Missions at Second Baptist
“It is not so much that the church has a mission but that God’s mission has a church.” Alan Hirsch
God has a mission to bring back into right relationship all of creation through the redemptive reign of Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus Christ into the world and God created the church by the Holy Spirit to send it into the world to participate in that same mission.
So, when it comes to missions at Second Baptist, we want to be asking “God questions:” What is God doing in our neighborhoods, our city, our region, and our world? What does God want to do? How can we discern where God is already working and joyfully participate? When the church discerns and acts in step with the Spirit, it becomes “a sign, a foretaste, and instrument of the in-breaking reign of God.” (Leslie Newbigin, A Word in Season: Perspectives on Christian World Mission, 94).

2BC Missions Council
Contact: Bruce Hobart, Chair
The Second Baptist Missions Council works together as a team, prayerfully committing God’s resources to active participation in God’s mission within our church, our community, regionally, nationally, and internationally. The Council also lends considerable, multi-faceted support to the practices and activities listed on this page.
We invite you to be a part of joining God’s redeeming mission in the world.
image: “Missions Fair” in our Family Life Center
Current Missions
Church Missions Night
Wednesday October 4 following Midweek Meal
Urban Hope Volunteer Day
Roll up your sleeves with Urban Hope on Saturday September 30!
Tab Tops for Ronald McDonald House
Tabs may be deposited in the container on the desk in the Commons.
West Virginia Summer Mission Trip
This year our trip is from June 11 – 17.
Donate and Volunteer.
Praying for Peace in Ukraine
Find the prayer guide for peace and more.
Local Missions

Abundance Box
Abundance Box
Contact: Ben Brown, Minster of Students
In Romans 12:13, Paul directs us to share with God’s people who are in need and to practice hospitality. Among the ways in which Second Baptist has responded to this is the “Abundance Box.” Located behind Spence Hall by River Road, the box is a place for people to give canned goods and other non-perishable foods to community members who are food insecure. Appropriate fruits and veggies from Grace Garden will be placed in this box too. Hungry people are encouraged to take and eat whatever they may need.

Baptist Collegiate Ministries
Baptist Collegiate Ministries at U of R
Contact: Ryan and Karin Goude
We are a UR campus ministry partnering with The Office of the Chaplaincy open to all people of all backgrounds and all traditions, welcoming students who are seeking to follow Christ together in community. BCM offers opportunities for UR Spiders to grow deeper in their faith with God, connect with local churches, and creates opportunities for students to serve both locally and globally for the Kingdom of God. More information about BCM at UR can be found here. Make sure to follow them on Instagram @urbcm for updates and ways to connect!

Baptist General Association of Virginia
Baptist General Association of Virginia
Contact: Tom Mitchell, Director of Discipleship and Missions
The BGAV is “a missionary movement unleashing the power of the resurrected Christ through the local church for the renewal of all things.” BGAV is a cooperative missions & ministry organization that consists of over 1,360 autonomous churches in the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as churches from Seoul, South Korea, Toronto, Ontario, the District of Columbia and 16 states. The BGAV was established in 1823 and it has always existed to “furnish the Baptist churches of Virginia a medium of cooperation for the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and for the advancement of the Redeemer’s Kingdom by all methods in accord with the Word of God.” Geography does not limit churches from joining the mission and vision of the BGAV. Ministries are coordinated through the staff, who work through five ministry teams to help churches be more effective in their ministries.

Camp Alkulana
Contact: Beverly Kee
Sponsored by the Woman’s Missionary Union, the Richmond Baptist Association and others, Camp Alkulana is a residential camp for children of Richmond, especially for those living in the inner city. Located in the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia near a town called Millboro Springs, the camp has been in continuous operation since 1915, making it the longest continuous running camp in Virginia. It is near the George Washington National Forest, which provides the camp with plenty of space for outdoor adventures. The kerosene lanterns which shone from the windows of the camp’s first cottage looked like bright eyes shining through the forest. Thus, the Indian word, “Alkulana,” meaning “bright eyes,” became the official name for the camp.

Caritas
Contact: Tom Mitchell, Director of Discipleship and Missions
United by compassion, Congregations Around Richmond Involved to Assure Shelter (CARITAS) helps our most vulnerable neighbors break the cycles of addiction and homelessness to reclaim their dignity. Its purpose is to provide effective, permanent solutions to individuals and families dealing with the crisis of homelessness and/or addiction in the Metro Richmond area.
Over the years, Second Baptist has temporarily hosted groups of men, women and children, providing meals, showers, laundry services and individual support to our guests. For more information regarding mission team volunteer opportunities and/or donations, visit CARITAS.

