July 26, 2024
FUNSTON, Ga. — Little is much when God is in it. That seems to be the message of the feeding of the five thousand in John 6: 1-14; and it is not unusual for the Lord to bless and multiply the gifts and opportunities of those who serve Him faithfully today.
Funston Baptist Church celebrated their 125th anniversary last month. There were many reasons to rejoice as the large tent overflowed with members and guests celebrating the occasion at a feast on Saturday evening. Then on Sunday morning there were stirring testimonies of God’s blessings upon the church, a remarkable worship experience with heart stirring music provided by the church choir and concert artist Al Holley. And, yes, there was another fellowship meal on Sunday following the morning service.
However, one of the testimonies that resonated with many in the audience was presented by layman Brad Taylor, who spoke of the Veasey Mission Fund. The fund was made possible by Homer Veasey, who had been a member of the church for many years. Taylor explained, “Mr. Veasey was a man who loved the Lord, loved Funston Baptist Church, and faithfully supported the church.”
Mr. Veasey passed away in 2008 and had specified that $37,000 from his estate be given to the church. Under the leadership of Pastor Ron Shiver, the church agreed to establish the Veasey Mission Fund. Subsequently, in 2009 the money was invested with the Georgia Baptist Foundation with the understanding that the earnings from the corpus would be used to fund mission projects.
Taylor reported, “Since 2009, God has given us many opportunities to be involved in a variety of mission projects. Many of these missions’ endeavors have been made possible via the Veasey Mission Fund.
“Our pastor and others from the church have been able to go to Honduras to train pastors and assist with construction projects because of money provided by this special investment with the Georgia Baptist Foundation.
“The Fund has also helped to provide travel expenses for Ryan and Alyssa Davis, missionaries the Lord with Wycliffe Bible Translators.”
Ryan has an extensive background in linguistics and Biblical languages and is currently serving as a Translation Consultant for Bible translation projects all over the world. Alyssa is in graduate school for Clinical Mental Health Counselling. Her plans are to use this degree to serve as a counsellor for Wycliffe by supporting missionaries and their families.
Taylor continued, “Our church partnered with a church in Wooten, Kentucky and were on site helping with a Vacation Bible School and a construction project for the church – all made possible by the Veasey Fund.
“Mr. Veasey’s gift also made it possible for our youth to help Whirlwind Missions with backyard Bible schools in Atlanta.” This Doraville, Georgia based ministry focuses on reaching multi-housing and international communities for Christ.
According to Taylor the Veasey Fund has also provided travel expenses for the adult chaperones to summer youth camps on several occasions since 2009.
The Funston layman concluded his report by declaring, “After all these expenditures the Veasey Mission Fund has approximately $46,000 held in reserve by the Georgia Baptist Foundation. I don’t know how much money has been spent from this fund or what the rate of return has been, but I don’t think you could take paper, pencil or a calculator and make the math work out. God has a different calculator and when we trust Him with the resources that He has provided to us, He will do far more with it than we ever could.”
The Georgia Baptist Foundation was established in 1941 as a ministry of the Georgia Baptist Convention to advance and sustain the work of the body of Christ. Today under the direction of Jonathan Gray this entity is strengthening hundreds of Gospel ministries with more than 10 million dollars in support each year.
The GBF has won the respect and confidence of their partners with consistently strong returns on their investments; and by constantly refining their investment process to ensure that their portfolio never falls out of line with their biblical beliefs. For more information about the services provided by the Georgia Baptist Foundation email them at: CONTACTUS@GBFOUNDATION.ORG
