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Eric Bebber is a graduate of Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, a fellowship partner school. Carla Wynn Davis photo
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – When Eric Bebber took his first visiting missions team to work at an urban center for the elderly, his greatest joy was watching the teenagers interact with the center’s elderly. It was an interaction that probably wouldn’t happen otherwise – suburban, teenagers connecting with the urban elderly.
"Too often we ignore our community," said Bebber, one of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Global Missions field personnel serving in Washington, D.C. "A church is missional when it’s in relationship with its community."
Bebber, who will serve a two year assignment, facilitates missions trips in Washington, D.C., for Fellowship partner churches. He connects church teams with urban ministries, hosts them during their stay, and challenges them toward missional living.
"My hope is that people go home and find those people who are unwanted and unloved, and respond to that lack of love," he said. "We can’t do it on our own. We need God’s help."
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At Calvary Baptist Church’s after school program, Bebber teaches guitar lessons. CBF Global Missions photo
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Bebber began serving in August 2006, building networks with area ministries throughout the year. He also helps with Horizons Club, an after school program for teenagers run by Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. The church is a Fellowship partner church that provides Bebber with an office and includes him among the church’s leadership.
A Thomasville, N.C. native, Bebber is a graduate of Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, a Fellowship partner school.
"I feel like God has placed inside of me a broken heart for people who suffer, and to work against structures that lead to brokenness is one way I live out my calling as a Christian," he said.
But Bebber’s work would not be possible without the Fellowship’s Offering for Global Missions, which provides ministry support and funding.
"The Offering helps to meet the needs and helps me carry out what I do," he said.
Bebber’s ultimate hope is not only for church teams to make a difference in Washington, D.C., but to leave an even greater mark in their own community – long after the mission trip is over.
"I hope that [groups will] say, ‘Now what do we do? Are we doing to find those places at home where people are suffering and offer them hope?’" he said.
To support Bebber’s work by giving to the Offering for Global Missions, visit www.thefellowship.info/involved/give/. To learn about partnership opportunities in Washington, D.C. and around the world, contact Karen Gilbert at kgilbert@thefellowship.info or (800) 352-8741.
CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.