Acts 1:8 Ministry
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Each month Beach Beacon features a ministry need from our community, our state or from around the world.  We collect items that fulfil their needs, send volunteers to help minister to our community and raise funds to allow these missions to provide for their needs and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Acts 1:8 Mission for August:
Veterans and Athletes United

   The Mission of Veterans & Athletes United is to empower wounded, injured and ill veterans to fully live their lives and honor our fallen military heroes. They do this through a number of events and opportunities and your gift this month will help support these efforts.  

​Here's an update from James Howard
President, VAU Veterans and Athletes United:

For our adaptive sports program we have served numerous veterans this year. The past 2 months we held the skydive event at Virginia Beach and We have a big white water rafting/kayaking event coming up next week. 

 We have provided about 30 adaptive sports grants for veterans to attend the Warrior games, wheelchair games, summer sports clinic,  Winter sports clinic, and the Golden Age games. Veterans of all branches and various disabilities. We have also provided grants for equipment such archery Bows and other gear to participate in their sport of choice.

For our retreat's program we have had numerous veterans filter through some great accessible retreats in North Carolina and Virginia, on the beaches and in the mountains.  They were able to get away with their families and we provided  accessible wheelchairs and items for them to have a great time. The picture to the right is of a Multiple purple heart recipient and his family  From there lake house retreat in North Carolina. Here is his testimonial:

"Thank you to VAU  And all those that support their mission for the opportunity to enjoy a family vacation on a lake front property. The property was perfect for our family to reunite and enjoy family time. This amazing property gave us all a chance to relax and catch up on missed time. The fishing was wonderful and gave everyone a chance to reel in some big ones. We all enjoyed ourselves for the 6 days. Thank you to VAU  for providing a peaceful retreat!"

We have held 3 VetNet meetings this year which provided a lot of great job opportunities for veterans transitioning out of the military here in Virginia.

Our dog tag memorial flag has traveled to numerous locations this year. It is currently heading to New York City to be displayed at the world trade center for a navy seal swim across the Hudson. It will then head to 2 seperate locations near Boston and out to Ohio.  We recently finished our Western memorial flag which will be stationed in St Louis Missouri and travel to numerous Western locations where we see receive lots of applications.

Our mission simply would not be possible without good folks like your church. We can't thank you all enough for all the amazing support over the years. We look forward to seeing everybody!

We will be collecting your gifts for VAU through the month of August.   You can give monetary donations in person at our Worship Services on Sunday or on-line at our safe and secure giving site:  GIVE.