20 yearsPg. 2

The Church That Prays TogetherPg. 4

A Stitch in the Lord’s TapestryPg. 6

And They CamePg. 7

From Bon Air With LovePg. 8

Cover image used with permission ©Dennis Waterman

SPIRITTHEDECEMBER 2013BON AIR BAPTIST CHURCH

...increasing numbers of transformed lives

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 83:30 and 7:00 p.m.

Buford Road Sanctuary

Free AdmissionChildcare provided at the

3:30 p.m. service only.

It was 20 years ago when my family and I walked into the “old” Bon Air Baptist Fellow-

ship Hall to attend the Wednes-day Night Dinner for the first time. We had been visiting BABC on Sunday mornings for a while, and we had heard folks talking about the homemade bread on Wednesday nights as well as the great missions classes for kids. So we decided to attend the dinner. That night church member Debbie Ellis and Kimberly, her daughter, invited us to sit with them at their table. Next came an invitation from Kimberly for our first grade daugh-ter Brittany to attend GAs, Girls in Action. After dinner, Brittany and I went to GA classroom. She wanted me to tag along since she still liked to hold onto my leg, yes, even in first grade! Peggy Moore was the GA Director at the time, and both Brittany and I loved our GA ex-perience. Now if you would fast forward a few years….Debbie Ellis became the GA Director, and later it was my turn. I loved it then, and I still do.

Debbie has always held a special place in my heart because she

welcomed my family so warmly and helped us plug in so naturally. Through the years others have also welcomed and brought us further into the fellowship of the church. Men like Bob Bass extended their friendship to help my husband Tim find his place at Bon Air Baptist through service on special mis-

sion teams like the team for Camp Alkulana and the mission team

God has given us these friends to walk beside us as we become a part of the family

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By Kim Boswell, Children’s Ministry Coordinator (Elementary), BRC

HOW GOD WEAVES OUR LIVES TOGETHER

YEARS

THE TRUE TALL TALE OF THE COMING OF CHRIST

Thursday, December 5 at 7 p.m.Landmark Theater

Tickets $15 at the doorPresented by Northstar Community

Contact: lindastrawderman@gmail.com

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that traveled to Slovakia. As our kids grew, all three—Brittany, Madison, and Braydon—have been a part of the missions program for kids. Brit-tany, 26, even found her place as an adult as she served as GA Leader and Sunday School volunteer in Preschool Ministry.

It is amazing how God weaves our lives together. BABC began to be our church home when Deb-bie welcomed us to a dinner table. That seems so simple, but it has had the most incredible effect. Debbie now assists in Children’s Ministry with special projects and “behind the scenes” duties, and I serve on staff as the Children’s Ministry Coordinator for the elementary children/families at the Buford Road Campus. After 20 years, it is still a blessing to be able to work together.

Take a look at your own life at BABC. Who has been your “Debbie?” Who welcomed you into the fellow-ship and helped you find your place? God has given us these friends to walk beside us as we become a part of the family. As you think about your “Debbie,” say a prayer of gratitude to the Lord for providing a friend at just the right time. Maybe you and your “Debbie” will share a friendship that will last 20 years or more.

Buford Road CampusFamily Christmas Eve Service

5:30 p.m. in the Commons

Traditional Christmas Eve Service7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary

Carols & Communion Service10 p.m. in the Sanctuary

James River CampusChristmas Eve Service

5:30 p.m. James River High School

Robious Hall CampusBoth Spanish & English speaking

congregations will join Buford Road Campus

for Christmas Eve services

The VillageChristmas Eve Family Worship

6:30 p.m. in the Worship Center

Christmas Eve Services

A T B O N A I R B A P T I S T

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INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS FOCUS

