Dear Bellevue Family,

Fall is here! You can feel the coolness in the air, and the leaves are just beginning to turn. I love the cool temperatures and the colors of the fall. God’s creation declares His glory for all to behold!

Friend Day

Friend Day is right around the corner on November 4. We know that the number one reason people come to church for the first time is because they were invited by a friend, but we don’t always act on that knowledge. Use this special day to invite a friend, neighbor, co-worker, or relative to join you in your Life Group and the Worship Service. Your invitation could lead that person to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I encourage you to start thinking now about who you will invite.

One Year Bible

2012 has flown by. Once again, we have read the Bible through as a church family. We have been reading the One Year Bible, and what a blessing God’s Word has been to each of us! It has been a joy to preach messages from the New Testament portion of the daily readings on Sunday mornings. God has spoken to us this year, and we are grateful.

If you are new to Bellevue, or have not followed the daily readings, I encourage you to finish the year’s readings with us. For your convenience, these Bibles are available in Bellevue’s Bookstore. Purchase a One Year Bible and begin reading on today’s date. Then continue to read God’s Word in 2013. God promises to bless those who spend time in His Word (Joshua 1:8).

2012 Love Offering: Advancing Our Mission: Opening Our Hearts to Memphis

On Sunday, November 11, our church family will participate in our 79th annual Love Offering during our morning Worship Services. The Love Offering dates back to 1934, a time when the Great Depression had ravaged America. The first Love Offering totaled $36,000, which was $6,000 more than was necessary to meet the church’s financial need. Since that time the Bellevue family has faithfully and obediently given as the Lord has led. America is once again facing economic challenges. But I know that this body of believers will seek God’s guidance for how we should give in obedience to His leading. We can be assured that God always provides what He leads us to give.

We are excited about how God will use this year’s Love Offering. Your gifts will continue to help us focus on our church’s mission by funding campus improvements as well as city-wide ministries that will help us continue to open our hearts to the precious people of Memphis, Shelby County, the Mid-South, our nation, and our world. It is our prayer that God will use the Love Offering in a mighty way as we seek to “encourage one another and build up one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Even as “Bellevue Loves Memphis,” Donna and I love every member and ministry of Bellevue. Thank you, church family, for allowing us to serve alongside you as we advance His Kingdom. Your prayers and encouragement mean so much to us. We pray for you as well. We also pray that God will use Bellevue to be a house of prayer, an oasis of love, and a catalyst for revival in our day.

Our best years as a church are ahead. “The latter glory will be greater than the former” (Haggai 2:9)!

III John 2,

Bro. Steve

A L e t t e r F ro m Our PAstOr

Love God. Love People. share Jesus.

Make Disciples. 2 November/December 2012

www.bellevuepastor.org

Friend Day - November 4

WHO WILL YOUBRING?

Do you remember the first time someone introduced you to Jesus and invited you to church? Who are you reaching with the Gospel?

On Sunday, November 4, you are encouraged to bring a friend to your Life Group and to the Worship Service. Start praying now about who you will invite.

November/December 2012 3

Justin: We got engaged on Christmas Eve. I wanted to make it a big surprise. I took Helen out to eat at our favorite restaurant, the spot of our first date.

Helen: I walked in, and he had music playing. I kept asking him why his legs were shaking. He got down on his knee and proposed, and of course I said yes. I was so excited.

Justin: We got married, and not too long after that, it felt like everything came crashing down. I’d come to a point in my life where I wanted to do what I wanted to do, and sometimes that didn’t include Helen. I was fooling myself into thinking that I could be married and still keep up this other life.

Helen: I wasn’t invited to go out with him and his college friends, and then I realized it would be him and other girls. I almost started to put up a wall and kind of shut down.

Justin: We either had to reach out or this thing was done.

Helen: Finally I went to his brother and his wife, and they actually had invited us to come to their class, and I thought, “That’s my last hope.”

Justin: We had attended Bellevue together, but that was the first time we had gone to a Life Group. I walked in and met Steven Holley, the man who was teaching that class. God really began to speak to me through his teaching.

Helen: They really took me under their wing and just started showing me how to even read the Bible. Once I started doing that, I started to see a lot of things. Their light had revealed my darkness. I thought, “Oh, I’m the good one. I’m not doing anything wrong.” I really was, and I didn’t even know it.

