Despite the COVID 19 virus, activities have not stopped in our town. Visitors have enjoyed our beaches, our fireworks and our hospitality in growing numbers. If you have been sheltering in place, wearing a mask or practicing social distancing, you are in the minority in POC!
FBC POC has been very busy preparing the Wednesday free meals. A very dedicated group of ladies and gentlemen have worked hard each week to make sure an average of 50 +/- people were provided with delicious dinners. The project was ended the last Wednesday of June. A big “THANK YOU” to all who helped with this endeavor.
The church had planned to honor our 2020 graduates with a Bible presentation and a meal. Sam Thuman attended the church service on June 14 and our Music/Youth Minister, Bro Raymond Grant presented him with a new Bible. Congratulations to Sam and all the other graduates. The meal had to be postponed to a later date because of the pandemic concerns.
On a very happy note, several of our children did get to go to Palacios to attend Camp KHAOS. Along with all the outdoor activities, they attended Bible study groups. God is so good and four of our young children accepted Christ as their personal Savior while there. There cannot be much happier news than that!
Vacation Bible School was held July 5-8, once again under the very capable direction of Candice Stryker. She always has everything under control! Considering these strange times we are living through, we had a large number of children attend, an average of 40 per day! Most of the activities were held outside, even though we were experiencing some of the hottest days of the year. Judging by their smiling faces and laughter, the children didn’t seem to mind the heat at all. They were just so glad to be around other children for the first time in a while. Thank you, Candice, and everyone else who helped make this VBS a big success. We take so much for granted, most of all our freedom.
We were thrilled to welcome a group of youth and adults from Highland Heights Baptist Church, Benton, Arkansas, to help out with our VBS. Their pastor is Brian Moore, Student Pastor Bryce Nalley, and his wife, Worship Leader Alyssa Miller Nalley. (Can you guess whose daughter she might be?) They kept the canopies erected, the kids in order, the activities, running smoothly and did anything else that needed doing. They also did some community service projects and Commissioner Reese provided them with vests, gloves and trash bags! Thank you, also, to Bro. Erny McDonough and Fisherman’s Chapel, for the use of their retreat center to house our visitors. We hope they enjoyed their time here in POC because we enjoyed getting to know them. Except for the humidity and giant mosquitoes, I think they did.
As ongoing projects, we are collecting food for the community food pantry and small items for the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas boxes. This month’s items on the wish list for the shoe boxes are school supplies and clothes. Please remember these two worthy projects need prayers and donations to succeed.
As always, our Pastor Phillip Miller and our congregation are waiting to welcome you to any of our weekly activities. We have masks and gloves available if you need them. The facilities are continuously disinfected and we are practicing social distancing. No hugs or handshakes are allowed, but we do have plenty of smiles behind our face masks. Church services are Sunday at 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Sunday school for all ages is at 9:45 a.m. Bible study for women is at 4:00 p.m. and for men at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. Wednesday night Prayer meeting is at 6:00 p.m.
