FaithWORKS Report [January 2013]

SALARY INCREASE FOR OUR MISSIONARIES – IF WE HAVE IT!
As we reported in last month’s Mission Sheets, we have begun in January 2013 to increase our missionaries’ salary by 5% – from $1717.00 to $1803 per month.  That means that we will disburse $21,449.00 every month for just their salaries.  Also added to that salary amount are: $10,950.00 per month for Standard Ministry Expense Allowances, $11,918.11 for hospitalization premiums we pay for them each month, and $1722.50 which we disburse to publish their newsletters for them each month.

Those commitments amount to a total of $46,039.61 which is supplied from the General Fund.  We want to emphasize that WE CANNOT MEET THESE COMMITMENTS WITHOUT THE SUPPLIES OF THE FUNDS EACH MONTH.  If we don’t receive enough in General Fund offerings each month to meet these Essential Maintenance Transactions, then we will be required to reduce the amounts we have committed.

Will you help us provide this much-needed and belated salary increase for our missionaries’ basic and essential living expenses BY INCREASING YOUR PERSONAL OFFERINGS TO THE MONTHLY GENERAL BY JUST 5% – or more – as the Lord enables you?

If every one of us increases our contributions to the monthly General Fund by even that amount, we can more than supply this modest salary increase for our missionaries.

Our repeated ‘THANK YOU!’ to each one of you who gives to the General Fund each month!


TWO OF OUR FAITHFUL, LONG-TIME, VETERAN MISSIONARY-WIVES HAVE GONE HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD.

June Bean, who faithfully served 31 years as a missionary in Brazil with her husband George, entered the Presence of the Lord the morning of Wednesday, December 12.  In 1964, the Beans went to serve the Lord in São Luís, capital of the northeastern state of Maranhão, Brazil, until their retirement from active missionary service in 1995. They also spent a couple of years relieving furloughing missionaries.  Brother George Bean went Home to be with the Lord in May 2000. Sis. Bean had dementia for several years and had declined rapidly in the last six months.

Ada Mayfield Hunter, who faithfully served 22 years as a missionary in Peru with her husband Del, entered the Presence of the Lord on Saturday evening, January 12.  Brother and Sister Mayfield went to Peru in 1961 and served the Lord there – principally in the two cities of Pucallpa and Iquitos – until they returned to the States in 1983.  The Lord blessed them with a fruitful ministry both in believers brought to know Jesus Christ and churches established.


2013 SPRING MISSIONARY BIBLE CONFERENCE
April 22-24
Hosted by Thompson Road Baptist Church | Lexington, KY | Dave Parks, Pastor
Block these dates and plan to attend.


THANKSGIVING OFFERING TOTAL-TO-DATE:  $45,215.17
We have been receiving your offerings for our 2012-13 THANKSGIVING OFFERING for the past 3 months now.  We think we may have received the bulk of what this year’s offering will be.  If that is so, then we are going to come up short from even last year’s offering – which didn’t carry us through to the end of 2012.

2012 Offering was $56,365.38.  This year’s Offering stands at $45,215.17.  If this offering is not increased, then we will be unable to fulfill some of the benefits and commitments we have made to our missionaries.

These offerings are essential to fulfilling the financial benefits and commitments we have made to provide for their needs and to support all the activities required to keep their ministries going.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY TO GOD – AND ASK HIM TO GIVE YOU A GENEROUS OFFERING TO CONTRIBUTE!  ‘THANK YOU!’ to every one who has contributed this year to make this offering what it is!


PRAY AND PRAISE!