CHAT
Contact: Jackie Wornom Griggs, Chief of Development and Operations
Church Hill Activities and Tutoring (CHAT) serves the youth of East End Richmond by equipping them with the heart, head and hands to make transformative life decisions and teaching them the Gospel. Over the past 16 years, CHAT has served more than 500 youth.
Weekly volunteer opportunities include tutoring and mentoring through the K-12 afterschool program, reading to pre-kindergarteners and preschoolers during school days, assisting with the Work Leadership Institute’s efforts at teen workforce development, training youth in wood working and screen printing skills, helping with summer camps, and supporting the Church Hill Academy, a 9th-12th grade high school.

Children's Missions
Children’s Missions
Contact: Katie Vance, Minister of Children
Learning how to express Christ’s love through missions begins early at Second Baptist. Opportunities for hands-on missions education and experiences are offered for children of all ages where they learn about missional life and how to do God’s work in the church as well as through opportunities to engage in cross-cultural community and worldwide missions projects.
As part of our Wednesday Night activities, children gather together to work on a variety of service activities. The 3-year old and Pre-K missions, Girls’ Missions for Kindergarten through 5th grade, and Boys’ Missions for Kindergarten through 5th grade are led by dedicated volunteers who help kids dive deep into the Bible, take big leaps in their faith formation, learn how to serve their community and pray for those who have never heard about Jesus.
Hands-on mission work continues for hundreds of children over the summer through our summer programs such as 2BC’s Vacation Bible School and Passport Camp as well as our premier elementary school summer camps such as Advocacy Camp. More than 100 leaders and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure that these opportunities are a success, year after year!

Christian Counseling and Training Center, Inc.
Christian Counseling and Training Center, Inc.
Contact: Ginger Johnson and Bob Lasine
Supported by Second Baptist Church, the Christian Counseling and Training Center, is a Christian ministry established in 1981 to train Biblical counselors and teachers to assist their local churches. Training in counseling skills and classes in basic Christian discipleship and ministry are offered. Services include individual counseling, family counseling, seminars and church reconciliation.
Accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International, the center’s purpose is to bridge the gap between faith and life. Together, participants study the character of God, His Holiness, His Grace and His Purpose for life. A one-year discipleship training program is offered as well as a three-year biblical counseling program. After completing the DTP and the BMTP, a student may apply for a one-year intensive internship, which provides additional hands-on experience in the areas of counseling and mentoring.

Church Hill Christian Wellness Center
Church Hill Christian Wellness Center
Contact: Beverly Kee
Supported by the Second Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union and others, the Church Hill Christian Wellness Center (“The Well”) is located in the education building of Mount Tabor Baptist Church. It is a holistic ministry that exists to help adults and children in the East End area of Richmond develop spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally and socially. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we answer the call to help individuals reach and fulfill their God-given potential as they take their rightful place in the community. This will be done through the development and implementation of ministries that create a sense of community and increase self-esteem and that also restore, heal and reconcile persons to God and to each other. Ministries include a Bible study, a clothes closet, financial assistance, a food pantry, birth certification/DMV identification assistance, GED classes, computer classes and a computer lab.

Clothes Closet
Clothes Closet
Contact: Tom Mitchell, Director of Discipleship and Missions
The Clothes Closet serves our community year-round by providing gently used clothing to brothers and sisters, who are in special need or have found themselves in an emergency situation.
Obtain Clothing. For those in the ESL, the Clothes Closet is open to students on Monday nights. In coordination with the Loaves and Fishes Mission Ministry, the Clothes Closet is open to the community the second and fourth Friday of the month 9:30 am – 11:30 am. If you are interested in stopping by, please call the church to find out if the Clothing Closet will be open that week.
Donate Clothing. Please drop off your seasonal, gently used clothing in the 3-drawer bins in the FLC Commons and in the office hallway.
Volunteer. Year-round, volunteers meet on second and fourth Monday nights at 7p.m. to sort through the donated clothes and then size and hang them. Additional times are the second and fourth Thursday and Friday mornings from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

Comfort Cases
Contact: Lauren Cash
With a Second Baptist donation room in the church education building, Comfort Cases gives children entering foster care a sense of dignity and hope. The organization is committed to engaging communities and educating the public about the issues facing youth in foster care and encouraging young people to lead by example, taking action to alleviate the suffering of children in the system. Volunteer opportunities are available for all ages so that the entire community can be involved together.
Comfort Cases are backpacks packed with a cozy new pair of pajamas, a stuffed animal to hug, a toothbrush, soap and other personal care items. Receiving a Comfort Case tells a child, “You matter.”

