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A.R.M.
is a Cooperative Program ministry of the eleven Southern Baptist
State Conventions of the A.R.M. region in partnership with the
North American Mission Board and the Woman’s Missionary Union.
A.R.M. is supported through CP Missions and the AAEO.
A.R.M. . . .
Works through the local
Southern Baptist Associations.
Works to bring together mission volunteers, local churches, and events.
Helps bring needs and resources together.
Contact Us
By Phone: 606-316-4298
By E-Mail:
arm@arministry.org
By Mail:
Appalachian Regional Ministry
28 White Rock Road
Hurricane, WV 25526
Call for Shipping Address
or ship to
28 White Rock Road
Hurricane, WV 25526
Appalachian Regional Ministry
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." - Jesus 1
"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the gospel to the mountains." - Bible 2
1 - Matthew 9:37-38; 2 - Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15
Appalachian Regional Ministry
is a Cooperative Program ministry of eleven Southern Baptist State Conventions
in the ARM region in partnership with the North American Mission Board and the Woman's Missionary Union.
Purpose
Appalachian Regional Ministry is an intentional missions response to the spiritual and physical needs of persons living in the Appalachian region to mobilize Southern Baptists and their resources to provide ministries, to evangelize the lost, to assist existing churches and to start new churches in the multi-state region of Appalachia.
Vision
To accelerate missions and to strengthen and establish Southern Baptist work in Appalachia. Appalachian Regional Ministry will come along side existing state convention and associational strategies and processes to resource and accelerate missions development, church growth, and the coordinated mobilization of missions volunteers. The ministry's action plan is to cooperate with associations and churches in identifying mission needs and opportunities, and to solicit volunteer requests for local and national promotion.
Objective
The objectives of the ministry are to meet needs, share Christ, and start new churches among all people of the ten state region.
Regional Make-Up
The Appalachian Regional Ministry region includes parts of Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia which are tied together by certain economic, political, and sociological factors, and missions strategies.
10 - States
312 - Counties
10 - Conventions
140 - Associations
5,705 - Southern Baptist Churches (5,489 churches and 216 missions)
19 Million people 1
113 Million unreached people 1 (Parts of Appalachia are 80-90% unchurched)
1 - estimates based on 2000 figures
APPALACHIAN REGIONAL
MINISTRY AREA
(Click map to enlarge)
"The Fields are white, ready to harvest" - Jesus
Mission Needs
Mission leaders of the ARM region have identified compelling needs that exist among the people of the region and for the future development of Southern Baptist work. ARM is a timely and relevant multi-state response to these needs and missions opportunities.
These needs have led denominational leaders and strategists to be alert to the need for more aggressive relational evangelism, local church-based ministries, innovation in worship and outreach strategies, and maximum commitment to planting new multiplying churches relevant to the emerging needs of unchurched people. Now is the time for an evangelistic harvest in Appalachia.
Ministry Projects Include:
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Church Construction and Repair
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Church Planter
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Church Planting Teams
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Church Strengthener
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Collegiate Minister/Ministry
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Home Repair/Rehab
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Evangelism/Witnessing
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Prayer/Prayer Walks
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Partnerships
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Survey Teams
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Medical Missions
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Literacy Missions
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Baptist Centers
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Revival
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Pastors/Church Planters
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Backyard Bible
Club/VBS
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Youth and Children's Activities
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Creative Worship
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Creative Evangelism Teams
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Drama
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Music
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Clowning
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Sports Events
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Xtreme Events
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Festivals, Fairs, Flea Markets
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Resort-Leisure Ministries
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Requests include service opportunities for individuals, groups, and churches.
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Requests for volunteers include opportunities for adults and youth.
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Some churches and associations may choose to adopt multiple-year projects to plant a new church in an unreached community.
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Volunteer projects and service opportunities must be negotiated with sponsor church, association or mission organization.
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Advance planning, frequent communications and fervent prayer between volunteers and sponsor group are essential to a successful missions experience.
