Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [April 2014]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I am writing this on March 28th, 2014. By the time you read this letter I will be gone from the United States because the family and I leave for Kenya in just five hours. Six years ago when I was just five hours away from leaving the States and heading to Kenya on my own for the first time I was scared to death. My stomach was in knots, my mind was whirling, my chest was tight and my head hurt. I am thankful that today, even though I know we are just hours removed from our flight back, that my mind is at peace, I am fairly calm, and I don’t fear the future. I can sum my feelings up right now with the following sentence: I am ready to go but not ready to leave. I hope that is understandable to you who are reading. We are all ready to head back to Kenya and get back to ministry there, but we are not ready to once again leave family, friends and church in the States.
As we head back to Kenya, I thought I would show you my checklist/to-do list.
DONE
- Visit all the churches, report on our work in Kenya, remind everybody who we are, make sure everyone is praying for us
- Spend time with our home church, friends and family as we will probably not see them again for over three years
- Pack up the house where we are currently living and clean, clean, clean
- Discontinue all services (internet, phone, utilities, etc)
- Return all borrowed items
- Pack the luggage we are taking to Kenya. Weigh it. Re-pack it. Weigh it. Re-pack it. Weigh it. Re-pack it…
- Have “going away” dinner at church. Say goodbye to church members.
NOT DONE
- Wait 4½ more hours
- Call Emily
- Weigh luggage one last time
- Get to the airport on time
- Say goodbye to friends and family; cry
- Travel 10,000 miles and arrive in Nairobi
- Renew life and ministry in Kenya
- Terribly miss all our loved ones back home
So, as you can see, much has been done and much has yet to be finished. Thank you all for your continued love, prayers and support. The Lord be with you.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Emily, Amy, & Josiah)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
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2014 Spring Conference: Travel & Accommodatians Info
MOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS INFORMATION
We are still recommending the Quality Inn Northwest / 750 NEWTOWN COURT / LEXINGTON KY 40511 / 859.233.0561 Ask the desk attendant for Thompson Road Baptist Church event rates. Mike Clark said that if there is any question about these arrangements, ask for him personally.
ONE QUEEN BED room is $55.00 + taxes. TWO DOUBLE BEDS room is $62.00 + taxes. They offer continental breakfast on the premises, in-room coffeemaker, hairdryer, iron and ironing board, and high-speed internet access.
WE ENCOURAGE CHURCHES TO PAY YOUR PASTOR’S [AND HIS WIFE] TRAVEL EXPENSES TO ATTEND THIS CONFERENCE. It will give them the opportunity to enjoy what is always a much-needed physical and spiritual re-charging for your church’s ministry. We use these Conference occasions to highlight and update our missions partners concerning our missionaries’ ministries and also stir up all of us to greater interest, investment, and involvement in our mutual missions endeavors. He will come back to you with a greater burden, zeal, and enthusiasm for missions.
Will you take the lead to ask your church to do this for your pastor, our missionaries, and your church?
SPECIAL NEEDS ACCOMMODATIONS
The Lord has blessed our church over the past couple of years to make some much-needed upgrades and improvements to our facility to accommodate our own members and guests who suffer from physical mobility impairments. We have installed an elevator-life to transport persons from one level to the other, and also we have completely renovated or constructed new restrooms [both male and female] to make them wheelchair accessible. These improvements will make all of our activities much more comfortable and accessible.
TRAVEL DIRECTIONS
GPS ADDRESS: 320 THOMPSON ROAD, LEXINGTON KY 40508
[Google Map]
FROM SOUTH ON I-75: Get off at Exit 104 (Athens-Boonesborough). Turn west toward town. You will be on Athens-Boonesborough Road / Richmond Road Extension. As you approach Lexington, the road will become Richmond Road around Jacobson Park. Continue straight into Lexington. Richmond Road will become Main Street. You will pass the Rupp Arena / Lexington Convention Center on your left. Turn left at the next traffic light. This is Jefferson Street. Turn right in the middle of the overpass bridge onto Manchester. About one mile down Manchester, turn right on Thompson Road and come to the top of the hill.
FROM NORTH ON I-75 OR EAST / WEST ON I-64: I-75 and I-64 merge for a few miles on the north/northeast side of Lexington. Come to Exit 115 on 64/75. This is Newtown Pike (State Route 922). Turn south toward Lexington. Follow Newtown Pike until you come to Main Street. Go straight across Main Street onto Oliver Lewis Way. Turn right at the next traffic light onto Manchester / Old Frankfort Pike. Follow Manchester about one mile. Turn right on Thompson Road and come to the top of the hill.
