Twenty-seven inquisitive members and guests of the “Dig In” Life Group journeyed to the mystical mossy world of Eden Woods Saturday morning. While actually travelling just one mile from the Bon Air Baptist Church parking lot, the group was transported to a shade garden paradise that conjures images of more faraway places.
Nearly 40 years ago, local resident Norie Burnet tried everything she could think of …. unsuccessfully …. to establish grass on her heavily wooded, moss-riddled 4-acre Bon Air lot.
A change in perspective, along with sage advice from her son, changed history. Burnet now stands as the unquestioned “Moss Lady,” a host extraordinaire for horticulturalists the world over seeking to tap her knowledge of all things mossy.
The Bon Air Baptist Church crew spent a couple hours rapping with Burnet, touring the grounds and learning to appreciate the art of ”letting nature take its course.”
Become part of the growing “Dig In” Life Group. Don’t miss the exciting plant exchange coming up on May 18th in the Bon Air Baptist Church parking lot. Not to be missed ….
What a fantastic Mission Blitz Day! We had such a great response with almost 100 volunteers! A big thank you to our Bon Air Baptist family, it is a pleasure serving such a missionally passionate church!
We were able to share the resurrection story with more than 50 children and their families at Suburban Village, beautify the outdoor campus at Fisher Elementary School, assist with a furniture drive at Caritas to help families transition from homelessness to being housed, provide hand-assembled picnic tables to Westover Hills UMC ministry, and help organize donations at Hope Thrift and the three Richmond Baptist Centers. Together, we celebrated a Saturday morning of honoring God by our actions. Great job!
I also want to thank Candyce Saunders for helping organize this huge event while I was in Nicaragua. She did an amazing job making sure we were prepared. I look forward to our next BonAirPalooza event, The Community Bash on May 17, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. See you there!
~ Pastor Brian
Master Gardener Cindy Steely guided Bon Air Baptist’s “Dig In” Life Group through an incredible seed-starting action program Saturday to help the group get a jump on the quickly approaching spring season. More than 20 avid gardeners attended the interactive conference. Big thanks for the BABC church classes and staff that donated materials and support to the effort.
Steely, a member of Chesterfield Cooperative Extension and creator of the innovative local non-profit Hope Garden, provided the “how to” instructions that sent home the group with ready-to-grow seeds and the know-how to spread God’s magic far and wide in our community.
Do you have a green thumb and a love for gardening? Or just a yen to learn? This is your group! Bring friends, family, co-workers and neighbors and plug into upcoming events. Contact Susan Schlaudt at 804-301-2481 or susansheridan50@gmail.com for more information.
Written by: Steve Guthrow, BABC member
The RVA and beyond, including a sizeable contingent from Bon Air Baptist, turned out big-time for Saturday’s “Wig Out” charity 5k at Trinity Episcopal School. Great job Bon Air Baptist Church!!! The mission to best breast cancer, spearheaded by the inspirational Erin Prillaman Jordan, shone brightly, even overpowering the steady rains as hundreds of walkers, runners, and joggers made their way through a hilly and picturesque 3.1-mile neighborhood-school course. The event raised almost $20,000!
Visiting Pastor Francis Olaoye Cande shared his rich African experiences as the keynote speaker at February’s BABC Men’s Breakfast. Cande, through his ministerial work with Torchbearers Chapel International and the Christ Our Message Foundation (COMF), spreads The Gospel throughout his beloved Ghana.
The pastor emphasized the need to first address basic needs en route to introducing Christ to those focused chiefly on survival. The obstacles are great – poor sanitation, lack of water, deficient education and employment opportunities, tribal differences – but Cande believes strongly that Ghana continues to be a fertile land for spiritual salvation. Indeed, the western African nation has led the way for the continent with nearly 70 percent of the population now identifying as Christian.
Pastor Francis, how have you enjoyed your time at Bon Air Baptist?
“The members of Bon Air Baptist Church were very receptive and welcoming to me. I enjoyed the good Sermons of Rev. Dr. John Upton. The Christmas programs and the Super Bowl party were remarkable and enjoyable. The Women on Mission and the Men’s Breakfast event were impressive. I was blessed to be part of them. The Sunday School Class led by Bro. Kyle is insightful and I look forward to attending every Sunday. I am enjoying my time at Bon Air Baptist Church.”
How do you feel about the prospects to continue to bring Christ to Ghana and Africa?
“The prospects are great! I would like to partner with Bon Air Baptist Church in any way possible to reach the unreached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ to HIS people in Ghana and Africa.”
How do you see that our congregation can best help those in Ghana?
“I will like some of the members of the church, if possible, to visit Ghana where I do missions to see for themselves the needs of the people I minister to. We need School suppliers, so children can have good education.
We need wells to help the villagers to get water so there can be consistency in farming their crops. We need a Health Station to provide medical services such as nutrition, prevention and treatment. (The villagers need this desperately). We need skills that one might have in terms of farming. This will be most welcome. We need help to plant churches in the villages. We need a reliable vehicle so we can go from villages to villages to preach the gospel of Christ."
Cande has been attending the Gathering at Bon Air Baptist and seeks to learn from and partner with churches abroad as part of his mission. BABC is proud to host Pastor Cande and continue a strong tradition of mission work aimed at Ghana. If you see Pastor Francis at the Gathering on Sunday during his stay in Virginia, please give him a warm BABC greeting!
Bon Air Baptist celebrated Bob Wilber’s 18-plus years leading the Prison Ministry with a surprise luncheon featuring great memories, volunteers, staff and friends.
Bob gave thanks for all those who have supported the program during his tenure and, as he always does, gave all credit to God for the successes of the ministry. He expressed hope that even more can be done to continue to bring the Gospel to those so desperately in need.
