Josiah Huckaby

Josiah is back home (we got home yesterday afternoon) & doing great!!! Thanks for all the prayers!!! Every part of our care team did an amazing job & we are so grateful for such an awesome support group…from family, friends, church, co-workers, & medical staff. We definitely feel the love! To God be the glory!!! 💙

Please continue to pray for the Huckaby family.

Buddy Morris

Buddy was sitting just inside Walmart yesterday, greeting all his friends as they entered.  Pray for Eleanor and Buddy as he has chemo Wednesday – Friday in Covington.

Juanita Pritchett

“Miss” Juanita was also in Walmart.  She was shopping to stock her pantry properly because her “boys” only buy what they want to eat!  David and I were so thankful to see her and the improvements she has made.  May God continue to watch over this sweet lady.

Bro. Chip Sloan

Bro. Chip is doing well.  Thankfully, his brain tumor was benign.  He is recovering well at UNC.  I think he will be able to find a sermon or two in the events he and his family have gone through lately.  I wish I could hear those sermons.  Thank-you to all who prayed for him.

NOBTS

The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary started a new semester yesterday.  Please pray for all the young men and women who will be there this year.  Pray for great futures doing God’s will.

Friendship House

Did you know that in Louisiana, 1 in 6 people and 1 in 4 children struggle with hunger (Feeding America)? Those statistics are not acceptable. At Baptist Friendship House, we aim to ease the burden of hunger by providing snack packs and emergency food to individuals and families in need. Do you want to help us fight hunger? We are in need of donations of items such as Vienna sausage, crackers, pudding cups, fruit cups, protein bars (and any other snack items with pop top lids) for our snack packs. We are also accepting donations of canned food and dry goods for our emergency food pantry- please check the dates on the cans before they are delivered to BFH. Together we can fight child hunger.

The local WMU will meet in about three weeks to hear from Kay Bennett of Friendship House.  She will tell of recent “rescues”.  We will take this opportunity to give her some of the very items she has listed here.   Contact FBC, Kentwood to learn of a more complete list of needs of Friendship House.  You are invited to attend our meeting on the third Monday of September at Hillsdale.  You may also drop off your donations at FBC, Kentwood in the next three weeks.

Operation Christmas Child  – Emelissa-and-A Letter

I grew up in the coastal town of La Ceiba, Honduras, where Hurricane Mitch hit late in 1998. I remember my mom woke me before the sun was up and said we had to flee to a friend’s house in the mountains or we would die. When we got there, we shared a small house with five other families. I grew very sick with respiratory problems during that time. Eventually, bridges were reconstructed so we could go back to our house in La Ceiba. It was damaged, but many other people lost their homes.

In 1999, my dad, who was a local church leader, traveled a lot to deliver Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.

The church I attended hosted a huge event to celebrate Children’s Day, a holiday set toward the end of summer. It was every kid’s dream of a party with piñatas, cake, and clowns. Just before it ended, they lined us up and gave each of us a box. Everybody wondered, What is it? Then, everyone got quiet before they counted to three. We all opened our shoeboxes, and there was so much excitement. I remember being so happy.

My box had a letter and a picture from a girl named Olivia who lived in Minnesota. It was so encouraging to see someone young care for others that she didn’t even know.

I saved up enough money so I could mail her a letter about who I was and how much I loved the gift and letter. We ended up writing back and forth. My sister wrote to her as well.

The letter and picture were something very special because they gave me a glimpse into the person behind the shoebox. I will forever be thankful to Olivia for the gift and the happiness and joy it brought to me.

I also got a pink telephone-shaped notebook. My parents worked really hard so I could go to a private school to learn English, but that meant they hardly had money to buy my school supplies every year. I remember all my friends had nice pencils and notebooks, but I just had the boring stuff because that’s all my parents could afford. As a kid, I wanted what my friends had. The telephone notebook was my first real notebook and from that time on, I started journaling.

As my dad continued to deliver the shoeboxes, he took me with him to distribute them in the slums. He also took them to the children of policemen and firefighters who lived in poor conditions, and used donkeys to get the shoeboxes to a mountain village.

Operation Christmas Child had a big influence in my life because I heard my dad share the Gospel with people. I didn’t accept the Lord, though, until I was 14. So from 6 to 14, I was really hopeless and contemplated suicide. In my mind I had nothing, even though I had a really great family. One night I thought, This is it. I’m going to take my life. But something started tugging at my heart, telling me to turn to my Bible. It opened to John 3:16.

I remembered how my dad shared the Gospel when he delivered shoeboxes. First, he explained the meaning of a gift, since many of the children had never received one before. Then, he shared that Jesus is the Greatest Gift and pointed to John 3:16. He encouraged the children to take away the word “world” and put in their name instead. So, in my distress I said aloud, “For God so loved Emelissa that He sent His one and only Son, that if Emelissa believes in Him she will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Even though I’d known that verse for so long in both Spanish and English, it really hit me that night that I was loved—by God! So being exposed to Operation Christmas Child gave me THE gift of Jesus Christ.

I am now in my last year of college in the United States and desire to serve overseas in public health.

I regularly pack shoeboxes because it meant so much to me and many other kids to know that someone far away cares. I remember the screams of happiness. I remember my mother’s smile and hearing her praise God for provision. I remember so many beautiful things about the experience, and it is a blessing to be able to be part of that now for other children.

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/shoebox-stories-emelissa-and-a-letter/

Read the Bible

• Isaiah 29
• Song of Solomon 2:1-7
• I Timothy 7

May you realize God’s many blessings in your life today.

Anna Lee