  • ODALI AND KATHY BARROS – PRAISE GOD for professions of faith in Christ.
  • HAROLD BRATCHER – PRAY for his relocation in the U.S.  PRAISE GOD for his safe travel back to the U.S.
  • MIKE AND BEV CREIGLOW – PRAISE GOD for a new church established and for on-going evangelistic outreach into their city.
  • JOHN AND ALTA HATCHER – PRAY that God will give them a break-through in Assai and encourage them in their struggles there.  PRAISE GOD also for these faithful and fruitful evangelists and church-planting warriors – 58 years and still going!
  • JOHN AND JUDY HATCHER – PRAISE GOD for their safe return to France and for reunions with past converts to Christ.
  • A.J. AND BARB HENSLEY – PRAY for their first services in their new church plant, Caragua Baptist Church.  PRAISE GOD for reports of new converts to Christ.
  • NATHAN AND CARRIE RADFORD – PRAY for the renewal of their work permit to remain in Kenya and for the struggling church plant in Shangalamwe.
  • ROGER AND JULIE TATE – PRAY for God to cover them and shield them with His Spirit from the discouragements of ministry – and also that the Lord will establish the infant church at Shangalamwe.
  • SHERIDAN AND ANITA STANTON – PRAISE GOD for a safe return to Peru.  PRAY for Anita’s sister, Hilda.
  • BOBBY AND CHARLENE WACASER – PRAY for them and their church as they seek to reach other neighborhoods, especially Corbelia.  PRAISE GOD for His protection in recent accidents.

Read more

FaithWORKS Report [December 2012]

THANKSGIVING CONFERENCE
[You can also read service-by-service recaps of all our Conference sessions by scrolling through these posts on our FaithWORKS blog.]

The Lord blessed us with an encouraging Thanksgiving Conference hosted by New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Terry Adkins is the pastor of these gracious and missions-faithful saints of the Lord.

The theme of our Conference was “PLANTING CHURCHES IN ALL KINDS OF SOIL” and was inspired by 1 Corinthians 3.6: “I have planted, Apollos watered; BUT GOD GAVE THE INCREASE.”

The Lord was glorified in the messages preached from His Word. They all emphasized, not only God’s sovereignty over the increase of His own Gospel, but also His promises to make His Kingdom and churches grow when we obediently and faithfully plant and water His Word. We all renewed our own commitments to plant and water faithfully and IN DEPENDENCE UPON GOD TO MAKE HIS WORKS GROW!

Two of our missionaries were present and preached: Sheridan Stanton and John Mark Hatcher. God blessed us to have them among us and benefit from their ministries in the Word.

There is an enthusiastic spirit of interest and involvement in the ministry of Baptist Faith Missions that is increasingly demonstrated among our fellowshipping churches. We are continuously praying to God for this, and we are committed to doing everything we can to see it come to fruition.

Randy Jones, the President of BFM, also presented to the Conference some of the activities we have pursued this past year in our efforts to expand our outreach and cultivate our relationships with our contributors. We believe that cultivating personal relationships with our supporting churches and Giving Friends in our fellowship is one of the Lord’s means of stabilizing, strengthening, and increasing our missionaries’ support funds. Fellowship [partnership] in the Gospel is God’s ordained mandate, model, and means for our participation in His Mission…serving God together in this, our mutual ministry in the Gospel.

Several churches were represented by the attendance of their pastors and members, and especially from the greater-Detroit area. We are increasingly encouraged by that. We are especially appreciative also for Pastor Gary Harrah and the brothers and sisters of the Grace Missionary Baptist Church in Wyandotte, who not only came to attend the Conference services, but also joined in with New Hope’s members to help serve us with the meals and the hospitality.

[You can view several pictures from the Conference on our Facebook Page.]

SALARY INCREASE
One of the goals we had set for ourselves this past year [2012] was to be solvent enough to give each of our missionaries a 5% year-end lump sum appreciation bonus [which would have amounted to about $1,030.00 per year]. However, when we presented and discussed our prospective budgets for 2013, We don’t have remaining funds to do that.

But, after considering and praying over one of our other goals – to give them a 5% increase in their base salary – we did move to adopt that proposal. So, beginning in 2013, trusting God to provide it, we will increase their salary base from $1,717.00 to $1,803.00 per month. The Lord has given us an increase of about 3% in the monthly General Fund offerings during 2012 [when compared to the same offerings during 2011].

We are communicating this also to all of you, their Giving Friends, praying to God and hoping we will all respond together with commensurate increases to the monthly General Fund.

For the past six years or so, we have been appealing to all of us in our BFM fellowship to take note of the on-going needs of our missionaries for increases in their monthly General Fund offerings. We have been paraphrasing an appeal Abigail made to King David in 1 Samuel 25.17: “Now therefore KNOW and CONSIDER WHAT YOU WILL DO.”

