Each year, we are blessed to be a part of Shades Mountain Baptist Church’s Global Impact Celebration (GIC). This GIC brings together missionaries, church planters, and mission organizations from all over the world to fellowship with each other and with local and nationally recognized church leaders and members of the Shades congregation. This five-day-long event celebrates the gospel impact made worldwide and presents ways to care for those engaging in the disciple-making “of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) and ways to partner with them. One mainstay of this celebration is their commitment to join hands and engage in service to the Birmingham community. It is an honor that we get to join in on Shades Mountain Baptist’s Serve day and serve with the local Church and missionaries who have traveled in from all over the world.
This year, we hosted approximately 100 volunteers during the service portion of the Shades GIC. During this one morning, they helped us complete nine different projects ranging from bathroom construction to sorting donations to cleaning up our backyard to prepare us for the official opening of the Jones Valley Trail! We are so thankful for our partnership with Shades Mountain Baptist and the members’ commitment to serving and loving their neighbors. Over the years, the Shades GIC service day has helped us accomplish so much for the community, but we feel most blessed as we get to see the international Church come together in service to our city, living out the Great Commandment!
