Ministry Partner of the Month - Common Ground

Prayer Requests for Common Ground Ministries:

1. Please pray for the children currently enrolled, opened minds to learn & the desire to make things better.

2. We are asking the Lord for exciting, new ways to meet the needs of our children & their families.

3. We are always in need of volunteers with a special heart for children & love the Lord!

4. Please pray we get our heating system figured out at CGM!

5. Our prayer is to make stronger connections with our children/families that will make the greatest impact on their lives!

6. Please pray for continued protection over our children, families, staff & building. Both during working hours & after.

7. Please pray we continue to be sensitive to each child & what each of their needs are specifically.

8. Please pray for our “Mentor Me” program that we will be launching in March. We will be partnering with SAGU for this special program!

9. Please pray for direction for whoever God has specifically chosen for our Assistant Director in 2015. There are many that are good & available, but our prayer is that we find exactly the person God has for us!

10. Please pray for each step to be made for expansion. The need is there & we are ready!

11. Please pray that we make the GREATEST impact possible on the east side of Waxahachie!!

12. Please pray that we will continue to be a “safe haven” for the children! (The safe place!)

13. Please pray for new learning ideas!

We are praying for many lives to be changed as they enter CGM! May they feel the love of Jesus & want more of Him!

Following Jesus Into the Desert

Following Jesus Into the Desert

This year we have been following Jesus through His life when He was here on earth. During Advent we looked forward to His birth. During Epiphany we followed Jesus to His baptism and His transfiguration. Today is the day that we begin to follow Jesus into the desert for 40 days. This past Sunday we handed out devotion books that hope to help us all more fully center our days on Jesus Christ. In this email we would like to provide you with a video and a digital version of the books that were handed out Sunday.  

Click the link below to watch the video and a digital overview of our upcoming worship practices.

http://waxahachiebible.org/#/resources/lent-at-wbc

5th Annual Love in Action Giveaway

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in action and truth.” - 1 John 3:16-18

For the past four years, Waxahachie Bible Church has been answering the epistle’s call to “love in action” through sharing our possessions with those in need. The Love in Action Giveaway is an amazing event in which we have the opportunity to see how greatly God has blessed us and how greatly we can, in turn, bless others. January 11, 2015, we will begin collecting donations from the congregation to present to anyone in need, free of charge, on Saturday, January 17, 2015. This is a great opportunity to carry Christ’s love to the community through our service. Here are some FAQs about the Love in Action Giveaway. 

Donations..................................

When are you accepting donations? We will begin Sunday, January 11 after second service and continue through Thursday evening during church office and ministry hours.

Where should were leave donations? In the WBC sanctuary near the tables labeled with items.

Do the clothes have to be on hangers or folded? Either is fine. We will fold all items other than coats, suits, and dresses. Clothing may be separated into size and gender to help organizers.

What kind of donations do you accept? Food, clothing (clean and gently used/new), housewares (pots, pans, dishes, etc), linens, home decor, small appliances, toys, books, electronics, etc.

Do you accept large items? We will not be accepting large furniture and large appliances (dishwasher, refrigerator, etc.) for the giveaway day. However, if you would like to donate these types of items, contact the church and we will try to find a home for them.

What happens to anything left over? The church will collect the remaining donations and distribute to several charitable organizations in the area.

I would like to use this donation on my taxes. What do I need from the church? Charitable donation forms can be found in the church office by request. You (the donator) are responsible for evaluating the value of your donations and filing the items on your own tax forms.

My business would like to make a donation or partner with the church to provide goods/services. Contact Rebecca Manguno ASAP concerning opportunities and details.

Do you accept monetary donations? Yes! All monetary donations will be put towards grocery cards for guests who are in special need at the Giveaway.

Do you accept gift cards? Yes! Food and gas cards are always needed.

Volunteering..................................