Justin: I remember praying and saying, “Lord, I have claimed You my whole life, and I have done nothing but give a false representation of who You are, with the way I’m living. I’ve missed it, and I need You.” That selfishness, that greed started to fade away, and I truly learned what it meant to love Helen.

Helen: I thought that my heart was right, but it wasn’t. As soon as I was willing, things started to turn around, things that all this time I thought I could fix or somebody else was going to change in our marriage, but it was the Lord. He was the only One.

Justin: Eight years ago, walking into this church with a marriage that was falling apart, I never would have thought that we would one day be teaching a Life Group.

Helen: I have a heart for the Life Group because I know where my marriage was, and I know what it did for me.

We’re Justin and Helen Williams, and that’s our Red Chair Story.

4 November/December 2012

Emily: I was walking on the square in Covington, and I passed the stage. I just felt that something of eternal value was supposed to be happening here. I felt like something could happen right in the center of town to be able to impact the community for God and with His Word.

I was born and raised in Covington, as well as Zach. We met in the first grade, and when we got married, we felt the Lord calling us back here. I always felt the Lord saying to me, “Instead of running from where I have placed you, why don’t you stay here and do something eternal to help Me change it?”

I began to get a burden for women and children in my community—how to give them God’s Word and increase Biblical literacy.

Zach: We began to pray and say, “Lord, what can we do where You have positioned us?” and we truly believe the Lord has used Bellevue to really equip us to be able to bring it back here to our hometown.

Emily: We started a Chronological Bible Study with women here in Covington, and we were able to help other women see the bigger picture of how we’re supposed to be getting outside of our churches and serving and teaching people about God’s Word. Through that, this concept was birthed: to train up ladies to be able to get out and share with their children.

In June of this year, He revealed to me that we should be doing some type of Bible story ministry using the Jesus Storybook Bible. We’ve gotten through the Ten Commandments and Joshua. We hope to pick up and get through the Old Testament, to be able to read the Christmas story during December at some point. When we start back next spring, we hope to go through the Gospels with the children around Easter.

We’ve been told that the most important time to plant seeds in children’s lives for them to accept the Gospel is from birth to five years, and we hope that through Scripture memorization, hearing Bible stories, small group time, and worship music, they’ll carry this with them the rest of their lives.

Zach: We’ve had individuals from Memphis come up here, some of the Bellevue Arlington folks and people from Lauderdale County, which is just north of here. It’s our prayer that this would be the beginning of a ministry that can be multiplied and replicated in other communities.

Emily: When you’re doing something like this, you’re stepping out on faith, and nothing of yourself can accomplish any of this. God has brought all the pieces together.

Zach: Emily’s faith in the Lord and passion for Him and His Word have really grown my faith and my passion for Him. There have been so many instances where I’ve told God, “God, only You know how to make this work, and I know You’re in this, but I don’t see how it’s going to happen,” and God has just shown me His faithfulness. If He lays something on your heart, then you obey Him, He will open doors for you to be able to achieve and accomplish what He wants you to do for His glory.

Zach and Emily Cook

November/December 2012 5

Bellevue’s annual Love Offering tradition dates back to 1934 when Pastor R.G. Lee led the congregation to pay off building debt accumulated from the 1930 sanctuary enlargement and classroom building construction. The financial need that year was $30,000, but even in the grip of the Great Depression, the Bellevue family came together and gave $36,000.

Our heritage is steeped in following as God directs, and we believe His plan for the future of Bellevue is to intentionally touch our city, our nation, and our world for Christ. Therefore, we believe He is directing us to Love God, Love People, Share Jesus, and Make Disciples within the greater Memphis area by expanding our local ministry and ministering to and transforming our neighborhoods because faith begins at home.

The 2012 Love Offering encompasses three objectives: to continue to reach new people groups, to build bridges to our city, and to open our hearts to Memphis.

Reach New People We can no longer expect people to come to us; we have to be prepared to go to them. The Vue and Bellevue Arlington are two ways that we meet people where they are. The Vue, near all our major college campuses, has reached 1,000 college students who need a convenient location for connecting and worshiping with other believers. Bellevue Arlington has grown to 387 members and 325 in average weekly attendance. The Love Offering will continue to fund these vital campuses.

