FBC has long been a symbol of outreach and hope. Throughout the year, the congregation participates in the four American Baptist offerings as part of our wider mission.
Responding to a call to reach out even further, First Baptist has been organizing regular mission trips outside of Massachusetts since 1993. That first year, 22 people headed to Anadarko, Oklahoma to build homes and restore hope for those who had lost it. And so the tradition began.
The group has since grown to over 30 hard working, caring people who have gone to Alaska in 1995, Kentucky in 1997 and Montana in 2000. The Montana group was a most diverse group, ranging in age from 2 years old to 75 years old, including entire families and people from outside the congregation. These groups have worked on such projects as home and community construction, Vacation Bible School, and feeding the hungry.
In 2002, a group traveled to Rocky Mount, North Carolina. In September of 1999, Hurricane Floyd brought torrential rains that flooded an area larger than the state of Massachusetts. Countless homes were destroyed, livestock killed and thousands lost everything they had. The 34 members of the mission group went to Rocky Mount for a week and did finishing work on a number of houses. There are still people not yet able to return to their homes, three years after the flooding. The group helped several families get that much closer to being able to move home.
The 2006 Mission Trip journeyed to New Iberia, Lousiana to help rebuild residents affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The group ranged in age from the youngest at 7 years old to the eldest at 80 years old. The group worked with the Southern Mutual Help Association to rebuild the homes that had roofs ripped off by Hurricane Katrina and filled up with water by Hurricane Rita. Working side by side with the homeowners, the group installed tile, drywall, painted, and gathered stories of the residents.
The 2008 Mission Trip headed to Lafitte, Louisiana, once a safe haven for pirates. The group worked on rebuilding the homes of families and individuals whose houses were destroyed during the 2005 hurricane season. Soon after the winds died down and the water receded, a group of Friends (Quakers) arrived in Lafitte and began work. They constructed a bunk house in the parking lot of a local museum to house volunteers and then worked diligently on re-construction.
