Our Ongoing Mission Story
by Jeremiah Hamby, Minister of Youth and Missions
In the opening to his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (1:3-5). We hear the apostle giving thanks for the gathering of Jesus’ followers at Philippi, these partners of his in the gospel.
As the minister of missions here at Smoke Rise, I am filled with gratitude for how well we have answered the call to be partners with others in the work of the gospel. Thanks to your generosity, we raised $55,000 for our World Missions Offering (WMO). This amount is in addition to what we already budget to support our mission partners throughout the year. Our plan for this past year’s WMO was to split the offering to all our partners to give all a little extra support this year. Thanks to your generosity, all 11 of our partners have or will be receiving checks for $5,000 to provide much needed additional support for their work.
I give thanks for the many members of our church community who have offered their time to serve over the course of this past year. More than 30 men and women have traveled to GAP (God’s Appalachian Partnership); 15 of our youth have given their time to volunteer at the Lilburn Co-Op; over 40 members went to Western North Carolina to serve on our Family Mission Weekend; our church hosted the Developmental Disabilities Ministries (DDM) Christmas Party; last summer in NYC during Sing and Serve, the youth choir sang at Metro Baptist Church, one of our long-time partners. We have members who regularly serve locally in Clarkston, at the Lilburn Co-op, and at the NETWorks Co-op. For all of these and so much more, we give thanks for how our church lives out our commitment to follow in the way of Jesus.
I also want to take a moment and give thanks for support we have received from our partners: Our youth attended the annual CBF Georgia Fall Retreat. The CBF Global staff have supported and advised our church leadership in the areas of missions as well as child and youth safety. For the past year, we have been blessed to have Kierra Prather, a third year MDIV student at McAfee School of Theology, serving in our children’s ministry. We are grateful for the many prayers each of our partners have offered for us. For all of this and so much more, we give thanks.
As one season ends, another begins. We celebrate and carry what we have accomplished into this next season. For the upcoming year, Missions at Smoke Rise will emphasize our local missions partners. These are our nearest neighbors doing the work God has called them to in the world:
Lilburn Co-op
NETWorks in Tucker
Family Heritage Foundation in Clarkston
Friends of Refugees in Clarkston
DDM Tucker House
For this year’s World Missions Offering, our goal is to raise $50,000 for our local missions partners, which will provide $10,000 for each partner. In the coming months, we will be sharing what our partners envision such a gift would allow them to do so that you can know exactly what your generosity will make possible.
I want to challenge each of you to not only support our World Mission Offering, but to also find ways in which you can support our local missions partners. Each of these partners exists within a 10-mile radius of the church; so they are our neighbors in missions. Over the course of the next year, we will have several Smoke Rise Service Days where you will have opportunities to serve and learn more about each of these partners as we live out our partnership with them in their ministry work.