Maryland/Delaware Roundup, April 23, 2020

“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, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Food ministry

Sonrise Church, in Berlin, Maryland, is giving free food to families in need, by appointment, from Tuesdays to Saturdays with some availability on Sundays. Volunteers are preparing the food for contact-free delivery to folks to come to the church and pick it up. Church members do not need appointments. The church is serving about 300 families each week.

With an established school partnership backpack ministry to assist families in need, the church immediately ensured that those families had food and other necessities. Soon afterward, they began to mobilize to help the entire community, working with the food bank, local restaurants, donations from the congregation, and other business partners. Mountaire Farms, in Millsboro, Delaware, provided 4,000 pounds of chicken for the church’s distribution.  Jenna Esposito, the church’s director of media, said people have been very generous.

The Transformation Center in Baltimore prepares “to-go” groceries for over 160 households each week. Last week they had special items in each bag, including toilet paper and freshly-made peanut butter.

For Easter, in addition to essential food items, every family received a “Life Book” that shares the Gospel, as well as an egg-dyeing kit for families to enjoy at home. The demand is increasing.

Religious freedom panel discussion

Covenant Baptist Church in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and the American Muslim Institution are co-hosting “From Fear to Freedom,” an online event on April 24, beginning at 7 p.m. The event is designed “to explore the importance for Christians and Muslims to work together for the sake of respective liberties.”

Following a book discussion, Joel Rainey, the senior pastor of Covenant Baptist Church, will join Asma T. Uddin and Suhail A. Khan to facilitate a panel discussion about selectively applying the first amendment.

Uddin is the author of “When Islam is Not a Religion” and a religious liberty lawyer, and Suhail A. Khan is a Senior fellow for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Institute for Global Engagement and the Director of External Affairs at Microsoft.

COVID-19 Support Groups

The mental health team at Emmanuel Church in Huntingtown, Maryland, is offering two support groups to help people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Married couples in need of support can participate in “COVID-19 and Your Marriage,” from 7-8 p.m. on Sundays.

The church invites anyone who is struggling to cope and in need of support to “Coping with COVID-19,” from 7-8 p.m on Thursdays.

Each session is facilitated by a professional counselor or therapist.

Quote

Saving faith is an immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, resting upon Him alone, for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of God’s grace. — Charles Spurgeon 

History Highlights

In September 1998, a team of twelve Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (BCM/D) volunteers journeyed to Moldova to evangelize and provide medical help. Mal Utleye, then pastor of Hockessin Baptist Church in Delaware (now Sycamore Hill Church) and BCM/D-Moldova partnership coordinator, said, “It was a good trip.”

Team members divided into two groups.”I went north,” said Larry Steen, then pastor of Westminster Baptist Church (WBC) in Maryland and a group leader. (Steen now serves as the Mid-Maryland Baptist Association director of missions) Others in his group were Gail Salgado, First Baptist Church of Beltsville in Maryland; Mary Swanson, Grace Baptist Church in Seaford, Delaware; Linda Bixler, Greensboro Baptist Church in Maryland; Frances Miller, WBC; and Emma Grimes, Lexington Park Baptist Church (LPBC) in Maryland.

Richard Peoples, then pastor of First Baptist Church of Dundalk (FBCD) in Maryland, led the way southward. With him were Renee Peoples, FBCD; Wesley Morrison, Bethany Lane Baptist Church in Ellicott City, Maryland; Valerie Ham, a nurse and member of LPBC; and Linda Day, also a nurse, and member of First Baptist Church of Savage in Maryland.

Each team carried one piece of luggage and one box of medicine. They ministered in orphanages, in a prison for boys, and a sanatorium, a place where wealthy individuals came for rest and for dietary and health needs.

Steen preached at seven services in four churches. Ham and Day conducted medical clinics in churches and at orphanages. Peoples led the director of an orphanage and several people at an alcohol rehabilitation meeting to the Lord.

Steen said, “The spiritual needs are great; the people respond to Christ, and the churches are growing. Baptists are one of the larger groups. We’ve formed 100 new churches over the last several years. God worked some great things on this trip.”

This article is adapted from an October 15, 1998, BaptistLIFE article written by Jane Lippy.

The BCM/D partnership mission with Moldova continued from 1994-2001. After the BCM/D-Moldova partnership ended, the Delaware Baptist Church continued the partnership for several years. Even today, several BCM/D churches continue ministering in Moldova as a result of the original partnership.