Missionary Update

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March 2010

Week of March 8-12, 2010

Itineraries:
March 14 – Rob Worthington – Open Door Baptist Church, Reading, PA
March 13 – 6:00 p.m. - BCP Promotional Banquet being held in the Service Center Conference Room for the Cleveland area

Here’s the schedule for next week at the BCP Service Center:
Mon., March 15 All day Annual Admin Meeting
Tue., March 16 9:00 a.m. ChurchCare
1:00 p.m. Council committees meet
3:00 p.m. Council meeting starts
Wed., March 17 8:30 a.m. Council meets – plans to end around 2:30 p.m.
3:30 p.m. Leadership Summit starts
Thurs., March 18 8:30 a.m. Leadership Summit
Fri., March 19 8:30 a.m. Leadership Summit – plans to end around 11:30 a.m.

Tim & Susan Heinrich, Tracy, CA
PRAISE THE LORD We have met our goal of 12,000 eggs for this event. Thank you to all of you who have sent Eggs for our April 2 Egg hunt. We are so thankful for the faithful partners who help us reach Tracy with the gospel!!
We are feverishly preparing for this huge outreach. Praise the Lord we have permission from two school districts to send home flyers with their kindergarten through 5th graders. We will be sending home over 5,000 flyers to school children in the public schools here in Tracy.
Please be praying for hearts to be touched. We have a Pastor from Modesto that will be presenting the gospel through martial arts this year. We have also ordered 600 copies of the gospel of John, magazine style for children. Our goal is that each family at the even will be exposed the gospel at least 6 different ways.

Bud & Eunice Johnson, Cherokee Village, AR
I just wanted to check in to let you know that these radiation treatments seem to be accomplishing what they are designed to do. I understand that everyone doesn’t respond the same. I had treatment #25 today with only 4 more to go. The doctor seemed pleased with the process so far.
We have been overwhelmed with God’s provision of expense money to pay for the travel expenses to and from Batesville each weekday for six weeks and that equals approximately 3,000 miles for all 30 trips.
Our Field Director took time out to call a few days ago to see how we are doing. We appreciate Peter Jenks and all who been upholding us in prayer!

Roy & Karen Kinney, Auburn, MA
Wow, has the weather been nice as we look forward to spring here in New England!  The sun is warm in the afternoons and the birds are singing again.  Tessa (our dog) spends most of the day outside begging for someone to play with her.  It will be interesting to see what pops out of the ground this spring at our new home. 
We had a full weekend with Dr. Dan Brown here as our speaker.  We took him on the Freedom Trail in Boston after picking him up at the airport.  This was our first attempt at navigating the streets and parking.  Next time we’ll have to leave the SUV home and bring a couple of small cars to find anywhere to park!  We did make it into the USS Constitution and saw many things we want to go back and actually get out of the car and enjoy:)  Don’t worry; if you come our way for a tour we’ll be better prepared to take in the sights!  Dr. Brown gave a great message from John 3 and we could see the Lord at work in the lives of those unsaved. 
We had returning visitors this week.  The couple from Princeton and their son were here.  The Wells were able to host them for the Sunday meal and get to know them better.  Lynn, Janet’s niece, has been attending for a couple of weeks and is searching to know what the Bible teaches.  Joy returned Sunday night for the first time and is sensitive to the truth of the Word.  Continue to pray for these folks as God is at work and more need to be saved.
Pastor and Alyssa are away to a Pastor’s retreat in the Poconos.  It will be Alyssa’s first year at working it and Pastor will be speaking.  You can pray for health and strength for them while they are away.  The rest of us are home working, schooling, and preparing for the weekend.
This Saturday is Alyssa’s 16th birthday party, an open house from 1:00 - 3:00.  Anyone from out of town is welcome; just make your reservations soon!  We are so thankful for Alyssa and her sweet spirit.  We’ll enjoy the day with family, friends, and church family.
Next week Pastor is away again to Baptist Church Planters for meetings.  He will fly out and back.  So, these next couple of weeks will be busy with people coming and going. 
The contract on the sale of our church building ran out last month.  We are in the process of getting more Realtors in and thinking about our options.  We cannot give away our building to sell it and the men need wisdom.  There are plenty of churches for sale right now as many are consolidating or closing.  Thankfully, ours is for sale because we’ve outgrown it.  We have options in buying, we just need to sell.  Keep this in prayer as decisions are made. 

