A Note About Goodsearch and Goodshop

A Note About GoodSearch and GoodShop

GoodSearch is an organization that provide an opportunity to support the churches and charities in a pain-free and cost-free method. At the end of 2007, after researching Goodsearch, I completed the steps necessary for Fellowship Baptist Church of Salisbury to be able to receive funds from the Goodsearch program. We recently received our check from Goodsearch for 2009 in the amount of $55.24 and I thought this would be a good opportunity to explain the program and to encourage you to use Goodsearch and Goodshop if you use the internet - or have friends and family that use the internet.

How does Goodsearch work?

Goodsearch provides a donation to the church whenever you use Goodsearch to search the internet - instead of using Google or some other search engine. The search results are powered by Yahoo!, so the search results are good results. Anyone who uses the internet already uses some method to search the internet, with Goodsearch, we are simply asking that choice of search engine to be Goodsearch and that the designated charity be Fellowship Baptist Church of Salisbury.

It is a blessing to be able to receive this money and for a small church like Fellowship Baptist Church of Salisbury, even a relatively small amount of money like this can help offset the cost of Sunday School curriculum or Vacation Bible School materials or Jr. Church materials or tracts or bulletins. The more people who use Goodsearch for us, the more we are able to raise. The amount of money raised last year was from a relatively few people searching.

In addition to being able to receive donations by simply using GoodSearch as you search the internet, over the last year or so, Goodsearch has added a program called GoodShop. GoodShop uses the same concept, except that instead of making a donation for searching, it makes a donation when you buy something online by going through GoodShop to get to the store's online presence. The stores represented by GoodShop are places many of us go shopping anyway, such as Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Staples, Petsmart, etc. The difference is that you would be making your purchases online instead of at the store. Depending on the store, you may even be able to make your purchase online and pick it up at the store in person (or have it shipped to you - or to a loved one in another part of the country for Christmas). The amount of donation from Goodshop purchases are a percentage of the overall purchase, so that purchasing that Wii from Target through Goodsearch (instead of just going over there) could result in a donation of $7.00 (3.5% of $200).

How do I use Goodsearch?

Goodsearch has made the process pretty easy. You can either go directly to the site (www.goodsearch.com) and enter "Fellowship Baptist Church of Salisbury" in the box that asks "Who do you Goodsearch for?". This should only have to be entered once. You could also just simply CLICK HERE and it will already be pre-populated with the information for Fellowship Baptist Church. In addition to this, they also have a Goodsearch toolbar that you use that adds a Goodsearch search box to your Internet browser, allowing you to search for anything you want from anywhere on the internet (using this feature, you don't have to leave the page you are looking at in order to search for something else).

You can Goodsearch at your home computer or from any other computer you use. Even if you don't use the internet very much, perhaps a friend or relative may be willing to "Goodsearch" for us (my sister and mom in Illinois use Goodsearch for our church). If you need help with setting this up, please see me.

While we are not going to raise a large amount of money through this method, it can definitely be a help. If we had just 50 people using Goodsearch an average of ten times a day for searching, we would raise over $1500 during the course of a year. If we had 25 people make $100 purchases that they were aleady going to make at Staples (for instance), it would be an additional $50.

So, thanks to Goodsearch for the recent donation and thank you to all of you who already use Goodsearch for Fellowship Baptist Church. If you don't, would you consider helping us out in this way? Click here to get started.

Thanks for your help,

Pastor Frank Sansone

Some Thoughts on Christian Camping

This week the junior age young people from Fellowship Baptist Church of Salisbury are enjoying a week of camp at Tri-State Bible Camp in Montague, New Jersey. Tri-State is a smaller camp that is doing a good job of providing a quality Christian camping experience in a beautiful location on the Delaware River at the border of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. We have enjoyed our visits to Tri-State as a family over the years, although this is the first year that our own children have went away for a week of camp without us being present with them.

I appreciate the work that Chris and Michelle Jenkins are doing up at Tri-State and the leadership they are providing at the camp. I can't wait until Josiah and Christina get home and we can talk about the things they learned this week at camp and I can hear about what God has done in their lives this week.

It was at Ironwood Christian Camp in California the summer between my Junior and Senior years of high school where the Lord called me to full-time ministry and the ministry of camping has always had a special place in my heart. I have enjoyed the opportunities over the years to work as a counselor at some quality Christian camps and to preach at a few different Christian camps.

One of the greatest benefits of Christian camping is the fact that it provides a great opportunity to get away from the distractions of this world and have an extended time of focus on God and God's Word.

One of the realities of life (like we discussed a few weeks ago in our Sunday afternoon Bible study) is that prolonged and involved exposure to the Son of God through the Word of God has an evident effect upon a believer - just as prolonged exposure to the sun has an evident effect upon a person.

Camp provides a great opportunity for that kind of prolonged exposure. However, as believers, while we can rejoice in the opportunities for prolonged exposure to God's Son that is provided at a Camp or Retreat, we should recognize that we need continued exposure to God's Son through God's Word if we are going to have change that is lasting and fruitful.

Thank you, Tri-State, for providing this ministry for the young people at our church and others. Thank you, FBC family, for allowing us the opportunity to take young people from here to camp each summer.

In Christ,

Pastor Frank Sansone

A Good Sunday at Fellowship Baptist

We had a good day today at Fellowship Baptist Church of Salisbury. It was great to have some visitors out and to have some other folks back who have been away for awhile.

It was also especially nice to have Dr. Terry Smith and a group from Hardingville Bible Church join us for the services. It is always nice to see old friends.

In Christ,

Pastor Frank Sansone

What a Great Week of Vacation Bible School

Wow! This last week has been a great week of Vacation Bible School at Fellowship Baptist Church. We have had a good turn-out and it has been great to have all the children and young people join us for the week of learning great Bible truths, singing, playing, eating, making crafts and enjoying time together. The young people were excited and well-behaved and the VBS staff we had this year was second to none.

Thank you to everyone that helped out and to all of the parents who allowed us to minister to your young people this week at Vacation Bible School. We would love for you to join us for Sunday School and Church this Sunday - or any Sunday.

Our Sunday School is for all ages - including adults - and begins at 10:00 a.m. Our morning service is at 11:00 a.m. and we have Jr. Church for children who wish to attend the Jr. Church service.

Thanks again children, parents, and helpers. I hope to post some VBS pictures on the church website this coming week.

In Christ,

Pastor Frank Sansone

Vacation Bible School is here!!!

Fellowship Baptist Church of Salisbury is hosting VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL the week of July 13 - 17 for children ages 4 years old through finishing 6th grade.

VBS is always a great time of fun and fellowship at FBC and VBS is FREE and will feature Bible Stories, singing, games, crafts, snacks and more. Many folks have been working diligently to make this our best Vacation Bible School ever.

VBS is from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon each day, Monday through Friday. We have classes for different age groups and a well-staffed group of teachers and helpers.

For more information or if you need a ride, please call 410-341-7100.

For directions and more information call 410-341-7100 or email pastor@fellowshipbaptist-salisbury.org.

Look forward to seeing you here.

In Christ,

Pastor Frank Sansone