This week is looking busy. Macedonia Baptist Church near Bearden has disbanded and has graciously donated their building and property to State Missions. Unfortunately, I received a call Sunday from former pastor Paul Martin that a tree had fallen on the building Saturday night.
Monday, I traveled there to check on the damage and meet someone who has shown an interest in buying it. I will give you an update next week on what I find.
Sunday
I am looking forward to being with Letona Baptist Church and Pastor Jackie Manasco Sunday morning. As always, I am excited to share the work of your State Missions Department. I got acquainted with Jackie and his wife when he was at West Race Baptist Church in Searcy, and he has been faithful to lead his people in supporting this department.
Sunday Afternoon
After speaking at Letona, I will be headed to Fayetteville to attend the organizational service of The Table Missionary Baptist Mission into a church. Clinton Morris served as the missionary and Temple Baptist Church in Jonesboro extended an arm to this work. Check our website for more details at www.BMAARMissions.com.
Sunday Night
After the service, I hope to make it back to the Mountain Home area before stopping. The Bridge Baptist Church has a prophet room that has saved the Missions Department hundreds over the years. Thank you to The Bridge and Pastor Hershel Conley.
Monday
Spending the night in Mountain Home will give me the opportunity to visit Johnny and Karen Shew before heading out again. I still have a few dates left open, so give me a call. To God be the glory!
From Our Missionaries
Ebenezer, West Little Rock: Ruben Isturiz writes, “We had an inspiring service, led by the ladies, and had a special treat for the fathers at Ebenezer. It was my turn to share the Word of God based on the story of Zacchaeus, a man who changed in his encounter with Jesus. He overcame obstacles, repented and salvation came to his home.
“During the week, we continue with the two home groups we have. Our prayer is for the new believers to stand firm in the faith and make the decision to go down into the waters of baptism. Pray for the new believers that their faith will increase and that they will be rooted.
“Pray for what we do with the Hispanic Travelers players of the Travelers, they are the AA of the Seattle Mariners. We continue to sow the Word of God in their lives.
“We have several in Ebenezer who have not surrendered their lives to Christ. Pray for opportunities to present the gospel to them and that any obstacles will be removed. To God be the glory!”
Faith Chapel, Flippin: Johnny Shew writes, “We had a great week at Faith Chapel, with a good number and a great time of worship. We are planning our annual outreach for July 3. We will once again cook hot dogs and have chips, popcorn, water and popsicles for the community as they walk by our building on the way to the park to watch the fireworks.
This is such a fun event for us, and we can directly attribute three salvations and five baptisms to our efforts over the past two years at this event. We are praying for more success this year, please pray with us.
The building is still slowly coming along, and the interest it is generating in the community is amazing. People stop by all the time to talk and look, and we welcome them and invite them to visit us where we are currently meeting. Some have, and some have returned. We thank God for sending them, and for enabling and helping us to do this.
“Thank you for your prayers and support. Please continue; God is answering!”
The Table, Springdale: Clinton Morris writes, “We are jet lagged and home. The team made it back from Africa. There are so many stories to tell about the work that was accomplished. We saw two more people give their lives to Jesus.
Andy Neal and I taught on Tuesday for three hours on the authority of Scriptures and the importance of reading it and living by it. Over 150 people came from the nearby villages to be part of the class.
“Father’s Day service at The Table was amazing. We have had visitors every week, and we had four first timers Sunday. The energy and excitement that is in the service is so sweet. People are on mission, and the people of The Table are reaching into their community with the love of Jesus Christ. I was overjoyed to see that the vision of the church has deep roots.
“Only a few more days until Organization Sunday! Next week will be my last report for The Table Baptist Mission. I am so grateful for the opportunity the BMA of Arkansas has given me and my family to plant this church.
“Thanks for your prayers, and please keep this church and its leaders in your prayers into the future.”
Faith Journey, Benton: Bryan Clay writes “Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing fathers out there! We hope your day was filled with love and fellowship. We enjoyed a fun time this week, celebrating our Faith Journey dads. We treated them to a homemade Mexican fiesta of tacos and all the trimmings.
We also spoke words of encouragement over each of them and gave them gift boxes full of their favorite snacks! We also gave each of them their own personal Faith Journey coffee mug and a personalized Faith Journey engraved pocketknife. We really have some of the most amazing fathers who are the spiritual leaders for their families and strive toward loving the Lord in their walk with Him on a daily basis.
“We were blessed this week to see a salvation at one of our nursing facilities where we minister every week. A gentleman there has been attending our weekly Bible studies for several months he has been convicted that he knew who Jesus was in his mind but had never trusted Him in his heart. The man asked the Lord to save him and gave his life to Christ this week. Praise the Lord! Please keep him in your prayers as he begins this new journey as a child of God.”
Misión Gracia Soberana (Sovereign Grace), NWA:Roberto Marcelletti writes, “We were evangelizing in Springdale Monday and something very peculiar happened while I was evangelizing a couple. The wife got up and said her leg was hurting a lot that she felt dizzy and felt like she was going to vomit.
I got her something to drink, wrote down her cell phone number and they left. I did not have time to introduce her to Christ because of how bad she felt. A few minutes later, I texted the husband and he told me that his wife was hovering between life and death. She had an aneurysm, and when we arrived at the Northwest Medical Center in Springdale she was already in the helicopter being transferred to a Little Rock emergency room. We are working with this family and ministering the gospel to her. When she first got there, she was given no chance of living but, to the glory of God, she is now out of danger and in full recovery.
“After our Father’s Day Sunday service, our beloved sisters celebrated with gifts and an excellent meal. Thank God for them.”
Epic Life, Pea Ridge: Jake McCandless writes, “At this point our youth and children’s ministries are done family by family, and we ask each family to involve their kids’ friends. The families love on them and involve them in our groups with their own children and, through this, we are exposing them to the gospel. We’ve had over 10 new kids come to our small groups and worship this way the past two months.
“This week, we had all the kids over to our house to swim and hang out during the day. Amanda and another mom who also teaches school picked up the kids who were home for summer. They had a great time. We’re loving how our approach with our kids is so natural and fits in the rhythm of everyday life. We’re reaching children and youth without having the stress of recruiting leaders and putting on events. This also allows the ‘host’ families to build deeper relationships with the students.”
