Baptist Nursing Fellowship, a national organization that focuses on missions and sharing the gospel, recently held its annual Summit and concluded that meeting with a Harvest Health Fair at Walnut Street Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
BNF members from at least 10 states gathered at the Kentucky Baptist Convention Building — the first time in the organization’s 41-year history that it has met in Kentucky.
Charolette Rock, a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, is president of BFN. She and her husband served as IMB missionaries to Argentina after he served in Kentucky Baptist churches for 14 years.
“Our mission is to empower, educate and equip nurses and health care workers to work on mission,” Rock said.
Going on mission
Benita Decker, a member of Farmdale Baptist Church in Frankfort, is one of six people on the BFN executive team, serving as missions team leader. She said the organization partners include the International Mission Board and Woman’s Missionary Union.
The two-year theme for BNF is REST, an acronym emphasizing restoration, evangelism, strength and trustworthiness. Last week’s Summit emphasized restoration and evangelism.
At Saturday’s missions extravaganza, various stations were set to teach BNF members about various aspects of going on mission. “We celebrated the fact that we live on mission to share the gospel,” Rock said.
Included in the Oct. 18–20 Summit activities were Bible study and worship, prayer times, training on two-minute testimonies, opportunities to learn and practice sharing testimonies as well as CEUs offered.
Decker expressed appreciation to “KBC and Kentucky WMU for providing the building as well as support in more ways that we can begin to say. It is a blessing to be at the KBC building.”
Sunday afternoon, BNF members were joined by vendors and about 25 volunteers from Walnut Street and other churches to provide health screenings (including hearing and vision), health education on numerous topics, and mental, spiritual and community health information and resources. Also offered were flu vaccines and prescription drug disposal. The Louisville Regional Baptist Association was a key partner in the event.
All ages participated in the health fair with activities for adults, teens and children. For children, activities included health education, inflatables, games and crafts. There were door prizes, giveaways and free refreshments.
BNF’s purposes include maintaining a primary focus on medical missions, providing a professional fellowship for Great Commission Christian nurses and promoting continued professional education and growth.
The 501c3 organization is open to any nursing or health-care professionals interested in Christian professional fellowship who want to promote continuing education and growth for members and nurse missionaries, as well as encouraging nursing service projects evolving from a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today.