Build Bridges We are about more than ourselves. We want our city to know that Bellevue loves Memphis by reaching people outside our walls. Bellevue Loves Memphis ministries reach out to our city through

the Christian Mobile Dental Clinic and community involvement. The Dental Clinic has performed over $1.4 million worth of free dental services to the uninsured of Memphis, and 738 people have accepted Christ through the Clinic’s Gospel presentations. Our community involvement touches thousands of people through school graduations, teacher in-services, Impact Ministries and Bella Vista, Bellevue Loves Memphis Workdays, and more. Love Offering funds enable us to build these bridges to the lost and hurting of Memphis.

Open Our Hearts We love people—it’s part of our mission—so we want our members and guests alike to feel welcomed at Bellevue. Renovation plans for the West Lobby include a coffee shop in the Library’s previous space next to the Bookstore and a new façade and entry for the Bookstore. The staircase will be reconfigured to include a landing with seating for people to connect with others. These renovations will make the West Lobby feel more like a den than a formal living room. One of the most used spaces on our campus, the West Lobby is the heart of our building, and the Love Offering will help us open our heart to others.

Giving to the 2012 Love Offering is your opportunity to celebrate what God has done through Bellevue and to anticipate what He will do. The task is great, but we believe God will use our gifts to touch hearts and change lives like never before. Our gifts do more than fund projects; they further the mission of Bellevue. Please seek God’s direction for your giving, and give your time and resources obediently. What God asks you to give, He will provide. Are you ready to open your heart?

If you did not receive your Love Offering brochure in the mail, you can view it at www.advancingourmission.org.

LOVE OFFERING 2012 | NOVEMBER 116 November/December 2012

Your tithes and offerings fund today’s ministry efforts, but you can also invest in Bellevue Baptist Church’s future by making a planned gift with the help of the Bellevue Foundation. The Bellevue Foundation provides comprehensive, tax-wise strategies and options that make lifetime stewardship a reality. In addition, you can trust that your gift will be used only for the ministry of Bellevue Baptist Church.

If you are concerned about protecting your financial security now and providing for your loved ones in the future, the Bellevue Foundation will show you how to maximize the potential of your resources while continuing to support the ministry of Bellevue, making seemingly impossible gifts possible.

With the Foundation’s help, you can

• learnhowtogivetotheBellevueFoundationin ways that can actually give back for a time, providing extra income in retirement years or to help support a loved one or fund educational expenses and other needs.

• addmeaningtoyourgivingbyusingittohonoraspecial friend or loved one.

• seehowtosavemoneyonincome,gift,andestatetaxes and redirect those amounts for use in ways you choose.

We have skilled advisors working with the Church and the Foundation who will walk you through your various gift options: ways to generate income through your gift; provide for your heirs through inheritance; and give through wills and trusts, retirement plans, annuities, and securities. When you work with the Foundation to establish your giving goals, you will also receive a side-by-side comparison of your options, information for your financial advisor, gift-planning calculations, and answers to frequently asked planned giving questions.

If you would like to learn more about the services offered by Bellevue Baptist Church and the Bellevue Foundation and to start planning your future gifts to Bellevue, call Phylis McClain at (901) 347-5470 or visit www.bellevue.org/bellevuefoundation.

Since Bellevue was founded in 1903, our mission has faithfully and obediently been to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. With your continued support, Bellevue’s mission—Love God, Love People, Share Jesus, and Make Disciples—will continue well into the future. Isn’t it exciting to know that you can play such a vital role in Bellevue’s lasting legacy?

November/December 2012 7

www.bellevue.org/bellevuefoundation

Rosalie Carmichael has only one wish: to give the orphans at the Miracle Street Children’s Home a joyful Christmas. But in the hard times of 1912, even small miracles seem out of reach. She hopes to see Maddie smile, just once. She waits for Jonah to speak, just one word. And she prays for Casey, bravely stepping aboard a train headed west, just hoping someone will adopt him.

She will watch the orphans perform in Madison Square Park, but the next day, she must face Mrs. Eugenia Hamilton Fowlhurst, president of the New York Ladies Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. Even worse, she’s to meet the new superintendent of the Orphan’s Aid Society, Mr. Nathan Jericho. Rose can only hope he will be kinder than the last supervisor.