If you choose to stay at Quality Inn, then follow the second set of directions above and Quality Inn will be on your left behind the Shell station just before you get to the New Circle Road interchange [1 mile from 64/75].
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2014 BFM Spring Conference: Theme & Featured Offering
CONFERENCE THEME:
“BEHOLD, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!”
2 Corinthians 6.2
This Gospel promise and command is so much more than just a stirring evangelistic message or compelling invitation. It is that for sure – but this is a message from Jesus Christ Himself, pressing and urging us to proclaim His saving Grace to all the nations of the earth…and that He will help us to do this!
This ‘time of acceptance’ and ‘day of salvation’ is ‘NOW…TODAY’…in this New Testament Gospel era.
In fact, in order to understand the full impact of this message, you must read it as it was originally and prophetically given to Jesus Christ in Isaiah 49.8:
Thus saith the LORD,
“In an acceptable time [time of acceptance] have I heard Thee,
and in a day of salvation have I helped Thee:
and I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people,
to establish [raise up] the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate places…
The promise of this ‘time of acceptance’ and ‘day of salvation’ was FIRST given to Messiah Himself from His Father to assure Him that His own saving mission would be accomplished! The Father promised to ‘help’ The Christ, to ‘preserve’ Him, and give Him ‘for a covenant of the people.’
That ‘Day of Salvation’ is NOW…TODAY!
This is where we are…this is what we are doing!
Jesus Christ Himself is speaking prophetically in Isaiah 49 about His own Gospel mission. He is relating to us the salvation mission and message He, Himself, has received from His own Father, “The LORD,” to bring to the world when He came.
* Verse 1. He is prophesying His own birth and coming into our world ‘when the fullness of the time’ would come [Galatians 4.4].
* Verse 3. He promises He will ‘be glorified,’ just as the Father promised to glorify Him on His Cross [John 12.28].
* Verse 6. The Father promises Christ that He will gather not only ‘the preserved of Israel,’ but also that He will give Him ‘for a light to the Gentiles,’ that He will be God’s Salvation ‘unto the end of the earth’ [Luke 2.30-32]. His Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes – to the Jew first and also to all the Gentiles [Romans 1.16].
* Verse 7. When Messiah [Christ] comes, He will be despised by men and abhorred by His own nation as He certainly was [John 1.9-13 and Isaiah 53.3], but He will satisfactorily, sufficiently, and successfully save His people from their sins [Matthew 1.21].
Jesus Christ Himself is ‘The Day of Salvation’ – and that Day is NOW…TODAY!
So, what does that mean for us? It means that His mission is our mission! His purpose is our purpose! His message is our message! He is bringing us into His own “Day of Salvation” mission to be ‘workers together with Him’!
And, when we commit and give ourselves to this message of Gospel missions, God will help us, too! We need the help of God – lots of His help – to complete the mission and assignment He has given us.
But, the very reason Paul reiterates this Messianic covenant promise to the Corinthian church was to remind them – and all of us, His churches – that, in our Gospel ‘Day of Salvation,’ we are God’s ‘co-workers’ [‘workers together with Him’], and He will give us the Grace we need to faithfully and effectively carry our Great Commission mission to His purposed result.
But, we must not receive the Grace of God ‘in vain’ – meaning, we must fulfill our responsibilities to ‘preach the Gospel to every creature.’ And, with the help that God promises us – we will!
“BEHOLD! NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!”
The day and time to be involved in the mission of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation and person in the world is NOW…TODAY!
“NOW…TODAY” is the day for proclaiming God’s Gospel of His acceptance and salvation.
“NOW…TODAY” is the time and era when the grace of God is actively and effectively working. We are still ‘workers together with Him.’
“NOW…TODAY” is the day when God is fulfilling His covenant purposes in Christ. God is still saving sinners. That’s what Christ came to do – and died and resurrected to accomplish!
“NOW…TODAY” is still a time of great responsibility and pressing urgency. The Great Commission is still Jesus Christ’s mandate for His churches.
“NOW…TODAY” is the day for each of us – and all of us together – to commit ourselves to join Jesus Christ in His Harvest and personally participate in His “Day of Salvation”!
