West Virginia Mission Report

West Virginia Missions

West Virginia/Virginia Mission Report 2026

Bluewell

This year, a team of 16 volunteers from churches across the Hephzibah and Kilpatrick Associations (including Camak, Louisville First,Marshall, New Hope, Rosemont, and Wrens) traveled to Bluewell, West Virginia, to assist First Baptist Church of Bluewell with its Vacation Bible School. Over four days, VBS attendance averaged in the mid- to upper thirties, providing many children and families with opportunities to hear the gospel and connect with the church. This year also marked an exciting step forward for First Baptist Bluewell, as the church offered a youth class for the first time during VBS, expanding its ministry to older students.

Most importantly, we praise God for three children who accepted Christ during VBS. Their decisions remind us of the Gospel purpose behind this partnership and the reason we continue to invest in this ministry.We are deeply grateful to the churches of the Hephzibah and Kilpatrick Associations, whose prayers, support, and participation made it possible for us to serve alongside First Baptist Bluewell once again. We thank God for another fruitful year of ministry and for the opportunity to continue building relationships and sharing the gospel in that community.

Botsford/Edgemont

Botsford Baptist held VBS at Edgemont this year with 26 volunteers! We held a youth night on Sunday and had a fantastic turn out! We had almost 65 registered for VBS this year! We had classes from Pre-K all the way up to adults! Four members of our team gave their life to Christ and 3 were baptized in the pool at our Air BnB Thursday night! We were able to serve the church with yard work, serve lunch at the union mission, and serve at a nursing home!

Matoaka, WV

It was a great week in Matoaka; we had close to 65 attendees for VBS each day. We fed 125 dinner each night and also on Sunday went to Amy's House of Joy and fed those there. There was 1 child saved this year in VBS which was a blessing.We had a group of 26 this year who worked hard all week.

Pocahontas, VA

Sharon Baptist Church was thankful for the opportunity to serve Christ in Pocahontas again this year. The Lord has blessed the longevity of our ministry and has granted us wonderful relationships within the community. Those relationships were appreciated this year. Due to renovations at the college we had to scramble to secure lodging. Thanks to business owners and homeowners in the community we were able to lodge our entire team in and around Pocahontas community. Fifty team members were housed in 7 locations, 3 of which were donated.Vacation Bible School was once again a great success. We registered more than 85 participants. We had an opportunity to host 6 small groups, provide dinner for the local church leaders and witnessed 3 students profess their faith in Jesus. A special thanks once again to those who make this ministry possible.

Voice of Calvary & Covel

Our mission to West Virginia was completed in two phases this year. Over Memorial Day weekend, an 8-person mission team from Raysville and Sweetwater Baptist Churches traveled to Covel, WV, to participate in Covel Baptist Church’s monthly food pantry. This is an exciting time for the team as we serve hundreds of families in need, rekindle relationships built during previous mission trips, and familiarize new team members with the people and places with whom and where we will be serving during our July VBS mission to Voice of Calvary Baptist in Princeton, WV. While serving in Covel the team helped meet the physical needs of hundreds of impoverished families (Matt 25:37-40; James 2:14-16) by packing, stacking, and loading multiple tons of healthy groceries into several hundred vehicles on Saturday morning. The team also enjoyed meeting the spiritual needs of many of these families by sharing words of encouragement and praying together (Matt 22:39; Galatians 6:2; Phil 2:4).The team finished the weekend by leading a worship service at Voice of Calvary Baptist on Sunday morning. This has become a wonderful way for the two bodies to bond through worship and fellowship over the years. A larger team comprised of members from Raysville, Sweetwater, Faith, and Pleasant Grove Baptist Churches conducted phase two of our mission trip this year. As in the past, we began our week-long activities by leading worship services at both Voice of Calvary and Covel Baptist Churches on Sunday morning and evening, respectively. From Monday through Thursday, we led Vacation Bible School at Voice of Calvary, where an average of more than 20 students attended each day. On Wednesday evening we celebrated “Christmas in July,” an event focused on telling the true story of Christmas to our children and adult students alike. While our student children played games and received gifts, and our adult students prepared gift baskets for future evangelistic visits, both groups were taught about the greatest gift ever given to mankind, our Lord and Savior Jesus. As an added bonus to our mission trip and continued relationship with our West Virginia family, Dr. Michael Williams, Pastor of both Voice of Calvary and Covel Baptist Churches, and his wife Sherry, joined us this year as our special guests for Raysville’s annual homecoming services in September. Preaching from Joshua chapter 1, Brother Michael delivered a message encouraging the Raysville body to be steadfast in their service to the Lord. In doing so, he highlighted the similarities between the Voice of Calvary/Covel and Raysville local food and clothing ministries, and the close similarity in the way God took both Raysville and Voice of Calvary/Covel’s struggling congregations from nearly closing the doors of their respective worship centers to church families of renewed vibrancy with a deep sense of purpose and mission. And for all of this, only God gets the glory!

Construction Team

Our three-man team was blessed to have the opportunity to share the love of Christ with the communities we served by repairing a porch, and rebuilding a set of stairs, and helping make repairs at FBC Bluewell.