Will you help us provide this much-needed and belated salary increase for our missionaries’ basic and essential living expenses BY INCREASING YOUR PERSONAL OFFERINGS TO THE MONTHLY GENERAL BY JUST 5% – or more – as the Lord enables you?

If everyone of us increases our contributions to the monthly General Fund by even that amount, we can more than supply this modest salary increase for our missionaries.

WINTER CONFERENCE
January 20-23, 2013
Hosted by Park Ridge Baptist Church, Gotha FL
Host Pastor, Ben Glover | 407.719.9861 | bentonglover@aol.com

Please make your plans to attend this Conference. We will be posting the
program and other additional information on our website’s Events page
and also on our FaithWorks Blog page soon!


Read more

FaithWORKS Report [November 2012]

2012 THANKSGIVING OFFERING
We are now receiving our 2012-13 Thanksgiving Offering. We will use these funds to provide support services and other periodic commitments we make to our missionaries over the course of the year. Last year’s Thanksgiving Offering was $56,365.38. Coming into November, we have only $3,735.44 of that amount remaining after we have provided the services and honored the commitments to our missionaries so far this year. It is essential that we give as generous an offering as the Lord enables you to give.

Our Lord Jesus Christ commands each one of us to personally participate in the
advance of His Gospel “into all the world” “to all nations”. There are two ways
each one of us can participate: [1] Go ourselves…in person – as our faithful
missionaries have done and are doing; [2] Give offerings to help them go – as in
Romans 15.24, 2 Corinthians 10.15-15, and Philippians 4.15-17.

PASTORS: will you open the opportunity for the members of your church to give
to this much-needed offering? Encourage them to personally participate in the
increase of the Glory of Jesus Christ in every nation where our missionaries are
serving.

GIVING FRIEND: will you personally give an offering to help supply our
missionaries’ needs over the next year? If your church is not receiving a
Thanksgiving Offering, you can send your personal offering via any of the means
provided on our Donate/Support page. Click here to make a one-time donation via e-check or credit card now. “BRING AN OFFERING…Psalm 96.8”

THANKSGIVING CONFERENCE
We hope you can attend November 19-21. Please be in prayer for this conference as well! You can find the program and other additional information in this post.

KEEP UP WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING – AS IT HAPPENS!
You can keep up with what is happening in BFM as it happens by logging on to our website regularly, and especially the FaithWorks blog page. As our missionaries write their monthly newsletters, they are immediately posted there as we receive them.

ALSO OUR FACEBOOKwww.facebook.com/baptistfaithmissions
We are making daily posts there not only with our missionaries newsletters, but also with daily developments and updates. Bookmark the page and be in the know!

BFM EMAIL NEWS – we want to include you in our email bulletins. If you have not
signed up to receive our email reports, please do so by subscribing either through our
Facebook page, or by sending us an email at baptistfaithmissions@gmail.com.

ADVANCE PDF COPY OF THE MISSION SHEETS – This Mission Sheets issue
will be posted on our website before it goes to the printer. We will post links to the PDF
Mission Sheets on Facebook and also via emailed BFM NEWS.

MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS
We also continue to need increased and faithful MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS to supply their monthly Essential Maintenance Transactions [EMT].  Those essential commitments amount to more than $45,000.00 every month.

$20,426.00 for their salaries;
$10,950.00 for their standard housing and ministry allowances;
$11,918.11 for their monthly hospitalization premiums;
$1722.50 for the printing and distribution of their monthly newsletters and reports in The Mission Sheets.  These disbursements must be made every month.  They must be supplied through your monthly GENERAL FUND offerings, or else we will be required to reduce either their salaries or expense allowances to make the monthly GENERAL FUND supplies/disbursements balance.

YOUR FAITHFUL AND GENEROUS MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS ARE SUPPLYING THESE NEEDS so they can maintain their daily ministries unhindered by shortages of funds and undistracted from their service by wondering what they will have to curtail to keep their ministries going.

We love you and thank God for each one.  All our offerings working together will keep them GOING AND GROWING for the Glory of God!

