Dear Prayer and Financial Supporters,
Things are going well. The ministry is on course. Our goal is to facilitate a church planting movement within the international academic and immigrant communities of the major metropoles of the world. We are making progress but are in need of acceleration. We recently had our first two baptisms as Jianwei and Xiuhua placed their trust in Christ and were obediently baptized. A third person desires to be baptized (Sherry) but she will be moving out of Boston with her husband Jun. Three of our number have now moved on to other places. We look at this as a good thing, since our God given goal is to export the gospel and the biblical teaching concerning Christian living to other places. There are now six people engaged in introductory evangelistic Bible studies with several other possibilities. There are usually six or more seekers in the Sunday morning Bible study. Our congregation is probably about 60% Asian. It is exciting to see spiritual growth occurring. We now average over 20 people a week in the study.
Adam and Heather Brandt and their two sons have now moved into the Dorchester/Mattapan area of Boston. This is a needy place known as a high crime area. They have moved specifically to Boston for the purpose of ministering to the inner-city. They are now part of our Bible study, and we consider them an important piece of the emerging church-planting-movement network. Please pray for them as they adapt to their new surroundings.
Our first intern (Joelle Hoff) will be arriving in the middle of August. She is a student at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa and is coming to Boston in order to learn our philosophy and goals for facilitating this church planting movement. We are particularly excited about mentoring her in the area of evangelistic and discipleship relationships. She is the first of what we hope will be up to five interns at a time, three times a year, for a total of fifteen interns annually.
The thesis studies have strengthened our convictions concerning ministry philosophy and have also refined our thinking in several areas of ministry. It has been good. I am reworking two chapters of my thesis, as requested by my mentor, and will defend the thesis in September. This thesis project has three Sections; Proddings, Parameters, and Particulars. Section One—Proddings—records the issues that have motivated the thesis project. Section Two—Parameters—explains the hermeneutical, theological, ecclesiological, missiological, and apologetical parameters within which the thesis project was developed. Section Three—Particulars—presents a plan to facilitate a church planting movement and the plans and procedures for starting the “model church” in Malden. Frankly, I am sick of the process. I need an attitude that will allow me to finish the program with excellence. One prayer request is that an expert at footnoting is needed that would be willing to check and correct my footnotes.
We have several important events on the horizon. On the first Friday and Saturday of September we will have an international campout. This is a great time for the Bible study participants to enjoy a time away in a spiritual environment. It is also an opportunity to develop evangelistic relationships with our non-Christian friends from around the world. On the second Saturday of September we will be hosting our annual international household-goods giveaway. This event is made possible through the generous donations of household-goods by churches of like faith across New England. This event is our primary opportunity to initiate evangelistic relationships with friends from around the world.
Please Pray:
That progress in the church planting movement will accelerate. That Jun and Sherry will find Christians that will help their Spiritual progress. That those engaged in introductory evangelistic studies will understand, believe and be saved. For the Brandt family as they adapt to city life. for Joelle Hoff as she prepares to move to Boston. for Bill as he completes the D-Min program.
Engaged in Boston,
Bill and Deb