I would like to help! Where am I needed? We will need helpers for a variety of jobs. We are beginning preparations now and need volunteers to help with food and donation drives, contacting businesses for support, and getting the word out. We also need individuals willing to help contact attendees from previous years. The week leading up to the Giveaway, we need people to sort, fold, and organize donations onto tables and hanging racks in the sanctuary. Saturday, we will need the following: greeters, coffee servers, prayer partners, organizers, registration, cashiers, “finders” to help guests locate items, “carriers” to help guests carry their items to their vehicles, clean up after event, “deliverers” to deliver leftover items to various locations in the area (trucks are helpful for this). If you would like to serve in a specific way, contact Rebecca Manguno.

I want to help through the week organizing donations but can’t commit to an entire day. Can I still help? Yes! Even an hour of your time is appreciated. You can come in any time the church is open and help in the sanctuary.

I’d like to start a fundraiser or host a drive to raise funds/items/awareness for the Giveaway. What do I need to do? Contact Rebecca Manguno to coordinate events and details.

Receiving.....................................

I am a member of the congregation in need and would like to be blessed by this ministry. What do I do? To keep matters discreet, contact Rebecca Manguno, and she will schedule a time for you to get the items you need. You may also attend the Giveaway Saturday if you prefer.

I heard about the Giveaway and need to be blessed by this ministry. What do I do? Attend the Love in Action Giveaway on Saturday, January 17 from 9am-12pm.

Do I need to qualify? No

Malissa Watson & Bread of Life

Hello, my name is Malissa Watson, and most of you know me as the little lady on the second row during worship with her hands raised and singing, sometimes way too loud. Others may know me as a servant in the Bread of Life Kitchen Ministry, others through Bible studies or small groups. But, what you don’t know is that I wasn’t always like this, praise Jesus and His precious blood.

I have owned four different beauty shops at various times. I was married to a commercial driver and have a beautiful son. And life was good, so I thought! I always felt like something was missing, and so I started attending various churches and reading Scripture. I read in Matthew 17:20, “Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” With this, I desired to seek this faith. In a small Baptist Church in Chatahoula Parish outside of Ferriday, Louisiana, I prayed the sinner’s prayer. I was baptized and began attending church on a regular basis (every Sunday and Wednesday). Shortly afterwards, my marriage fell apart and my son moved out on his own.

I was devastated, and that’s all it took for me to stop attending church and begin seeking where I fit into this life. So I sold my business and went to work offshore as a cook. In that time, I was nailing Jesus back to the cross, telling Him, “I’ll be with you later!” I never sought that verse in Matthew 17; never even thought of it!

While working offshore, I saved my money and bought a motorcycle. In 2002, I had a near-death accident. I broke my pelvis on the left side and crushed the right side. I had a compound fracture to the right femur, a severed spleen, four broken ribs, and a punctured lung. You would think that that would cause me to go back to the cross, but nope! I was told I would never walk again (God had other plans). The sad and troubling thing is, I still did not return to Jesus. I started walking again after three months of my being told I would never walk again. And not once did I give Jesus thanks for His mercies and grace. I returned to the beauty business and making my doctor appointments (for pain management), and life marched on without a thought of Jesus.

A coworker and I would hang out on weekends and do drugs together, a little snorting cocaine and smoking crack we called recreation. This went on for months. As the months passed by, my addiction to these drugs escalated into an every day occurrence. I began to sell my pain medication to support my habit for these drugs, which led to years of this reckless behavior. By the time Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area, I was a full-blown addict with one thing on my mind and heart; when and where is my next high. In my addiction, my brother came to visit me, and in our conversation he said to me, “Malissa! God wants what is His!” And, instantly, my heart clicked and my thoughts rushed back to the verse in Matthew 17.

