Dear friends and supporters,
Thank you for being our co-workers by means of prayer and giving.
International Baptist Fellowship (IBF) to become International Baptist Church (IBC)
January 27th, 2013 is the tentative date when the IBF will become the IBC. We have moved through the stages of being an informal Bible Study (a casual gathering for the sake of learning about the Bible), to becoming a Bible Fellowship (meeting for the purpose of developing into a church), to now making the exciting step of become a local church. I have reminded our congregation that the difference between a fellowship and a church may be compared to the difference between engagement and marriage. Although we have already been involved in serious gospel ministry, becoming a church, organized according to the instruction found in the New Testament, means that we will be officially meeting as God’s conduit of blessing to our broken world. Please pray for us as we edit our statement of faith, develop our constitution, and finalize the church covenant.
Ministry Home Maintenance
The Lord has provided for the removal of the wall separating our living room from our kitchen/dining hall area, and for the installation of a wood floor in the whole area. Please pray as all this work takes place around a busy ministry schedule. Completing this project will enable us to more effectively minister to more people.
This Week in Boston (Pray for us as we minister this week in Boston.)
Wednesday: This evening we will be having dinner with Joe and Cassey. Joe recently came to faith in Christ, and Cassie has renewed her walk with the Lord. We are praying that they will be married and baptized.
Thursday: I have two Skype Bible studies, one to Beijing and one to Shanghai. Both of the participants are Christians. Jay desires to live a consistent Christian life, and my other friend is looking forward to Christian baptism. On Thursday evening, I will be joining Andy and Amy to edit the IBC statement of faith.
Friday: On Friday I have three Bible studies in Boston with seven people. One friend is moving towards Christian baptism, three are considering Christ, and three others are growing as young Christians. Deb will be providing supper and attending the Friday night Bible study at Northeastern University. This study is attended by believers and some who are investigating what it means to be a Christian. It will have between four and ten people in attendance.
Saturday: Deb will be busy all day preparing lunch for church on Sunday. We will be having dinner with two married couples from our fellowship. Our topic for the evening will be the marriage relationship. Later on Saturday evening, I will be joining three to five friends in a Skype study of the Book of Acts. The potential participants will be Skyping from Portland; Washington, DC; Boston; Philadelphia, and Singapore. These are all friends who at one time were part of the IBF.
Sunday: In our morning worship service we will be studying Proverbs 31:1-9, and, in the afternoon session, the IBF will continue to review our Statement of Faith.
Monday: This is our day off.
Tuesday: We organize for the week and I will be having a Skype study to Beijing. In the afternoon, Toby Stevens and I meet for prayer. Toby and Susan Stevens are on deputation raising support to join us vocationally in Boston.
Weekly: Deb meets throughout the week with friends to help them with conversational English. These genuine caring relationships sometimes become evangelistic Bible studies.
We love you,
Bill and Deb