Mission Trips
Gateway Fellowship has been partnering with International Mission Board missionaries in Southeast Asia to plant a church in the Chachoengsao province through English camps.
 
 

Lottie Moon (1840-1912)

In 2018 Southern Baptists celebrated 130 years of annual giving to support International missionaries.  More than 3.5 billion dollars has been given through the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, whose namesake inspired the first collection of gifts in 1888 so the world could know Christ.  Then, as now, every penny given supports missionaries as they share the Gospel overseas.  Last year Southern Baptist gave almost 150 million dollars, but this year’s goal of 175 million will allow more missionaries who are prepared to begin their ministries to actually go.  Gateway Fellowship participates each Christmas Season in the Lottie Moon Offering in order to see more of the world come to Christ.

 

Annie Armstrong (1850-1938)

The Southern Baptist Convention’s Easter emphasis on North American Missions is named after Miss Annie Armstrong, who was instrumental in supporting and promoting missionaries.  Annie rallied churches to give more, pray more, and do more for reaching people for Christ. As we continue to unite to make her vision a reality in North America today, we can be confident that her legacy will also be ours.  Gateway Fellowship joins with all other Southern Baptist Churches to support North American missionaries through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

 

Arizona SBC Disaster Relief

So far, twenty-two Members of Gateway Fellowship are trained in disaster relief.  When they are called out they go.  Training is supplied every spring by the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention.  Arizona has kitchen units, a debris removal unit, chainsaw crew, shower/laundry unit and chaplains that provide spiritual guidance.  Our teams have been everywhere from  Baton Rouge for Hurricane  Gustav to California for the wild fires in 2008 to the Yarnell Hill fire in 2013 and Phoenix, Laveen and Mesa for flooding 3 years ago.  This past summer two teams were deployed again to Baton Rouge to assist with monumental flooding – 33 inches of rain in 36 hours.  Disaster relief provides a unique opportunity to translate the message and person of Jesus Christ into flesh and blood as His followers respond in love and compassion to hurting people regardless of circumstances, social status, financial situation, language, political persuasion, theological stance, education or race. ‘As you do unto these, you do unto me’ remains the guideline for ministry to people in and through disaster relief.  Those who serve in Disaster Relief Ministry bring Help, Healing and Hope to those affected by circumstances beyond their control.
Information at: arizonadisasterrelief.org

 

Casa de Amor

Throughout the year, Gateway Fellowship members and visitors bring clothing, household goods and non-perishable food to help stock the Baptist Center known as Casa de Amor.  This mission outreach site ministers to the homeless and low income families in the East Valley.  Special emphasis campaigns through the year include a Back-to-School drive for a local elementary school where over 90% of the children come from poverty-level homes, Thanksgiving & Christmas food drives, and a water drive for the homeless in the summer.  Gateway members have the opportunity to volunteer time to sort and distribute clothing and food, teach computer literacy classes, teach Spanish language Bible studies, and translate for the CdA staff.  Casa de Amor is located at 819 S MacDonald in Mesa, AZ.  Contact the Center at 480-464-2877 for more information.

Operation Christmas Child

Gateway Fellowship partners with Samaritan’s Purse and thousands of churches across the country each fall to provide Christmas gifts to children in poverty-stricken areas around the world.  Empty shoe boxes are distributed in October and church members fill them with suggested small gifts, return them in November, and they are sent to Samaritan’s Purse to be shipped in time for Christmas.  The gospel story is included in each box and hundreds of thousands of children have received Christ as Savior because of OCC efforts.  Our goal for 2021 is 300+ boxes.

New Life Pregnancy Centers

One of two new missions efforts here at Gateway Fellowship is Arizona Baptist Children’s Services’ New Life Pregnancy Centers.  The Centers provide hope and care to those facing a pregnancy, planned or unplanned, through Christ-centered ministries.  We support them through a Baby Bottle Campaign in February in which our church families take home an empty baby bottle and bring it back filled with loose change.  Our women’s quilting group also makes baby quilts for NLPC to give to their clients with new babies.