Soon after he said this to me, I found myself reading Scripture. I began reading the book of Isaiah and finding myself fearing the Lord and falling in love. I had one more visit with the pain management doctor and one more sale, this time to put cash in my pocket instead of drugs in my system. But God had something else in mind. On this last trip to sell my drugs, I was stopped and arrested for distribution of schedule two narcotics. After being bonded out in the spring of 2006, I began to ponder all these events and really examine myself. I began to read the Bible again and to surrender my life to Jesus. I started reading the book of Isaiah and a fear of the Lord begin to grow deep within me, and I began to spend, really spend time with Jesus. What I mean by really spending time is asking Him to take residence in my life to cause me to openly give my life to Him. As this went on, I found myself deeply and eagerly seeking what is pleasing to Him. I spent the next eight months in the Word of God, daily surrendering and being honest with myself and Jesus. If I wasn’t at work or church, I was drinking and eating Jesus. And this was the beginning of a relationship for me like no other.

Two years went by, and as my relationship with Jesus grew, my faith did too! In my quiet time with my Lord, He spoke to my inner man saying, “You are right in my sight, now I must make you right in the sight of man.” I didn’t understand what exactly He meant, but I trusted Him. I offended the laws of the land. Even though I was forgiven by grace, I now how to give Caesar what was his. I had a court date for these charges and went before the judge for my offence, and God saw favor. My sentence was five years hard labor, reduced to two and a half years. It was my first offense, and I praised Jesus’ Holy Name because He had seen favor. I could hear a still voice saying, “Comfort my people. Comfort my people.” So while in prison, that’s exactly what I did. I comforted, encouraged, and introduced Jesus to countless women while I was there.

This month marks five years since that time. But every day since, I am growing with Jesus. I love Him because He first loved me. He is my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. He truly makes all things new. Today I still have favor in my Savior’s embrace. He has blessed me with stewardship over the Bread of Life Kitchen Ministry, where I am enlisted to be a soldier for His Kingdom; sharing the love and hope I have found in Jesus with others. And I am thankful and grateful to the one true King and Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of events in this life have occurred, and I have seen the Lord’s hand in countless ways, too many to many to write. I am thankful to Jesus that I have given Him back this life, because it’s His.

I have been reflecting on the stewardship He so entrusted me with and why does He have me doing what He trusted me to do with the Bread of Life Kitchen Ministry. He brought into remembrance when I was a little girl, how I longed to help feed the hungry children. This was a desire from long ago. Oh how faithful He is! I sit in amazement and awe of His love and how He has designed me for His good pleasure.


Bread of Life Kitchen Update
I would like to thank the hands and feet of Jesus and your obedience to the calling of furthering the Kingdom. Bread of Life Kitchen is growing in Ellis County, and our prayer is that we reach all of God’s people with the Word of God and love on them as Jesus would. This can be possible with the hands and feet working together with Christ at the center.

We have three locations:

• Monday and Wednesday at Waxahachie Housing Authority - 208 Patrick Street
• Tuesday and Thursday at Joshua Chapel - 210 N. Aikens
• Friday at Dallas Inn & Suites - 795 S. Interstate Hwy. 35

On average, we prepare 180-186 meals weekly. On a daily basis, we have 9-20 meals going to the elderly, disabled or shut-in. That’s 720-750 meals monthly, showing that there is a need in our community.

God has blessed Bread of Life Kitchen Ministry with more partners over the past few months. Since October, Dart Containers has provided all of our paper goods. Recently, we partnered with Mission 75165, which is an online ministry that we are now a part of. Sunset Hill Tree Farm has adopted Bread of Life Kitchen, and is donating all of the proceeds from their Old Tyme Christmas. We have partnered with Tuscan Slide here in Waxahachie as well. Owners Jonathan and Josh have already provided us with 2 cases of sausage and pork. They have a desire to give back to the community through Bread of Life Kitchen. On their website, they have publicly announced this partnership, and, through the holidays,Bread of Life will receive half of all gift card purchases. Praise Jesus!

During this past week, I met with the missions pastor at The Avenue, and they too want to work closely with Bread of Life. They will be sending a love offering, along with more people to serve. Waxahachie Preparatory Academy has done a food drive to benefit Bread of Life. Discipleship Ministries has also been in prayer for God’s direction in serving. The pastor and his lovely family came to serve, and they are going to partner with Bread of Life Kitchen for a wish list this Christmas.

