Up2HOPE 2009

We had an amazing summer this year with Up2HOPE. Up2HOPE is an intensive, free program for girls ages 9 and up in New Orleans. The theme of this year's program was AmazinGrace. We incorporated the Amazing Race game with the idea of God's amazing grace in our lives. We took the Fruits of the Spirit for each week as they learned ways to make the Bible real in their lives.

Also, we had many games, learned dance and sign language routines, made several crafts, had new cultural experiences each week, had scavenger hunts, went on field trips and many, many other fun things. The girls were taught Taekwondo and they broke wood on graduation day.

The summer is one of our favorite times of the year. It is always an honor to be a part of these amazing girls lives. Please continue to pray for them to remember what they learned as they start school and make new friends.

Please pray for the summer missionaries as they headed back to their colleges and continue their education (A shout out to Hannah, Darlene, Amber & Charlene!!). We are always so lucky to have amazing young ladies come and serve with us each year. Please continue to pray for the staff at Baptist Friendship House as we continue to reach out to our community.

Update Coming Soon

Keep posted. There will be an update about Up2HOPE coming up soon!

Health Fair

Every Spring we have a Health Fair at Baptist Friendship House. This is a time we provide basic health care services for the community. Alabama WMU Nursing Fellowship, along with LSU Nursing students and LSU Nurses Christian Fellowship, helped us by providing various services: vision, hearing, glucose, BMI, blood pressure, HIV & TB information, dental, hygiene, nutrition and childcare information. We also had volunteers that provided hair cuts and foot care.


Several people attended the heath fair and received services they don't normally receive. One man was thrilled to have been given glasses. He put them on and exclaimed, "I can see!" He was so proud and made sure to show everyone the glasses.


A few ladies washed and cared for the feet of the participants. Many of them had blisters and sores and the women wrapped the feet up with bandages. They were given new socks and shoes.


One lady volunteered to cut the participants hair. One older man walked in with long shabby hair and beard. The volunteer shaved his beard and cut his hair. He walked out beaming. All those that had their hair cut left smiling and expressed their gratitude for this service.

Can you imagine the luxuries and the things we take for granted--such as shoes that fit, having a hair cut, a shaved beard, and clean socks changing the outlook of one's life? The simple fact that these volunteers were being Jesus to those that came their way. What example to follow!!

A Life Changed

(Photo from WMU: L to R, Janie Wise, LBC; Melanie Fleming, BFH; Karina America, BFH; Jean Cullen, National WMU)

This year one of our women at Baptist Friendship House received the Sybil Bentley Dove Award from WMU!

Read the stories here:

WMU Press Release

MyMISSIONfulfilled

We are so proud of her and are blessed to have currently on staff. God has brought her a long way, and she is always willing to give him the credit for her successes. Please continue to pray for her and her family.

GE Employees Volunteer at BFH

We had a group from GE spend a service day working at Baptist Friendship House. They did repairs, organized items, put together hygiene items for our our health fair, painted walls and doors and other jobs around the center.

Samaritan's Purse

We have been blessed to have Samaritan's Purse (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/) provide volunteers that have done a lot of work at Baptist Friendship House. Their volunteers cleaned out our yard, removed trees off the fence that was damaged from Katrina and put up a new fence. It looks so great!

This week they are building an apartment upstairs for future missionaries. We are praying for a Mission Service Corps couple that feels led to come and minister with us at Baptist Friendship House. If you feel led to serve at Baptist Friendship House, or know someone that may, please contact Kay at kbennettbfh@aol.com.

Snow!