STATE MISSIONS: Sharing
It has been a great week. Sunday morning, Connection Point in Brookland (one of our former missions) celebrated its third anniversary. Seeing God’s work established in yet another community is a blessing. After lunch, I made a mad dash to Magnolia to attend the Columbia County local association. Another excellent time of fellowship and a second Baptist potluck in one day was like Heaven on Earth. The meeting was well attended, and again, we heard some good preaching and encouraging reports.
I had the opportunity to meet Kenneth Bobo Monday morning over breakfast to catch up. We became very close when building Liberty Memorial Baptist Church in Memphis in 1980. As it has been said, true friends are hard to come by.
Next Sunday, I will head back down south to Rosston to attend the Union Association meeting.
Hallelujah
We praise God as our missionaries reported six precious souls saved this last weekend. God is still in the saving business. Thank you for making this ministry possible. I believe the best is yet to come.
From Our Missionaries
Misión Creciendo en Cristo (Growing in Christ), North Little Rock: Juan Carlos Posadas writes, “The Wednesday night youth discipleship is growing. Attendance was 24 people. We are very excited to see the older youth serving the younger youth, which has attracted the younger. We continue teaching the Word and will soon baptize some.
“Also, the Sunday discipleship meeting at 9 a.m. is growing. We are rotating the people who lead the Bible discussion. On this occasion, David did it. At the end of the meeting, many congratulated him for his preparation and the excellent way he led the conversation, allowing everyone to speak and encouraging those who did not speak much.
The children had a special right after the sermon. They sang the hymn ‘Santa Biblia para Mi’ (Holy Bible for Me). It was evident that they had dedicated a lot of time to the rehearsal since they did it very well. Something outstanding was that, for the first time, the brothers Gálvez (Mathew and Andrew) played their guitars, accompanying the hymn. What a blessing to see the children praising God. We congratulate the children and Sayra Posadas for their excellent work.”
Ebenezer, West Little Rock: Ruben Isturiz writes, “We had a good worship service. A Guatemalan visited us, who we spoke to at the Hispanic Heritage event at Frida Plaza. Because of his work, he would not be at Ebenezer every Sunday. In the afternoon, we had an invitation to a baby shower, and God allowed me to connect with Luis. We will give him a study of six Bible study lessons related to ‘Who is Jesus?’ as a way to open the door to presenting the gospel.
“It was a busy week. Monday, our Discovery Bible Study met in our home. On Tuesday, I taught at the Hispanic Theological Institute. Wednesday, we went to the last game of the Arkansas Travelers. Thursday was the workshop I am giving to Latin American pastors, and Saturday was the workshop on masculinity for the men of Ebenezer.
“We pray that God will give fruit in His time for what we sow in each ministry. The most important thing is that God be glorified.”
Faith Chapel, Flippin: Johnny Shew writes, “What a great week at Faith Chapel! Our numbers are still down from families traveling, and some are still sick. Still, we had a great time of worship! As I was out on the porch greeting people before the morning service, I saw a car I didn’t recognize pull in, and two first-time visitors got out.
It was John and Amanda Travis from Jonesboro. They were in the neighborhood, kind of, at Viola getting Lindsey and Kyle married off and decided to visit. We are so glad they did, and we got to show them the new building after services. We love having friends from all our BMA churches visit us — we hope you all do!
“My mom got out of therapy on Thursday and will continue physical therapy at home. But praise God, she is home! We thank God for hearing our prayers and for His answers.
“We got a lot done last week and are working on trim in the building. The cabinet guys are supposed to be here Monday morning to install vanities and cabinets. The last major thing is the plumbing work. Then we move in and, praise God, we can finish the small details while we are there. We are getting closer every day, and we are getting excited.
“We thank you all again for your prayers and support, and we thank God for you.
Faith Journey, Benton: Bryan Clay writes, “This week has been about preparation. This week, we spent time working on different projects to prepare for things that are coming up soon. We have a couple of weddings in our immediate family in a few weeks, and our only daughter is getting married at the beginning of the new year. Our niece honored me by asking me to officiate her wedding, and it will be my first wedding ceremony to perform. We pray that God will bless these beautiful couples as they start their lives together.
“The sermon this week was on waiting on the Lord, whether we are in a good place or a low spot in our lives. The example I used was a peach — peaches are sweet and tasty but have a hard pit. Life is like that, too. We will have blessings and happy moments, but we will also have hard times and feel like we are in the pit. God wants us to cry out to Him at both times, good or bad. We shared with one another about different times in our lives when we experienced these moments. By sharing our joys and burdens with each other, we are growing closer as a mission, and that will help make us a stronger church.”
Misión Gracia Soberana (Sovereign Grace), NWA:Roberto Marcelletti writes, “The Lord has brought more men interested in learning the Word of God. This week, I have had contact with Joseph, Yohan and Israel, and am praying that the Lord will continue to transform their lives.
“Saturday, during our congregational devotional, we had a beautiful moment of prayer and outcry for the states affected by Hurricane Helene.
“In our Sunday service, we celebrated the sovereign grace of God saving three lives through baptism. Nani, Laura, and Ashley told the world their old life was buried with Christ and that they had been born to a new life. It was a very special moment to hear how God, through the gospel, showed them how lost they were and their need for salvation. It was a very emotional moment when they were born again.
“The families, guests and the entire congregation celebrated Christ as our precious Savior. At the end of the service, after talking about how baptism was a sign of the gospel where Christ was buried and resurrected, a woman named Yoselin approached full of tears and saying she needed that Savior and gave her life to Christ. It was one of the most beautiful services since we started almost two years ago, and we also had the highest attendance — 48 people! Glory to God!”
Epic Life, Pea Ridge: Jake McCandless writes, “What a week! We had our largest in-home gathering, and a couple we’ve been praying for since July had a gospel conversation with neighbors. They shared our Discovery Bible Study method with an entire softball team and parents!
“Our Woodbridge Group had our largest night — packing out the house with 26! We had Bro. Norcilus from Haiti share. It was our first missionary connection, and it was extremely powerful to experience that in a home setting.
“Our Garfield group had been praying for a couple for months, and they came! Amanda and I were finally able to have an organic gospel conversation in our neighborhood.
“Following a ball tournament this weekend, I had the chance to share our Connection Group study with the ball team and their parents.”
El Faro #2 Hispanic Mission, Cabot/Jacksonville: Michael Hight writes, “We are getting excited about our public services. We will start on Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. We will meet at 6603 Hardin Rd.
“Please keep us in your prayers. The enemy has thrown a lot at us, but we keep moving forward!”
31
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.
Other posts by
Paul White
Contact author