December 1 – 7Hear testimonies during the December 1 worship service

Offering Goal: $140,000

In the weeks ahead, you and our fellow BABC family members across all campuses will

begin hearing about something called “Project 52 Prayers.” In fact, you or someone you know may already have heard about or participated in prayer writing sessions. Soon this project will be officially announced and launched church-wide as an invitation for your personal involvement. The details of how this will work and what you can do to participate will come soon. Before that happens, though, I’d like to share some background with you about this project. As a church, we are richly blessed with the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We are equally blessed with strong church leadership, vision, and a spiritually-guided pastorate that fully embraces and deeply appreciates the essential nature of effective prayer as the very core of our worship life. We understand that our God-derived power to continue “increasing numbers of transformed lives” flows

from communicating directly with our Lord and Savior in the heartfelt language of prayer, not only as individual members but as a collective body of believers who purposely, and in devoted fellowship one to another, come together for intercessory prayer, holy worship, praise, adoration and humble thanksgiving.

A year or so ago, Glen Lutz accepted the mantle of leadership for the Prayer Ministry Team to lead our church towards being a House of Prayer. My wife, Teri, and I joined the team. At our first meeting, many good ideas surfaced, some of them already implemented. Now, this is something I am not eager to acknowledge, but I have never been known for “not talking!” But for our first team meeting I was uncharacteristically—almost strangely (even to me)—quiet throughout the meeting, until near the end. Then it happened. Without really thinking about it, I “blurted out” what only the Holy Spirit could have put on my heart:

“What if we all prayed together…as members of Christ’s body…I mean the exact same prayer, at the very same moment no matter what we are doing at the time or wherever we might happen to be, anywhere around the globe? Wouldn’t this powerfully glorify God?”

I listened to what I had just said as if I sat in the audience, having been temporarily disembodied from my own frame. I was amazed by what I heard just as much as anyone else in the room. I paused. They paused. And then almost everyone reacted to this idea with truly joyful enthusiasm. We all knew, and most of us confirmed then (and have re-confirmed since), that what we heard that night was an inspired message from the Holy Spirit, to whom we had been praying only moments before it was conveyed. Excitedly, we began to “unpack” the message, to discover and interpret what it really meant, as well as how we should respond.

By Ivan K. Tolbert, BRC

THE CHURCH THAT

PRAYS TOGETHER...

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BABC Trip to

Israel May 5-16, 2014

Led by Norman BurnesSee the biblical sites

where Jesus lived!For info call Norman 272.1475

Start the new year with DR. TRAVIS COLLINS’ upcoming sermon series!Coming in January:THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE KINGDOM OF MAMMON

Coming in FebruaryHOPE FOR THE HURTING

For me, it certainly is not every day that I hear, or am able to discern with clarity, the coaxing voice of the Holy Spirit, nor receive in the very core of my being the awe-inspiring whisper of our powerful God. But sometimes it happens. For me, it is at once the highest honor of existence and at the same time a uniquely humbling experience. “Hear,” it beckons. “Then Speak,” it commands.

“So, even if someone was traveling in China, or anywhere else in the world, they could synchronize time zones and know with near certainty that at the predetermined time each week, some members of their home church were joined in unison with them, praying the same words to our Lord…effectively neutralizing the physical-world barriers of time and geographic space?” Yes! “You mean, because we would stop at work or at play, or sacrifice anything else we were then doing for a minute or two to enter the spiritual realm in worship to the Father, joining together like a consecrated choir in unified prayer, we would be declaring each time that nothing in our lives and no physical-world activity is more important to us than our love of Jesus and our spiritual communion with God and His Holy Church? Wouldn’t this

level of committed and demonstrated devotion powerfully glorify our Heavenly Father and honor our Lord Jesus?” Yes! This was really BIG! It was important! It was an entirely different approach to corporate prayer. And it came with an unmistakable mandate to do. Rather than adjourn as planned, the meeting went on for another 40 minutes or so, as we discussed what to do next. A sub-team was immediately raised, on which Teri and I agreed to serve, and was tasked to pray over the message, the matter, and to report back to the full committee at a later time.

