By volunteering for a day, you are directly delivering help, hope and healing to people after disasters. Whether you're clearing debris, cleaning out a house or praying with a homeowner, you will transform a life. 
Every journey out of dark days starts with a first step. By putting together First Step Kits – hygiene kits for people in crisis – you can meet basic needs for people who don't know where to turn for help or hope. When Texans on Mission volunteers distribute First Step Kits, they provide a place for both. 
When a disaster strikes, people don't know where to turn for help. They don't know who to trust. When a Texans on Mission volunteer connects with them for the first time with a Message of Hope crafted by you, hope sprouts fresh. Find out how you can radically change a life with a simple piece of paper. 
Perfect for people of all ages, the Escape Room-style event teaches students about God's work around the globe and how they can be involved in it as they work through puzzles and clues. 
When a disaster strikes, people have often lost everything, including items they'd typically have to begin cleaning up. You can jump start the recovery process for someone by providing these items through Texans on Mission Disaster Relief. -
RAs and GAs at First Baptist Church at The Fields in Carrollton ride bicycles, skateboards and scooters to raise funds for TBM Disaster Relief.
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Savion Lee, TBM's state RAs coordinator, speaks to the RAs and GAs at First Baptist Church at The Fields in Carrollton one week after the children raised funds for TBM Disaster Relief.
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GA leader Lainie Applegate takes a pie in the face from RA leader Mark Forester because the boys out raised the girls by $100 in the annual Wheel-a-Thon. They raised $2,801 for TBM Disaster Relief.
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In 1993, then TBM Executive Director Bob Dixon received a replica check from Mark Forester after the first Wheel-a-Thon at First Baptist Church at The Fields in Carrollton.
CARROLLTON – Almost 30 years ago, kids at First Baptist Church at The Fields began riding in circles once a year to raise money for Christian missions through TBM. A new generation is keeping the practice alive, recently raising $2,801 for TBM Disaster Relief in one evening.
The annual Wheel-a-Thon in Carrollton involves children getting pledges for how many laps they can make around a church parking lot. Eight laps equal one mile. Participants can ride anything with wheels – bicycles, in-line skates, scooters, etc. Or they can walk.
Thirty-five to 40 children participated this year, with one boy riding 62 laps on a bicycle in 50 minutes, said Mark Forester, church Royal Ambassadors director.
RAs is a mission discipleship organization for boys in grades 1-6. It promotes growth by developing biblical character in all aspects of life, according to materials produced by TBM, a ministry to meet physical and spiritual needs in Texas and around the world. RA leaders use activities to help boys learn about God’s mission and understand how they are part of it.
The Wheel-a-Thon was not just about raising money, Forester said. “It gets the kids thinking about something else outside of themselves, … about helping other people in Jesus’ name.”
Savion Lee, TBM state RA coordinator, said the Carrollton event is ”special because it connects the RAs with their local church body.” It helps church members learn about RAs and the group’s missions involvement.
Lee and Ryan Lenamon, TBM director of donor relations, spoke to the children the following week about TBM’s varied ministries to help people in need and to share the good news of hope through Christ.
“Discipleship events such as these are critical to our youth,” said Lenamon. “These are the future leaders of our country and our world. Discipleship matters. If discipleship doesn’t come from the church, it will come from somewhere else.”
Forester started the Wheel-a-Thon in 1993, and one of the RA leaders, the son-in-law of Bob Dixon (then TBM executive director) recommended the money raised be given to TBM Disaster Relief. After the event, Dixon attended a RA chapter meeting to receive a cardboard check celebrating the amount raised. The church has held the event every year since, except for 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Wheel-a-Thon used to be for the boys in RAs. Since moving to a new church location in 2019, the girls in GAs joined in and the younger boys and girls in Mission Friends joined in this year. One of the Mission Friends boys raised $500 for the cause, Forester said.
The RA and GA leaders also added some competition to the mix this year. Lainie Applegate, the GA director, got a pie in the face Nov. 9 because the boys out raised the girls by $100.
“I am so thankful that our boys and girls had the opportunity to learn about TBM and how to support their mission efforts,” Applegate said. “I love teaching children that hard work and serving others can be fun!”
As for the RAs, a team of several men lead the Carrollton group, Forester said. He noted that “things have changed with RAs” through the years. “You have to adapt.” The boys are “no longer into the book work because they do book work all day.” Instead, the RAs focus on activities such as campcraft and archery. “There is a spiritual application with anything we do, and that is what the boys remember” – application linked to activities.