UKRAINE
High on our priority list these days is the desperate situation in Ukraine. We Baptists have strong gospel work in Ukraine, especially through the labor of Mina and Gennady Podgaisky, who spoke to our congregation on Sunday morning, February 13, 2022. (See HERE for a recording or transcript of that service.) Providence, along with other CBF churches, are giving to the Ukraine Relief Fund. For more information on that, see elsewhere on this web site HERE.
WORSHIP MEAL
For more than ten years, Providence has served the hungry and those in need through the Sunday afternoon Worship Meal. At 4 pm, any and all who need a meal, fresh produce and shelf-stable items are received at Providence House. This is only accomplished in cooperation with Feeding America/Manna, Fresh Market and other like-minded benefactors and volunteers from the Hendersonville area (both churches and individuals). Any fresh food left over is donated to Hendersonville Rescue Mission and/or Interfaith Assistance Ministries (IAM).
There are many ways to be involved!
- Setting up and preparation.
- Providing specific foods made at home, such as chili and corn bread, or soup.
- Serving the meal.
- Establishing relationships with guests.
- Clean-up after the meal.
- Supplying things like personal care items, socks, plastic grocery bags, warm winter clothing, and more.
- Purchasing specific food items for lunches.
- Picking up donations.
Interested in being a part of the Worship Meal? Whether you have a little or a lot to invest, we welcome you! Using the form at the bottom of the page send us a message that includes your phone and email and we will find the perfect spot for you!
“There’s a hunger beyond food that’s expressed in food, and that’s why feeding is always a kind of miracle.” Sara Miles
The Storehouse The Storehouse is a local ministry providing food and basic necessities. Providence partners with the Storehouse to help marginalized kids and teens in Henderson County have a good Christmas. Go to the Blessings in Boxes tab at The Storehouse to see amazing pictures of what happens at Christmas. The first year doing this, the Storehouse served about 750 kids. The next year, they served 2500 kids. Through the gifts requested, the Storehouse focuses on kids getting something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.
Gethsemane Baptist Church, Colorado, Cuba (our sister church), led by pastors Raphael and Malvert. Over the years, Providence has built supportive and caring relationships; we have shared resources; and we have prayed for each other. Providence members have visited Gethsemane, and Gethsemane members have visited Providence; these have always been rich experiences. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Providence, Gethsemane sent this wonderful note:
“Dear Sisters and Brothers of Providence: We celebrate with you today and thank God for your testimony of faith. We share gratitude and blessings from your sister church, Gethsemane Baptist Church in Colorado, Cuba. We thank God on every remembrance of you as you have been in solidarity with us in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May the same God watch over you, bless you, and continue to shine through you now and always. God bless you. Kim and Stan, The Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba”
Providence collaborates with local ecumenical networks of churches, synagogues, and mosques in the county and region as needed and requested, especially through:
- Interfaith Assistance Ministry The mission of IAM is to assist members of our community experiencing a crisis with basic needs, in an atmosphere of compassion and respect. The vision is a compassionate community working together to meet the basic needs of all in our county.
- Homes for Youth: Some years ago, a local doctor attended a conference and learned about homeless children and teens in Hendersonville. She began a campaign and organized a team who set out to help. Homes for Youth became a reality n 2014 and has been providing healthy home care and support for girls in the city who have had no home or who cannot return to parents. It is the hope and plan to open a second facility (as soon as the mortgage is retired for the the current building).
- AMOS Health and Hope: a Christian non-profit organization that exists to improve the health of impoverished communities by working along side them in health, education, and development.
- PFLAG (Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)
- Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
- Serve Trust: Leena Lavanya is the founder of Serve rust Ministries in her home state of Andhra Pradesh, India. She has developed an organization which serves scores of the most disadvantaged persons. She has received many awards including the “Baptist World Alliance Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award.” She is known as the Mother Teresa of Baptists.
- Bosnia: Providence supports the ministry of Zelijko and Lela Puja of Bosnia (and has done so for the entire 20-year history of our congregation). Their ministries include organized churches in Tulsa and Sarajevo as well as multiple preaching points. They have programs for many children and a program for special needs children and their parents plus training for new pastors and church leaders. For several years, they have been providing food, housing, medical care, and lots of Christian love for migrants and refugees primarily from the Middle East who have reached Bosnia but have been denied their hoped-for destinations in Western Europe.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:
- I was hungry and you fed me,
- I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
- I was homeless and you gave me a room,
- I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
- I was sick and you stopped to visit,
- I was in prison and you came to me. (Jesus, in Gospel of Matthew, 25:34-36 MSG
