| Reception | 5:30 p.m. |
|---|---|
| Dinner | 6:30 p.m. |
| Meeting | Following Dinner |
| Program | Following Meeting |
The location of this meeting will be at the Sheraton Hotel in Needham, MA
| Ms. Ida I. MacRae | Director, Seafarer's Friend |
| Mr. Shawn Wuske | Program Coordinator The JP Mentoring Network |
| Rev. Tom Griffith | Pastor River of Life Church, Jamaica Plain, MA |
| Rev. Jua Robinson | Pastor Heart Change Fellowship, Jamaica Plain, MA |
| Mr. Fred Drauschke | Chairman, Committee on Christian Work Boston Baptist Social Union |
| Welcome | President Robert Gaffney |
| Song | “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” Led by Richard Freeman |
| Invocation | Rev. Tom Griffith |
| Dinner | |
| Business | Robert Gaffney |
| Introduction of the Program | Fred Drauschke |
| Special Music | BBSU - Pickup Choir Director - Richard Freeman Accompianist - Geoffrey Dana Hicks |
| Program | Mr. Shawn Wuske, JP Mentoring Network Ms. Ida MacRae. Seafarer's Friend |
| Benediction | Rev. Jua Robinson |
The Committee on Christian Work (a.k.a. Christian Works Committee) is charged with the responsibility of making grants to do Christian work according to the guidelines set forth in the wills of the men who entrusted monies to the Boston Baptist Social Union. For more than 150 years this Committee has endeavored to be good stewards, by honoring our God and to carry on the spirit and letter of their gifts. The Committee carefully considers each grant request receives and determines whether the request meets the requirements and guidelines and spirit of what the benefactors intended. Weighing the merits of one request over the other is not easy and there is always some difficult decisions to make.
This Committee is indebted to the wonderful and excellent work of the BBSU Trustees who have invested these funds and others well over the years. Without their diligent and skillful work the BBSU itself would no longer exist and the Committee on Christian Work would not have had the millions of dollars to invest in and around this city over the last century and a half.
During the year the Committee members make site visits to the grantees to evaluate the work that is being done ad to ensure that the grant money is being used as intended. In addition, the Committee invites a representative(s) of the grantees to share at our general meetings so that our members have an opportunity to hear what they are doing to serve God and minister to others.
Tonight you will hear from two of our grantees.
The JP Mentoring Network is a collaborative effort initiated and led by River of Life Church. The purpose of the network is to have a group of churches in Jamaica Plain work together to offer support and hope and model Jesus to young people in our [Jamaica Plain] community. Currently there are two churches in the Network: River of Life Church and Heart Change Fellowship.
We work closely with the guidance counselors amd social workers at English High School to match students and mentors and to support the matches. We also communicate regularly with other staff and faculty to help identify interested students. When mentors and students first meet, they identify academic, health, and personal goals for the student. All students are assessed by the staff at English High on their improvement in attitude and commitment to school.
Mentoring is an opportunity to invest in the next generation. As one River of Life mentor says “Mentors show teens that there are people who will choose to love them - not because they have to or are getting something out of it, but simply because the teen is worthy of love. Mentors love teens for who they are and help them become who they want to be.”
Established in 1827, our mission is now in its 191st year in serving the seafarers that come into the ports of Boston, Portsmouth, NH and Portland, ME. Seafarers from many nations are visited onboard their vessel and offered a variety of important services including TWIC escort through security lines to allow shore access transportation to area malls of the center and resources to enable communication with loved ones at home and pastoral care. The time restraints of most seafarers and the limitations that have made shore access difficult bring stress levels higher than in the past. A recent study indicated the international average for shore leave is less than six hours and we find in our ports it is about four hours. Assistance of every kind is offered in our role as ambassadors of Christ to the world's seafarers coming into our ports. We are now seeing an increase of ships in Salem, MA and in Searsport, ME where the shipping agents of the ships that come in are requesting our services. The caring support of our chaplains are being requested more and more because of the increasing demands that are being put on the seafarers. They are working long hours with less crew members on each ship, fewer and fewer seafarers are able to come ashore because of their work load or lack of proper credentials.
In all of the stories the one thing that came through load and clear was tht the seafarers felt so blessed that strangers cared enough about them to bless them with the ability to call or Skype their loved ones at no cost to them.