Dear prayer and financial supporters,
We have just come through another very busy time in the Boston ministry. After spending a week in Iowa (reporting to several churches and taking a course in Orthodox Theology), we returned home to a full slate of ministry and a basement project to complete. As many of you remember, we asked you to pray and to give so that we could finish our basement, which would allow us to have more room in the ministry home. We are thankful to the Lord, because the basement project is complete, and is being used temporarily as a bedroom. After August, it will be used as an overflow area for Sunday afternoon fellowships. Over $2,000.00 were given for the basement project, which almost covered the total cost of the materials for the project. Thanks!
In other exciting news, we are anticipating a baptismal service on the 25th of this month. It looks like there may be two baptismal participants. We have been ministering to Jay for about 1 1/2 years, and now he is ready for baptism. The other baptismal candidate has been part of our fellowship for only about four months, but she has shown tremendous insight in the Christian faith and seems to truly understand what it means to become a believer. This last Sunday she informed Bill of her faith in Christ and requested Christian baptism. We are seeing Christ formed in new believers and this is what ministry is all about. Praise the Lord!
Several of our members are presently out of the country, and will need visas to reenter the country. Please pray that they obtain their visas and return to Boston without incident. The procurement of jobs and internships for several fellowship members is another important need within our group. Some of our members are not able to remain in Boston if they can’t find suitable employment. We need more, not less members, so please pray that our membership will be able to find employment and stay in Boston.
At the end of this month, Trinity Baptist Church will be bringing a teen ministry team to minister with the International Baptist Fellowship (IBF). We will be endeavoring to communicate the gospel to children and teens in Malden. This is a major undertaking for us, and will demand lodging and meals for around 20 people for most of five days. Deb especially needs prayer during this week of ministry.
The International Baptist Fellowship (IBF) is doing well, but we have needs. Our membership is learning how to minister, but many within our fellowship are very young in the Lord. For this reason we have difficulty covering essential ministry areas. Two of these areas include children’s ministry and administration. We now have several children within our group who need a teacher, as well as a Sunday school program. Only a very few of our people are able to teach at this point, so administrating this area is proving difficult. This is an essential part of our overall ministry, so please pray that we would do an excellent job.
A second great need is the area of administrative assistant. We need an individual who can come along side our current ministry with a unique set of ministry gifts. They need to have organizational ability, people skills, a good basic grasp of the Bible, a servant’s spirit, and a calling from God to give themselves to the Boston ministry (goals and objectives). This ministry position will probably begin as a layman position, but will most likely evolve into a vocational position. This person will be touching almost every area of the Boston ministry. Therefore, spiritual maturity is an absolute essential. Please pray that God will provide this person from either inside or outside of the Boston ministry.
Several more informational items: -1. We will be in Iowa the first two weeks of August, and are available to speak in our supporting churches on Sunday night, the 8th, and on the following Wednesday, the 11th. Please email or call if you would like to have a ministry report on one of those two dates. 2. Our son, Dave, will be married on the 21st of August to Janelle Campbell. 3. Linda (our youngest daughter) will be attending Maranatha Baptist Bible College this fall.
Material Needs: 1. We consider our home to be a ministry home and, indeed, it is. We have numbers of people in our home on a regular basis. For instance, later this month we will be housing a large group of teens for the sake of ministry. Also, every Sunday we invite every member of our fellowship to our home for lunch, fellowship, and an afternoon Bible study. Our ministry home is in need of several air conditioners and an outdoor grill. This would help to reduce the heat in a consistently overcrowded house. If you are able to help, please send a financial gift to Baptist Mid-Missions and let us know that you are doing so. 2. Now that our children are grown, Deb will be finishing her undergraduate Bible degree as the Lord provides the financial need. We believe that it is important for Deb to complete what she started years ago and that finishing her degree will enhance her ministry credentials to the academic community in Boston. Deb has a little more than a semester of work to complete and, Lord willing, will be doing her work by module, independent study, and course work done in Boston educational institutions. If you would like to give to this ongoing need, or, if you would like more information, please contact us. For more information about these items, click on the picture above and look at the Needs and Wants section of our Supporters’ Website.
Our Calling: It is our Spirit-derived goal that the IBF become a pattern for city-church planting, both in Boston and in other cities like Boston. We believe that the city is God’s gift to Great Commission Christians, enabling them to obey their Savior’s command to make disciples of all nations. We have a biblically-oriented, carefully constructed plan and by the grace and enabling of God, are working that plan. We labor so that discipleship centers (local churches) may be planted around the world by means of ministering to the world in Boston. You are laboring with us.
Bill and Deb from Boston