“NOW…TODAY” is the time Christ has assigned to us, and every day draws us one more day closer to the end of our opportunities. We don’t know when that day will be – but the day is coming soon when there will be no more “NOW…TODAY” of salvation opportunity – and everyone will know it.
Until then, we must continue to proclaim His Grace to the nations of the world: “BEHOLD! NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!”
We are asking you to come, and partner with us, and help us…NOW…TODAY!
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CONFERENCE OFFERING:
DESIGNATED FOR OUR ‘GENERAL FUND’
Our greatest need continues to be increased supplies for our GENERAL FUND. Our GENERAL FUND offerings provide for all the commitments we have made to our missionaries. For example, every month, we disburse AT LEAST $43,300.54 from the GENERAL FUND just for the Essential Maintenance Transactions which supply the essential and basic ‘living expenses’ commitments we have made to our missionaries. These include their salaries, standard ministry expense allowances, hospitalization premiums, and the publication of their newsletters we print and send to you each month to report on their ministry activities.
And, that is not including also the expenses paid for from the GENERAL FUND which finance the other commitments and benefits they receive each month or periodically through the year as they need them.
WE DO NOT ASK THEM TO ‘RAISE’ THESE SUPPORT FUNDS FOR THEMSELVES. But, if GENERAL FUND offerings are not sufficient to cover those disbursements, then we have no choice but to NOT GIVE THEM those same monthly commitments. That is why we are always emphasizing THE GENERAL FUND offerings.
So, we are asking you to give as generously as you can to our Conference Offerings which we will use to replenish their GENERAL FUND supplies.
If you cannot attend the Conference, but still want to give a gift, send it to our Treasurer:
Pastor George Sledd
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe FL 32747-1280
Or, you can contribute online either by check/debit or by credit card securely on the Donate/Support page of our website. Enter your designation for SPRING CONFERENCE OFFERING in the Memo field.
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2014 BFM Spring Conference
We welcome you to join us for the
54th Annual Spring Missions Conference
April 28, 29, 30 | 2014
Hosted by Thompson Road Baptist Church
320 Thompson Road | Lexington, KY 40508
Dave Parks, Pastor-Teacher | 859.223.8374 | daveparks[at]twc.com
Conference Theme: “Behold! Now is the day of salvation!”
– 2 Corinthians 6:2 –
Monday Evening, April 28
5-6:00 pm Supper
7:00 pm Praise
7:20 pm Message: David Mitchell
Teaching Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church | Hurricane, WV
8:00 pm Praise
8:20 pm Message: Jonathan Turner
Pastor, Richland Baptist Church | Livermore, KY
Tuesday Morning, April 29
9:30 am Praise
9:45 am Message: John Divito
Midwest Center for Theological Studies | Owensboro, KY
Missionary Testimony: Christopher Young
Dearborn Baptist Church | Aurora, IN
10:25 am Break
10:30 am General Seminar/Workshop
12:00 noon Lunch
1:30 pm Open Forum for Q&A/Suggestions & Advice
Tuesday Evening, April 29
5-6:00 pm Supper
7:00 pm Praise
7:20 pm Message: Jim Orrick
Director of Baptist Faith Missions
8:00 pm Praise
8:20 pm Message: Paul Hatcher
Missionary-Pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church | Manaus, Brasil
Wednesday Morning, April 30
9:30 am Praise
9:40 am Message: John A. Hatcher
Missionary Church-Planter & Pastor in Brasil for 58+ years
10:20 am Praise
10:30 am Message: Darrell Messer
Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church | Bellbrook, OH
11:10 am Break
11:20 am Message: Larry Fisher
Pastor, Rosedale Baptist Church | Rosedale, WV
12:00 noon Lunch
Wednesday Evening, April 30
5-6:00 pm Supper
7:00 pm Praise
7:20 pm Message: Jim Scott Orrick
Professor, Boyce College | Louisville, KY
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CHILDREN’S MISSIONS CONFERENCE SESSIONS
Every year we conduct sessions for the children [age 4 through grade 5] who attend our Conference services. My wife, Debbie, conducts these learning and activity sessions. Each year, we focus on a particular nation of the world, highlighting its culture and customs along with their need for the Gospel and opportunities to take the Gospel to those peoples. This year’s theme nation is RUSSIA.
Our Children’s Center is always set up with crafts and activities which engage the children’s attention and interests in the missions lessons.
