What a wonderful gift is the human tongue. No other creature on earth has the blessed uniqueness to be able to do with the tongue what we are able to do. We speak! With the tongue we express our greatest needs, fondest hopes, and deepest love. We are able to put into words what our eyes and ears introduce us to with the birth of each new day. With but a few brief words the heart's depths are plumbed, and yet there are other concerns that cannot be communicated except by volumes of finely chosen words. I like how the Psalmist phrases it. "My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer."
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We are grateful to the kind hospitality of Staunton Baptist Church on April 15 as they hosted our Executive Board meeting. It was a valuable opportunity as we prayed together for the many ministries our Association is involved in. Especially rewarding were the words shared by Irina Fuller, a young Ukranian immigrant who is studying English and Spanish through our ESL ministry. To hear in her own words how this work has touched her life was a blessing.

Most of our time dealt with evangelism and missions ministries like the Franklin Graham Festival, the River Rock congregation, partnership opportunities, ESL, CenterFest, and the Iraqi Food Box relief ministry. The fellowship was sweet, and it makes us all long for more occasions where our churches can come together to share and pray.

One sobering thought was mentioned in response to the budget report. If financial support of our present ministry needs continues at the rate we have seen during the past 24 months, the Strawberry Baptist Association will be out of money in less than 18 months. We certainly want to keep this observation in our prayers so we might be obedient, however God leads.
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Many thanks to the Sedalia Stars WMU group for the Liberty Station meal tickets and to Rebekah Overstreet for the delicious homemade cookies for the Director of Missions & Administrative Assistant during Association Missions Week. We appreciate your thoughtfulness and support all year and especially during this emphasis!

It all began on April 11 when the SBA office received an email from Linda Terry at the Virginia Baptist Resource Center regarding the partnership that the International Mission Board had formed with state conventions to collect Family Food Boxes for Iraq. Before the day was over, Larry Ross, SBA's Baptist Men on Mission Director, had been enlisted to coordinate SBA's efforts; and Bedford Church had agreed to serve as a collection site for our area.
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...ESL?
We are in need of more ESL teachers. If the Lord has been speaking to you about becoming part of this important ministry opportunity, please give us a call. We want to help you prepare and get started. You may contact either Winnie Agee at 540-586-3555 or the Association office at 540-586-8345. If you prefer, e-mail Winnie at wla840@aol.com or the SBA at sba@sbava.org.

Under the Lordship of Christ, to equip, support, and involve our family of churches in meeting the spiritual and physical needs of a changing community and world.

Rev. Rod Miller has announced his resignation as Minister of Children and Youth at Bedford due to new responsibilities at Eagle Eyrie. vvv Hunting Creek has called David P. Williamson to become pastor, effective June 22, 2003. Rev. Williamson is currently pastor at Piney River in the Piedmont Association. A native of Montgomery, Alabama, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Mobile and a Masters of Divinity degree at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife Tammy have two children: Jonathan, 10, and Katie, 6.
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Ron Tweed, RA Resource Team member and nationally certified trainer from Hillsville, will lead this equipping session. You need to pre-register for this workshop because lunch will be provided. There is a $10.00 fee per person—this includes lunch! You may send your check payable to VBMB to: Amy Vest, PO Box 8568, Richmond, VA 23226

Simply give Amy the name of your church, contact person, phone number, and number of folks participating in the June 14 workshop. The deadline for registering is June 9.

If you require lodging for Friday night, June 13, contact Quality Inn, 8008 W. Broad St. (804-346-0000). Identify yourself as being with the Virginia Baptist Mission Board to secure our contract rate of $48.00 per night per room plus tax. This rate includes a wonderful breakfast.

July 1 Ken & Evelyn Butterworth (Diamond Hill)
July 7 Nick & Gretchen Shaffer (Radford)
July 10 Mike & Debbie Jones (Mount Olivet)
July 29 Tim & Rebecca Mathia (Mentow)
July 31 Jackie & Glynda Carver (Palestine)