ROCKINGHAM — Throughout the month of August, North Carolina Baptist Men (NCBM) will be hosting a series of regional mission rallies across North Carolina.
There will be a total of 10 rallies held within the state. The events are aimed to highlight the variety of opportunities that North Carolina Baptists have in regards to reaching out and assisting in mission projects worldwide.
Anyone who is interested in missions outreach is invited and encouraged to attend. The NCBM is inviting and accepting of men, women and youth, and the rallies are free-of-charge to all. Topical discussions focus on local and state missions, disaster relief, as well as national and international missions.
Region Six, which Richmond County is a part of, held its rally Tuesday night at First Baptist Church in Rockingham. The rally kicked off with a meal at 6:00 p.m., followed by the service at 6:50 p.m. in the sanctuary.
During the meal, The Richmond Observer reporter Betty McIntyre briefly spoke to Paul McCarthy as he was preparing to help serve. McCarthy is on the disaster relief team, and he mentioned how NCBM have been serving in the Lumberton, N.C., area since Hurricane Matthew hit on Oct. 8, 2016.
McCarthy mentioned that he has been cooking for the Lumberton community since the beginning of the disaster relief, and continues to this day, as that area is still in need of outside help.
“The NCBM had 200 homes dedicated to rebuild for the community of Lumberton,” McCarthy said. “And we have committed (our organization) to a two-year stay to get the job completed.”
McIntyre also had a chance to speak to Dr. Tom Marshall who is a part of the disaster relief team. Marshall is also an educator, minister and writer. He and his wife, Linda, also head a marriage mentoring ministry.
“Our disaster relief team just got back from helping with the 2015 flood in South Carolina,” Marshall said. “It was called the ‘thousand-year flood’ when Hurricane Matthew hit.”
As the service began, areas of ministry were highlighted and briefly discussed. Prayer and song accompanied the service. At one point, in the middle of the hymns, the sound system quit working. “Amazing Grace” was suggested, and the congregation began to sing the sweet tunes acapella.
The NCBM have 18 different ministries which range from local offices to worldwide locations. Some of the local ministries include meeting economic needs, construction projects, children and elderly projects, health care and sports projects, servant evangelism, and community ministry. A few of the worldwide missions include outreach to nations like Armenia, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras and Kenya. For more information on NCBM, and all the areas of outreach, go to http://baptistsonmission.org.