I am thankful for everyone’s participation and thankful for God’s faithfulness. The cost of running Bread of Life Kitchen last year was roughly 21,000-25,000. This total covers the cost of operations and food. It does not include the generous giving of God’s children. Our current partners include Waxahachie Bible Church, The Avenue, Discipleship Ministries, Dart Containers, Tuscan Slice, Joshua Chapel, Waxahachie Housing Authority, and Mission 75165.

The Operation Christmas Child Experience

Brenda Eaton:

I first learned about OCC at WBC when our boys were young. We packed a couple of boxes at home and brought them to church for collection Sunday. What a great idea for sharing during the Christmas season and for bringing joy and good news to children and their families. It has been exciting to see this ministry expand at WBC with fundraisers and packing parties, but also the opportunity to continue packing personal boxes at home. It brings me much joy to see women leading this ministry, using their gifts, driven by a passion to serve their LORD. I’m so thankful for a great team this year who spent many hours cooking, buying, organizing, serving, and delivering. A special thanks to Krystle Wainscott, Stephanie Panning, Jeannette Henning, Lori Blevins, and Mariann Brezeale for their leadership, and to all the volunteers and participants who carried Christ’s love to the world with 256 shoeboxes this year!


Krystle Wainscott, OCC Breakfast Fundraiser Coordinator:
I love to cook! When I was asked by Brenda if I would like to facilitate a portion of the OCC ministry, I knew the breakfast fundraiser was where I could lead! I have been blessed through this ministry by meeting many people; those who volunteer to make breakfast, those who have helped serve breakfast, and the hungry congregation who have so generously donated! We belong to a giving church, and I am glad to be a part so we can give Christmas gifts to children around the world!


Lori Blevins, OCC Collection Sunday Coordinator:
It’s good to be back involved after taking a few years off. It’s a different, but wonderful experience working with a team. The other ladies on the team are such hard workers and fun to be with. It was a blessing to get to know others that I might not have known well otherwise.


Dot Hightower, past OCC coordinator who brought new vision with a packing party to WBC:
I have always enjoyed packing boxes for OCC because it is a fun and tangible way to carry Christ’s love around the world. I started out by sending two boxes a year. Now that I have young children, OCC is even more important to me because it is an opportunity for my family to serve the Lord together. This year, my two-year-old and six-year-old helped me write letters, decorate boxes, and buy gifts during the month of October. Then we spent a whole Saturday at home packing all the boxes and praying for the recipients. Our goal is to send 20 boxes each year. Sometimes it’s fewer, and sometimes it’s more, but the important thing is that we are helping to share Christ with all those kids and their families.


Alison and Gary Fourtner, participants at OCC Packing Party:This was our third year to do Operation Christmas Child, and we thoroughly enjoy it because it’s the perfect activity to get our 3 year old involved in! She loves picking out toys for the boys and girls then coloring the pages to send them. We want her to grow up wanting to help other people, so OCC is a great way to introduce her to doing that. It’s a fun family activity!


Mariann Brezeale, co-coordinator for OCC Collection Sunday:
It humbles you to know such a small box of items can bring so much to a child’s life. Knowing we are sending the knowledge of Jesus, our prayers, and a shoebox of joy makes me feel blessed to have been a part of this ministry.


Stephanie Panning and Jeannette Henning, OCC Packing Party Coordinators:
We have been involved with Operation Christmas Child for four years now. The first year we attended a packing party, the second as helpers and the last two as Packing Party Coordinators. We love doing this ministry because we want to give as many children as possible the opportunity to be blessed with learning about Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Also, knowing that the gifts we send will make a difference in a child’s life and give them happiness warms our hearts. God has blessed us this year with a multitude of donors who gave generously with providing necessary items for packing and also a great group of people who volunteered with their time. God has pressed on my heart the power of prayer. He gave me, Stephanie, strength and confidence this past packing party to pray publicly with others. I found the more I did it the more comfortable I became praying with others. This ministry has given us the chance to instill in our children and grandchildren the gift of giving as well as watching them gain a servant’s heart for Our Savior Jesus.