Eric & Amy Wilmeth, Bennington, NE
Looking Back
• Is God trying to tell us something?  Every single time we’ve gone back to Iowa this fall and winter, someone in our family comes home sick.  And usually shares with someone else in our family.  Praise the LORD the kids have been healthy since Christmas!
The New Year at Bennington Baptist Church began with the theme in 2010 of “Being In10tional.”  We are excited that we have begun the New 2:7 series Bible study to fulfill the In10tional Discipleship aspect of being in10tional!  We have two groups meeting on Sunday and Tuesday evenings.  Pray for Eric as he leads this study and for the people of our church to grow spiritually through it.
Huge praise and answer to prayer: One of our supporting churches has doubled their support for our ministry each month!  We are now up to 36%!  Pray that this will continue to grow.  There are so many things we would love to do to reach the people of Bennington, but don’t have the time with Eric still working a full time job along with all his church/missionary responsibilities.  But we know that God is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” (Ephesians 3:20)
Looking Forward
• We are looking forward to returning “home” to report to our wonderful church families in Indianola (where we both grew up) on March 21st and Slater (where we were during college until we went into the ministry) on March 14th!  LORD willing, we can encourage and be encouraged by many friends and partners in the ministry!
Eric will be traveling to Elyria, Ohio March 15th-19th to take part in Baptist Church Planter’s Council Meetings.  Pray for this leadership group as they discuss ideas and make decisions that will impact the future of church planting in North America.
We are in the planning stages for a few different outreach events.  We are planning a postcard mailing inviting Bennington area residents to our Palm Sunday and Easter services.  The Faithful Men’s Bible study that Eric is leading the first Saturday of each month is planning to reach out and invite specific neighborhoods that church members live in to the study at that member’s home.  The Women of the Word monthly Bible study is planning our annual Ladies’ Brunch on May 1st.  We are also coordinating with a ministry team to come help us with Bennington Daze and VBS again this summer!  Be praying for each of these outreach events to see new or returning visitors from the community come out.
Looking Together
• Pray for our support to continue to increase, so we can devote more time to the ministry and reaching the people of Bennington, NE!
• Pray for spiritual growth and unity in the core group of Bennington Baptist Church.
• Pray for upcoming outreach opportunities for Bennington Baptist Church.

Jim & Janice Mitchell, Pueblo West, CO
We had a busy weekend.  Sunday we had our morning services, had lunch with the church family and then a prayer time.  After cleaning up several of us went out bag blitzing.  Janice and I arrived home just in time to get ready to leave for Faith Baptist in Fowler one of our supporting churches.  We enjoyed a very nice meal with their new Pastor and family before going to their church and sharing our testimonies of how the Lord led us out here and the work He is doing.  We arrived home about ten o’clock.
Monday was Janice’s birthday combined with having the Faith Baptist Bible College Chorale.  The Chorale did a fabulous job presenting Christ and His Words through song.  It especially sounded good in our little building which was full. We had 60 some people plus the 42 members of the choir.  Thankfully, my ex co-worker came to the concert and enjoyed it as well as at least one other unchurched couple.  Janice’s birthday will extend on into day in various ways though she got many nice cards and gifts already.
Friday is the closing date for our home, so we are anticipating the moving process starting as early as Saturday.
Thanks for your prayers as we enter into the spring and what promises to be a busy time for all of us.

Roy & Fran Cupples, Fullerton, NE
The Lord blessed this morning and five juniors/teens that had been invited (they have come before) to Sunday school were actually ready when I went to pick them up.  All of them have come before but not for some time.  Please pray that they will keep coming.  Two ladies that normally come to church came together to Sunday school today.  I am encouraging them to make it a habit!
And, Carolyn came with Ted this morning to the 11:00 service and was glad to be there.  Ted came back again tonight but Carolyn had to study for her new classes. Please pray for their salvation.  We know that he is reading his Bible.
Last night the Lord helped us find the bat in the church nursery.  It had been flying around the room while I was working in there.  He, also, helped me figure out how to get my laptop going again.  I tried several times but to no avail.  So, I prayed, tried again, unhooked something and it started.  I was so thankful because we use the laptop for a major part of our morning service.
This morning after announcements Roy said that Karla wanted to read something to us.  Now, that is a somewhat fearful thing because he did not know what she was going to read.  Karla has dealt with drugs for a long time but is doing well at this time and she wanted to read a devotional that she and Chris had read this morning.  It was basically very good.  She also told us all how grateful she is for our church family and how much she and Chris have been helped.  It was a great beginning to our service and even though we don’t often clap in church, our folks clapped for her.  We praise God for what He is doing in her life and in their lives as a couple.
Please pray:
*  for Dan, Cathie, P, M and J will get close to the Shepherd and back with the flock.
* At church we are going to have Whispering Cedars Cabin Sunday on the 14th; pray that on that date, we and other churches in the state, will take up a good offering for the new boy’s cabin.
* We’re flying to Ohio March 16 and coming home March 19 - meetings at the mission: Baptist Church Planters
* I’ve been talking with Susan and giving her things to read; pray for her salvation