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Contact: Tom Mitchell, Director of Discipleship and Missions
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Virginia is called to cultivate healthy congregations and engage individuals and churches in life transforming ministries. CBF is passionate about nurturing and forming faith in Jesus Christ and connecting Christ-followers to one another. CBF’s global mission and ministry is to engage students and adults in mission experiences and renew God’s world through partnership and collaboration.

2BC Crisis Response
2BC Crisis Response
Contact: Tom Mitchell, Director of Discipleship and Missions
It has been said, “The church does not have a mission, the church is the mission.” Christ came to the earth as the physical embodiment of the mission of God ̶ to love and call and heal and serve and redeem a lost and suffering world.
At times of crisis and in particular seasons such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Second Baptist members have responded proactively to the call to be Christ’s continuing physical body in the world. Indeed, one of the ways that Christ is risen and alive is through His church!
During these times, we have assessed local needs and then worked to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ through our time, talents and financial resources. For example, this has meant:
- praying for our community
- augmenting the inventory of our Loaves and Fishes pantry with additional food and grocery gift cards
- delivering prepared meals to emergency responders, nursing home workers and healthcare workers on the front lines
- distributing encouraging cards and bookmarks for “front liners”
- sending handmade cards to homebound adults and nursing home residents
- delivering soup and bread to seniors and other homebound adults with the help of “delivery angels” on “Souper Thankful Thursday”
- working with the Prayer Shawl group to make and distribute prayer squares
- working directly with For Richmond, Bridging RVA and other faith-based and community organizations on outreach efforts.
Second Baptist keeps in step with the Spirit of God so that we would truly reflect the Son of God as we faithfully walk out the Mission of God … all to the glory of God!

CrossOver Healthcare Ministry Clinics
CrossOver Healthcare Ministry Clinics
Contact: Betsy Beamer, Team Leader
With the vision of promoting a healthy, vibrant community where every person is restored by the compassionate, healing love of God, CrossOver Healthcare Ministry is a nonprofit dedicated to providing high quality healthcare, promoting wellness and connecting community talents and resources with people in need in the name of Jesus Christ.
The healthcare clinics offer a full continuum of quality and compassionate healthcare services to the uninsured. Second Baptist members support CrossOver financially, and many members volunteer their time and talent at both clinics, providing medical and dental care as well as other critical needs.

Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center
Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center
Contact: John Austin
Based in Lynchburg, Virginia, Eagle Eyrie is a premiere, easily accessible Christian conference center located on 425 acres of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Originally developed in the 1950s as the Baptist General Association of Virginia’s primary conference facility, it is now the largest Christian conference center in the state. Since 1956, Eagle Eyrie has operated under the ownership of Virginia Baptists. Each year, it provides a Christian environment to more than 20,000 people from many other East Coast, Gospel-centered denominations, churches and ministries.
Over the years, Eagle Eyrie has relied upon churches like Second Baptist to provide resources to accomplish a wide variety of projects. Volunteer opportunities range from landscaping and construction to painting and more. Volunteers get to experience the wonderful joy of serving the Lord in the midst of His beautiful creation!

English as a Second Language
English as a Second Language (ESL)
Contact: Delight Booker, Team Leader
English as a Second Language (ESL) is a traditional term for the use or study of the English language by those whose primary language is not English. It is also a specialized approach to teaching the language to non-native speakers.
For more than 30 years, the Second Baptist ESL missions team has been ministering to the immigrant community, hosting ESL classes that span the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of English proficiency. This ministry also offers citizenship classes for those preparing to take the US Citizenship Test.
Our successful program requires the help of dedicated teachers with additional support from volunteer placement testers, refreshment coordinators, childcare program workers, and conversation partners. Class snacks are supplied by our Sunday School classes, choirs and other church missions groups.
Attend Classes. From October through April, classes are offered on Monday evenings. Snacks and childcare (children age 0 to 12) are provided. Visit our ESL web page for more information.