So what, then, are our expectations for Project 52 Prayers? In a word: Fruit. And more fruit, after that. With God’s grace and provision, by the end of our year-long period of deliberate, unified and purposeful prayer, individual members, and we as a church body, will notice a positive change in the worshipful nature and evident blessings of our relationship with God, with each other, and with the Kingdom work we undertake in our world.

I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. — 1 Corinthians 3: 6-7

To be sure, this is the Holy Spirit’s work. To Him, to God the Father, and to Jesus the Son is all praise, honor, glory and credit due.

So, now you know. When next you hear someone talking about Project 52 Prayers, you’ll be ready to participate and to tell others how it got started. May God continue to shower His blessings, grace, mercy, glory and love upon you…and upon us all.

...WE WOULD BE DECLARING EACH TIME THAT NOTHING IN OUR LIVES ... IS MORE IMPORTANT TO US THAN OUR LOVE OF JESUS...

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Over my years of being a Christian, I am amazed every day at how our Lord

knits together His family. For most of my life I have envisioned our Lord knitting a quilt together, using every thread that is available to be used. We at BABC are among the threads, and we are part of God’s masterpiece. I am blessed to be a thread and part of a stitch work in God’s fabric.

Our threads include men like George Warri-ner, a man who helped found our church, has brought many people together, and has now looped his thread around my thread to bring our two Sunday School classes together, the Joe Irvin Class which meets at 9:30 a.m. in Room 208 and the College & Young Professionals Class that meets in the same room at 11 a.m. But it doesn’t stop with George. Glen Lutz, the Irvin Class teacher, and the other men in the class have all been a blessing to us.

Our class relies on the prayers of the Irvin Class. We lean on their friendship and weekly greetings. For my class, this season of life is a time of yearning, of desiring to move forward, and for search-ing within. It is a time of setting the future, not only for the rest of their lives but also for the life or (artwork) of BABC. I want my class to know and understand the men and women who have been

BABC’s founders and developers. It is my hope that as the members of our two classes get to know each other more, we will all gain knowledge to build a strong

framework for the years to come. I am appreciative of prayers for our class members—for direction, un-derstanding, growth, and purpose. Our prayers for the Irvin Class are for health, purpose, stamina and excitement. I know that our Lord answers prayers. I am excited about the potential that this rela-tionship brings to both classes.

Join us as we gather together with hundreds of students from

around the state to worship, serve and share the love of Christ.

Imagine D-Now--but instead of staying at host

homes and worshiping at church, picture yourself staying at a hotel and serving the people of Orange, VA.

March 7-9Orange, VACost: $100

Deadline to Register via Deposit:

December 16

Non-Refundable Deposit: $40

MISSION

MADNESS2014 By Randy Sansbury, College/Young Professionals Class Teacher, BRC

The Joe Irvin Class

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Since 2011, we have sent six mission teams to serve at the Calvary Baptist Church

in San Miguel, Panama City in Central America, and they came to us October 10–19, 2013! Mis-sion team members included, Dr. Cooper, pastor, his wife, Matilde, their daughter, Cleide, and a missionary, Alma, often called “Mamita.”

Friday evening, we gathered with the two congregations of Robious Hall and the homework club for a fun-filled evening. Conversa-tions in Spanish, English and lots of Spanglish accompanied the fellowship. Cindy and Blanton Brad-ley, who went to Panama on a team in 2012, directed us in choruses in Span-ish. Mamita led us in games and with a puppet presentation. The puppet, Juanita, helped us see how we can “walk with Jesus.” Pastor Al-berto later said that he was brought to tears when he heard the explana-tion of the gospel message on the level that his 4-year-old daughter, Rebecca could understand.

