Special Events
Free Will Baptist Bible College campus
Saturday, June 19
Nashville, Tennessee
Laura Belle Barnard taught missions and Bible while WWII kept her stateside 1940-45. When she retired from service in India, she pursued her Master’s in missions, then served as head of the missions department at FWBBC from 1960-1973.
Free Will Baptist Bible College invites area alumni and friends to a June 19 Saturday afternoon cookout and a special drama and musical presentation honoring pioneer missionary Laura Belle Barnard when the Go10 Walk for the World event stops at the Nashville campus. Participants in the Walk are expected to begin arriving on campus around 3:00 p.m. Walkers from other days are invited to join the festivities, too.
The casual get-together begins at 3:00 p.m. Saturday in front of Davidson Hall (3600 block of Richland Avenue). FWBBC faculty and staff will host a cookout on the front lawn for all comers.
At 4:00 p.m. the celebration moves inside FWBBC’s Memorial Auditorium for a brief program that includes a drama and song specially-written to honor the life and legacy of Miss Laura Belle Barnard, a Georgia native who launched the modern international missions movement among Free Will Baptists. FWBBC alumni are invited to sing in a mass choir—more details about the choir will be posted soon.
Go10 Walk Into New York City
Saturday – May 15, 2010
The Go10 Walk for the World will enter New York City on Saturday, May 15, 2010. This memorable walk will begin at 7:00 a.m. near Kellog Park in Elizabeth, New Jersey (one of America’s 50 Greenest Cities). We will walk through Newark, Jersey City, and Hoboken. We will take the Hoboken Ferry across the North River and into Manhattan, docking at 39th Street West.
As we gather on the Manhattan side of the river, we will share reflections from 75 years ago in New York City when Laura Belle would have stood by this very river. From 39th Street West to Pier 58 is 1.3 miles. This part of our journey will be a silent prayer walk as we ask God to move in this great city.
When we arrive at Pier 58 we will see that the pier itself is gone, but the pilings remain. From this spot, 75 years ago on July 5, 1935, Laura Belle Barnard boarded the freighter, S.S. Potter, for the journey halfway across the world to South India, the state of Tamil Nadu, and the Nilgiris hills. We will share excerpts from Laura Belle’s diary, read some of her favorite Scriptures, gather for a collective prayer of thanksgiving, and throw a wreath into the North River in honor of her step of obedience and sacrifice.
Upon completion of the ceremony we will walk to the Hephzibah House, walking by the famed Central Park. Women founded the Hephzibah Ministry in 1893 as a training school for women who desired to be involved in Christian ministry. Many of these women became missionaries in other countries. Laura Belle stayed at a house like this as she waited for passage on the S.S. Potter. Retired Free Will Baptist missionary Lorene Miley (Ivory Coast, West Africa) currently works at the Hephzibah House and will host and feed our group.
If you would like to join this historic segment, sign up for the Day 31 of the Go10 Walk. The Day Walk Coordinator will contact you with additional details you will need to know. If you cannot join us for this part of the journey, pray that God will be glorified and that our presence will be a testimony for Him in the Big Apple.
Glennville Georgia
Sunday April 4 and Monday April 5, 2010
Schedule of Events
Sunday April 4
Ebenezer Free Will Baptist Church (directions)
Drop-in Reception (4:00 – 6:00 PM)
The Ebenezer Free Will Baptist Church will host a drop-in reception for Go10 walkers and visitors from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. Miss Laura Belle Barnard is buried in the church cemetery. All guests are invited to visit her gravesite. Click if you have questions or need more information.
Monday April 5
Glennville Free Will Baptist Church (directions)
The Go10 Walk begins on Monday, April 5, 2010, where Laura Belle Barnard’s journey began back in1935. Miss Barnard attended Glennville Free Will Baptist Church before she answered the call to missionary service in 1935. It is fitting that the walk, inspired by her life, begins at this place.
Brunch (10:00 – 10:30 AM)
Kick-Off Ceremony (10:30 – 11:15 AM)
Begin the Go10 Walk! (11:30 AM)
Saturday, April 10
Columbia International University
Speakers – 7:00 p.m.
On Saturday, April 10, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. a memorial rally on the campus of Columbia International University, Ms. Barnard's alma mater, will be held. Sherwood Lee (pastor and former missionary to Côte d'Ivoire) and Dr. David Cashin (CIU professor and former missionary to Bangladesh) will both speak.
Wednesday, April 21 – Greenville, NC
Unity Free Will Baptist Church
Go10 Celebration Event – 7:00 p.m.
Teen Pizza Blast – 8:15 p.m.
Laura Belle Barnard was formally commissioned at the Black Jack FWB Church in Greenville, NC. Join us for a time of celebrating her life and the glorious gospel she took to the needy country of India 75 years ago. Children’s and Youth choirs will help make this a memorable event. After the service, all teens are invited to hang out and enjoy pizza and all the good stuff that goes with it.