South Floridians Send Relief to Nepal Churches and Orphanage After Quake

Shelly Pond
1 Jun 2015
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South Floridians Send Relief

Just moments after Regan Kramer and her brother Regis, of Weston, stepped off the plane onto U.S. soil on their return trip from Nepal, the calls of concern came in from family members who had heard about the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 8,600 people on April 25. The First Baptist Church of Weston members had just visited Pastor Reuban Rai, a pastor who coordinates a network of rural churches in Nepal from his church in Khatmandu. Kramer first met Pastor Rai during a month-long Teen Missions trip in 2007. Now a videographer, she hoped to document Rai’s […]

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Regina’s Farm Serves Authentic Brazilian Food for a Worthy Cause

Shelly Pond
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  Brazilians have found a home away from home at Regina’s Farm, a quaint backyard dining experience tucked away in Fort Lauderdale’s Sailboat Bend Community across the street from Las Olas Worship Center. Most Saturdays, Regina Rodriguez rises early to begin preparing authentic Brazilian fare for the evening’s guests to experience the food and culture of her homeland. Regina’s Farm is a non-profit used as a church function of Las Olas Worship Center, where her husband, Elizeu Silva is pastor. “It is used to raise funds for building programs, mission funds and helping the needy,” said Silva.   A family […]

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Regina’s Farm

Stop by Nelson’s Diner Where Elvis is King and Comfort Food Reigns

Shelly Pond
3 May 2015
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Nelson's Diner

Step back to the time when Elvis was King for a taste of good homemade cooking at Nelson’s Diner in Pompano Beach. Famous for its friendly service, great food and hometown feel, Nelson’s Diner is adorned with Elvis memorabilia including a life-size cutout of the King. Sports pennants cover the ceiling, and the diner decor is reminiscent of a 1950’s soda shop. Nelson and Elvis Owner Greg Nelson grew up admiring Elvis. “I loved his music, especially his gospel music,” said Nelson. As he began acquiring records, photos and other novelties, it only seemed natural to display them where others […]

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SafePlace 4KIDS Provides Comfort to Kids Entering Foster Care

Shelly Pond
1 May 2015
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When crisis strikes at home and children are initially removed for their safety and entering the foster care system due to abuse, neglect or abandonment, they experience a flood of emotions. Confusion, fear, anger, grief and uncertainty rush in like a flood as they are often picked up by a police officer at school and must sit in an office beside a caseworker as arrangements are made for their placement with a foster family or in a group home, which can take hours or sometimes days. They may wonder if they are in trouble and could know very little about […]

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safeplace

Foster Families Needed to Meet the Increasing Influx of Children in Crisis

Shelly Pond
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In the past two years, Broward and Palm Beach counties have experienced such a large increase in the number of children being removed from their homes due to abuse, abandonment and neglect that the need for new foster families is arguably reaching crisis levels, according to some providers. Last fiscal year Palm Beach experienced a 54 percent increase in local children being removed from their homes due to abuse, abandonment or neglect. This elevated removal rate has continued through the 2014-15 fiscal year with average monthly removals today being 41percent higher than two years ago, according to Elizabeth Winter, director […]

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First Baptist Church of Pompano Beach To Celebrate 100th Anniversary

Shelly Pond
2 Apr 2015
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first baptist 100th anniversary

For 100 years First Baptist Church of Pompano Beach has stood as a gathering place where people come and meet with God. Holding their first organizational meeting on May 4, 1915 under the leadership of Pastor D.P. Mahoney in a community church building used by Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians, First Baptist Church of Pompano Beach invites the community to celebrate their 100th anniversary with a family carnival on May 2 and a special service on May 3.   Remodel blends old and new In preparation of the celebration, First Baptist Church of Pompano Beach recently completed a full remodeling project […]

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Guinness: This Unbelievable Age Calls for Unshakable Confidence in the Gospel

Shelly Pond
1 Apr 2015
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The times we live in have been referred to as the “Unbelievable Age,” according to Os Guinness, a Christian social critic and author of The Call. Speaking to a Lifework Leadership class in March, Guinness said, “No one would have thought 20 years ago that we would be seeing the things within American and around the world that we’re seeing now,” he said. “It is an incredible challenge for followers of Jesus to live with integrity and effectiveness and really be salt and light in our culture.” Many people are alarmists, filled with discouragement and even doom and gloom. But […]

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Developing a Lifestyle of Service

Shelly Pond
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lifestyle of service

All over the country, organizations will show appreciation during volunteer week April 12 – 18 for the many volunteers who selflessly give their time to make a difference in the lives of others. Established in 1974 by President Richard Nixon, Volunteer Week is now sponsored by the Points of Light Institute, a foundation created in response to President George H.W. Bush’s inaugural speech in 1989, urging volunteers and community activists to become “a thousand points of light.” The reality is that only about 25.3 percent of Americans volunteer at least once a year, a number that has leveled off since […]

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Different than what I Thought, Better than I Imagined

Shelly Pond
3 Mar 2015
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Sometimes we think we have life all figured out, until life’s journey takes a surprising turn from what we expected. During a Christian Women in Leadership Luncheon in February, Lynette Lewis, author of Climbing the Ladder in Stilettos and How to Hold Out, Hang On and Marry the Man of Your Dreams shared how God has fulfilled her dreams in unexpected ways and on His own time schedule. While attending Oral Roberts University, Lewis always assumed she’d meet her future husband some time during her senior year, they’d fall in love, graduate together and marry a year or two later […]

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thought

Bean and Pepper Jamboree Celebrates Agricultural History

Shelly Pond
2 Mar 2015
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bean and pepper jamboree

Ever yearn for a simpler time when vegetables and fruit were locally grown and the only food processing was done at home free of preservatives and chemicals? You can recapture a piece of the past at the annual Bean and Pepper Jamboree at the Greenmarket Pompano Beach on March 21st and at a variety of farmer’s markets offered at various times and locations throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties.   Harvest celebration Rooted in the area’s agricultural history, the Bean and Pepper Jamboree began in 1946 at the Pompano State Farmers Market on Atlantic Boulevard, which was a major distribution […]

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