To be frugal (not lazy), I feel that, over the course of our fundraising time, using available technology will save your State Missions Department hundreds of dollars. I understand this is a busy time for our churches and their pastors, and trying to work with representatives from the various departments is often a chore.
And then a representative can only be in so many places. That is why we have produced a short video (approximately 4 minutes) for this year’s Special Emphasis entitled “Send the Light.” We have put it on our web site (bmaARmissions.com) and also on our Facebook page (facebook.com/ArkansasMissions) to make it available to all.
We ask that sometime during June or July, your church will dedicate time to State Missions and view it. We hope every church and every member who can will go look.
This will put a face with a name to help you know who you are praying for and supporting. For those who lack the means to view it or prefer a representative to come, I would be glad to share the work with your congregation.
Visiting
Monday morning, I left to make stops in Flippin, Pea Ridge and Springdale to visit with Johnny, Jake and Roberto. Due to the ridiculous prices of everything, it is becoming extremely difficult to find affordable buildings and/or property to purchase. Please pray that God will give us wisdom in making major decisions in the future.
From Our Missionaries
Misión Creciendo en Cristo (Growing in Christ), North Little Rock: Juan Carlos Posadas writes, (5/28) “On Friday and Saturday, we went on a retreat with the church. The theme was ‘My commitment to God.’ We were at StoneRidge Baptist Camp and, as always, the Smalls were excellent hosts.
We studied the lives of four biblical characters. Oscar Gómez spoke to us about Esther on Friday night, Saturday morning, Fernando Rivera spoke to us about Daniel, then it was my turn to speak about Abraham and in the afternoon, Oscar Lopez closed by telling us about Paul. In the end, we called the church to commit to God and 20 people decided to come forward and to pray and commit themselves to the Lord. What a blessing, to Him be the glory! Let us pray that this commitment marks the development of the church and that, with this group of people a revival begins among us. Thank you for praying for this ministry in North Little Rock.”
(6/4) “After the youth and ladies’ discipleship meetings Wednesday night, we had the opportunity to share the gospel with a young couple. They have three children and are in great spiritual need and deep poverty. He did not want to make a profession of faith, and she said she had known the Lord as her Savior when she lived in her country. After praying for them, we encouraged them to congregate with us. They had been sleeping on inflatable mattresses. Thank God, we were able to provide them with a full bed and a bunk bed, as well as pillows, kitchen utensils, a folding plastic table and chairs that we used to use in the temple. They were very grateful and impressed with God’s provision.
“We picked them up Sunday in the church van since they don’t have a vehicle to get around. We pray that God will complete the work He has begun in their lives and use us, as a church, to lead them to the feet of Christ.
“Thursday night, my son, Jose Carlos, graduated from high school. We are so grateful to the Lord for allowing him to graduate. Now we are praying for God’s provision for his university studies.
“Please pray for my family. We will be visiting my father-in-law, and we hope to spend memorable times with him. Since we left Honduras in 2014, Fernanda, Jose Carlos and I have not returned. It will be a great opportunity to see and talk with our Honduran family and friends.
“The church will continue to meet with the established schedules and meetings. Oscar Gómez, Oscar López, Fernando Rivera and José Luis Galeano will be coordinating different areas and meetings. Oscar López and Fernando Rivera will preach on Sundays, and Oscar Gómez, as he always does, will lead the worship team. Please pray for each of them and others who have assigned tasks, as well as for the church that they all support and encourage each other.”
Ebenezer, West Little Rock: Ruben Isturiz writes, “We have had two very busy weeks. We continue each week giving the workshop ‘Movements of the Gospel’ and we are in the third class. We are beginning to see the fruits. God has put people in my path that unquestionably are a divine appointment.
In a Mexican restaurant, we met Teresa, who is from the Dominican Republic. When she heard our Spanish accent, she asked us our origins and we were able to connect with her. We are praying that she can connect with a Discipleship Group in our congregation.
“It was difficult to start the Discipleship Group in the home of Eduar Hernandez, but these last two weeks we have been able to have the meetings. There is much spiritual thirst, and we were only going to give the Bible study to Eduar and his five family members, but his nephew and his family joined the group. We invited them to stay and study the Bible with us, so now it is a group of eight. None have made their decision for Christ, but they have many questions. Please pray for God to remove all blindfolds from their eyes so they can see the provision of God through the message of the gospel. We have presented the gospel to them, but they have many doubts. Only prayer will open their spiritual understanding.
“I could go on writing much more of what God is doing in Ebenezer. I just ask you to keep praying for us, that God will continue to put in our way, Hispanics with a thirst for him. Pray for that opportunity to sow the good seed, and that the Holy Spirit will touch hearts and they will see. To God be the glory!”
Faith Chapel, Flippin: Johnny Shew writes, (5/28) “We had a great Memorial Day weekend at Faith Chapel. Our numbers were down because of the holiday, but we had several return, and one first-time visitor. A man I had hired just before I retired where I used to work came because someone else that I knew from work told him about Faith Chapel.
You just never know who, how or what God will use to bring people to where He wants them. We plant the seeds; God gives the increase.
“Speaking of increase, I told you a few weeks ago that my mother was going to come live with us, and that has been a blessing in itself. She joined Faith Chapel Sunday, and it is truly a blessing to have my mother as a member of our mission. Praise God!