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A Word document of a full conference packet is available for download here:
2014 BFM Spring Conference Packet
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Mission Sheets: February 2014 [PDF & Flip-Through]
Your February 2014 Mission Sheet is now available in PDF format. Follow the link below to view it!
BFM Mission Sheet – February 2014
You can also flip-through at the following link:
BFM February 2014 Mission Sheets [Flip-Through Version]
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Missionary Update: The Hensleys in Brazil [March 2014]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
March 10, 2014
Dear Friends and Family,
Well, with our church only a little over one year old, we have had our 1st revival. It was lead by Pastor Mike Dorough from 2nd Baptist Church in Warner Robbins, Georgia. Even being a young mission, we had many re-dedications and commitments. While he was here, we had a baptism, the second of the year, and now we are planning another on the 16th of March. How AWESOME is the Lord we serve.
While Pr. Mike was here, his church sponsored many food baskets. First, we were able to minister to the people in our church and then to the Indians in Parati. Many of our church family have physical needs, needs for food and clothing, and also spiritual needs. We are located in a very populated area. The city government has constructed many houses and are planning more. These are for the families that couldn’t afford to buy a home for themselves. They, the government, are planning more, and this is good for the residents as this is one of their greatest needs. This reminds me of the 70’s and 80’s there in the States when the government built the 235 homes. We are hoping that many of our members will be selected to receive one of these homes. But we are also looking forward to being able to evangelize in these new neighborhoods.
Now for an update on the Indians in Parati – we don’t realize what poverty really is until we make a visit to these Indians. There we see profound poverty. After a visit to these people, we, as a Church, realize that we can and are making a difference in the lives of these people. We always take something when we visit. Sometimes it is food, clothing, and other times we take Bibles and Bible studies. But as you have heard me say many times, we can’t help with their spiritual need until we help with their physical need. This month we took some of our youth and they came home with a different outlook. They realized that they are truly blessed. And they were encouraged to do more for the Lord.
Now for the rest of the story about this particular visit. On the way to visit these Indians, Barbara was sitting with one of the youth and was witnessing to her about our Lord and Savior, and this young lady accepted Christ as her personal savior. AWESOME!!! How great is our Lord!!! And just to think that this happened when we were going to visit with a people group that serve many gods. Our God is alive!! So, as you pray for our work here in Caraguatatuba, don’t forget to pray for these people. And pray for the missionaries that work with them. Their labor is hard as they have seen maybe only 6 come to know the Lord.
These Indians are not the only group here who need our prayers. We work and minister with a group that are in recuperation from drugs and alcohol. They are really special for me as they are wanting to change their lives. And in this group, the only medicine they receive is Jesus Christ. We pick some of them up on Wednesday night and take them to Church. This is the ones that want to go, and there are about 15 to 23. When they go, they are our responsibility. There in the recuperation center, they live under a very strict routine. While at Church, we have to monitor them so that they don’t leave the building. But all that is worth it when you hear them praising the Lord in song.
This week we had a going home party for one of men. We served cake and ice cream, and we presented him with a study Bible. This was a gift from our Church as he has been one of the faithful ones. He broke down and cried. He also gave his testimony and it was AWESOME.
We have been doing lots of work on the Vocational School this month also. The dorm house and the shop where lots of training will happen. The group in rehab are anxious to start classes here. This week they volunteered to clean and maintain this property.
We have been working on the papers to make our school and our church legal in the eyes of the government. We are jumping through many hoops. Pray as we are submitting our paperwork this week. We know that God is in control, but He loves to hear from His servants, so PRAY.
It would take lots of paper to tell you everything that God is doing here in Caragua. So it would be a good idea to come on down and experience the many blessings and miracles we get to experience on a daily basis. We are not saying we do not cry sometimes or that we do not experience problems–that is just a part of life–but seeing lives changed–that is what it is all about.
Find out where God is working and get involved.
Keep us and our work in your prayers.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [March 2014]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
March 9, 2014
Dear Friends,
It is good to hear someone say, “God is good, all the time.” It is a needy reminder to me to reflect on the fact that God isn’t good only when we get a surprise financial gift, or some good health report. He is always good, even when we are struggling financially or when we are suffering terribly from some sickness. I’m as human as anyone else, so it’s easier to recognize God’s blessings when they relieve some lack or ailment we have been enduring. My concern is that by saying that God is good only when these improvements in our situation come is that we dishonor Him before a world that is watching how we Christians live to determine if they are interested in what we have. But with this kind of gratitude and praise only when the extra benefits come, even they would be grateful then. It is when we praise Him for being good while we are still in the middle of our struggles that really magnify how strong our Lord is, in whom we place our faith. So I say it now, God is good, all the time!
