Dear friends and supporters,
Thank you for being our co-workers by means of prayer and giving.
This is the eighth of twelve prayer letters designed to inform concerning the current status and future prospects of the Boston ministry. I had planned to write about the biological growth of the International Baptist Fellowship, but realized that it may not be wise to do so. But, I can report that our church family now has two new baby boys to love.
Last week I wrote about the great need to follow up on the many young disciples who have returned from Boston to China. I would like to share with you an email I received afterward. “In this last one (prayer letter), you seemed to suggest that you and Deb might be traveling to China to do some discipling or making arrangements to connect up with some Christians there. I can see how you would need prayer considering the church there in MA.”
Here is my edited reply. I am not sure what to do about our disciples in China. In my mind, a solid church in Boston is the most important thing we can accomplish. By the grace of God and by His almighty power, we hope to be used by Him to establish an international church that reflects the demographic of Boston. This church must have the ability to extend its ministry to other major world class cities. Unless a solidly dispensational church is established in Boston, one that ministers to all strata and ethnicities of people in Boston and which is committed to protecting the Truth found in the entire Bible (creation, future history) our Chinese disciples will not know what a church is. Also, I am distractingly burdened for Boston—I am consumed by the lostness of my city. We need your prayers.
This week a young disciple named Carol reminded me of that which I had taught her; Boston is a great place to speak the gospel because the international students who come to Christ will take the gospel with them when they leave. She reminded me of this right before telling me that she is moving to New York City in two weeks. Each disciple who leaves Boston has received many, many hours of ministry. When they leave, they take their knowledge of ministry and ability to minister the gospel with them. We embrace this because we understand that God is using the natural flow of life in and out of the city to spread His gospel.
However, the constant loss of individuals, into whom we have invested many hours, makes it difficult to build the Boston church. One the one hand, we have young disciples no longer living in Boston still needing care, but, on the other hand, we have a church that is in need of growth and pastoral oversight. This is a problem that must be overcome if the ministry vision is to become a reality. I will share more about this in a future letter. Please pray for us.
We love you,
Bill and Deb