Organizational Strategy
The organizational strategy anticipates cooperative relationships between Southern Baptist churches, associations, state conventions, and national organizations for the purposes of achieving goals and maximizing impact. Existing ministries and volunteer projects as well as newcomers will be targeted for promotion and volunteer response. Promotion of volunteer requests will be coordinated with the respective convention to which the church and/or association relate and will be shared with NAMB and WMU mobilization coordinators.
Action Plan
Associational missions directors and state convention staff in the region will be asked to assist in the development and effectiveness of Appalachian Regional Ministry by:
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Making churches and mission organizations aware of Appalachian Regional Ministry.
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Targeting specific churches, communities, or people groups where missions work is needed.
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Working with pastors and missions leaders to identify and profile volunteer projections and resource needs.
Volunteer project requests will be passed on to the state and national ARM offices for promotion and coordination of volunteer responses. Management of projects is the responsibility of the sponsoring groups, church and /or association, in cooperation with the project volunteers.
The Appalachian Regional Ministry is managed and coordinated by the several state conventions through a Steering Committee made up of representatives from each member convention. The Steering Committee and Director provide leadership and guidance for planning, organizational networking, resources development, and promotion and coordination of volunteers.
Summary
1. ARM works through the local Southern Baptist Associations.
2. ARM works to bring together mission volunteers, local churches, and events.
3. ARM helps bring needs and resources together.
National Staff
A national office is staffed by the director and is
maintained to provide direction, communications, promotion, and the
coordinating services.
Appalachian Regional Ministry
28 White Rock Road
Hurricane, WV 25526
Phone: 606-316-4298
Director: Bill Barker
- email:
bbarker@arministry.org
HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED?
SENDING: If you want to DO missions in Appalachia contact the National ARM Office or your State Office. Contact information is on the back of this pamphlet.
RECEIVING: If you live in the Appalachia region and want to use volunteers, contact the National ARM Office or your State Office for a Project Request Form. Contact information is on the back of this pamphlet.
PRAYING: You can pray for those involved in ministry in Appalachia and for the on going projects and project request. Contact the National Office for prayer needs in Appalachia.
God is doing something
new and wonderful in Appalachia
and wants us to participate in it.
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Appalachian Regional Ministry Director
Barker shifts to NAMB
By Drew Nichter, News Director
Western Recorder issue date:
December 18, 2007
Edited
Louisville—Bill
Barker, director of Appalachian Regional Ministry, will leave
the Kentucky Baptist Convention staff and join the Southern
Baptist North American Mission Board staff in the same role
effective Jan. 1.
Barker, who has directed ARM since 2001, joined the KBC in 2005
when the 10-state ministry partnership shifted its headquarters
from West Virginia to Kentucky.
ARM works in areas of Appalachia spanning 10 states from
Pennsylvania to Georgia. The ministry also serves the
Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Ohio and Maryland.
PRAYERFUL SEND-OFF Kentucky Baptist Convention President Bill
Henard (right) prays for Appalachian Regional Ministry director
Bill Barker (second from right) during last week’s KBC Mission
Board meeting. Joining them in prayer are (from left) KBC
Executive Director Bill Mackey and KBC missions growth team
leader Randy Jones. (KBC photo by Brenda Smith)
Since 2005,
one-third of ARM’s funding has come from the KBC. The other
two-thirds has been supplied by NAMB and the 11 partnership
conventions within the 10 states, including both Virginia
Baptist conventions.
Beginning Jan. 1, NAMB will fund 100 percent of Barker’s salary
and NAMB related travel. The 11 partnering conventions,
including Kentucky, will supply program money to fund Barker’s
work and travel in Appalachia and on behalf of ARM.
Barker noted that the change in funding will result in a
reduction of available travel funds by about one-third.
“So we’re going to have to run a leaner, meaner operation,” he
added.
Despite the cutback, ARM’s director said he expects the ministry
to continue its success in working among the Appalachian
population.
He added that the affiliation with NAMB on the national level
will bring a “new level of credibility” to ARM’s work in the
region.
ARM “has now been recognized on a national level by Southern
Baptists, which will open up more doors for me in the
mountains,” he explained.
