STATE MISSIONS: Break from the Series
The local association meetings are in full swing. It is always a privilege to make as many as possible and to express our heartfelt gratitude for your love for the lost and your unwavering support of State Missions. Seldom has a week gone by when no one has been saved through your mission efforts here in Arkansas.
We ask God to bless this work and help us accomplish His will concerning the Great Commission. These are incredibly exciting times to be in God’s service. I am visiting with two possible future missionaries and praying that God will grant wisdom to all involved.
On another high note, we are also attempting to purchase a meeting place for Bryan Clay and Faith Journey Mission near Benton. Your support has been invaluable in making this possible. As always, thank you for allowing me to be a part of this great ministry.
Great Time
I was asked to bring the message at Prospect Baptist Church in Jonesboro’s homecoming on Sept. 15. We had a great day of music, a message and good food. This church holds a special place in my life, as I was saved and baptized there in 1967 and married there in 1969. It is good to see her ministry carrying on so many years later. I pray that God continues to pour out His blessing on them.
Filling In
I filled in for Hershel Conley at The Bridge Baptist Church in Mountain View, a former BMA of Arkansas Mission, on Sunday as he recuperated from surgery. It was a blessing to look out over the crowd and realize just how important State Missions truly is. Please remember to pray for this church and her pastor. He should be back behind the pulpit in a couple of weeks.
From Our Missionaries
Misión Creciendo en Cristo (Growing in Christ), North Little Rock: Juan Carlos Posadas writes, “We studied future events during the youth discipleship meeting, such as the Rapture and the Tribulation. Verses were assigned to pairs or groups of three to research and answer questions about the topic, then each group explained the verses and answered the assigned questions. We put this dynamic into practice very often in order to learn how to study the Bible and speak in public.
“To finish the topic, we asked who wanted to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior and two visitors, Alberto and Yani, made the decision as well as Mauricio, who regularly attends church. What a joy it is when someone decides to follow Christ. It is beautiful to witness the miracle of conversion.
“Saturday, the ladies of the church met to talk about the cultural changes that try to redefine marriage, the parent-child relationship, and the definition of sin. They also analyzed the use of the school system, cartoons, television and social media to achieve these objectives. To prepare to teach the children correctly, verses were studied that clearly define the concepts mentioned. The conversation was very instructive.
“We thank God for the spaces the church provides for the community to analyze social trends and warn about the consequences of the changes that are taking place. Let us remain alert, pray for our communities and continue sharing the gospel because it is the most effective way to counteract these changes.”
Ebenezer, West Little Rock: Ruben Isturiz writes, “Every Monday, I meet with Moises Rico to pray and look for strategies in the Bible Discovery Groups (DBS). Good ideas have come out of our meetings, and we will continue to pray for God’s guidance. We have the possibility of opening four other groups. The group that meets in our home continues to do well. DBS is very dynamic, and each person is remembering the Bible stories and putting into practice what they are learning.
“My Tuesday and Thursday classes are a blessing. Preparing the two classes, one at the Hispanic Theological Institute of our association and the other through the ministry of NOVO (novo.org), has been challenging. Since last week (Saturdays), we have also added a Masculinity Workshop using 33 The Series. The men of Ebenezer will be meeting for six more weeks to discuss this topic.
“Sunday was an inspiring service as we joined our mother church, Chenal Valley Baptist Church, in a united service in celebration of the 60 years of ministry of Dr. Tom Mitchell. At 9 a.m., we shared food and had a time of fellowship, and at 10:30 a.m., we had our united service. It was a good opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness to our brother. Bro. Tom shared a challenging message from the Word of God.
“Brethren once again, a thousand thanks for your support. To God be the glory!”
Faith Chapel, Flippin: Johnny Shew writes, “We had a great week at Faith Chapel! Our numbers are still down a little. There are still a lot of different bugs going around, but we had a great time of worship and fellowship in the Lord!
“Mom is doing better, and the therapy is helping her get stronger. They still have to find the cause of the anemia, but they think she may be able to come home this week. Please pray for both to happen.
“The building is coming along. We did not reach our goal of being in by the end of summer, but we are sure God will have us there when He wants us there. All the doors and gutters are installed. We are working on the trim and the sound booth. The cabinets will be delivered soon. Plumbing will be the final piece, and then we can move in! Praise God for all the patience He has taught us before, but we are still learning.
“We thank you again for all of your prayers and support. It means so much to us, and we thank God for you and this association.”
Faith Journey, Benton: Bryan Clay writes, “This week at Faith Journey we were able to see some answered prayers within the mission and also several on a personal level. Our lesson a few weeks back was learning about how to find joy in the trials, and God was able to use that to help prepare us for a few trials this week. We experienced so many blessings during this time that we can only give glory to our Savior and praise His name.
“We were issued a challenge at Faith Journey last Sunday to be intentional in praying for one specific person that was chosen for us and to let them know every day what you prayed about for them. An amazing gift about this was not only were we lifting that person up to the Lord, we also saw blessings poured out on us.”
Misión Gracia Soberana (Sovereign Grace), NWA:Roberto Marcelletti writes, “We are so grateful to see what God is doing in our midst. This week, we were joined by a man named Johan at our small group in Springdale with a great desire to learn and know more of God’s Word. Another man, Joseph, was very attentive and taking notes in our Sunday School class. I know the Lord is answering our prayer that He would send men who are hungry for His Word.
“We had a Bible challenge on John 1-7 on Friday that encouraged our church to read the Word of God together, and we celebrated Bible Day Sunday, Sept. 22. We had a service where we tasted the Word, prayed the Word, and the Word was also preached. The theme of the sermon was the attributes of the Bible. We greeted our guests and brothers and sisters, then invited them for coffee, donuts and bread.”
Epic Life, Pea Ridge: Jake McCandless writes, “This Sunday, we had a baptism. It was very different than anything I’d been a part of as a pastor, and at the same time, it was one of the most authentic times I’ve had in church. Our goal is to equip and empower others to be missionaries in their context — starting with their homes.
I think that we’re starting to see that we’re doing that. I didn’t plan and organize the baptism — the family did. They picked the location and invited everyone. They picked their son’s favorite swimming hole. As a church, we didn’t get a gift (though I love to do that), but the coach family who reached the family of the baptism did. It was incredible. We gathered on the creekside while the dad and I waded out to baptize the son. I love it. As we’re doing with all our baptisms, we also want it to celebrate the individual who reached the one being baptized and is discipling them. We grabbed a picture that I will cherish. It’s a picture of the three Brians — a Brian I’m training as a coach, a Brian he reached through work and his son, Brian who gave his life to Christ and was baptized.”
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Paul White
Arkansas State Missions Director Paul White pens a weekly column to inform the BMA of Arkansas concerning Arkansas Missions’ activity and includes individual reports from each church planter.
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