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In
the fall of 2001, Pastor’s wife, Marcy Autrey, and
church member, Mollie Scott, each had a vision for the
workingwomen in our church. The two decided to form an
evening women’s bible study group. The date was set,
the meeting was announced and then placed in the
newsletter. They didn’t get the response they wanted.
The only women in attendance were Mollie’s mom and
sister: Bobbie, Brenda, and Susan. They conversed and
decided that they would keep meeting and had faith that
God would increase their number. They prayed, they
planned, and they plotted. They decided that the next
meeting needed to be festive and fun. So, once again,
the date was set, the meeting was announced and placed
in the newsletter.
It was called an
“ornament exchange”. Fourteen women, each bearing a
covered dish and a unique ornament, could not resist the
opportunity for food and fellowship. The meeting was a
success!
At our meeting
in January 2002, we discussed what we wanted to
accomplish, personally and as a group. Our objectives:
Group Fellowship, Personal Spiritual Growth, Service to
the church and community and Missions.
Marcy brought to
our attention that ABCCM was opening a new women and
children’s shelter. Everyone was excited about this
opportunity and FAB Women became one of the first groups
to provide and serve meals. So in March 2002 we began
providing a monthly meal to support the ABCCM Women’s
Shelter.
Our first church
activity was to have FAB Women bring flowers from their
gardens and place them on a large wooden cross that
Mollie’s dad constructed. It was then carried forth
into the sanctuary on Easter morning. After a very
meaningful and spiritual service, we were led by our FAB
sister, Delaine Farnum on the bagpipes, out into the
world carrying our cross to show that the Lord is risen
indeed!
FAB Women have
performed a wide range of activities which include:
Basket Auctions to raise money for our children’s
Vacation Bible School; Fall Bazaars to donate to our
church’s general fund and missions; the Walk on Poverty
to help ABCCM’s fundraising efforts; White Elephant
Sales and the FABulous Cookbook to raise money needed
for missions and projects within our group. Monthly
Bible Study, Secret Sisters, a Prayer Chain and a Sunday
School class strengthen and nurture our closeness and
bond.
The Women of
Faith Conference has become a yearly tradition. It began
in Oct 2003, when 8 FAB Women along with our former
Pastor’s wife, Marcy Autrey, and her mom, attended the
“Great Adventure”. It is a 2-day spiritual adventure
with wonderful speakers, singing to & praising our Lord,
prayer, and an opportunity to get closer to God. After
returning back to our church, we had so much to say that
in the next year at the 2004 “Irrepressible Hope”
Conference, we had 16 FAB Women attend. We have grown
closer spiritually with God and one another. The Women
of Faith Conference is such an awesome experience that
we attend this event every year. In 2005, we had 32
ladies traveling to the “Extraordinary Faith”
conference!
After almost
three years of providing monthly meals and gifts to the
ABCCM Women’s Shelter, it was brought to our attention
by FAB woman, Brenda Rhinehart, that a local women’s
facility was in desperate need of a sponsor. In January
2005, we became sole sponsors to First Step Farm for
Women. We supply monthly gifts to comfort, encourage and
provide for the needs of these women. Through periodic
"Meet & Greets" with the ladies at First Step Farm, we
have shared some special moments. It is our pleasure to
prayer for, provide and encourage these wonderful
ladies.
In 2005, Mollie
worked with a friend at work to create a new logo for
our group. Our logo consist of a daisy chain to signify
that we are bound together in Christ’s love. Our new
motto, based upon our original mission, is under our
logo and says: “Sisters in Service to Christ, Church,
and Community.”
FAB Women are strong, loving,
active women that are beautiful both inside and out. We
love Jesus Christ and each other. We are here to
encourage and support all ladies. |
