In September 2007, a group of us from First Baptist Church, Orillia, launched the church’s first Family Circle event. Family Circle is a support program for Orillia’s single moms and that day we offered three workshops to the 16 women who attended: haircutting, budgeting and a cooking class.
DisCOVER 4 FC
In September 2008, we started a workshop for the Family Circle moms called disCOVER 4 FC. Dr. Craig Brannan, a Christian counselor in Orillia taught this eight-week series. We focused on how our pasts have affected who we are today. We also talked about how to deal with conflict and hurts and learned that how we deal with conflict and hurts affects how we raise our children. The series was rooted in Scripture and by the end of the program the moms were asking for more.
DisCOVER 4 Intimacy
So, in 2009, we started another eight-week series called disCOVER 4 Intimacy. This series focused on healthy relationships and both moms and dads were invited to attend. We had 30 plus participants every week. Session Four was the highlight for me: Dr. Brannan presented the Gospel in such a clear way that 12 of the women attending said yes to Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
This past Easter, six of our Family Circle moms were baptized. The majority now attends First Baptist and calls this church their family!
Mentoring and mobilizing
I’ve been privileged to mentor one of the 12 women that accepted Christ that day. Seeing the change in her life has completely refreshed my own spiritual walk with Christ! Her authenticity and desire to follow Christ is so evident in her life and I am excited to see how God will use her to win others for His kingdom.
Since then, we have continued on with another 16 week series which is aimed at mentoring and discipling the women who have made the commitment to follow Christ. I am excited to see God at work, changing the lives of our Family Circle moms and their children.
by Kei Dube
Dube oversees the Family Circle program at First Baptist, Orillia.