For Richmond
Contact: Katie Vance, Minister of Children
For Richmond is a nonprofit organization that connects and equips Christian leaders to collaborate for the transformation of Metro Richmond. With For Richmond, Second Baptist supports social workers through Richmond City and Henrico Department of Social Services. These social workers are on the front line of the human condition and are working in new and exhausting ways to ensure the safety and wellbeing of hundreds of children and families.

Grace Garden
Grace Garden
Contact: Joe Battista
In an open space on the church grounds is one of Second Baptist’s newest missions, Grace Garden, a seasonal, collaborative project that makes it possible for our Loaves and Fishes customers to receive healthful, fresh produce. Tended by adult volunteers and youth from the church’s Student Ministry, the garden produced more than 70 heads of lettuce and other vegetables in its inaugural spring season. Forthcoming crops will include shelling peas, squash, peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, broccoli and cabbage. Plans are underway to recruit more volunteers and expand the program in an effort to further serve our community.

James River Cleanup Day
James River Cleanup Day
Contact: Greg Schnizler, Team Leader
Accomplish something vital and worthy on behalf of the James River. The James River Cleanup Day is a family-friendly event that ensures a healthy river, benefits wildlife, supports clean water and allows visitors to enjoy the river. Second Baptist volunteers of all ages roam the shorelines on foot to clean up litter. Gloves, bags and tools are provided. Afterward, we enjoy fellowship at a local restaurant.

Loaves and Fishes
Loaves and Fishes
Contact: Marilyn Harold, Team Leader
The mission of the Loaves and Fishes food pantry is to provide supplemental food to those in our community who are in special need or in an emergency situation. The Loaves and Fishes team gathers, stores and distributes the food and then provides nutritional education, bags of food, prayer, grocery store gift cards and more to those in need.Obtain Food. In coordination with the Clothes Closet Mission Ministry, our food pantry doors are open to the community at large every second and fourth Friday from 11:00 a.m.-12 p.m.
Donate Food. Loaves and Fishes welcomes donations of: canned foods (vegetables, fruit, meat [tuna, etc.], beans, spaghetti sauce, soup), boxed/packaged foods (cereal, pasta, rice, dry beans, macaroni and cheese), powdered milk (quart size packets), oatmeal (individual packages), peanut butter, jelly, and anything else with which you would like to bless us with.
Volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering for food distribution Fridays, please contact Marilyn Harold, or Director of Discipleship & Missions, Tom Mitchell.

Mission Wednesdays
Mission Wednesdays
Contact: Katie Vance, Minister of Children and Tom Mitchell, Director of Discipleship and Missions
Periodically, adults and children alike gather in the Family Life Center, following Wednesday night dinner, to work cooperatively on multiple mission projects serving diverse groups of people. Previous nights’ activities have included projects that support the homeless, grieving families, underprivileged children, local first responders, the elderly, cancer patients, college students, immigrant groups, foster parents and their families, international mission trips, and more.

Oregon Hill Baptist Center
Contact: Beverly Kee
Supported by the Second Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union and others, the Oregon Hill Baptist Center is located in inner city Richmond inside Pine Street Baptist Church. The center and church work very closely in partnership along with many volunteers to reach the community and beyond with the light and love of Jesus Christ.
Ministries include a ministry with the homeless, youth gatherings, college student outreach, family activities, senior adult fellowships, small group Bible and topical studies, emergency assistance (food, financial assistance, etc.), counseling and referrals, and a community and hospital visitation program. Seasonal ministries include a school supply collection, a Christmas store and a Thanksgiving meal program.

Prayer Shawl Ministry
Prayer Shawl Ministry
Contact: Robinette George, Team Leader
The Prayer Shawl is on hiatus for the summer. They will resume on Thursday, September 7. If you are interested in doing a project and picking up yarn, please contact Robinette George.
The Prayer Shawl group meets to knit and stitch with purpose. In the past, we have provided hundreds of hats and scarves for the West Virginia Christmas and Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child missions. We have also created gifts of prayer shawls for those in need, prayer/pocket squares for new high school graduates, lap robes, afghans and baby dedication blankets.
Volunteer. On the first and third Thursdays of each month, we meet from 10 a.m. until noon in the upstairs Commons area. No experience is necessary; we can teach you how to knit or crochet.
Contribute. Do you have yarn that you no longer need? We can use it for our work. Just drop it off at Patty’s desk in the church office.

