I love family reunions, and on Sunday, I was privileged to be with Highland Hills Baptist Church in Highland and pastor Paul Vincent to celebrate their 22nd anniversary as a church. This was special to me as this is the church Vicki and I planted in 1999, when we were elected to serve as your state missionaries. God has always had His hand upon this work, as we were blessed to be able to organize it in just four and one-half years. Bro. Vincent is doing a wonderful job taking care of this work, and I am thankful that they are in good hands.
Not only was the Highland family present, but we were blessed to have their daughter church, The Bridge in Mountain Home, represented by her pastor, Hershel Conley. And it didn’t stop there, for we were blessed to have Highland’s future granddaughter, Faith Chapel Mission, represented by her pastor, Johnny Shew, who was extended an arm by The Bridge. Good singing, good friends and good food made for a special day. Who knows, it may not be long before a great-granddaughter may be on the way.
Special Treat
Last week, I felt blessed to spend time with one of my dear pastor friends, James Schenrock, who lives in West Little Rock. He joined Jeff Herring and me on Thursday afternoon as we drove to White Hall for the Central Arkansas Association meeting. In fact, if possible, he will ride with me to attend the Columbia Association on Sunday, Sept. 28. It doesn’t get much better than this.
From Our Missionaries
Ebenezer, West Little Rock: Ruben Isturiz writes, “I want to share some exciting news about our recent joint Sunday service with Chenal Valley Baptist Church (CVBC), where we had the opportunity to worship in both English and Spanish. It was an excellent opportunity to communicate our vision of building a new sanctuary and expanding the Sunday School classrooms. After the service, we went to the adjacent lot, which will be the site of the new construction, and divided into groups to pray. As a Hispanic congregation, we also prayed for the new space, which will be our Sunday worship location for Ebenezer.
“In addition, three weeks ago, my wife, Kory, started a new community ministry offering English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. For years, we have been praying for a ministry that would bless immigrants through English language learning, but we lacked volunteers. For now, Kory is teaching beginners, and in the second phase, we plan to launch a ‘Conversation Club’ for intermediate and advanced levels.
“Our intention is to use the same methodology as Discovery Bible Studies (DBS) to offer conversation in English at intermediate and advanced levels while studying the Bible. If you are interested in volunteering, please get in touch with Kory at kcisturiz@me.com.
“Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your prayers and continued support. To God be the glory!”
Faith Chapel, Flippin: Johnny Shew writes, “We had a great week at Faith Chapel! We even got some much-needed rain — I had one inch in the gauge on Sunday morning, with more forecasted for all this week. Thank you, Lord!
“We had a great time of worship with seven first-time visitors. Praise God. Bubba and Michelle Reese also returned to visit us, and Bro. Bubba brought the message, and it was a good one. However, I had to watch it online because I wasn’t there. Karen and I were able to attend the Homecoming service at Highland Hills, our grandmother church, and it was a blessing. Wonderful Worship music was provided by We Will Testify. Then, Paul White brought the morning message, followed by a great meal. After that, there was more great worship, and then Hershel Conley brought the afternoon message.
“It was a joyous, spirit-filled, emotional day. For those that don’t know, Bro. Paul was sent from Temple in Jonesboro to plant Highland Hills. Then Bro. Hershel was sent from Highland Hills to plant The Bridge in Mountain Home. Then, my wife, Karen, and I were sent from The Bridge to Flippin to plant Faith Chapel, and I pray that the Lord will raise up a missionary from our body to send to the harvest. This is the biblical model — churches planting churches, and the Lord is building His church, adding to it daily those who should be saved.
“We thank you all for your support, not just for us, but for helping all 3 of these churches to multiply and spread the gospel for the past 26 years. Above all, we thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray, the Lord is answering in a mighty way!”
Faith Journey, Benton: Bryan Clay writes, “Like the song reminds us, ‘There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place,’ and that is exactly what we have experienced this past week. Everywhere we’ve gone, we’ve truly felt the presence of the Lord. We had a total of seven small group meetings along with two worship services this week. It has been encouraging to see not only the strong turnout, but also the spiritual growth taking place within each group as we dig deeper into God’s Word together.
“Besides the 76 attending in our small groups, our morning service attendance was strong, and on Sunday evening, we had a full house as well. We gathered for a time of food and fellowship on Sunday evening. We had spaghetti, lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo, salad and a spread of delicious desserts. Following dinner, we shared in a fun, family-style evening with a ‘spiritual obstacle course.’ This included three memory games designed to help reinforce what we’ve been learning in the Scripture over the past month. While things may have gotten a little competitive at times, it was all in good fun, filled with plenty of laughter and excitement.
“We are grateful for what God is doing in our Faith Journey family. Each gathering, whether in small groups or in fellowship, continues to remind us of His goodness and the sweet spirit that fills us when we come together in His name.”
Misión Gracia Soberana (Sovereign Grace), NWA:Roberto Marcelletti writes, “Greetings sisters and brothers in Christ. This week, Patty was sharing the gospel with three co-workers, and we have included them in our prayers.
“We started a new connection group in Rogers on Tuesdays. Now we have two days of meetings — Tuesdays in Rogers and Thursdays in Springdale. We continue to pray for more homes to open so that we can share the gospel. Due to the heavy storms over the weekend, we had to suspend two meetings.
“In September, we celebrate the month of the Bible. The brothers have the task of reading the Gospel of John, chapters 8 to 12. During this week, we have been reading these chapters, and on Sept. 28 we will have a Bible competition. Because of this, we bought two study Bibles for the brothers who are in first and second place.
“On Sunday, we had a fantastic service that began with two songs that were performed by Sister Audrey, who is 103 years old. We ended with the preaching of Elton McCaann on Psalm 119.”
Epic Life, Pea Ridge: Jake McCandless writes, “God’s timing is always perfect. Looking back, maybe I shouldn’t have voiced my frustration last week — or maybe I should have. Sometimes sharing the behind-the-scenes struggle helps. I felt at a loss for the next step, but a conversation with some leaders yesterday may have set things back on track. We’ll see how God unfolds it.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been convicted. God has been moving in our youth gatherings that began in the spring, yet we hadn’t restarted them this fall. Last Sunday, our leaders felt the same prompting. In response, we quickly made adjustments and now have a youth gathering scheduled for this Sunday. It’s a great opportunity to reach students and families, especially with several new students moving up into youth group age. Everyone’s excited, and I look forward to sharing an update next week.
“I’ve also been working with our two ‘flagship’ Connection Groups to plan their next studies. Both have completed the core studies we encourage all groups to experience, and now we’re collaborating on what’s next. It’s a rewarding step with our leaders.
“Meanwhile, the Bella Vista group’s core leaders are preparing for their start by doing their own couples’ Bible study and prayer time. We’ll announce a new start date soon.
“Behind the scenes, I’m preparing resources for a broader promotion campaign — focused first on connecting with potential leaders. I’m excited to see how God uses it.”
