Church Goes on Mission Trip

For six years now, Calvary Baptist Church has been taking mission trips to the Mediterranean island of Malta through the Tennessee-Malta Partnership. The Maltese have a tradition of highly religious Catholicism that is unlike American Catholicism. They lift up Mary and pray to her as the “Holy Mother of God” who supposedly rose from the dead after three days. There is a shrine there dedicated to Mary with walls lined in letters thanking her for answering prayer. Each village in Malta has a patron saint. At the same time each year, they hold a festa honoring that saint with fireworks, confetti, music, vendors, and the parading of an incredibly heavy statue of the saint through the village. Shrines are hidden in every little space. The Maltese churches are elaborate with the people being very poor as people pay the church in attempt to get their deceased loved ones into heaven. Calvary Baptist helped to spread the Good News of Christ through a children's festival in a park in the village of Kalkara. The Gospel was presented through Bible stories, puppets, crafts, and music. The kids were shown love through games, balloon animals, and face painting. Later in the week, a free car wash was conducted. The Maltese couldn't believe that it was free as even a packet of ketchup costs ten cents. Through all of the events, there were opportunities to share Christ as people asked questions about why Calvary was holding these events. The people of Malta will have answers to all their questions through a series of coffee chats and other events conducted by the Evangelical church in Malta. As for Calvary, they are looking forward to two more trips this year in Joplin, MO and Belize.