STATE MISSIONS: Moving Forward
Hopefully, in the next week or two, we will be looking at securing a meeting place for our newest Pea Ridge work. Please pray that God will be in the center of all our decisions.
Time Out
I had a procedure done on Monday and will be out of the office this week, but will be available on my email or phone as I plan to work from home these few days. Nothing serious, just a little repair work. Like my doctor said, radiation is a gift that keeps on giving.
From Our Missionaries
Misión Creciendo en Cristo (Growing in Christ), North Little Rock: Juan Carlos Posadas writes, (1/15) “On Tuesday night, a group of men met to review our strategic planning and the calendar of activities for 2023.
In addition to informing them, they were challenged to take on some areas of responsibility in the church — cleaning the exterior of the temple, preparing the Lord’s table, preaching monthly, and working on any of the projects we have for this year. After praying for a month, we will meet again and determine the areas of responsibility of each one. It is a blessing that for the first time, we were able to have this type of meeting with men committed to the Lord. Please pray for Oscar López, Oscar Gómez, José Luis Galeano and Fernando Rivera, the ministry that each of them will develop in the church and that they may be an example to the congregation and their families.
“We went to visit Lucio Jesús in intensive care on Saturday. He was run over and is in very bad shape. According to the opinion of the doctors, he lives because he is connected to a mechanical respirator. His sister, Marta was with him, and we managed to share the gospel with them. Marta made her profession of faith, and we encouraged her to read the Word and congregate with us. Unfortunately, she does not live in Little Rock. She came from Memphis because of her brother’s situation. Let’s pray that Lucio’s parents will be authorized a permit to enter the country and be able to visit Lucio in the hospital. Let us pray that God’s will be done with Lucio’s life, and the spiritual growth of Marta.”
(1/22) “Last week, we had the opportunity to give Joel and Marlen’s family a double bed and a recliner. They were very grateful to God and the church for the provision for their home. Marlen and her daughter, Alexandra have been visiting the church. We hope the whole family will join the congregation.
“Saturday afternoon, some men from the church cleaned the front yard, cut some branches from the trees, collected leaves and trimmed the bushes around the temple. We still need to clean up the backyard another weekend.
“We are very happy because God has answered our prayers for more people to serve in Sunday School. We already have a group of five sisters who are teaching the children of the congregation. The sisters had a training and planning meeting Saturday afternoon. Please pray for Sayra, Consuelo, Maria Luisa, Mariandre and Mariana. They make up the Sunday School work team.”
Ebenezer, West Little Rock: Ruben Isturiz writes, “We had a good week in Ebenezer. We continue to pray for the families that ask us to come to their home to pray. This week, we will be praying for two more families, and we will close our prayer cycle for each family in Ebenezer.
On Wednesday, Jan. 18, we prayed for Eduar and his family, who arrived last October. We presented them with the gospel last week and are praying for them to make their decision for Christ. Pray that God uses me and touches their hearts. My desire is to see Eduar, his wife, his son and two daughters go down to the waters. It would be a beautiful baptism.
“The attendance on Sunday, Jan. 22, was very good. It is the result of praying in the homes. Every time I have the opportunity, I tell Ebenezer, ‘Sunday should be the result of us during the week.’
“Pray also for the workshop we will be starting in February — ‘Evangelism, Discipleship and Gospel Movement.’ This 10-week workshop will be the key to the growth of the kingdom of God among us. To God be the glory!”
Faith Chapel, Flippin: Johnny Shew writes, “We had a great week at Faith Chapel. Most of our families are back, but some were out with sickness, and we pray that soon we will all be well together.
“We made some progress on the new building this week. Our water line from the main at the highway has been dug and is being installed, and the power company has come and engineered their lines and will soon be installing them. The concrete contractor hopes to begin the footings this week, and the septic components are on order. We ordered the trusses this week. And the weatherman is calling for snow tomorrow night!
“I told one of our members yesterday that the Lord is giving us a perfect opportunity to trust in Him. The weather is unpredictable in Arkansas in January and February, but we trust in God’s timing for every stage of this project.
“We thank you for your prayers for us, Faith Chapel, Flippin, those we are trying to reach and for our building project. Please continue as God is answering them.”
The Table, Springdale: Clinton Morris writes, “We are plunged back into sickness again. I know a lot of churches are experiencing higher missing in action folks. I am praying for all of our people to get better.
Some of them attended through the online church option.
“DeAnna and I are praying for the next field of ministry opportunity. Please pray with us as we seek out where God would have us plant again. We will keep you updated on the details as we discover them. It is always hard for me when I’m waiting to hear and to see from God. I am quite the impatient person when it comes to life details. God has always used these times to reteach me and refocus me on the fact that His divine pathways are laid out before me, and He will show me them when we are ready.
“The church leaders worked through a Good Soil Training on Saturday. Please consider investigating this discipleship and evangelism tool. They have been so helpful in training our people to understand the overarching narrative of the Word of God, and to be able to start at the beginning with people when we evangelize.
“As we have been out and about, we are running into more people who have heard of the Table, or even know us from The Table. It is very exciting to see that our efforts to create awareness have begun to pay off. We are prayerful that this leads to connections and relationships.”
Faith Journey, Benton: Bryan Clay writes “We had a good week at Faith Journey. We have begun a weekly schedule with several nursing facilities in our community. We have been able to start to develop relationships with residents and staff so we can minister to the needs in these places.
“We are really enjoying the time of getting into the Word of God and developing friendships with those that can come to the Bible studies. We went in thinking we would be a blessing to them, when it turns out they have been a huge blessing in our lives. God is so good!”
Misión Gracia Soberana (Sovereign Grace), NWA:Roberto Marcelletti writes, “We were able to restart our small group (Group of Grace) in Rogers and continue with the process of intentional discipleship we have begun. We finished the first course on salvation. Unfortunately, we have not been able to start the group of Springdale because the husband of the family where we meet is quite sick.
We ask for your prayers for Francisco Martinez.
“Our Sunday service was wonderful. The good thing is, in each of our services during these two months we have gathered, we have had visitors. Then we had our usual sharing after the service where we are getting to know each other more as a family in the faith. We can learn about the situations our brothers suffer to be able to pray in a more specific way for their situations and hearing that several families are struggling with some situations.
“May will be the month of the Christian home for us. All topics will be focused on marriage, parenting and other topics of interest to the whole family.”
Epic Life, Pea Ridge: Jake McCandless writes, “I guess it is just how we’re wired — to second guess ourselves. Over the past several years, through Stand Firm, I have found that children are more likely to keep their faith into adulthood when it is seen and caught than just when it is taught.
It is more important for them to be exposed to a genuine faith in the home than an extravagant youth and children ministries. I know that is true statistically, but sometimes wonder if our multigenerational approach is good enough. Well, it proved itself this week.
“Our leaders launched a 40-day devotional and prayer time challenge. I just targeted the adults, but wished I had something for the kids. Though I didn’t have a ‘plan’ or a ‘program’ for the kids, some took it upon themselves to start doing a ‘quiet time’ because they saw it from their parents! That just shows the power of God and the power of multigenerational ministry in homes.”
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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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