Ministry Partner of the Month - December 2014

Prayer Requests:

1. Frontier Camp’s 10th trip to Limbe, Haiti to work with our camp plant, Jacob’s Well. Our trip with 20 of our summer staffers will take place January 5-12, 2015

2. Camper recruiting for summer 2015…that God would give us a full harvest field

3. Camper hearts for this summer’s spiritual program…that there would be good soil in their lives

4. All our summer 2014 campers that they would remember the spiritual lessons from last summer and pursue a daily relationship with God

5. For our first ever Father/Son “Passage” weekend coming up this spring; this is for dads and their teenage sons as they walk them through a passage into manhood

6. The completion of Fossil Creek’s Quarry Lodge building

7. Year-end giving to be healthy and all the financial needs of the camp ministry to be met

8. Staff recruiting, screening and hiring for summer 2015 to go well and give us a godly, servant team for the 2015 campers

9. Adoption process—our family is 2 years deep into trying to adopt a brother and sister from Haiti (Peirrot and Dashka). Haiti changed all their adoption rules delaying the process. All our paperwork is complete and in the hands of the Haitian Adoption Agency (IBESR) but it is in danger of “expiring.” The word Haiti means “mountain” so join us in praying for God to move a mountain in Haiti and bring our children home.

10. Home schooling for Emma and Will to continue to go well

11. Will and I are involved in the local boy scout troop; pray for our ministry with the boys and families

12. We’ve recently joined a new church, Lake Baptist. One of our staff members (Stuart Sanders) has just become the pastor there. Pray for revitalized ministry to the lake community, Stuart to balance family, camp and church, and our family to plug in with our gifts and make the adjustment from a mid-sized to very small church body.

13. Our new Food Service Director to settle into his new home here at camp and the new role of serving 6,000 guests annually. Our former FSD recently left after 8 years…on our staff of 14 we have basically no turnover with some folks serving here over 35 years. So it is an adjustment!

14. A praise in that Fossil Creek camp for teens opened this past summer and we saw a 20% increase in our teen camper population with lots of spiritual growth amongst them.

15. A praise for the 130 new believers that trusted Christ during our summer camps in 2014

16. For our 12th annual Angel Tree Week of camp for children of prisoners that will take place July 26-30, 2015. Pray that the cycle of prison will be broken in this generation of campers and that they won’t repeat the sins of their fathers.

He is Greater

Churches across the county will once again be collaborating together in the “He is Greater...” campaign. Last year about 35 churches presented the same theme and series using the same Christmas texts. This year the focus is on “Who is HE?” The series will focus on the angelic names given to the baby that we celebrate at Christmas. The four advent Sundays leading up to our Christmas Eve service will be: He is Savior.... He is Christ .... He is Lord .... He is Jesus!

There is a website available at heisgreater.com that will list the churches participating in the collaborative series, resources available for family worship throughout advent, community outreaches and opportunities as well as resources for community group leaders. New “He is Greater” t-shirts will be available for this year in a holiday red at WBC in the month of November. The plan is to wear the shirts across the community starting Novemmber 28th - “Black Friday!” Last year more than 10,000 t-shirts with the logo were distributed across the 35 churches. As people wore the shirts, people asked questions and conversations were started. I walked into JCPenney’s close to Christmas wearing my “He is Greater..” t-shirt, and the saleswoman asked me, “I’ve seen those shirts around for weeks, what is all this about?” It was a great opportunity to share the true story of Christmas and its meaning. There will also be yard signs available that we would love to see covering our entire community.

This series allows us as churches across the county to stand shoulder to shoulder in collectively declaring at Christmas that Jesus is greater! Be a part of the Community-wide declaration!