And Rose needs a miracle in her own life—the answers to a search that began in childhood. She fears miracles are only for those with the means to supply them.

But it is Christmas, and God is at work on Miracle Street. Rose and the orphans are about to find out how hope survives when miracles are in short supply.

Tickets Available November 1Tickets go on sale Thursday, November 1 at 8:30 a.m. Prices are $3, $6, $12, and $18. Purchase your tickets and choose your seats at the Events Registration Center in the West Lobby or www.bellevuesingingtree.org. Tickets are non-refundable (no exchanges or refunds). For more information call (901) 347-5500.

2012 Holiday Schedule

Friday, December 7 7:00 p.m.Saturday, December 8 2:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m.Sunday, December 9 3:00 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

Monday, December 10 No PerformanceTuesday, December 11 7:00 p.m.Wednesday, December 12 7:00 p.m.

Performance Schedule

Singing Christmas Tree Presents: Christmas on Miracle Street

November 21–23 Church offices, Bookstore, Library, and GRACE Building closed in observance of Thanksgiving

November 28 K-WOW Family Christmas Night

December 7–9, 11–12 Singing Christmas Tree

December 16 Majesty of Christmas

December 23 Regular morning schedule, no evening service

December 24 Christmas Eve Service

December 24–25 Church offices, Bookstore, Library, and GRACE Building closed in observance of Christmas

December 26 No Wednesday evening activities

December 30 Regular morning schedule with the Lord’s Supper, no evening service

December 31–January 1 Church offices, Bookstore, Library, and GRACE Building closed in observance of New Year’s

8 November/December 2012

Christmas Store at Impact MinistriesAs you go about your Christmas shopping this year, help Memphis families in need by purchasing gifts for Impact Ministries’ Christmas Store. Through the Christmas Store, families reached by Impact can purchase your donated gifts for 75 percent off the retail price, allowing them to provide gifts to their children and restore much-wanted dignity.

Each Bellevue Life Group will be assigned a specific age group of children for whom to purchase gifts. A collection bin will be located in each Lobby November 23–December 9. Please bring your gifts unwrapped and labeled with the price.

The Christmas Store will be open Friday, December 14, from 4:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. and Saturday, December 15, from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Each family who shops in the Christmas Store will receive a large box of food and a follow-up evangelistic visit from Bellevue members.

Impact’s Christmas Store will provide many opportunities for the Bellevue family to serve in this exciting new ministry. For a list of gift ideas and volunteer opportunities, please visit www.bellevue.org/christmas-store.

The Majesty of ChristmasThis year more than 200 Memphis-area school students will be our special guests as they join the Bellevue Choir and Orchestra for The Majesty of Christmas. Students from Arlington High School, White Station High School, Cordova High School, Kate Bond Middle School, Tipton-Rosemark Academy, and St. George’s will lend their voices to this uplifting worship experience.

Each song—except the “Hallelujah Chorus”—will feature an all-new arrangement, with everything from old-time spirituals with an African groove to 1970s disco to an epic, movie soundtrack-sound for “Sing We Now of Christmas.”

This evening of community and connection is sure to be exciting as over 400 singers and musicians combine their God-given talents to worship Him. You will not want to miss The Majesty of Christmas Sunday, December 16, at 6:00 p.m. in the Worship Center.

Join us as we celebrate the most majestic of holidays!

Christmas Eve ServiceJoin the Bellevue family for a time of special worship during our Christmas Eve service December 24 from 5:00–5:30 p.m. in the Worship Center. Through special music and the telling of the Christmas story, you will feel transported to the stable in Bethlehem so long ago as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

9 November/December 2012

For 37 years, the ministry of Bellevue’s largest annual event has been rooted in providing the Mid-South the opportunity to experience Bellevue for the first time, feel the heartbeat of Bellevue, and be reminded of the Why—Emmanuel—of Christmas while fulfilling our mission to Love God, Love People, Share Jesus, and Make Disciples.

