THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607100174
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 120 lines
THEY CAME OUT of the valley of Virginia, all the way from Roanoke, in a convoy consisting of three large tour buses and a truck laden with supplies.
But what the 90 high school students, 13 college students and 14 adults from First Baptist Church, in Roanoke, brought to Fairwood Agape Baptist Church, in Fairwood Homes, was a gift from the heart.
And that gift cemented a three-year relationship between the two churches in the Southern Baptist Convention.
While congregations and denominations agonize over the recent spate of church burnings, these two churches have formed a pro-active alliance to generate some heat and light of their own, proving again that actions speak louder than words.
``We're a white church and a black church, on fire for the Lord,'' explained the Rev. Dr. Robert ``Bob'' Baker, senior pastor at Fairwood Agape, a former Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority member and a former basketball coach at Norcom High School.
The two churches, it would seem, couldn't be more dissimilar. First Baptist in Roanoke, with a congregation of more than 5,800 and an annual budget of $4.1 million, is one of the largest churches in Virginia.
Baker explained that Fairwood Agape, with about 200 members, is in a transitional neighborhood consisting of World War II ``temporary'' housing. There are 1,500 units, with 1,100 occupied by families including ``several thousand children.''
Turnover in the neighborhood runs 50 percent per year.
Many of Portsmouth's old-timers grew up worshiping there before white flight changed the character and composition of the neighborhood, Baker said.
The First Baptist group brought to Fairwood Agape a completely self-contained Vacation Bible School/Day Camp program, including educational materials for 10 age groups from pre-kindergarten to adult, arts and crafts materials, and even snacks.
The young people who came to Portsmouth for the week each paid $185 to defray expenses, said the Rev. J. Allie McNider, with the balance of the approximately $25,000 cost of the trip covered by First Baptist in Roanoke.
``Our members feel we're doing a good thing,'' said McNider, minister of students at the Roanoke church, who led the delegation to Portsmouth.
``We have a great relationship here,'' Baker agreed.
The Roanoke group arrived in Hampton Roads on June 29, staying in the dorms at Old Dominion University. The group led a worship service at Fairwood Agape on Sunday and ran the Bible school/day camp Monday through Thursday.
Approximately 275 neighborhood children took part in the program.
``We present God's word, using the Bible and curricula that are age-group appropriate,'' McNider said. ``The teens do all the planning and teaching. I provide the resources. We (the adults) are here as `go-fers.' ''
The Youth Group, aimed at rising seventh- to 12th-graders, attracted 31 local youngsters to study such topics as racism, and sexual abstinence and purity.
The 13 classrooms in Fairwood Agape's educational complex, Baker explained, were emptied, as was the sanctuary, to make room for the young people. The furniture was stored in the Ryder truck that brought the supplies from Roanoke.
``We take more interest and put more value on teaching the kids than anything else this week,'' Baker said.
The Roanoke group divided into teams to work different stations during the four-day program. A recreation team led outdoor activities. A craft team provided instruction in arts and crafts projects such as Frisbee painting, in space donated by the Portsmouth Police Department Community Relations Center located behind the church.
``The police community relations people sent popcorn on Wednesday,'' Baker said.
In the sanctuary, a high-energy ``Praise and Worship'' team - consisting of Jill Linkenhoker, Mary Beth McClung, Angela McClung, Mike Smith, Melissa Patsel and Kate Norris - led a church full of predominantly youthful revelers making a joyful and active noise. To the beat of contemporary Christian music, the young people from Roanoke presented a choreographed song and dance performance, inviting others to join in.
The group, according to McNider, led four one-hour sessions each day, seemingly without tiring.
``They sleep well at night,'' McNider said.
The relationship between the two churches works both ways. Almost 50 members from Fairwood Agape have made the five-hour trip to Roanoke to conduct an evening worship service at First Baptist there.
First Baptist traces the lineage of its inner-city mission program to 1989, when McNider joined the staff. That year, he started an inner-city outreach program with a church in Fort Myers, Fla., bringing members of each together in Georgia. Later, he led groups to Cleveland in a program that ran until 1994.
``In May, 1994, the Cleveland connection began to fall apart,'' McNider recalled. ``We had this program `in the can,' ready to go somewhere, and nowhere to take it. I made contact with Bob Baker and said, `You don't know me and I don't know you, but you're going to have to trust me on this.' Bob said, `Come on!' ''
It's not all work and no play, however, for the team from Roanoke. Various tourist activities fill their evenings and other free hours.
The group visited Lynnhaven Mall and the Virginia Beach oceanfront. The group also conducted a worship service at Fairwood Agape. On July 4, the group went on a harbor cruise aboard the schooner ``American Rover'' and got a water-based view of the Independence Day fireworks. Last Friday, the group left the dorms at ODU and went to Busch Gardens for the day, returning to Roanoke about midnight.
``It's so much fun, seeing the kids and knowing I'm doing something to help them out, and the community,'' said Sarah Ray, 16. ``It's not hard work at all. This is always the best week of my summer.''
``Above all, it's service to Jesus Christ,'' explained Mike Smith, the lone male member of the Praise and Worship Team, a student at Bluefield (Va.) College and already the youth pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Princeton, W.Va.
``There's no way we'd give up our time and ourselves for anything else,'' Smith said. ``It's an awareness, a new respect and appreciation for all that we take for granted in our lives. And it's an opportunity to share with others all that we've been given in our lives. To show love. To give something back.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by DAWSON MILLS
Jill Linkenhoker, left, Mary Beth McClung and Angela McClung lead a
choreographed song-and-dance to the beat of contemporary Christian
music.
Antonio Washington, 7, left, shows Sgt. Steve Jackson, commanding
officer of Portsmouth's Crime Prevention Unit, how to paint a
Frisbee, as Tasha White, 8, shows off her finished Frisbee. by CNB