Outreach
Did you know 18% of the Olive Branch Church budget has been allocated specifically for community outreach? The church’s purpose is to continue to develop and enhance a three prong outreach ministry, which focuses on Literacy, Poverty and Hunger. Fueled by our 2020 Vision we stay focused on “creating a vibrant community that emphasis enrichment, excellence and fellowship. As we evangelize our area in love and power to the glory of God.
The church’s purpose is to continue to develop and enhance a three-prong outreach ministry. We focus on eradicating:
Illiteracy | Poverty | Hunger | Foreign Mission
Fueled by our 2020 Vision we stay focused on, “creating a vibrant community that emphasis enrichment, excellence and fellowship. As we evangelize our area in love and power to the glory of God.” We have a number of partnerships with allow us to do an amazing amount of ministry both here and abroad.
Illiteracy
Read to Succeed is the community partnership created to promote literacy in Rutherford County. The objective of the partnership between Olive Branch Church and Read to Succeed and local schools, area agencies, and businesses is to support local programming and raise awareness about the importance of literacy. We have several events that allow us to complete our literacy objective.
Imagination Station is a parent-child small group program to encourage the love of reading in toddler and preschool age children. Parent and child participate in reading and activity stations based on books by popular children’s authors. Reading tips and resources are provided. A Read To Succeed staff member, Council member, partner or volunteer also provides a healthy lunch for each participant. Each participating child goes home with a copy of the book they read to keep. Currently we provide our volunteer services at three different sites.
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Franklin Heights
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Mid-Cumberland Community Headstart
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Wherry Housing in Smyrna, Tn
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Need: 10 Mentors per site currently have 4 volunteers that work each site
Family Literacy Nights are similar in goal to the Families That Read, Succeed program. Family Literacy Nights provide reading time and supervised literacy activities for families. Families meet for 1 to 2 hours for one night at their school. The school invites up to 150 students and their families to participate. MTSU education students create and lead fun art, music, and literacy activities related to a carefully chosen book. MTSU, Success by 6, and Read to Succeed staff and Council members provide guidance, support, and supervision. RTS provides a meal from a local restaurant or prepared by a local civic or religious group to serve each participant.
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Need: 15 volunteers for one event
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Adopt A School Program is a partnership with two elementary schools. Hobgood Elementary School in Murfreesboro, TN and AZ Kelly in Antioch, TN. We provide:
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Pre-School appreciation for their teachers.
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Established P.E.D.A.L Attendance Award program. To promote school attendance. Two bicycles donated for end of school drawing to boy and girls that have perfect attendance.
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Volunteer 20 hours a month to assist administrators and office workers.
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Donate resources and support for in school events.
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Clothing drives and school fundraisers.
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One Book Partnership : Participate in the end of year celebrate reading in Rutherford County, and will centered around the year’s book selection, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. As a One Book partner, Clinton’s Club, we are devoted to helping families of children with cancer. The event will feature live music, activities and contests.
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Literacy Day is an annual event to celebrate an awareness of all types of literacy and the importance of continually improving those skills. Although a vision of our Senior Pastor. It is a partnership with Read to Succeed and 6 other community agencies. “United Way of Rutherford County, State Farm Ins. Limbaugh Library, Murfreesboro Fire Department etc…Last year’s event had 350 in attendance for the walk on City Hall, 11 community resources sharing how they support literacy.
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UT Extension Faith Conference a partnership between UT Extension/Tennessee State University and Olive Branch to host an annual conference promoting awareness and education surrounding helping our church families cope with the economic downturns.
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National Night Out “America’s Night Out Against Crime”, in 1984 began an effort to promote involvement in crime prevention activities, police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. NATW’s National Night Out program culminates annually, on the first Tuesday of August (August 6th this year)
Poverty
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The Domestic Violence Program is a non-profit organization committed to ending violence and discrimination in the lives of victims suffering the pain, fear, and shame of domestic abuse. Research has shown that domestic violence contributes to the poverty rate here in America. We support the impacted women and children by providing assistance throughout the year.
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United Way 211 program: United Way’s 2-1-1 Helpline is an information and referral help line for community services in Middle Tennessee and serves all of Davidson and Rutherford Counties as well as 56 other regional counties. Over the past few years, we have contributed several thousand dollars in support of this much-needed program.
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Nashville Rescue Mission is a Christ-centered community agency dedicated to helping the hungry, homeless and hurting. It strives to restore hope and transform lives by offering programs that focus on spiritual growth, education, employment and life-recovery. For over 10 years, our ministers have preached at a monthly service. We have continuously provided food and clothing to the agency.
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Suicide Prevention Coalition is a community agency which providing suicide prevention and crisis intervention training to community organizations, and conducting postvention sessions for schools and organizations after suicides occur.
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The Ron Slay Foundation sent 10 young men ages 10-17 from Olive Branch Church to participate in the Ron Slay Celebrity Youth Basketball and Football Camp. Ron Slay developed this opportunity bring awareness, aid, and make a positive difference in the lives of youth throughout the country by way of educating and supporting youth in area of physical fitness to allow them to achieve their greatest potential academically, mentally, physically, and professionally through high-quality health and physical performance.
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Hunger
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Chosen 300 is our community partner that allows us to provide a feeding program at home and abroad. The mission of Chosen 300 is to: feed people of different membership groups together; helping them to realize that despite our differences in our race, ethnic group, denomination, social class, economic classes, or the diverse ways we practice our faith; we can unify ourselves for the common good.
Since 2008 we have financed and supported a programd that feeds an entire village in Guyana, South AMerica. Every month we provide 100lbs of rice, 100 lbs of flour and 110 lbs of sugar. Our adopted church in Guyana is Ascension Temple. -
Feed America First is a faith-based hunger relief organization. It currently supply approximately food to 200 agencies, most often on a monthly basis. These agencies are on the front lines of the fight to eradicate hunger. These agencies include children’s homes and church pantries, homeless shelters and substance abuse recovery centers. We provide volunteer hours once a month. To assist Feed America First in their monthly food distribution, we volunteer monthly. Our support helps to provide food for over 200 families in the local area.
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Good Samaritans Purse an organization established “to meet emergency needs in crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches.”After World War II, Bob Pierce traveled throughout Asia as an evangelist and journalist with Youth For Christ.
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Community Outreach
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Honor Our Builders Program is an annual event that celebrates local persons who give back to their respective communities. Previously we have celebrated doctors, teachers and firemen.
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Murfreesboro Middle Marathon takes place in Middle Tennessee and is an annual half marathon. For the past several years we have hosted a water station, many of whom are members of our church.
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Stacy B. Windrow 5k Fun Run is an annual event that raises money for the YMCA’s youth program. Since its inception, thousands of dollars have been donated to the YMCA youth programs from the proceeds of this program. This event continues to be a prominent one for our church and community.
Foreign Mission
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Malawi Orphanage Project provide medical attention, shelter, food and love to some of Malawi’s orphaned and abandoned children and work to ensure that the children in our care have the chance to grow up with the love of a family and the security of a home. Through our partnership and contributions 2 Water Pumps for the Village, breakfast Feeding Program for 200+ Children, Purchase School Supplies for the Village Children Built a Roof for a Rural Church and purchase an Electric Generator. Future plans for church members to make a personal visit. Then train a youth mission’s team to go over next year.
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Haiti Project annually we provide first aid equipment, bandages, sanitary napkins for females and other medical supplies. This is an annual supply drive.
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The Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention helps churches extend their Christian witness to the ends of the earth. We partner with Lot Carey each year to help execute their foreign mission efforts.
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