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August 2009

August 24th | The Big Red Bus Visits FBCAS!

Florida's Blood Center is up to the challenge to be the blood center of choice for the communities they serve. We were fortunate on Sunday to have them visit us here at FBCAS. Both FBCAS and FBC worked hand in hand to serve in an effort to help save lives. Our main focus is to save lives for eternity's sake and often we forget that we can help NOW. Pastor Todd mentioned to the congregation that we never know when it could be one of us needing assistance in this manner. "Give and it shall be given to you." was the message received.

There was an overwhelming response from our staff and congregation as the people lined up to wait their turn. The Big Red Bus registered 37 people and 36 units were given including an Alyx procedure, which allows one person to give two units of red blood cells. Thank you to all who were able to give!

One of the men in our church Sam Martinez serves in our military and knows the importance of giving. Sam said, "I realize that this is a means of survival either for someone else or for myself." He also mentioned that there are people he has served with in the past that have needed blood and there was none available. "This could mean life and death for an individual." As military personnel, there was no question whether Sam would be in the line to give blood…it was a given!

August 13th | Germany Missions Trip

Green spots recently appeared on several children in the Heidelberg area prompting smiles and cheers from onlookers. The spots were Slooze, a mixture of edible ingredients, which a 22-member team from our church flung onto the children during the Slooze Show.

Our group of missionaries, mostly young professionals, flew to Germany and had a show at Landstuhl and in Mannheim before spending a week volunteering at the Heidelberg community Vacation Bible School, and running the capstone event Slooze Show on Friday afternoon.

Janna Carter was one team member who took one and a half weeks out of her trial schedule to come to Germany to "serve military families and their kids... to share the gospel and the hope of Christ in their life." Carter, who has been on every mission except one in the last 10 years, said "Everyone supports my decision to come out here and work with our military families. Taking a week and a half out of my trial schedule doesn't seem like nearly that big of a deal when you're faced with what they're doing."

The group typically performed one show in a location and moved on to the next city. This year in Heidelberg they stayed for a whole week and volunteered at VBS. This may become the prototype at least for our military visits from here on out.

Each team member paid their own way and was rewarded with the ministry experience but they also did some sight-seeing in Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Dachau and Ludwigsburg. The message behind the show is that God is crazy about every one of us, even if we get a little messy in our lives. For the kids the message was clear! "It was fun," said Sarah Byron, 8, one of the green-spotted children. "The funnest part was when I got slimed, because I got to eat it!"