WINTER CONFERENCE
January 20-23, 2013
Hosted by Park Ridge Baptist Church, Gotha FL
Host Pastor, Ben Glover | 407.719.9861 | bentonglover@aol.com

Please make your plans to attend this Conference. We will be posting the
program and other additional information on our website’s Events page
and also on our FaithWorks Blog page soon!


Read more

FaithWORKS [September 2012]

ODALI AND KATHY BARROS FURLOUGH – NEED HOUSING
Odali and Kathy are planning a Stateside furlough late November 2012.  They need to find some affordable housing to rent while here.  Can you help them either by providing a house or giving them referrals?  Correspond with them directly at odali_kathy @ hotmail.com.

URGENT VEHICLE NEED FOR THE TATES IN KENYA
The Tates continue to need a replacement vehicle for the one confiscated from them by the Kenyan government due to fraudulent registration when their former vehicle they bought was first imported into the country.  Special offerings have been given already, but more are needed.  Their home church, Emmanuel Baptist Church of Bellbrook, has given an $8425.00 offering.  Also, the East Keys Baptist Church, Springfield, IL [Dan Hillard, pastor] designated their $1000.00 Labor Day Missions Conference offerings to this need.  You can give to this cause right now on our Donations page. Please be sure to designate “Tates Vehicle” in the memo line. (You can also still mail in a paper check. Address info can be found on that same Donations page.) You can read more about the car situation here and or on the Tates’ blog here.

NEW BFM BROCHURE
We have produced an attractive and informative brochure to present our missionaries’ ministries.  It will serve well as a centerpiece presentation to introduce, define, and distinguish the faithful missionaries who serve in partnership with BFM.  It is professionally designed and produced in full-color on a three-8½x11-pages spread-out format.

To view and flip through an animated version of the brochure, click here. You can help us reach out to introduce others to BFM by using this brochure when you tell them about us.

If you want copies of the brochure for yourself or to distribute in your church, contact the Secretary, Dave Parks, with your mailing address and the quantity you want.  You will find his address on our Contact page.

‘LIKE US’ ON FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/BaptistFaithMissions
We have launched a new Facebook page.  We are updating many of our daily developments as they happen.  We are asking you to “Like” us when you visit the page.  It will help us get the word out about BFM to all the others who view your personal page.

2012 THANKSGIVING OFFERING
Please pray to the Lord of the Harvest concerning what you can give to our THANKSGIVING OFFERING.  The THANKSGIVING OFFERING supplies the funds to provide for the many benefits and services we give our missionaries over the course of the year such as furlough expenses and the support services required to meet their needs.  We have 4 more months to complete the year, and from all indications, the remaining funds from last year’s THANKSGIVING OFFERING will not suffice to meet the funds yet to be disbursed for the services and benefits we commit to our missionaries.  PLEASE PRAY, CONSIDER, AND COMMIT TO GIVE AS GENEROUS OFFERING AS YOU CAN!

MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS
We also continue to need increased and faithful MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS to supply their monthly Essential Maintenance Transactions [EMT].  Those essential commitments amount to more than $45,000.00 every month.

$20,426.00 for their salaries;
$10,950.00 for their standard housing and ministry allowances;
$11,918.11 for their monthly hospitalization premiums;
$1722.50 for the printing and distribution of their monthly newsletters and reports in The Mission Sheets.  These disbursements must be made every month.  They must be supplied through your monthly GENERAL FUND offerings, or else we will be required to reduce either their salaries or expense allowances to make the monthly GENERAL FUND supplies / disbursements balance.

YOUR FAITHFUL AND GENEROUS MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS ARE SUPPLYING THESE NEEDS so they can maintain their daily ministries unhindered by shortages of funds and undistracted from their service by wondering what they will have to curtail to keep their ministries going.

We love you and thank God for each one.  All our offerings working together will keep them GOING AND GROWING for the Glory of God!

BFM ON YouTube
We are launching a BFM YouTube Channel to post videos to update you and provide clips from our missionaries and events.  You will find links to these YouTube clips here on our FaithWorks Blog page and also on our Facebook posts as we upload them.