A wonderful afternoon of fellowship and celebration. Thank you so much for your sacrifice and incredible work, Bob!
On September 23, Pastor Brian Varble took a group of 14 on a week-long mission trip to Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. Enjoy this video of highlights!
Bon Air Baptist Church’s new Gardening Life Group was extremely proud to honor teachers, staff, and students at Richmond’s J.B. Fisher Elementary School with a front-of-school makeover to kick off the 2023-24 School Year.
This dynamic group, code name “Dig In,” did it all — from weeding and trimming to mulching and painting. Tremendous thanks to all those who gave of their time and labor with such gusto and joy. This is the latest chapter in our church's growing relationship with the school, following the recent creative endeavors of the Mission: Sewing Life Group.
Best wishes to all teachers and admin across the fruited plain for your hard work, passion, and perseverance. God is with you.
Do you have a green thumb and a love for gardening? Join “Dig In” as it takes bloom -- creating plant exchanges, visiting gardens, and addressing community service needs. Contact Susan Schlaudt at 804-301-2481 or susansheridan50@gmail.com for more information.
For several years I have looked forward to the 1st Monday of each month when a group of us have gone to the Bon Air Juvenile Center to play cards and board games with a unit of young men who are incarcerated there. The first few years we went into the unit carrying drinks and snacks along with games and on special occasions small gifts. We quickly were welcomed and
gradually earned the privilege of hearing personal prayer requests so we could pray for the young men. They were glad to see us and looked forward to the games and interactions with us.
Post Covid the interactions have changed so that now we meet on different nights in a central location with a smaller group who choose to come to the game night. Even with the new limitations, there is a group of young men who are ready to play games and meet with us during their free time. We have again earned their trust so that we can hear their prayer concerns and pray for them. It is a privilege to represent BABC as we share time, show concern and encouragement, and talk of God’s love with this group of young men who are separated from their families and communities.
We ask for God’s blessings on these young men as they make life choices both in the facility and as they are released to hopefully begin a new direction in their lives.
Praying for God’s guidance,
Barbara Myers
When Chris Wondree asked me to be a Passport Camp chaperone, I honestly had no idea what I was in for! Spend a rainy, humid week from 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m., on the Converse University campus in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with a mammoth group of 6th-12th graders? One may not jump at the chance, but I am so blessed that I did! At Bon Air Baptist Church, we have an AMAZING youth group. Attentive, smart, faithful, honest, funny, friendly, respectful, inclusive ... the list of adjectives to describe our youth is endless. Please enjoy the photos above ... more can be found on our Facebook page ... and the video below.
Passport Camp empowers students to have new and fresh experiences with God by offering creative discipleship, embracing community, and extending grace to the world. Students are randomly split up and given a themed “passport” of information for the week’s activities that include Bible verses for each day and a schedule of activities, as well as journal space for daily devotions, mission work experiences, and for writing a summary of the week during their long bus ride home. Most importantly, they were required to take a digital sabbath and put away their cell phones for the week, to fully experience camp activities and to focus solely on Christ and Community.
Our students worked hard, participated in all the activities, and at the end of the week, they provided an incredibly beautiful and very memorable worship service that included “Coming to the Table” stories, singing, choreographed dance, and prayer. Additionally, they sanded and painted a very large conference room at Kid’s Clubs for two days, attended morning celebration, and daily worship, competed by “House” and got slimed, wet, and muddy at the outdoor Rec Party, dressed “Upside Down and Inside Out” for the Dance Party, interacted with other students from all over our country, served during Worship, sang their hearts out, prayed together, and so much more! During our free time, Pastor Chris treated our group to pizza and a Break-Out Room, with one of our groups breaking the weekly record!!! The weekly break-out room record is determined by how fast your team can unlock themselves out of the “themed room” within the one-hour time limit.
Overall, finding yourself “Upside Down” (the Passport Camp theme) isn’t always a bad thing. A willingness to see and consider things, and others, from a new perspective, reveals opportunities you may never have thought of before – ways to accept God’s love and acknowledge His desire to use us to make a thoughtful impact on the world.
Here is a video from our students on what they took away from Passport Camp, Enjoy!
~ Karen DeMarino, Bon Air Baptist Church Communications Director
Great showing for Saturday’s Hitting Cancer Below the Belt 5K in Richmond. Bon Air Baptist Pathfinder Life Group members found every way possible to assist the effort from walking/jogging/running (both in person and virtually) to staffing the event and even making crucial donations to the fight against colorectal cancer. Our Team Kirby/Guthrow took home honors as the largest social team at the event.
A day of laughter, tears and reflection. Kudos for the individual BABC support on so many great community efforts !!!
(Above - left to right) Bon Air Baptist members Jenny Morgan, Darlene Parrish, and Jane Southers present boxes of beautiful fleece hats and scarves to assistant principal Amey Blount at J.B. Fisher Elementary School.
(Above) The group utilized every color of the rainbow and then some with bold, vibrant creations that will provide warmth for seasons to come.
This group moves. In addition to strengthening Bon Air Baptist’s incredible relationship with Fisher Elementary with scarves, hats and weighted lap pads for students and neck warmers for teachers and admin, Mission: Sewing has fashioned teddy bears for local police to distribute and is gearing up to produce “walker totes” for residents of local nursing homes.
The group currently meets at 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. every other Wednesday in Room 302 at Bon Air Baptist Church and also seeks to find opportunities for anyone that cannot make those times.
Those interested in honing their sewing skills, sharing their passion and answering the call to service should call Jane Southers at (804) 401-3365 or email her at jnsouthers@yahoo.com.
Step up and share your talents, passion and love. The time is now . . . and you are needed.
Story submitted by: Steve and Tina Guthrow