Student Missions
Contact: Ben Brown, Minister of Students
Expressing Christ’s love through missions continues into the middle school and high school years at Second Baptist. The Student Ministry leadership and a gracious and growing group of volunteers help students learn to thrive through God’s transformation and lead them in prayer and missional engagements in their community and state, with national partners, and internationally. Students connect with God’s dream for missions, hands-on, through weeklong Passport Camp missions and CLUE Camps, biennial Mission Madness and Disciple Now weekends, and biennial senior high overseas mission trips. The Student Ministry at Second Baptist seeks that students come to know that seemingly small actions done in great faith can have the power to change the world.

VA Hospital Mission Team
Veterans’ Hospital Mission Team
Contact: Bill Sims, Team Leader
Through periodic visits, the Veterans’ Hospital Mission Team supports the VA Polytrauma Transitional Unit, which serves the sickest of our veterans as they engage in a full range of recovery therapies to transition back to civilian life. These include PT, OT, PTSD treatment, depression counseling, social works, recreational therapy, prosthesis management, job counseling and employment skill training. During our visits, we show our deep appreciation for their sacrifice, help them interact with civilians and provide them with the best meal they’ll ever have at the VA hospital. Our church has also provided gifts of Bibles, Christmas cards and stamps, jigsaw puzzles and best-selling novels.

Woman’s Missionary Union
Contact: Anne Stratton
In 1872, women from five local Baptist churches met and formed the Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia with the purpose of supporting the work of missions through praying, giving and going. Second Baptist was one of those churches, and we have had WMU women’s circles in the church ever since.
Today, The Mary Lucile Saunders Circle is a group of women who meet for Christian fellowship, shared devotionals, and mission work. Meetings are a mix of speakers, field trips, and mission projects. The Circle usually meets the first Thursday of the month, September through May. It is named in memory of a former Second Baptist member, who was a missionary in China and the Philippines. Led by Anne Stratton.
They work together to support three inner-city community missionaries at Church Hill Christian Wellness Center, Oregon Hill Baptist Center and South Richmond Baptist Center by giving time, talents and resources. They cook for the centers, shop for the centers, visit the centers, collect and donate supplies to the centers, lead churchwide school supply and “Red Sleigh” Christmas gift collections at church, and pray for the centers as they seek to meet the needs of the children and families in their neighborhoods. They have also organized collections of food and beverage tabs to support the local Ronald McDonald House. In addition, some of our local ministries include collecting backpacks and school supplies each summer and collecting children’s clothing and toys for the “Christmas store” at Richmond Baptists’ Church Hill ministry. Several times a year, we provide brunch for the homeless ministry at the Oregon Hill Baptist Center, and we donate food bags, gift certificates, office supplies, and other items for all three Richmond Baptist mission centers.
Regional Missions

Alma Hunt Offering for Virginia Missions
Contact: Tom Mitchell
Second Baptist participates in the annual Virginia missions offering named for Alma Hunt (1909-2008), a native Virginian who was known worldwide for her missions service and her unswerving dedication to the cause of Christ. The offering is a joint venture between the Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia and the Baptist General Association of Virginia. Churches and individuals may contribute at any time.
The Alma Hunt offering provides funding for all WMUV missions and ministries and makes possible other special ministries, outreach projects and initiatives not funded through regular streams of giving (but uniquely connected to Virginia Baptists). When you give to the Alma Hunt Offering for Virginia Missions, you are equipping those who seek to share with others how God has set them free to live and serve.

