October 1, 2026
BOWMAN, Ga. — When there is a need, Faith Baptist Church in Bowman hooks up a trailer, hits the road, and builds relationships one trip at a time.
On May 9, Pastor Jamie Callaway and a group of volunteers delivered to Oconee Heights Baptist Church in Athens, 450 much-needed chairs from First Baptist Church Vidalia.
Oconee Heights recently completed ReFocus, a six-step process used by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board to help churches gain fresh clarity about their mission and how to serve faithfully in the community where God has placed them.
Callaway responded to a Facebook post from Oconee Heights, which needed help moving the chairs. He and a crew of 10 made the more than three-hour drive to Vidalia, then hauled the chairs more than three hours to Athens before returning to Elbert County.
Arriving by late afternoon, church members helped unload the chairs. Then members from both churches gathered in a circle and prayed together.
“When you get to work side by side with other brothers and sisters in Christ, instead of just sitting in church together with somebody, it develops a different kind of relationship,” Callaway said.
Faith Baptist has three trailers for ministry: a fire trailer, a tent trailer, and a crisis relief trailer. The crisis relief trailer, which has been taken all over the country, was used for the chair move.
During COVID, Faith Baptist helped the Navajo reservation in New Mexico with food, supplies, and a trailer full of firewood.
“To take trees from a home in Newnan, Georgia, that were destroyed by the tornado, split them, bag them, 40,000 pounds, and then be able to haul that to brothers and sisters in Christ in New Mexico is a blessing,” Callaway said.
The church also helped children in Kentucky at Christmas after devastating tornadoes. After one tornado, Callaway said, the Lord provided $86,000 in three weeks to buy toys, which the ministry distributed.
“We try to be a part of ministering to other communities and helping other church families,” said Callaway, who has been pastor of Faith Baptist for 15 years. “That’s really kind of our heart.”
He added, “I love when the Lord calls us to do things that only He can do. That way He gets the glory for it.”
Callaway recalled a disaster relief trip to Alabama where volunteers cut trees at a home. The homeowners asked what the work would cost them. Callaway told them it was free.
“We were able to tell them that we’re there because we love them and because Jesus loves them,” he said.
The church also has helped move missionaries from Nashville to Idaho and from Idaho back to Elbert County.
Faith Baptist bought the crisis relief trailer 10 years ago after the Hebron Baptist Association partnered with churches in eastern Kentucky to take 600 to 1,000 backpacks to children at Christmas. The church’s first large trailer was purchased for that delivery, and the ministry has grown since.
Faith Baptist’s heart is for service-oriented ministries. The church and community are small, but Callaway said God has given the congregation opportunities to serve far beyond Elbert County.
“Our entire county has 19,000 people,” Callaway said. “Our church is about 100 people, but we’re able to minister all over the country through these types of ministries.”
Through social media, the church finds opportunities to use the trailers.
“I rely on the Lord to impress on my heart where He wants us to go,” Callaway said. “Then I’ll contact somebody I don’t know. Most of them are pastors.”
The goal is to use the trailers to meet needs where they exist and, in doing so, share the gospel.
“I love to see how God opens those doors and how God connects the dots,” Callaway said.
Callaway said the ministry is possible because God has cultivated a spirit of generosity at Faith Baptist. Church members and volunteers have seen the fruit of the work.
“We hear stories from all over the country of people that are saved through ministries that we get to be a part of and we get to partner with,” he said.
He said that spirit of generosity helps the church avoid becoming self-centered.
“We want to keep our focus where our focus ought to be, on reaching people with the gospel,” Callaway said.
Callaway said projects like hauling chairs to Oconee Heights strengthen relationships between churches.
“If we can help them in some way reach their community with something God blessed us with, I think it’s vital that we be willing to do that,” he said.
He said churches need to work together now “probably stronger than we’ve ever needed to” to get the gospel out.
“However we can help with that, that’s what we want to do,” Callaway said.
The ministry also allows believers to join hands with other congregations.
“To have the opportunity to pray over their congregation, over their pastor, and over that community is important to us,” he said.
With the Oconee Heights delivery, Callaway said the project was more than moving chairs. Each chair represents a person.
“People matter,” he said. “People are going to sit in those chairs and people are going to hear the gospel. There’s no telling how many people will be in heaven one day because they sat in their chair and they heard the gospel.”
At each stop, Faith Baptist volunteers try to encourage the church or individual they are serving.
“To be the hands and feet of Christ, work does have to be done,” Callaway said. “And when we can help get that work done, that’s just what we want to do.”
He said the work also builds relationships and friendships that can last a lifetime and into eternity.
“I can’t imagine one day getting to sit around in glory somewhere with brothers and sisters that we built relationships with through that,” Callaway said. “I believe we’ll have the opportunity to look back and say, look at how God brought us together.”
The fire trailer is stocked with clothes, shoes, personal hygiene items, blankets, toys for children, and gift cards to help families get through the night after a fire. It is mainly used locally in Elbert County.
The Hope Tent trailer includes a 40’x80’ revival tent for churches that have been damaged and need a place to meet. It was purchased after Hurricane Michael for a church in Callaway, Florida, to use until its building was repaired.
For Callaway, the ministry is simply the church living beyond its walls.
“We’ve got to be the church to each other, too, not just to the unbelieving world,” he said. “Jesus said, ‘By this will all people know that you’re My disciples, in how we love each other.’ And so if we can’t love each other as a church, how in the world are we going to expect to love the world?”
Share with others