Read more

FaithWORKS Report [August 2012]

READ YOUR ADVANCE COPY OF THE MISSION SHEETS! [PDF ALSO]

When we receive our missionaries’ monthly newsletters for publication in these Mission
Sheets, they are also posted immediately here on our website on the FaithWORKS blog page. When Mission Sheets is composed and sent to the printer, we also post the same copy in PDF on the FaithWORKS blog page. Look for it around the middle of the month and read your advance copy!

You can also flip through the mission sheet at the link below:
Click to view the full digital publication online
Flip through BFM Mission Sheet [July 2012] (click on the thumbnail once you get there)


URGENT VEHICLE NEED FOR THE TATES IN KENYA

Roger and Julie Tate have lost their vehicle due to fraudulent registration processes long
before they obtained it. They have played by all the governmental rules and processed
their purchase through all the legal channels – but it has proven to be fraudulently
registered from its entry into Kenya and original registration. The government has
confiscated it and they are out of the money used to purchase it. They are in dire need to
replace it. Your designated contributions toward this need will be greatly appreciated.

You can read for yourself the history of these developments by going to their
blog at www.tatesinkenya.blogspot.com.


2012 THANKSGIVING OFFERING

Please be making your plans right now to give as generous and liberal Thanksgiving Offering as the Lord enables you. The needs are great and on-going…and God is faithful! Remember, when you support the General Fund of BFM, you are supplying the essential needs of 12 faithful missionary families to obey Jesus’ Great Commission to go into all the world, preach the Gospel, baptize those believers, establish New Testament Baptist churches, and teach those churches to believe and practice everything Jesus Christ has commanded us. You will not find anywhere on this planet more Scriptural, committed, and fruitful missionaries than those who serve in partnership with BFM.

Here are just some of God’s inspired instructions on giving:

1. Purpose in your heart what you believe God wants you to give [2 Corinthians 9.7]
2. Plan your giving and your gift well in advance of the occasion [2 Corinthians 8.10- 11; 9.2]
3. Trust God to give you something to give back to Him [2 Corinthians 9.8-11]
4. Lay something aside every week or month in prospect of the offering [2 Corinthians 9.3-4]
5. Give generously and hilariously…with thanksgivings to God [2 Corinthians 9.6-7]6. Give in obedience to God and His Gospel…and to express your love to Him [2 Corinthians 8.7-8; 9.13]
7. Give to God and His Glory [2 Corinthians 8.5, 9; 9.11-15]
8. Give for the telling of His Gospel in all the regions beyond you [2 Corinthians 10.16]
9. Give to Christ’s Gospel servants to be like God [3 John 5-7]
10. Give to participate and share in the fruits of the harvest [3 John 8; Philippians 4.17- 20]


LABOR DAY MISSIONS CONFERENCE
September 2 – 3, Sunday through lunch Monday
East Keys Baptist Church, 2150 East Keys Ave., Springfield, IL 62702
For questions or directions contact Pastor Dan Hillard
(309) 265 – 2974 | dhillard51 [at] yahoo.com
www.eastkeysbaptist.com

Sunday
10:00 a.m. – Evangelist Bob Jones
11:00 a.m. – Teaching Pastor, Dr. David Mitchell
6:30 p.m. – Missionary Sheridan Stanton
7:30 p.m. – President of Board of Directors for BFM, Dr. Randy Jones
Monday
10:00 a.m. – Pastor Doug Armstrong
11:00 a.m. – Dr. David Mitchell

The recommended motel is Howard Johnson Springfield
1701 J. David Jones Pkwy. | Springfield, IL 62702 | (217) 541-8774


Read more

FaithWORKS Report [July 2012]

2012 THANKSGIVING OFFERING

Please be making your plans right now to give as generous and liberal Thanksgiving Offering as the Lord enables you. The needs are great and on-going…and God is faithful! Remember, when you support the General Fund of BFM, you are supplying the essential needs of 12 faithful missionary families to obey Jesus’ Great Commission to go into all the world, preach the Gospel, baptize those believers, establish New Testament Baptist churches, and teach those churches to believe and practice everything Jesus Christ has commanded us. You will not find anywhere on this planet more Scriptural, committed, and fruitful missionaries than those who serve in partnership with BFM.

