It is not often that called meetings are necessary, but when they are it is usually a mark of God working through our association. Next Thursday, Feb. 10, at 10 a.m. the Missionary Committee will be meeting at South City Church (previously Temple Baptist) next to the BMA of Arkansas building.
Our Principles of Cooperation of the BMA of Arkansas (Article IX — Missionary Committee) requires 15 to form a quorum, but out of some 320 churches, we should far exceed that number. I urge you to make the effort to come and consider two new full-time missionaries being presented for your consideration. Come and help as we take care of our association’s business. While it is hard to believe, in the past, we have failed to have a quorum. I cannot imagine how the candidates must have felt. I hope to see you there as we are co-laborers in Christ.
From Our Missionaries
Hispanic Coordinator: Michael Hight writes, “I encourage each of you to attend the Missionary Committee Meeting coming up on Feb. 10 at 10 a.m.”
“We have a couple of good candidates that, hopefully, will be an addition to the BMA of Arkansas family. We need at least 15 churches represented to be able to officially conduct business. Please make plans to attend this meeting.
“We have a new Spanish work that will be presented for the northwest corner of the state. We have been praying for a missionary for this part of Arkansas for a while. We also have an Anglo worker that is looking around the Hot Springs area. God is doing great things!
“Please make plans to attend. For a missionary, nothing is more demoralizing than presenting themselves and receiving no support. Thanks for all you do!”
Misión Creciendo en Cristo (Growing in Christ), North Little Rock: Juan Carlos Posadas writes, “Saturday, from 3-6 p.m., we had a vaccination day and 47 people that were vaccinated. Each of them was also invited to church, and we gave to each family a box with four packages of antibacterial wipes that we received from CityServe. The work of the volunteers from the church and those from outside the church was tremendous.
The people who came to be vaccinated found themselves in a welcoming environment. Humberto and Laura, a couple who attended the vaccination day, showed great interest in attending the church. Please pray that this intention materializes.
“Saturday night, our sister, María de los Ángeles passed into the presence of the Lord. Thank you for your prayers for her family. Many of the families continue to suffer the ravages of the pandemic. Thank God, most are vaccinated and the symptoms are mild. Thanks for your prayer for this mission.”
Ebenezer, West Little Rock: Ruben Isturiz writes, “We continued with the online training of ‘Despierta AD.’ The lesson was interesting — identify the lies of Satan in the course of our lives and replace them with the truth of God. As disciples, the enemy sows lies about our identity, and we live according to those lies that we believe. An example is believing that ‘No one loves me,’ but the Bible gives us enough evidence of God’s love for His children.
“This week, God again reminded me that life is a cycle — we are born and we die. On the one hand, we had great joy for the birth of the daughter of our fellow servant, Clinton Morris. On the other hand, we had to say goodbye to the father of the Rodríguez family, members of our congregation. Sunday afternoon, we had a service to remember the life of our brother, Ladislao Rodríguez, and it was a very good opportunity to share the gospel and show love to the family.
“This week after several church families were quarantined, we will restart the Berean Groups (cells). Continue to pray for us and for protection in this time of the pandemic. To God be the glory.”
Faith Chapel, Flippin: Johnny Shew writes, “We had a great time of worship Sunday! Two families that had been sick for a few weeks were back (not COVID related) and our numbers were up. We thank the Lord for hearing our prayers for healing. We still have some out sick, and some still not getting out, but we are just praying that they will return soon, well and thankful.
“Just after we started the evening service, we heard someone talking outside. As we looked out, there were three boys on bicycles, so we stepped out and invited them in. One had been here before, but the other two hadn’t. They said they had to go tell their parents where they were, so they did. They returned shortly and said their parents told them to only stay 10 minutes, so at least they got seeds planted for 10 minutes! They said they will come back, and we pray that they will. We told them to bring their parents, and we will also follow up and visit with them.
“Please join us in prayer for Kenny, Benny and Paden, as well as their families. Pray that the Lord will water those seeds in their hearts and they will return with a desire to know Jesus.
“We thank you for your prayers — for us, Faith Chapel, Flippin and our community. Please continue. God hears them and is answering.”