That being said, it has been great to enjoy the goodness of the Lord recently in the saving of two more people through our work. Next week we’ll be baptizing a man and his teenage son who professed Jesus as their Lord and Savior. On the same weekend that these two men professed Christ, I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a young man who has been suffering with deep depression for about 7 years. He came to offer to help as a translator for a team of youth from the U.S. who are spending their spring break evangelizing in the public schools in our city. His name is Eduardo. The friend who brought him told me that he was in a separate room crying and that he often would just start crying for apparently no reason. I sat with Eduardo and began to ask him what he thought made him sad and he said that he didn’t know, but that his depression began shortly after a severe auto accident when he lost the hearing in one of his ears. I had supposed that he was a Christian by his coming to volunteer to translate the sharing of the gospel, but in my conversation with him I learned that he had never surrendered his life to Christ. I used that information to let him know that he could not know true joy or overcome his sadness until he given his life to Christ. It was a simple thing for his friend to bring him to participate in our spring break evangelism, but the amazing thing that the Lord did was to send us a translator to hear the gospel when his interest was only in improving his emotional state of being. He had imagined that he could be happy if he could just get his hearing back, but the Lord helped me to show him that what he truly needed is a relationship with his Creator.
That team of youth who are here on their spring break brought us two very special presents, our kids, Jessie and Brennen! Jessie is the coordinator for the interaction between the American youth and the Brazilian translators who volunteer to help us each year. Brennen just moved to the U.S. this past December, so it was a treat to us for him to return again so shortly after leaving home. God is good, all the time! He showed His goodness again by allowing us the privilege of working together for a week with our kids in sharing the gospel to a people we love about a God we adore. We still have 6 days to work together with them side-by-side and this is truly a blessing to us.
Yesterday we took the group of youth with their translators to a large and busy park to share the gospel. We started out by handing out cups of water to the joggers, bike riders and walkers. Along with the water, we also gave out tracts that contained a clear presentation of the gospel. It was very encouraging to see some positive reception to our attempts. We saw several people who had accepted both the water and the tract still have the tract in their hand on their next lap around the park, even though they had finished their water and had thrown the cup away. The youth also shared the gospel through skits and testimonies on an improvised stage in the middle of the park to an audience of over 300. It was a great start to an exciting week. We will be in many public schools during the rest of the week where we’ll be able to talk to over 4,000 students and teachers about the love of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)436-9980
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [March 2014]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together since 1987. They are currently in the process of transitioning to Manaus to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
Manaus, Brasil
March 8, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Time flies by so fast that it is hard to believe that it is March 1st. We are getting adjusted to our home and getting repairs done. The Lord willing we will get the tile put done this week. The floors are just concrete floors. Our children have also started school and are adjusting well.
We have a van that we have purchased to use in the ministry. It needs some work done on it we have bought new tires for it. We have changed the parts on the sliding door and need to change the rubber around the doors. The van is for 16 passengers, a good size to use for having services in the new communities. There is room for taking instruments, chairs and some helpers also.
This week we are having a camp here at our place. There is a pastor of a church in Manaus that works in a poor area of town, who needed a place to have camp. They could not afford to rent a place so we let them use our place. We are glad that we can be of help to them and their church. We had a great time with them here. The church we attend came over on the last day to have fellowship with the other. The time together was wonderful.
Camp at their house–having fun with different sports.
The new church building they are working on.
Fresh fish grilled for lunch.
The church that we are working with, which we mentioned in our last letter, is coming along great. Since then we have put on the roof, poured the concrete on the floors and stuccoed the walls. Every one is excited to get down so we can move into the new building. We are already making plans to start new works in 4 different places at the same time. We have 4 different teams that will be working in these places. We will be working with each team.
Pray for us in these projects, that God leads us each step of the way. The area that we will be directly involved in will be a challenge. The village is known for drugs and homosexuals. But we know that God changes lives. We already have one family that lives there and that wants to get involved. Praise God!
In Christ,
Odali, Kathy
Titus, Jonas and Gabriel
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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