Here are just some of God’s inspired instructions on giving:

1. Purpose in your heart what you believe God wants you to give [2 Corinthians 9.7]
2. Plan your giving and your gift well in advance of the occasion [2 Corinthians 8.10- 11; 9.2]
3. Trust God to give you something to give back to Him [2 Corinthians 9.8-11]
4. Lay something aside every week or month in prospect of the offering [2 Corinthians 9.3-4]
5. Give generously and hilariously…with thanksgivings to God [2 Corinthians 9.6-7]6. Give in obedience to God and His Gospel…and to express your love to Him [2 Corinthians 8.7-8; 9.13]
7. Give to God and His Glory [2 Corinthians 8.5, 9; 9.11-15]
8. Give for the telling of His Gospel in all the regions beyond you [2 Corinthians 10.16]
9. Give to Christ’s Gospel servants to be like God [3 John 5-7]
10. Give to participate and share in the fruits of the harvest [3 John 8; Philippians 4.17- 20]


JUNE’S GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS

We have received your extraordinarily generous June offerings with many thanksgivings to God! We thank each one of you. Every offering – of whatever amount – goes together to make the whole what it is. We can thank God for many of you by name because you are willing to be identified by name. We respect others of you who request anonymity, but you can be sure that God knows who you are, and we bless God for each one. We are not the only ones who love a cheerful giver – God Himself tells us that HE LOVES THE CHEERFUL GIVER! [2 Corinthians 9.7] I am never hesitant to express God’s own evaluations and sentiments.

Your faithful giving supplies the needs of Christ’s servants and ministers of the Gospel; multiplies exponentially glory, praises, and thanksgivings back to God; and encourages others to give also.


Read more

FaithWORKS Report [June 2012]

“BRING AN OFFERING…” Psalm 96.8
How to contribute to the missionaries who receive their support through BFM
1 – You can write and mail your checks to Baptist Faith Missions | George Sledd,
Treasurer | P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe FL 32747-1280 | grsledd@hotmail.com
2 – You can contribute online via debit or credit card by clicking on our DONATE/SUPPORT page. Click the appropriate button and follow the prompts.
3 – You may also enroll in an automatic recurring contribution program by going to the
same DONATE/SUPPORT page on our website and follow the prompts.

If your contribution is for a specific missionary or project, you should so designate it.
The greatest need we have each month is for the GENERAL FUND. The GENERAL FUND supplies the essential commitments we have made to our missionaries to maintain their ministries.


FURLOUGH ANNOUNCEMENT
Sheridan and Anita Stanton are planning to be Stateside until the end
of the year. If you wish to contact him for availability to schedule a visit to your church,
you may email him at sestantonperu@hotmail.com or 859.490.5370. Their Stateside
address is: 1012 Balsam Drive, Lexington KY 40504 | 859.277.3716


FOUNDER’S DAY – JUNE
The original post concerning Founder’s Day and promotional materials may be found by clicking here

June is almost past – but it is still not too late to give an offering in honor of Founder’s Day.  And, even if you never knew and do not remember BFM’s first founders from 70 years ago, you can still respond to the call and mandate of our faith’s FIRST AND ORIGINAL FOUNDER, JESUS CHRIST.  He is ‘the Author and Finisher of our faith.’  He is THE FOUNDER and PERFECTER.

Here’s what each of us can do:

PASTORS – we encourage you to observe a special Missions or Great Commissions Emphasis Sunday and give your church the opportunity to give to the BFM General Fund.  Emphasize Jesus’ command to preach His Gospel to all nations.  That is what our missionaries are doing.  That is the original burden and vision that inspired the founding of BFM.  We are continuing to perpetuate that vision and burden.  That is what we are supporting when we give to BFM’s General Fund.  We will use these offerings to continue to supply our missionaries’ on-going needs.

GIVING FRIENDS – if your church is not participating in our Founder’s Day Offering, we encourage you to support your missionaries by giving a personal offering.  You can give your offering by any of the means we have listed on the Contributions Page – or you can go directly to our Donate/Support page on our website and contribute through the options we have made available to you.