Each year, as the story is written, the set built, and the roles rehearsed, the Singing Christmas Tree begins with its love for God. Hundreds of Bellevue members honor God by using their spiritual gifts within the Body of Christ. Construction crews begin building the set four months before the first presentation. Seamstresses spend countless hours preparing costumes and praying over each one and the cast member who will wear it. Rev. Mark Blair, Minister of Music, says that even though the concern year after year is “Is it too big?” the Singing Christmas Tree is a lavish expression of our love for the Lord. We strive for it to always be our gift of love and service to Him rather than simply a feel-good Christmas story.

Bellevue’s genuine love for people is expressed through the Singing Christmas Tree and what it can mean in the lives of others. One of the Singing Christmas Tree’s faithful volunteers, a Christian school teacher, each year buys 100 of the best tickets available to share with his students and their families. He knows that even in a Christian school, there are those who need to hear an encouraging word from the Lord. Bro. Mark’s challenge to the Bellevue family is to not ask, “How can I get the best seat?” but “Who can I share the Singing Christmas Tree with?” God faithfully blesses the Singing Christmas Tree and uses it to touch lives and change hearts.

Bellevue maintains a bold presence in the greater Memphis area, but there are still so many people here we want to reach with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Started as an evangelistic tool, the Singing Christmas Tree continues to draw tens of thousands of attendees each year. Over the course of six days of presentations, the Gospel is shared with an average of 30,000 people. As Bro. Mark points out,

“Christmas is the one time of year when it is socially acceptable to be a Christian,” and the Singing Christmas Tree equips Bellevue to share Jesus with people who otherwise would not come to Bellevue.

More than an outlet for students to use their God-given talents of expression, the Singing Christmas Tree connects them with adults who seek to coach them into more mature relationships with God. Bro. Mark explains that making disciples means doing life together and pouring ourselves into each other. Thousands of students have participated in the Singing Christmas Tree since it began, and through the auditions, rehearsals, and presentations, they spend many hours working closely with adults and other students. They learn what it means to compromise, act selflessly, and put their personal struggles aside to see the big picture of what God is doing through them. God works through the adults who participate in the Singing Christmas Tree to make disciples of a pivotal generation and show them their roles in His plans.

Jesus, the master storyteller, knew that telling captivating, inspirational stories would draw people in. Following His example, the goal of the Singing Christmas Tree is to tell a story through which people see themselves as recipients of God’s love. Christmas on Miracle Street, this year’s presentation, is set in New York City in 1912, a time when an estimated 120,000 orphans longed for homes with loving families. Those children and the characters in the story are orphans no more than any of us are. Born into a lost and sinful world, all people are orphans in need of a heavenly Father to adopt and love us. And that is exactly what God did: He chose each one of us and paid an exorbitant price—the death of His son—for us. He waits for each person to turn to Him and call out, “Father, Father.” Are you in need of a heavenly Father?

Fulfilling Our Mission ThroughThe Singing Christmas Tree

10 November/December 2012

The most majestic season culminates each year with Bellevue’s presentation of The Majesty of Christmas. Always a wonderful and uplifting worship experience, Majesty uses worship through song to celebrate the miracle of our Savior’s birth. This year Majesty adopts a more evangelistic intent as it opens its heart to Memphis by inviting area schools to come and be a part. Bellevue’s Choir and Orchestra will engage more than 200 Middle School and High School students from our community to show them how to use their God-given talents in worship and to share the Gospel with them.

Throughout this combined project, Bellevue will have many opportunities to minister to students from Arlington High School, White Station High School, Cordova High School, Kate Bond Middle School, Tipton-Rosemark Academy, and St. George’s by exposing them to Bellevue’s ministries, particularly the School of Performing Arts and Student Ministry.

SPA’s new Director Jim Holcomb, who served as Music Supervisor for Memphis City Schools for 21 years, will act as a bridge to connect students with the training and performance available through Bellevue’s SPA and Student Choirs and

Ensembles. Our Student Ministry Pastors will greet the students and personally invite them to Student Ministry events, and Bellevue’s Choir and Orchestra are encouraged to ask students how they can pray for these special guests.

To reinforce how our guest students can use their talents to worship the Lord, they will join the Bellevue Choir on a recording project in late October. During Majesty they will sit among members of the Bellevue Choir, surrounded by believers who lift up their voices to Him and further fostering a sense of community and connection.