West Virginia Mission Trips
Contact: Bruce Hobart, Team Leader
Over the years, Second Baptist’s rural Appalachian mission trips have strived to share Christ’s love and restore hope in the lives of thousands of families living in McDowell County, West Virginia, one of the poorest counties in the United States. After the decline of the coal industry, the towns were crippled, beginning a cycle of generational poverty. Families who are dependent on government assistance to survive struggle to feed and clothe their children. Homes left over from the coal industry era are now in desperate need of repairs.
Second Baptist has partnered with a sister church, Emmanuel Baptist Church in the city of War, to identify the neediest families and provide help with work projects, outreach ministry and children’s ministry. All funds for this project come from individual church members and social media efforts.
In the summer, our church volunteers have conducted a week of Vacation Bible School and back-to-school drive, repaired homes and community buildings, served daily meals to nearly 100 children, assisted families to prevent electricity cutoffs, provided supplies and underwear to the school, and more. In 2019, the mission bought 540 pairs of new shoes for children, which took care of 70 percent of all the K-8 children in two of the poorest of three elementary schools in the entire county.
In the fall, our congregation members “adopt” approximately 160 children through a Secret Santa program and then purchase and wrap gifts for those children, who otherwise might not receive any Christmas gifts. Our volunteer “elves” distribute the gifts at the non-profit Big Creek People in Action Christmas Party in Caretta, where we serve Christmas dinner to more than 600 families, visit with them, talk with the children and then send them home with Secret Santa Christmas presents and grocery gift cards.
Recently, our partnership with Emmanuel Baptist has further enabled us to provide two dozen families with enough coal, wood and propane to survive the harsh winter; hold a food pantry distribution for 120 families; hold an open community Thanksgiving Dinner for 110 guests; and set up a Benevolent Fund to assist families with medical, living, funeral and other expenses.
2020 NOTE: Due to the pandemic, the WV Mission Team was compelled to cancel its 2020 summer week in West Virginia. Knowing how impactful this week of service is, we arranged to set up a benevolence fund for a local food bank, help pay utilities and distribute grocery gift cards. Lastly, we sent instructions to convert our two “Little Free Libraries” to “Blessing Boxes” stocked with canned goods.
We are now seeking financial support for our 2020 Shoe Mission, which provides new shoes to needy students so that they can focus on their education. These children range from Kindergarten to 8th grade and represent the most impoverished kids in our mission impact area. You can donate simply by putting “WV Shoe Mission” in the Memo line of your check!
Recently, a NEW donor wrote this touching note to accompany her “widow’s mite” donation:
“Mr. Bruce, I got your name from Kathy Deskins. I was raised up in the hollow where she lived in Bartley Camp #3. Her momma and my granny delivered me in 1948. Kathy tells me you buy new shoes for the little ones who don’t have shoes. I am sending money to help put a smile on those delightful faces! I don’t have much but will send what I can. I remember years when my brother and I didn’t have shoes and we would walk to the dump to try and find old shoes that the camp children threw away. I sewed our old shoes together with fishing line until they were so rotten they wouldn’t hold together. Linda Welch would give me a hand-me-down dress now and then and Kathy’s momma would give me food in the winter. So, I can personally feel the joy in those little kids’ faces when they put on a new pair of shoes. I want to help and I will. Here is $5 but I will send more next month. Thank you and your church for what you do! May God bless all of you abundantly!”.…Geraldine Sessa 6/30/20
International Missions

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering
Contact: Tom Mitchell
In 1895, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering was started by the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) to benefit the work of the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board). In 1934, it was named in honor of Annie Armstrong, a bold missions advocate and WMU’s first national executive leader.
Today, more than $1 billion has been donated by Southern Baptist churches and individuals.
Every dollar given goes to train and provide resources to thousands of missionaries involved in church planting and compassion ministries who share the life-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ across the United States, Canada and their territories.

Egypt Mission Team
Contact: Agayby Shehata, Pastor, Arabic Language Ministry
Pastor Agayby Shehata, the pastor of Second Baptist’s Arabic Language Ministry, has led a series of mission trips to Egypt, a land in need of hearing the Gospel. This is a unique opportunity for the Egypt Mission Team to connect with local churches and pastors, sharing information and encouragement, but also visiting the poor, the sick and the at-risk. The team focuses on regions in which Christians are heavily persecuted and fear for their lives. Recent accomplishments have included reaching out through camps to more than 200 young, endangered Christian girls who were preparing to accept other religious paths. To strengthen them, the team shared the Gospel with them and taught them the survival skills they would need to prevent kidnapping, an unfortunate reality for Christian women in Egypt. Many accepted Christ while attending camp.

Haiti Mission Team
Contact: Ann Pryor, Team Leader
The partnership between Second Baptist and Voice of Victory Church in Domond, Haiti, has continued to support spreading God’s Word at VOV and throughout Haiti. In all work with our Haitian brothers and sisters, the overarching goal is to support their growth in leadership and accountability for the programs and services within the VOV and in their individual Christian walks. God truly has blessed the development and commitment of this ministry in Domond. Among the initiatives that we have supported is the Central Haiti Pastors’ School. Our contributions have provided for food, teaching supplies, transportation, housing for out of town guests and teachers, and graduation expenses.