Saturday morning at Buford Road, the Women’s Conference in Spanish took place with 100% of Robious Hall’s regular women

present. WMU volunteers pre-pared our breakfast. Mary Feliz, a new deacon at Robious Hall, led the conference. We sang Spanish choruses and a group of women performed a medley of their fa-vorite worship songs. Retreat top-ics included physical, emotional and spiritual health. Mamita gave a personal testimony about how her relationship with the Lord saved her from a real disaster. The second session separated married and single women; both groups produced much laughter. A Dominican restaurant catered our lunch, and we enjoyed a “tres leches” cake. The Panamanians

exclaimed “Como estuviéramos en casa!” (It’s as if we were at home!)

Our guests led in ministry at our Robi-ous Hall Campus all day Sunday. Sunday night was hosted by our Campus Pastor, Les Venable. At this service, our Senior Pastor Travis greeted the congregation

warmly with his gracious manner and beautiful Spanish.

Sunday morning, the service in Spanish was full of joy and praise. The walls resounded with sing-ing, and we enjoyed thinking of the reverberations entering into the bar next door. Pastor Alberto

invited members to tell what the weekend had meant:

• The vis-its in the community with Brother German, Pastor Alberto and Dr. Coo-per were very meaningful. Roger

• I was touched by the puppet presentation. It reminds me of years ago in Colombia when I used to help children grow. Marta

• The Women’s Conference meant a lot to me! It was a time just for us! Verónica

Dr. Cooper delivered a Spirit-led message in a powerful way. In response to the gospel, a young man from Honduras, a first time visitor, asked to speak to Dr. Coo-per. They emerged from their meeting with the man having accepted Christ as his Savior. The Spanish speaking women had been praying for a revival, and there was a sense that it had come!

And They CameBy Kitty Neal, RHC

Quarterly Business Meeting - January 15, 2014

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Since that day, the staff has helped 49 indi-viduals from 25 different countries

From Bon Air,with Love

By Deborah Upton, Associate Pastor for Spiritual Development

Photo used with permission ©Kiva.org

Lovette is a 32-year-old woman that lives in Jacob Town, Liberia.

Married and with four chil-dren, Lovette sells dried fish so that she can pay for her children’s school-ing. She applied for a $225 loan to purchase more fish to sell.

Kenyan farmer Joseph sells milk, eggs, and tea from his small farm. He needed a $375 loan to purchase a dairy cow. Both Lovette and Joseph received loans through Kiva, a non-profit

organization with a mission to help people through

micro-financing.

In December 2009, BABC staff decided

that instead of giving each other Christmas gifts, we would pool our gift money and help people through Kiva. On the day of our Staff Christ-mas Party, we gathered in the Com-mons. We each put some money in a basket on the table. After lunch, we were shocked to see that we had collected over $400 to donate through Kiva! We thanked God and prayed over the money, asking Him to lead us to the per-sons we should help. The rest of the party was spent in choosing who we would help . Since that day, the

staff has helped 49 indi-viduals from 25 different countries through loans that now total $4,225—all through the initial investe-ment of $400.

How does this work? As borrowers repay their small loans, we reinvest the money in someone else who has a need. It

might be a widow in South America who has a sew-ing business and needs a new machine…or maybe a young man in Ecuador who needs to

purchase fertilizer for his crops. We have lent as little as $25 or as much as $100. But as people pay back their loans to our group, we continue to use the money to bless others.

As I reflect on this ongoing experience, I am reminded of the story of the loaves and the fishes. What a

great miracle Jesus per-formed that day! In Jesus’ hands the food was multi-plied, and every hungry person on that hillside was satisfied. But they were not the only ones who benefited from the food that day. There were 12 baskets full of food left over. This reminds me that in the hands of Jesus, our resources are mul-tiplied far beyond what we give. Proverbs 14:31 says, “If you oppress poor people, you insult the God who made them; but kind-ness shown to the poor is an act of worship.” At BABC we help those who need our resources, prayers, friendship....and our faith. Worshipping God through kindness and generosity is part of our DNA. May we always choose to honor our Lord in this way.

Buford Road Campus2531 Buford RoadRichmond, VA 23235bonairbaptist.org