From Brandy Stykes:

For over 80 years, Appalachian Christian Camp (ACC) has been providing a summer camp where students can learn about Jesus Christ, experience the Father’s love, and enjoy the beautiful creation God has made.  This summer, ACC introduced a new program:  Junior Wilderness Camp for students entering grades 4 – 6.  I had the opportunity to be the program director for the first week of Junior Wilderness, and it was an adventure!

Thirteen campers, three counselors, and I spent a week experiencing God’s creation firsthand.  We climbed the rock wall, hiked the trails of Unicoi, explored a wild cave in Bluff City, rafted the waters of the Nolichucky, relaxed on a boat at Watauga Lake, and rode horses in Jonesborough.   We slept outside, cooked our meals over a campfire, and enjoyed worship by the creek.  I have been blessed enough to have done all of these things before, but it was so exciting to see them enjoy these activities for the first time!  Our week’s theme was built around knowing God as our Love, our Creator, our Savior, our Friend, and our Example.  I think we all learned something about who He is and how much He loves us through both our lessons and creation, which is why wilderness camp is so amazing.

Thanks for supporting ACC and its mission to show students the love of Christ.

From Nikki Cole:

Every year BCS raises money to help the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer. This year our Relay for Life theme was Relay for a Healthier Life, which encouraged us to incorporate small healthy changes into our daily lives. We had healthy emails sent to us and Lunch and Learns that were full of information to help us. Our offices raised monies for the relay in 3 different counties Washington, Sullivan and Greene. Our Johnson City office raised money by having Jean days, a yard sale for Relay for Life, a Bake Sale, an office wide breakfast and our first ever Zumba for Relay for Life class, taught by Brandy Stykes. Our Kingsport office raised money by having an office wide Breakfast, Jean days, a Celebrating More Birthday’s party and a Healthy Food Cook-off. Our Greeneville office raised money by selling tickets to the Magical Night of Giving at the Johnson City Mall back in November. BCS raised a grand total of $1876.77 for the 2011 American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

From Kingsport admin assistant, Nikki Cole:

Each year more than 900 volunteers donate 60 or more hours of their time to various service projects in the Kingsport Area for the United Way’s Week of Caring. The United Way’s goal is to show that by Living United, we can improve the lives of everyone in our communities.  Thursday June 9^th members of Kingsport office participated in an United Way Week of Caring Project at Kingsport Parks and Recreation’s Dogwood Park. Dogwood Park is located behind Hunter Wright Stadium and is a place where dog owners and their pets can come together to frolic and socialize with other canines. During our time at Dogwood Park, we picked up large braches, put together benches for dog owners, and spread mulch to cover bare spots throughout both sections of the park. It was a great time of fellowship with our co-workers as well as a time to give back to our community.

From Brenda Petersen:

The 17^th Annual Greenwell-Aldridge Memorial Golf Classic was held at the Johnson City Country Club on June 13, 2011 and the team of Charles Steagall, Jeff Blackburn, Ryan Bowman and Josh Gregg who represented Blackburn, Childers & Steagall placed first!  Ryan also won Closest to the Pin by dropping his ball 4 inches from the cup on the par 3 Hole 17.

The tournament was established in 2005 in memory of my father, Dennis Greenwell, by his life long friend, Duard Aldridge.  When Duard passed away in 2006, the tournament became the Greenwell-Aldridge Memorial Tournament and was a way for their friends to come together and remember the two men.  They grew up together, went to Milligan College together and began their teaching/coaching careers together.   The tournament is always a fun day and a wonderful way to support Milligan’s athletics programs.

In the past, the money raised at the tournament has been used for the general athletic fund, to improve the weight room and even to buy uniforms for the ladies softball team.  This year, we raised nearly $16,000.

Next year’s tournament is tentatively scheduled for June 11^th.  Mark your calendars now!

The First Baptist Church AmazinGrace 5K 2011 was a huge success, raising $6,500 for Providence Medical Clinic in downtown Kingsport.  We would like to thank BCS for being a Gold Sponsor for the event and supporting such an important ministry!  Your support made a huge difference!

People of all ages braved the wind and rain to show their support for the cause and the turnout was tremendous.   Throughout the afternoon families enjoyed activities that included inflatables, face painting, corn hole and an obstacle course.  Later in the evening the Fun Mile, Kids Festival of Miles, and Timed Mile kick-ed off the race events leading to the FBC AmazinGrace 5K that hosted an astounding 592 participants! 

Providence Medical Clinic is a free clinic committed to offering compassionate medical and spiritual care for the underserved residents of the Greater Kingsport area.  We are so thankful that through God’s grace and guidance, this event continues to grow, creating awareness and funds for the clinic.  

 Next year, the race will be held on May 6, 2012.  We hope you will join us!

 In Christ,

 Jessica Hatfield

First Baptist Church Kingsport