase Helpful Commentaries—Purchase a full set of Bible commentaries. Allow various groups, such as Bible classes, com-mittees or church organizations, to present one book of the set, individually wrapped with their personal notes of appreciation on the inside pages. 6. Make a Video Presentation—Create a presentation of photos and video of the pastor(s) in action during the past year. Set it to music and play it as a pre-service video. 7. Give Public Thanks—Take out a full-page ad in your local newspaper, featuring a photo of your pastor and a declaration of your church's love and appreciation. Even better: Add every member's signature on the ad. 8. Do an Office Makeover—Do a surprise office makeover, with the pastor's wife's input, of course. Consider fresh paint, updated décor, new furniture and even a computer or technology upgrade. 9. Supply Favorite Things—Think of one small thing your pastor enjoys, such as M&Ms, fishing lures, coffee, etc. Ask each mem-ber to bring that item on Sunday, i.e. one bag, any size, of M&Ms. Supply extras for guests or forgetful members. 10. Celebrate 30 Days of Pastor Appreciation—Use an October calendar to schedule volunteers for a month-long schedule of sur-prise treats. Each day of the month, the pastor will receive a surprise token of appreciation from a church member, committee or group within the church. The tributes can vary widely. Some ideas include: a balloon delivery, a shoe shine, an apple pie or a gift certificate. After a whole month of pleasant surprises, won't your pastor feel appreciated? And won't God be honored by your acts of love for His servant? Don't forget to include a sincere note with specific reasons you appreciate the minister's spiritual leadership, dedication, time and commitment. Honor God by honoring His servants, with a thoughtful, personalized encouragement that fits your unique church and pastor. (From Lifeway.com)

COASTLINE UPDATE

OCTOBER IS PASTOR APPRECIATION MONTH

SUNBURN UNIT

Obey them that have the rule over you, and

submit yourselves: for they watch for your

souls, as they that must give account, that

they may do it with joy, and not with grief

Hebrews 13:17

C.A.P FALL FUNDRAISER PANCAKE DINNER

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Eggs Up Grill, Conway (across from Walmart)

4:30—7:30 p.m. $8.00 per person

For tickets or more information, call C.A P. at 843-488-2277

1607 Ninth Avenue Conway, SC 29526 Phone: 843-248-9358 Fax: 843-248-3058 E-mail: contact@waccamawbaptist.org Website: www.waccamawbaptist.org

DOM—Tommy Richardson

Ministry Assistant—Diane Hu o

BCM Director—David Neace

Financial Specialist—David Neace

Moderator—David Pohto

Treasurer—Shirley Rizzolino

OFFICE HOURS

M—Th 8:30—4:00 Fri—Sun CLOSED