Fruit Cove Ladies on Mission in West Virginia

For a number of years, Fruit Cove ladies have traveled to Greenbrier Birthing Center in West Virginia to serve expectant mothers currently serving sentences in that correctional facility. This year, Dianne Werner participated for the first time and offers this report:

We had a wonderful time ministering to the 13 girls at Greenbrier Birthing Center (GBC).  Five women were still expecting so there were 8 babies ranging in age from a few months to almost a year old.  We provide lunch each day and Annette Holley had all the meals and cooking planned and got us busy in the kitchen from the time we got there, but we had fun chopping and cooking and washing dishes in the kitchen together.

We had prayed for God to prepare the hearts of the women there and we found out that one of the women there had already heard about “the girls from Fruit Cove” when she first arrived last November and she was the only woman waiting for us when we arrived at GBC on Monday.  They told her she would love the team from Fruit Cove and that the food would be great, so there was a positive anticipation among them when we arrived.

Five women from Deer Meadows Baptist Church joined us for our visits to GBC.  They were great help to us as they learned what ministry looked like at GBC. The first couple days, we took in lunch, held their babies, ate with them and got to know them a little.  We asked lots of questions about their families and what was waiting for them at home.  We asked them questions about God, about their faith, and about their childhood when opportunities arose.  We encouraged them, shared scriptures with them, and let them know we were there because we cared and because God’s love is so amazing and we wanted them to know how much He loves them!  We took them Chocolate Fondue one day, a Keurig with all the ingredients for flavored coffees on another day and we loved on them and shared our hearts with them every day.

When we got ready to leave on Friday, there were many hugs passed out, some tears and prayers said with the whole group holding hands.  God blessed us so richly! This was my first time to participate in this mission trip. I loved it and I am ready to do it again!

Thanks, Dianne, for this report and your perspective!