How a personal journey inspired new ministry at a Florence church

When Ashley Ott and her husband, Robby, walked out of his first chemotherapy treatment, they were taking home a bag with biohazard symbols on it. Ott remembers just how scary that was, even years later. Now she and her church, First Baptist Church in Florence, are working to help bring comfort and support to others in that situation.

“Robby’s first day of chemo, we walked out with a biohazard kit and it was just shocking,” Ott said. “I told him that I really wished we had the money to put something in everyone’s hand after they left treatment the first time, just to give them some kind of encouragement. I told him that I knew, financially, there was no way for us to take that on and I just kind of kept the thought to myself.”

Ott finally shared her vision, though, and it started becoming a reality with the help of her friends at church.

“One day, my Sunday School class was talking about wanting to do a mission project,” Ott said. “I told them my idea and they said it was a great idea. They really wanted to do it, and not just one time; they wanted to make it an ongoing ministry.”

Unbeknownst to Ott, a local hospital had contacted the church about donating supplies to its outreach for cancer patients. When Ott found out, she was interested but wanted to do more.

“My husband has been receiving treatment there for almost three years and we didn’t know it but they have a cart that goes around handing out items to patients,” Ott said. “The hospital wanted the church to donate individual items. We had a bigger vision for that; we wanted to donate an entire bag of supplies to each patient.”

Since April, the bags have been given to first-time chemo or radiation patients. They are filled with things like Biotene mouthwash, lip balm, disposable toothbrushes, adult puzzle books, gum and unscented hand sanitizer. The patients also get a letter from Robby Ott, April’s husband and associate pastor at First Baptist, who is battling stage IV colon cancer that has metastasized to his liver.

Patricia Whaley, director of children’s ministry and church growth, said it is not unusual for church members to come up with ministry ideas on their own.

“(At the church) we encourage individuals to come up with the ministry that God has laid on their heart,” Whaley said. “Everybody’s ministry can be different and in this case, when April pitched the idea, the people in her Sunday School class were all on board.”

Just a few months later, more than just the Sunday School class had taken on the project.

“It really took off,” Ott said. “Now we have a room set aside in our church that is just filled with supplies. Everybody knows somebody that has cancer.”

The community at large has even gotten involved. The church has collected bags full of supplies after handing out fliers explaining what it is doing.

Whaley said that as part of the church’s Vacation Bible School, campers will be putting together care bags for the cancer ministry.

“When I got permission to use this as our mission project, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep,” Whaley said. “Children are great as far as going door to door and collecting donations; they love doing that. Everyone has been so friendly to them.”

During Vacation Bible School, the children will also be helping to stuff cancer pillows. There will be a variety of pillow shapes to accommodate the needs of individual patients. Some pillows are U-shaped for breast cancer patients to put under their armpit. Others will be shaped differently to help with pain in the back or the neck.

Ott said it has been amazing to see how the community rallies around people, both with the ministry project and her family’s journey.

“We don’t have any family in Florence,” Ott said. “The church has been our family. This whole community has been wonderful to us. I can’t say enough about how amazing Florence has been to us. Since Robbie has been diagnosed the outpouring of love, even from complete strangers, has been overwhelming.”