“The building is still coming along slowly, but surely. We will just keep hammering away, (pun intended).”
(6/4) “We had another blessed week at Faith Chapel. After I did my report last week, a couple that has been faithfully coming, came to us and wanted to join as well. Praise God for the increase. We keep praying to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to the harvest, and He is! Our church is growing, both in number, and in the spirit and the Word. We are making disciples, and the Lord is blessing us richly.
“We received a very generous gift toward our building from the Mt. Calvary Association this week, plus two more gifts from individuals that are not even associated with our church or the BMA. The Lord truly is meeting our needs according to His riches in glory. We thank you all — the individuals, churches and associations — that are helping to support our mission. We could not do this without your help. But we thank you most of all for your prayers! Please continue as God is answering them in a mighty way.”
The Table, Springdale: Clinton Morris writes, (5/28) “Drew and Kaley went to celebrate his dad’s 80th birthday on Saturday, so Charles, our music leader, also preached the evening message. I am so glad we have so many people that can preach at this church. There were also four first-time guests to the church. The excitement from within the church to reach more people is evident.
“DeAnna and I are packing up the house to prep for our future move. I will be going to Africa with the team from Temple Baptist Church of Jonesboro. We will be helping the Quillmans. This is the first time I have ever been out of the country. DeAnna and the kids will be staying with her parents in Northeast Arkansas while I am in Africa.”
(6/4) “The family and I had a great time hanging out at Temple Baptist Church of Jonesboro. It is always a good time to be with our sending church. Please pray for our safe travels during June.
“Drew told me the service at The Table went great. We had another first-time guest show up and, last week, we had four new people stop by. People are inviting others to come, and it’s so exciting. Drew is preaching through our Christian Theology and is currently in the inerrancy and authority of Scripture.
“Last week, had some amazing meetings about future plans for The Table. I have enjoyed these planning meetings so much because it is setting a tone for future expectations.
“We have the organization service on June 25, and I am looking forward to that celebration.”
Faith Journey, Benton: Bryan Clay writes, (5/28) “Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being” (Psa. 146:1-2 ESV).
“We are praising the Lord through the good times and hard times today and every day that we are blessed to see the sun come up. We have seen God’s hand at work this week through answered prayers. God is faithful to His people in the past, present and future. We can hold on to those promises for all our days, even when life becomes hard. Christ wants a real relationship with us. He desires that we trust Him with all our needs and wants through life. We must trust Him in the trials that come our way, and we need to praise Him through every situation. We need to remember, during every part of life’s journey that we travel, that He is a faithful and loving Savior to His children.
“We are looking forward to summertime and, with the summer, comes VBS opportunities. If your church would like a guest speaker, please contact me and I would be excited to come help out!”
(6/4) “This week at Faith Journey, we are in prayer for a few families that have shown interest in finding a church home in the area. We are praying that God will use us to minister into their lives and help grow the mission. Please be in prayer with us for these families.
“We are still involved in the community through our weekly ministry at a couple of local nursing facilities and an adult day center. These wonderful, older adults are so eager to hear God’s Word every week that they literally are so emotional when we arrive at the facility. It is such a blessing to be able to help meet their spiritual needs during a time in their lives when their day-to-day could become mundane. God’s presence is working within them as they are lifting up their neighbors and spreading the Word within their facilities as well. God is so good!”
Misión Gracia Soberana (Sovereign Grace), NWA:Roberto Marcelletti writes, “We continue to disciple through the Grace Groups we have started. A women’s group led by my wife, Patty, meets every Wednesday to study James’ letter, and we are seeing the fruits in how the sisters are being turned upside down by the Lord.
“Since the recent holiday weekend, we have seen a decline in attendance at the Sunday worship service. We continue to trust that, through discipleship, the Lord will make them commit to His work.
“A group of brothers is interested in learning to evangelize, so we will be giving a workshop on biblical evangelism this month. Our goal is to take a sector of the city to go out in as a group to evangelize. We appreciate your prayers for blessings.”
Epic Life, Pea Ridge: Jake McCandless writes, (5/28) “Last week was discouraging and this week was trying. One of the beauties of home groups and the close way in which we walk through life together with Epic Life is that someone has to work hard to hide struggles and be real about life. We saw that in full force this week as we had the chance to be there for each other.
We’re on the winning side, but Satan is laying some incredibly deceptive and evil traps. He is attacking our kids and our families.
“I’m thankful that at Epic Life we’re not able to gloss over reality. We have started an intensive prayer meeting. It’s a shame we hadn’t until now. We also lost a young couple who are moving. We’re excited for them, but it’s hard to lose someone!
(6/4) “Can we fast forward to mid-August? If it wasn’t for getting to spend more time with Amanda and the girls who are on summer break, I’d sure wish for fast forwarding.
“Summer is always tough in church life, but when you’re a small church with young families, it especially is difficult. Our coaches and host families are all facing big trials. Please pray for them.
“We did get to see firsthand some of the transformation the Epic Life approach is having. One of our young couples got married this weekend. We attended the wedding, and it was amazing to hear them share in their vows about their walk with God. It was also incredible to hear family and friends talk about the change they had seen in both of them.”