Scott & Brooke, Schaumburg, IL
Isn’t it great to be a part of the body of Christ and know that you have brothers and sisters around the world that are laboring with you? This week we had a special reminder of that blessing. Kevin and Kenyata Maki dropped into our service on Sunday morning (along with their children). Kevin and Kenyata are fellow missionaries with Baptist Church Planters (BCP). They have a unique church plant in Fremont, California. It is unique because it is a church for the deaf community. You can find out more about their church by visiting www.dbcf.org. We are very blessed to be a part of a wonderful missionary family through BCP. It is very encouraging to know there are people around our country laboring in a very similar way.
A New Business Partner
At each of our deputation stops Brooke and I always ask people if they have some skill, ability, or creative resource they might be willing to use to help our church plant. We have gotten all sorts of responses. During our deputation trip to New York a lady named Dawn communicated that her family was connected with a mill that made pancake mixes and they might be willing to help us out if we ever needed something. Long story short Dawn and the people at New Hope Mills have agreed to give us 500 sample packets of their pancake mix in order that we can give people a gift when we do an invitation blitz in the coming weeks. Please pray that our gift will be a demonstration of God’s love to the people we invite. Pray also that the gift might open the doors to a more in depth conversation than “Please come to our church, have a great day!”
Follow Up Wisdom
I have repeatedly asked for prayer for a few people that have visited our church. One of the men, named Leo, has not returned in several weeks. I talked with Leo by phone. He is dealing with pain and frustration due to a herniated disk in his neck. He is not able to work and is likely facing surgery. His circumstances are causing him to not desire social interaction with people. Please pray that I can have wisdom in knowing how to be an encouragement to Leo and that I will have opportunity to share the gospel with him.
Praise & Prayer
Praise: Opportunity to reconnect with fellow BCP missionaries - the Maki’s.
Praise: The generosity of Dawn and New Hope Mills in providing the gifts to accompany our invitations.
Prayer: For our upcoming invitation blitz that we would make some good connections with families in our community.
Prayer: For Leo’s physical & emotional health and spiritual condition.
Prayer: Continued wisdom in leading and interacting with people.

Les & Betty Newell, Amlin, OH
Thank You: We appreciate the cards, well wishes and prayers that are being sent for us and particularly for Betty and her struggles.  She has been bed ridden now for about six weeks.  She is having a lot of pain from a broken tailbone caused by the fall that put her in the hospital the last time.  Prayers for Kathy are appreciated as well since she cares for her night and day.

Fred & Marie Henzler, Perry, GA
Many, many thanks to those who prayed for us this week. We could never have done what we did without your prayers and God’s help and guidance.
DRAWN OUT DEATH.
The fire in the deputy’s apartment was on February 22. Most people feel he died of smoke inhalation that night but he was not pronounced dead until February 27. We kept getting conflicting reports from the burn center.
TUESDAY MORNING.
(3/2) Again, we got out of our sick beds and went to jail to give out Bibles and books. Everything seemed to go wrong. We had a very cold rain with snow just north of us. They had computer problems and that means the electronically controlled doors stay locked. Marie has to go through two doors to go into the women’s Pod but I have to go through 18 doors for the rest of the Pods. I was feeling so bad that I did not feel like I could make it through the rest of the day but you prayed.
VIEWING.
I thought the best that I could do, was to go to the viewing and talk to the honor guard. We got to the funeral home a half hour early and I talked to the Sheriff’s Office honor guard and worked out the details on what they would do and what the Air Force would do. People from the S. O.
started coming in. Everyone seemed so glad to see us. We both got hundreds of hugs from both men and women. We were able to stay until the end of visiting hours and then spent some time with the family. That morning, I could not even think of spending one hour there. Thanks for your prayers.
FUNERAL.
Everything went well at the service and graveside. The chapel was comfortably filled with people in every pew and about 200 went to the cemetery. I gave the Gospel at both places.
GREAT TO BE IN THE BIBLE BELT.
Years ago, I had many people in New Jersey would tell me something like they didn’t come to be preached at. Here, many people thanked me for the Bible messages. Even the Sheriff said “Good job.” Again, we both got a lot of hugs. One ranking deputy said, “Thanks for giving the Gospel. I hope it will give me an opportunity to witness.”
THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND KEEP PRAYING.

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