FaithWORKS Report [January 2015]
PRAY AND PRAISE in this issue…
- MIKE AND BEVERLY CREIGLOW—PRAISE GOD for blessing their Christmas program by bringing 7 to salvation. PRAY that they will be able to expand to have more room for lost visitors who come to their Christmas production. PRAY as they work to get some disciplinary situations cleaned up.
- JOHN MARK AND JUDY HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for the hope of Christ in the midst of sorrow. PRAISE GOD for you and your support. PRAISE GOD for the group in Mazere and the single Christian lady who is quite the missionary there! PRAY for those who attend meetings regularly, that they will soon publicly accept Christ.
- PAUL AND WANDA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for opportunities to preach in Florida. PRAY for safe travels to Brazil. PRAY that all they will accomplish all they need to and for the Gospel to increase.
- AJ AND BARBARA HENSLEY—PRAISE GOD for all they’ve been able to accomplish this year, such as helping the Indian Village, holding more seminary classes, growing evangelism, new small groups, expanding the prison ministry! PRAY for the Pastor’s Conference that will be held in November. PRAY for more opportunities to share the Gospel and that the legal side of starting the vocational school will go smoothly.
- NATHAN AND CARRIE RADFORD—PRAISE GOD for the growth of their children and for new animals to help teach them responsibility. PRAY as McKenna desires to learn Swahili. PRAY the Lord would give direction in the best way to proceed with church planting.
- ROGER AND JULIE TATE—PRAISE GOD for the promise that His Word will not return void! PRAY as they continue to minister in Kenya. PRAY specifically for the taxi drivers to come learn about Jesus.
- BOBBY AND CHARLENE WACASER—PRAISE GOD for an encouraging Missions Seminar! PRAISE GOD for using his co-pastor Alek during his recent absence. PRAY for their young missionary Alysson who will be traveling to another country in April and PRAISE GOD for the work He’s doing through him. PRAY as they begin discussing plans for a new church plant.
Block these dates and plan to attend…
2015 BFM SPRING MISSIONS CONFERENCE
April 27, 28, 29 | Monday-Wednesday
THOMPSON ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH
320 Thompson Road, Lexington KY 40508
“MAKING CHRIST KNOWN”
John 17.20: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word…”
For more details, contact Pastor Dave Parks
daveparks[at]twc.com | 859.223.8374
2014-15 THANKSGIVING OFFERINGS UPDATE
Our total accrued Thanksgiving Offering amount is $39,648.84: $32,590.39 contributed during November 2014 and $7058.45 contributed during December 2014.
Last year’s Thanksgiving Offering total was $49,058.41, and it fell two months short of lasting through 2014. We are praying and hoping that many others of you are planning to contribute also.
So, let me appeal to you on behalf of our missionaries – with all the wisdom and passion God will grant me – to respond to their needs with as generous a Thanksgiving Offering as God will enable you to give.
2 Corinthians 9.8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;
that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work…
Last year’s total Thanksgiving Offering was given over six months, but I assure you, that’s OK! Your Thanksgiving Offering doesn’t have to be given during November! In fact, it will remain open for as long as you need it to be open!
We use the Thanksgiving Offering to fulfill the commitments we have made to our missionaries for all the other benefits and services that are not supplied from our Monthly General Fund Offerings.
If the funds are not given to the Thanksgiving Offering, then we have to tell our missionaries over the course of the year that the funds are not available to give them the benefits that otherwise would have been granted. Please help us respond to their requests for help!
HOW CAN I HELP OUR MISSIONARIES TO RECEIVE THEIR FULL FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS EACH MONTH? Is it worth $1 a day?
Here is a simple way each one of us can help to assure that our missionaries receive the full measure of the already-modest commitments we have made to them each month. We are talking here about the Essential Maintenance Transactions that provide for their most basic living and ministry expenses like salary, housing and ministry expense allowances, hospitalization premiums, and the printing and distribution of their monthly newsletters.
EACH ONE OF US CAN GIVE $1 A DAY TO WORLDWISE MISSIONS THROUGH THE MISSIONARIES WHO ARE FINANCED THROUGH BFM. We realize that many of you are already personally giving way over that amount. If you are, we thank you! And our missionaries thank you! You can see who are maintaining our missionaries’ essential monthly needs by going right now to the Contributions pages and look at GENERAL FUND offerings.