Of course, you can give as the Lord enables you to give – but what if every one of our missionaries’ Giving Friends gave at least a $70 offering in honor of the 70 years our missionaries have been faithfully preaching the Gospel?


MARGUERITE HALLUM
The original post Marguerite Hallum may be found here.  

Marguerite Hallum was the unmarried daughter of the first missionaries BFM supported for missions in Peru.  She served with them during all the years of their ministry in Peru, and then cared for them until their deaths after they returned to the States.

She lived and worked her adult years in Louisiana, but for the past six years has been living in DeLand FL in an assisted-living facility.  Her niece, Teeter Mauldin, and husband, Steve, brought her to DeLand so they could care for her just a few minutes from where they live – and they did so faithfully and lovingly.  Marguerite was attended constantly not only by Teeter and Steve, but also by the loving staff and visiting friends.

We had the opportunity to visit with Sister Marguerite during our BFM Winter Conference at Park Ridge Baptist Church back in January 2009, and she delighted us with her company, fellowship, and her many, many exciting stories of their ministry experiences in Peru.

Sheridan and Anita Stanton attended that same Conference, and after the Conference they spent an entire day with Marguerite as she shared with them volumes of photos and relived their experiences in Peru during earlier years.

God has called her Home to see the Face of Jesus Christ, and also to be reunited with all of her loved ones who are already there – and by the multitudes of ‘forever friends’ whom she was instrumental in sending there before her [Luke 16.9].  “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Sheridan and Anita attended her memorial service in Hammond, Louisiana on Monday, June 11, to express the love, respect, and appreciation all of us in the BFM fellowship feel toward her.  Her family asked Sheridan to speak and testify to the missionary work that continues to this day because the Hallums were there.

Marguerite Hallum with the Mauldins

We encourage you to pray for Steve and Teeter Mauldin.  Their email address is: steveandteeter@bellsouth.net.

You may address written correspondences to:
Teeter Mauldin
432 Rich Avenue
DeLand, FL 32724-4315

 


ROSES & NOSES by Jim Orrick

I recently heard a radio message where the pastor was stressing to his congregation the importance of them having their priorities in the proper order, especially in respect to their giving.  He said that it is often seen at funerals where hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars, are spent on flowers that remain beautiful for only a short time and then are removed to the cemetery dump.

I laughed aloud when he said, “DEAD NOSES CANNOT SMELL ROSES.”

My father passed away in January, 1972.  The weather was extremely cold, and as we drove to the cemetery, freezing rain and sleet were falling.  A few hours after the service, the family went back to the cemetery to visit the grave.  Several hundred dollars of flowers were on his grave, frozen stiff and covered with ice.  In a few days, they would be removed to the cemetery dump.

While we all want to express our sympathy to the survivors and to show respect to the deceased, surely better use can be made of the money God entrusts us with than to give it to “DEAD NOSES THAT CANNOT SMELL ROSES.”

For years, my wife and I have made it a practice that when a member of our church congregation died, we would send a memorial offering to BAPTIST FAITH MISSIONS.  You can read in the MISSION SHEETS that there are others who do this also.  To invest in eternal souls is better than to spend money on flowers whose beauty will fade in only a few hours.

For several months Brother Parks has been stressing the importance of giving to the GENERAL FUND of BAPTIST FAITH MISSIONS.  Why not make it a practice to give a memorial offering in memory of your departed friends and loved ones rather than spend it on flowers?

Remember, “DEAD NOSES CANNOT SMELL ROSES!”


2012 Thanksgiving Offering

Please be making your plans right now to give as generous and liberal Thanksgiving Offering as the Lord enables you.  The needs are great and on-going.  Remember, when you support the General Fund of BFM, you are supplying the essential needs of 12 faithful missionary families to obey Jesus’ Great Commission to go into all the world, preach the Gospel, baptize those believers, establish New Testament Baptist churches, and teach those churches to believe and practice everything Jesus Christ has commanded us.  You will not find anywhere on this planet more Scriptural, committed, and fruitful missionaries than those who serve in partnership with BFM.


Read more
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