Randy Jones, leader of the KBC’s missions growth team, has
served as Barker’s supervisor since 2005. Jones noted that he
and other missions leaders have been working with NAMB for the
past several years to establish this arrangement, which Jones
described as “outside the box.”
He applauded Barker’s work in the mountains, noting that he has
done “a whole lot with evangelism in the small mountain church.”
“He simplifies it, makes it understandable and puts it in
mountain talk,” Jones added.
Barker returned the affirmation, noting that the support of
Kentucky Baptists “freed me up to do what I needed to do.”
He estimated that since 2005, ARM has “mobilized directly or
indirectly” more than 160,000 volunteers. That is half of the
total number of volunteers the ministry has assembled in its
first nine years of operation, Barker pointed out.
He also said approximately 40 percent of all volunteers who have
come through ARM did work in Eastern Kentucky, adding that most
projects are being picked up even before the organization can
post them.
Through the surge in volunteerism, Barker noted that more than a
dozen church buildings have been constructed. In 2007 alone,
five ministry centers have been opened in the Appalachian
region, including three in Kentucky.
Outside of the state, Barker said he is excited about ministry
efforts in Pennsylvania, calling it an area of “primary focus.”
ARM recently established a partnership between the Baptist State
Convention of North Carolina and an area of 31 counties in east
central Pennsylvania. The North Carolina convention will soon
begin work on several ministry projects in that region.
“Three years ago, we had very few volunteers going in there,”
Barker noted. The partnership “has been like water after a long
drought.”
Jones, who was part of the team that helped form ARM in 1999,
said Barker’s tireless work in Appalachia has grown the ministry
“bigger than we ever imagined.”
Barker “has had the personality, the commitment, the motivation
… to put a face on missions in the mountains,” Jones added.
Barker predicted that the support of NAMB and recognition of
Southern Baptists will help sustain the trust he has developed
in the last six years. But he added that his work might never
have been possible if not for the support of Kentucky Baptists.
“I’m personally indebted to (KBC Executive Director) Bill Mackey
for his vision and passion to keep Appalachian Regional Ministry
alive,” Barker declared. “Kentucky has opened doors for us to do
ministry that were not open before.”
During the 2007 Annie Armstrong
Week of Prayer for North American Missions, A.R.M. was featured
on Day 1.
Click here
for more information about the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering
(AAEO) and the Week of Prayer. A.R.M. is
supported through the financial gifts of Southern Baptists to the
AAEO. Because Southern Baptists care and give to support the
work of A.R.M. an estimated 50,000 short-term mission volunteers
responded to over 400 mission opportunities in 2006 with an
estimated 2,500 salvation decisions.
A.R.M. is featured in the Adult Missions study
during the Week of Prayer.
Click here
to view or download a 7 minute DVD, "Taking God's Love to
Appalachia," an overview of the ministry of A.R.M. A listening
guide is also available for downloading.
Click here
to hear Strength for Living Radio Broadcast
with Bill Barker and Leroy Fountain that aired on January 21, 2007. Right
click to download. Missionary Bill Barker shares the
challenges and joys of ministering to the Appalachian region of the
United States and missionary Leroy Fountain explains the need for a
church planting movement that will touch un-churched people for
Christ.
The Director of A.R.M. was featured
in the fall 2006 edition of Altitude, a secular magazine in Fannin
County, Georgia.
Click here
to read the article. © Altitude Magazine. Used by permission.
All rights reserved. Altitude Magazine, PO Box 1137, Blue Ridge, GA
30513. The file is 6.5 MB. Allow time for it to
download.
Click here
to read "Son of Appalachia Returns Home."
The article is in the Western Recorder, Kentucky Baptist Convention
and was written for the Annie Armstrong Week of Prayer.
Click here
to read the article in Baptist Press.
Click here
to read "Changing the World by Going Home." The article is in
the "Missions Mosaic," a publication of Women on Mission (WMU).
Bill Barker,
National Director of A.R.M.
Click here for Biographical information
Bill Barker
28 White Rock Road
Hurricane, WV 25526
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