One area school teacher expressed to Bellevue’s Minister of Music, Rev. Mark Blair, that the opportunity to experience the technology, large choir, and orchestra of a production of this size is once-in-a-lifetime for many of these students. Bro. Mark hopes it will not be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He hopes this year’s presentation of The Majesty of Christmas will prove to be the start of ongoing relationships with students and their families and that Bellevue has many more opportunities to work with and minister to students from all over the Memphis area.

11 November/December 2012

Here, with all the comforts America offers, the average person eats three meals a day…and sometimes more. Three square meals a day. They are simply part of the American way of life. In Malawi, located in southeast Africa, however, many children do not know where the first meal of the day will come from, much less the meal after that.

For Kenneth and Avisha Mpemba, meeting the physical hunger of some of these children proves to be the perfect way to meet their spiritual hunger as well. After meeting at a youth camp in California, Kenneth, the son of a Malawian father and a British mother, and Avisha, from India and the granddaughter of longtime Bellevue members Don and Virginia Robinson, helped develop the Malawi Children’s Mission. In 2008 MCM opened in Mbwana Village, about 45 minutes outside the major city of Blantyre.

With their goal to feed orphans specifically, MCM has reached its limit of children it can financially support, and each day 150 children ages 3–17 walk from three nearby villages to consume their only guaranteed meal and fresh water for the day and to learn English. MCM knows that gaining an education is the only way these orphans can hope to improve their situations. Currently, MCM offers preschool and kindergarten classes and plans to add additional grades each year until they can offer a full school. The generosity of a Bellevue member funded the construction of their preschool and kindergarten building and meals for the next year.

A Bellevue team led by Phil and Janie Weatherwax and Butch and Shelia Parker included Floyd Bell of Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church; Bishop Ed and Demetria Fears of Memphis’ inner-city Evangelical Outreach Ministries; and Sandy Thompson, a Bellevue member who served in Malawai with Bellevue in 2010, traveled to MCM July 31–August 12 to engage children in Vacation Bible School and do evangelism in prisons and a local hospital. For Sandy, this return trip was a heartwarming homecoming. “It was great to see healthier children and have them remember us by name. These children are precious, beautiful, dirty, grimy, hungry children. They are bright and have heard the Word. They are hungry for the Word, and they clung to everything we said.”

Sandy recalls the story of Berita, a precious 10-year-old girl, who felt the tug of the Holy Spirit on her young heart. During the six days of Vacation Bible School, the children learned the parable of the Friend at Midnight. Berita and the others learned to not give up when their prayers are not answered immediately. The children were then asked to write down what they had been praying for. Some prayed to be smart and do well in school. Others prayed for a long life—their life expectancy is a mere 43. Through the translator Sandy learned that Berita’s slip of paper said, “I want to be saved and pray.” Sandy, Berita, and the translator went to the library, where Berita walked the Roman Road and learned the way of salvation. Sandy made sure

Berita understood her decision and that it was her own decision. With tears in her deep brown eyes, Berita said she wanted to pray.

During this second trip to MCM, team members ventured to one of the neighboring villages to visit children in their homes. Bridgett, only 8 or 9, lives with her grandmother in a windowless hut the size of some walk-in closets. Her aged, weathered grandmother excitedly spread out a straw mat so their guests would not have to sit on the dirt floor. Bridgett’s grandmother was asked what she had for breakfast, but she had no concept of breakfast because she had no food. Without MCM, young Bridgett would face the same dire circumstance every day. When asked what her needs are, her grandmother would not ask for more, her gratitude for Bridgett’s daily meal already too great. This home visit meant so much to Bridgett that she proudly escorted Sandy back to MCM, hand in hand the whole way.

Her second missions project to Malawi has left an indelible mark on Sandy. As she says, “When you come home, you don’t get over it for months. You feel guilty for going through the drive-thru at Starbucks because you know that money could feed hungry children. I feel like those children are ours [Bellevue’s].”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and

he who believes in Me will never thirst.” John 6:35

12 November/December 2012

No churches were built, and no pastors were trained, but Sandy believes this type of missions project is vital because these Malawi children remembered her and other team members from two years before. Even from this distance, Bellevue is making disciples of them and helping change their lives. She knows first-hand that the trip to Malawi is expensive, but she hopes Bellevue will continue to support MCM and will become a catalyst for it to thrive. She explains that very few missions teams travel to Malawi, but “God dwells there; His Spirit is everywhere. He will provide.” One meal a day. As hungry as the stomachs of these Malawi children are, their hearts are even hungrier. Faithful and obedient servants Kenneth and Avisha Mpemba, with the help of the Bellevue family, are going beyond the physical hunger of these beloved children to meet their greater spiritual hunger with the One who is the bread of life.

