Cool Spring Baptist Church

Church was such a blessing this morning, and we enjoyed experiencing different worship than what we are used to! Derek got to come up and share a short devotion as well about having joy through trials!

Shirley led us in a sweet devotion tonight during our debrief meeting. She gave us all a pack of M&Ms and talked about how Christians are like M&Ms. She talked about being marked by the Holy Spirit; how the chocolate inside is the best part, and how that’s like Jesus in us; and more analogies to go with it!

We decided to celebrate National Ice Cream Day by spending time together and eating ice cream after our team meeting. 

We enjoyed getting to know each other better after a great day of church ministry and sightseeing at Lake Wacamaw. 

Today part of the team started their first day of ministry work at Building Bridges Resource Center in Fairbluff NC. We are helping to lay a new hardwood floor and do some needed painting to help restore the center from previous storm damage. We are excited to be able to help be a part of getting the center up and running again so they can continue to bless the community.

Today we split into three teams and our team was responsible for cleaning and organizing several utility and pantry closets at the church. 

We also spent a lot of time putting together bags of groceries and bags of hygiene products for the community.

Pastor Daisy even came by this morning to help us. She was all smiles as she had been needing the extra set of hands for a while now.  

One of our groups is building a ramp for an older lady who has trouble using the steps to get in and out of her home!

Jennifer was handed the jigsaw and learned how to cut the corners off to fit around the posts. Everyone has been trying new things and learning how to use different tools!

Today we continued laying the floor in the Building Bridges resource center. It’s amazing to see the progress that has been made as these students continue to work diligently.

Tuesday morning, we jumped right back into building the ramp. Everyone was working hard and together!

Today we continue our last day of ministry work at Building Bridges. We are finishing laying the trim and trimming out closets to be painted.

During our lunch break, we got to explore a little bit of Fairbluff, the city we are building the ramp. We enjoyed a beautiful nature hike along the river walk!

Tuesday afternoon, we completed the ramp for Ms. Novell and Ms. Gurley! We are so thankful and blessed to have the opportunity to serve them in this way and also to pray with them. We could really see how grateful they were, and they blessed us maybe more than we blessed them!

On Tuesday our team helped Pastor Daisy pack food bags at Facts of Life Food Distribution Center in Tabor City. We also helped her organize the food pantry to get ready for truck shipments coming in.

Pastor Daisy partners with area grocery stores and the food bank to be able to feed the community. She has expressed how appreciative and blessed it is to have a team come to lend a helping hand since most of the time volunteers are few due to work schedules.

With the whole team working together, we were able to finish laying the floor. The team worked very hard these last three days and are thankful they were able to be a blessing to the community. 

On Wednesday we passed out food and hygiene bags to community members. Some of us even got the chance to take prayer requests. We had a blast getting to bless and meet so many families. 

Our group wrapped up the week cleaning the kitchen in the gym of the church and painting one of the hallways as well. 

We have had such a great time this week serving others through painting, cleaning, organizing, and packing and handing out food bags. God has taught us so much about serving others through humility this week.

Last night we had the opportunity to join with Crossroads Church for their youth night. We played games, had worship, and Pastor Billy Roy gave a challenging message about choices, consequences, and what are you trying to hide from God. It was a great night connecting with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

On Wednesday, our group painted a shed at Ambassador Christian Camp. They have been wanting this shed painted for two years now, so we are thankful to be able to help them in this way! We also had fun working together and singing songs and saying tongue twisters.

After working very hard the past few days, the team had a day of rest and relaxation. We spent the morning at Wrightsville Beach and then went to downtown Wilmington to the river walk and do some shopping. We finished the rec day with a great meal at Flaming Amy’s. What a blessing to be able to relax and enjoy each other’s company.