I am so excited to be able to talk to you about a ministry that I get to help with. Reinforce Ministry started in 2017 to be a form of support for military men, women, and their families.
We at Bible Baptist Church want to Reinforce Faith, Encouragement, and Appreciation back into Military Families (hence the name).
How It Started
We decided by taking a plate of cookies into a Marines recruiting station just to thank them for their services. While there the conversation came up about if we had any branch of the service deployed around our area. The answer was negative, but the man had mentioned he had a friend who was deployed. The soldier had texted him that morning with a list of things he was craving. The Marine recruiter wrote the soldier’s name down and the list of things he was craving. On the way home, the list of snacks were picked up, and the next morning the box was shipped out. It was the start of something BIG that I was able to be a part of.
Since we live in central PA, there are not many military bases close to us so we can’t reach out like most churches can who are in those areas. In our area, there are a lot of men and women in the reserves. They are living normal lives except one weekend a month when they leave for drill weekend. So, the Lord laid an idea on our minds and we ran with it.
What We Do
We understand that some families just like to live normal lives and we respect that so much. So we reach out to our community and the surrounding areas just to encourage them and show our appreciation. They may not step into the doors of our church but knowing that there is a church that does appreciate their sacrifice and who just wants to spoil them, may open a door of communication so they will feel free to come to our church in their time of need.
We offer transportation to our church or help them find a church near them.
We have an open prayer chain where they are able to send a prayer request and those in the Reinforce are willing to pray for one or all of their requests.
We send out boxes to soldiers that are deployed trying to be an encouragement. We send snacks, letters, etc. this is our way to send some joy in a box. While we have all of these things for them we also send homemade, blank inside, cards so they can write their loved ones stateside with a card that isn’t just plain white paper. In the end, we get to be an encouragement to both sides of the Military family but also have an open door to tell them about our LORD and steer them toward a great Bible-believing church.
What Are Some Plans For 2018
VA Hospital: The past two years, we have taken things to our VA hospital for the patients and outpatients. For Easter, we had the privilege to take 150 bags to the men and woman there. Two years ago at Christmas, we took 200 bags of cookies to the VA hospital for all of the outpatient.
- Recruiting Stations: Plates of cookies to a few of the recruiting stations around our area.
- Card Goals: 500 Homemade cards for the boxes.
- Boxes: 20 Boxes sent overseas.
Want to help?
Jump on over to the website and connect with the ministry and let us know of a family that needs prayer, soldier or a military family member that could use a letter of encouragement. Maybe you want to help out in some other way. Leave a message and they will get back to you real soon.
Shout out to the WINSTEAD CANDY CO. for sending candy for the February Boxes! Check them out.
Thank you for your support of our local military members. When I read the introductions of the ladies of the blog, the military ministry intrigued me and I’d been waiting to learn more. I am a Christian military spouse who is the leader of the family readiness group for my husband’s unit. Thank you!
So glad you were able to find out more about REINFORCE. If you have any questions feel free to message me on Facebook or message us on the website! I would be glad to answer any other questions you may have about the ministry and what we do. I want to personally thank you. I can’t imagine the sacrifice you and your family make on a daily basis for our country. the family members of the “Mother Hen Five” and I are so grateful. THANK YOU!