This is an area of over 2 million people with thousands of children like these pictured. We have visited homes where buses used to run and now they are no longer picking up children for Sunday School. The question they ask is "What happened to the Bus?" We noticed that when they no longer wanted to be Baptist and took the name Baptist off the sign, that they quit the bus ministry. Now the buses sit rusting out in an empty field as pictured. The bus children are still waiting. We need to purchase a bus and find these forgotten children and bring them back to Christ before it is eternally too late.

This is a picture of soul-winners on the West Coast of the US. It is a rare sight in our area to see soul-winners. In an area where Scientology has its $40 million cathedral, many churches have quit soul-winning and gotten out of the bus ministry. That is why we feel such a need for this type of church. Pastor Williams is witnessing on a farm near here inviting someone to church.

There are 910,260 people in Pinellas County and 20% of them are elderly. Who is reaching them for Christ and who is having a program at the many care facilities here. There are 9000 in nursing homes in this county. Very little is being done. We need to show them that life is not over and that they can still do something for God and His work. They can be a great asset in sharing their wisdom with the younger generation. Many have families who have all but forgotten that they exist and we want to give them a new family that truly cares. Pastor Williams visiting with Mary.

There are baptist churches in this area that support foreign missions but none of them have a center with a Christian structured program that helps them break their addictions. We think that there needs to be a program that is part of a New Testament Baptist Church that will teach them and give them a new direction of growth and replacement of the old habits with Godly ones. Being part of a local church is part of the influence that will mold their lives into new ones. The pictures are of such a facility in Jacksonville where Pastor Williams sings and practices with the men before he preached at one of their services.

There is a rescue mission in this area that is supported by many churches. Though many baptist churches support foreign missions, none has its own rescue mission. Having services at a mission is good but being part of a local Independent Baptist Church would contribute much to the help of these down-and-out citizens of society, which would be far better. There are 6,235 total homeless men, women and children as of January 2009 in this area, an increase of 20% just since 2007. Of these, 1944 are homeless children - a 102% increase over 2007, AND NO BUS MINISTRY? Homeless people are pictured here!

Blind people are in every state and Florida is no exception. Someone needs to care for them. No doubt not any church has a blind ministry. Pinellas County has 40,000 who are blind or visually impaired. Fanny Crosby, one of the greatest Christian song writers in the world was blind. Her music has blessed millions of people all over the world and her spiritual sight far surpasses many who can see. People that are blind live in a dark world but the light of Christ in their hearts can give them a purpose that few other blind people have, that of serving the Lord Jesus Christ like the blind in the Bible. We want to have a place for them too. We hope that they can see Jesus in us as we care for them.

Pinellas County has 3293 inmates in the local jail here. Most of the people are also repeat offenders. Why? Because churches are largely missing the need of winning the lost and helping people like this change their lives and become a new person in Christ. I have visited the jail and found many who only want a friend or a prayer of encouragement. If Christians were doing their job, the jails would not have as many inmates but they would be finding a place of use in society. A church that has a jail ministry will not only be able to encourage and win those who are institutionalized but it will also be able to counsel and win family members who are also in great need.

Pinellas County School District services an approximate student population of 114,583 in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. With 6,670 full-time classroom teachers, the district's overall student/teacher ratio is 17.2:1. There are 169 schools associated with the agency, which is classified as being in or near a large city (Largo, FL). Pinellas County School District allocates approximately $3,591 per pupil for instructional expenses. Yet with all this money spent, there is nothing but godless humanism filling their minds and leaving them depressed, suicidal, or being high on drugs. These facts only illustrate the vast need of a Sunday School that reaches children, teaches them from kindergarten to 12th grade and gives them a true purpose in life. We need to tell them that they are fearfully and wonderfully made by God and that He has a will for each one of them. This area is known for the many gangs and the US statistics show a rise in teen suicide. Teens need the Lord and the pictures show children of all ages that need to have a Sunday School Teacher that cares for them and their problems while sharing the good news of life in Christ.

Families are the heart of any church. The two main institutions that God created in the Bible are the Church and the Family. Every family is a small assembly with the father being the priest of the home. A family that prays together stays together. More than any other need, families are the most needy. Our modern day godless humanistic society is in constant attack mode bent on destroying families. Gay rights and divorce are tearing families apart as never before. A church should be a place away from home that makes each home part of another family, the called out assembly also known as the church. There has never been a greater need than that of reaching families for the Lord. When a church composed of strong families extends its influence into the community, God will be glorified and the world will be changed. In church a family sings together, prays together, and grows together. Families are the bedrock foundation of every church. Every family needs to be a little church, consecrated to Christ and wholly governed by His rules.

The setting sun can be seen from the beaches but the darkness in the hearts is not brightened by the environment. Is life really a beach as some say? People come here from all over the world to have fun in the sun with swimming on the beach, fishing in the ocean, or going to the many tourist attractions in the area. But is that what really warms the heart? People may come here for the temporal pleasures that they can see all around them but without God they will go home with heavy hearts. The sand may shift beneath our feet, but God's ground is always firm. God's thoughts about us are more than the sand on the seashore. We must tell them that God is thinking precious thoughts about them and judging from the many grains of sand on one beach, let along all the beaches, we can say that they are on God's mind constantly. The footprints in the sand are where God was carrying them in their lowest hour. That is the message people in this area need more than all the other attractions. When they are tired and sunburned they need a true retreat in the loving arms of Jesus and in the fellowship of godly people.