To learn more about Malawi Children’s Mission, visit www.malawichildrensmission.org.

Clockwise from top left: Bridgett and Sandy Thompson walking back to MCM from Bridgett’s villageThehutBridgettshareswithhergrandmother•Childrenenjoyingtheirdailymealofmaize,vegetables,andfreshwaterBellevue’smissionsteam•Berita’sprayerrequestwritteninChichewa•Berita’sprayerrequesttranslatedintoEnglish

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Friday, November 30, at 6:30 p.min room F241/243

The event and childcare are FREE, but you must register by Sunday, November 25, at www.bellevue.org/thesource!

ComE on in...and ExpERiEnCE ThE SouRCE!“You are my refuge and my shield; Your Word is my only Source of hope.” psalm 119:114

If you would like to donate poinsettias to be placed on the tree in the West Lobby during the Christmas season, now is the time. You may order them in honor of a loved one or in

memory of someone dear to you. To order your plants, pick up an order form at the Events Registration Center in the West Lobby or download it at www.bellevue.org/poinsettias.

Orders must be received by Wednesday, October 31.

for single momsare you in need of refueling,

revitalizing, and renewing? Enjoy a night of food, fun, and fellowship designed just for YOU!

14 November/December 2012

OctOber 27• JesusLovesMemphisWorkday andPrayerRally

OctOber 31 • FamilyFunfest• Deadlinetoorderpoinsettias

NOvember 4• FriendDay• BabyDedication—eveningservice

NOvember 10• CarCareMinistry• YoungSinglesBonfire

NOvember 11• LoveOffering• Lord’sSupper—eveningservice

NOvember 14• EndofWednesdayNightsatBellevue fallsemester

NOvember 19• ForerunnersAgapeFeast

NOvember 21–23• Churchoffices,Bookstore,Library, andGRACEBuildingclosedin observanceofThanksgiving

NOvember 28• K-WOWFamilyChristmasNight

NOvember 30• TheSourceforSingleMoms

December 1• ArlingtonChristmasParade— BellevueArlington• PassporttoBethlehem

December 2• EveningserviceintheFellowshipHall

December 7–9, 11–12• SingingChristmasTree

December 12• NoWednesdayeveningactivitiesdueto SingingChristmasTree

December 14• ForerunnersChristmasSocial• YoungMarriedDateNight

December 14-15• ChristmasStoreatImpactMinistries

December 16• TheMajestyofChristmas

December 17• ForerunnersLuncheon

December 23• Regularmorningschedule, noeveningService

December 24• ChristmasEveService

December 24–25• Churchoffices,Bookstore,Library,andGRACE BuildingclosedinobservanceofChristmas

December 26• NoWednesdayeveningactivities

December 30• RegularmorningschedulewiththeLord’s Supper,noeveningservice• StudentMinistryNewYear’sEve-EveLock-in

December 31–JaNuary 1• Churchoffices,Bookstore,Library,and GRACEBuildingclosedinobservanceof NewYear’s

JaNuary 20• VolunteerMinistryFair• ChiliCook-off

JaNuary 21• ForerunnersLuncheon

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Volume 52, Number 5Messenger (USPS No. 019-669) is published bi-monthly by Bellevue Baptist Church, 2000 Appling Road, Cordova, TN 38016, (901) 347-2000. Periodicals Postage Paid at Cordova, TN 38016, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to, Bellevue Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1210, Cordova, TN 38088. © 2012 by Bellevue Baptist ChurchAll Scripture References are NASB® unless otherwise noted.

November/December 2012 15

Friday, December 7 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 8 2:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 9 3:00 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

Monday, December 10 No Performance

Tuesday, December 11 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, December 12 7:00 p.m.

www.bellevuesingingtree.org

Singing Christmas Tree 2012 b Performance Schedule

Tickets go on sale November 1 at the Events Registration Center in the West Lobby and www.bellevuesingingtree.org. 20

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