But, our missionaries have so many more friends than these who are listed there! So, if you are not giving personally and regularly to the Baptist Faith Missions GENERAL FUND, then we encourage you to begin right now!
We can afford to give $1 a day – that is just $30 a month – to help our missionaries carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ into all the world. We are talking about what we spend to get a cup of coffee at your local Speedway, convenience store, or McDonalds. Many of us probably spend more than $1 every day without even thinking about it on far more temporary and less valuable pleasures – we consume it in a moment, and it is gone! When we give to finance our missionaries’ ministries, we are saving people for eternity – remember that!
You can give this offering a number of ways: [1] You can give through your church’s monthly offerings to the General Fund by asking your pastor/treasurer to simply add your personal contribution amount to the church’s offering from their treasury. [2] Or, you can give your offerings personally and directly by mailing your check to our Treasurer: Pastor George Sledd, P.O. Box 471280, Lake Monroe FL 32747-1280. [3] Or, simpler yet, you can go to our website www.baptistfaithmissions.org and click on the DONATE/SUPPORT page where you can give online by following the prompts. You can give either a one-time gift, or you can contribute manually every month, or you can set up your contribution to be an automatically recurring gift. “For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God…” [2 Corinthians 9.12]
KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS
All of you do not have Kroger stores in your locality – so this won’t apply to every reader. And if you do, not all of you shop at Kroger. But, if you do, you most likely have a Kroger Plus card to scan when you make your purchases to take advantage of in-store discounts and fuel discount points.
Some of you have also been participating in the Kroger reloadable gift card program. By depositing your money on the reloadable card and using the card to make your purchases, BFM received a ‘commission’ from those purchases.
Kroger has discontinued the use of the reloadable gift card. However, they have now made it easier to continue the benefit to your favorite Non-Profit Organization [BFM]. No extra steps. Simply register your Kroger Plus card online and choose BFM as your Non-Profit Organization. Then, use your Kroger Plus card as you always do and Kroger will direct the benefits to BFM.
We have posted all the instructions you need here. If you’re going to shop at Kroger anyway – and still get all the present benefits of using your Kroger Plus card – then we encourage you to add BFM as a beneficiary also.
(You can also download a printable Word document of the instructions with pictures here. Or a PDF here.)
BFM BROCHURES
We now have TWO very attractive and informative professionally-produced brochures. We want you to help us get these promotional messages into the hands of anyone and everyone who is interested in the mission work the Lord is accomplishing through the missionaries who are supported by your offerings through BFM.
(1) The first of these brochures is one that will introduce you to BFM and inform you about the basic principles by which BFM functions. (click here to view)
(2) The second brochure is just now ‘hot off the press.’ This one is entitled “Caring for those who care for the world,” and is designed to inform and explain just how essential the monthly General Fund is to the daily living and ministry needs of our missionaries. (click here to view)
Both of them are full-color, either 6 or 8 pages 8 ½ x 11 format, pictorial, and informative. Will you please help us distribute these brochures as widely as you can?
If you will send your name and mailing address to:
Dave Parks, 3985 Boston Road, Lexington KY 40514
email: daveparks[at]twc.com | phone: 859.223.8374 –
and tell us how many sets of these brochures you want – we will get them back to you by return shipping.
For now, you can access an electronic flip-through version of the new brochure by going to our website and clicking on the brochure cover.
Again, please serve as ambassadors for your missionaries by helping us get either single-copy sets to interested persons or bundles to distribute in our churches. The brochures will ‘speak for themselves’ – for our missionaries.
MISSIONARIES ON FURLOUGH
Please note the new address and phone numbers for John and Alta Hatcher and Paul and Wanda Hatcher. Their address is: 15905 Mercott Court, Clermont FL 34714. Their home telephone number is: 229-529-8497. John & Alta’s email address is: jhatcher[at]uol.com.br.
Paul and Wanda’s cell number is: 239-227-6551 and their email address is: rphatcher[at]gmail.com.
We encourage you to pray for them and correspond with them.
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