Italy Mission Team
Contact: David Esleck, Team Leader
Since 2006, the Italy mission team has been working with the Italian Baptist Union and our Italian Baptist fratelli e sorelle to provide in-person training, educational, musical and other resources to aid in their evangelistic and humanitarian work.

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
Contact: Tom Mitchell, Director of Discipleship and Missions
Every Christmas season, the Woman’s Missionary Union promotes a denomination-wide offering for those serving with the International Mission Board, using 100% of the funds collected to enable missionaries to share the gospel with unreached peoples around the world. Second Baptist participates annually in this tradition, and the proceeds have impacted thousands of missionaries.
The offering is named after an important figure in Southern Baptist history ̶ Lottie Moon, a remarkable missionary and pioneer of WMU. In the late 1800s, Lottie Moon wrote letters from China to urge American churches to fund more overseas missionary workers. After Lottie’s death on the mission field, an offering was started in her name to empower international missions efforts for Baptists. This offering remembers her legacy and willingness to be “all in” for Christ.

Operation Christmas Child
Contact: Cathy Pate, Team Leader
Each year, Second Baptist participates in Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, the international relief organization that seeks to share the Gospel throughout the world. Their mission is to provide local partners around the world with shoe boxes filled with small toys, hygiene items and school supplies as a means of reaching out to children affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine and disease as well as children living on Native American reservations.
Last year, church members of all ages contributed nearly 2,000 shoeboxes for children. Since 1993, OCC has delivered gift-filled shoeboxes to more than 178 million children in more than 160 countries and territories.
Volunteer. At the end of summer, OCC boxes will become available in the church Commons, and then completion continues through mid-November. In December, volunteers, especially those who can lift and move heavy cartons, are needed to transport the boxes to the local fulfillment center and then assist in the final packaging of cartons destined for children overseas.

Panama Mission Team
Contact: Jerry Hill, Team Leader
Each year, Second Baptist volunteer medical/dental mission teams and others bring God’s hope and encouragement to the Republic of Panama, a diverse country of many cultures and indigenous peoples. In addition to the mission’s healthcare ministry, a construction team works on expansions of the local church buildings and needed repairs.
For years, the Baptist General Association of Virginia has partnered with the Fundación Cristiana Medico Social, a nonprofit partner of the Panama Baptist Convention that makes monthly healthcare ministry trips to rural areas of Panama. Annually, our Panama Mission Team joins other Virginia Baptists in helping the foundation reach areas that require a multiple-day trip, are difficult to reach and have limited healthcare availability. Our Second Baptist mission team sees as many as 800-900 medical and dental patients during a single mission week – often with the welcome assistance of Panamanian medical students. While patients wait to be seen, the Gospel is presented. Classes on healthy habits, life values and Biblical principles are also available.
Volunteer. While skills are appreciated, all that is needed is a loving heart for missions.

Rise Against Hunger
Contact: Jennifer Luzzatto, Team Leader
Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief organization that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, mobilizing the necessary resources to end hunger by 2030.
Periodically, Second Baptist volunteers engage by assembling and packing bags of dry food that are then distributed globally to those who need it most. These events are perfect for helpers from age 4 to age 94. One person can package about 250 meals in two hours. Rise Against Hunger brings music, stylish hairnets, hunger education and stories of true impact for hours of fun and team building. Since 2005, volunteers nationwide have packaged more than 500 million meals.

Spain/ Morocco Mission Team
Contact: Louis Orsatti, Pastor, Spanish Language Ministry
A team from our Spanish Language Ministry has been praying for and serving among the people of Spain and Morocco to help nonbelievers encounter and experience God’s transformational love through Jesus Christ. Providing evangelism, basic medical and shelter assistance, prayer, church planting and Gospel literature distribution have helped expose hundreds of people to Biblical truth.
Every year in the modern Kingdom of Spain, criminal networks dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children, especially for the prostitution of young girls, are discovered by Spanish authorities. Many Nigerian, Moroccan and Romanian teenage girls are sex trafficking victims forced to work in captivity. We help serve and teach the Word of God at a day shelter where the women and their children can find medical assistance and healing, prayer and basic supplies.
Morocco is a diverse country of 36 million people – 99 percent of whom are Muslim. Those who are Christian often worship in secret, because they live in fear of government surveillance and social persecution. Our ministry there involves working on offering the homeless in Tangier a protected place of refuge and a means of finding basic services, while sharing the Word with those who have never heard it.