Ministry in Review Because we believe that the city is God’s gift to Great Commission minded Christians, it is our intention to help facilitate an urban-church-planting movement. Since the city increasingly mirrors the global demographic, the potential exists to minister to the whole world within individual cities. Furthermore, it is possible to follow the human connections made in one city to all parts of the world, thereby building the body of Christ globally. Boston is our city.

Networking Global-Church Planting Providentially, last year was a time of building the network for global-church planting. Along with the ministry in Boston, there were opportunities to network global-church planting on a regional, continental, and international basis. As the result of past networking, Toby and Susan Stevens, and Andy Scott have joined the ministry in Boston and are making plans to minister vocationally here. In the same vein, last evening, a student who is participating in Bill’s on line urban-church planting course, contacted Bill, informing him that he and his wife are making tentative plans to move to Boston for the purpose of being mentored in global-church planting. In addition to the on line course, Bill is working with another school to implement an urban-church planting academic program.

The International Baptist Fellowship Last year saw the continued development of the NEU Chinese Bible study, and the growth of the Bostonian Bible study. As you may remember, our church plant meets Sundays from 11AM to at least 3PM. Our corporate meeting includes two Bible studies, a long prayer session, music and lunch. In addition to our Sunday activities, the International Baptist Fellowship (IBF) has numerous, evangelistic/discipleship Bible studies, one-on-one meetings, and two small group Bible studies. The small group Bible studies are developing along ethnic, educational, regional, or some other meaningful sub-group parameter. We believe that these are key to both individual and corporate spiritual growth.

Goodbye and Hello We are seeing growth in the overall ministry, but one needs to look globally to fully appreciate it. Last year the IBF launched several individuals and families to places across the United States, and even the world. Rob and Amanda Edmondson and children moved back to Jackson, Wyoming, taking with them the lessons learned while being mentored in Boston. Adam and Heather Brandt and their three children moved from the ghetto in Boston to the ghetto in Minneapolis. They also are implementing lessons learned in order to be life-giving blessings there. In addition to this, the IBF said goodbye to several of our disciples who went home to China. I am glad to report that after this mass exodus, our Bible study room is once again filling up with new faces, new disciples and new opportunities to minister the gospel globally.

The IBF Christmas Children Christmas was a very special time for the IBF. Our heavenly Father has given us the privilege of ministering to a family of very at- risk children. Because of their unstable living circumstances, our relationship with them is tenuous—we don’t know how long we will have them. We are trying to make the most of the time we do have. On the Sunday before Christmas, the fellowship provided a bag of gifts for each child, and we all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas program. The children were dressed up as angels and sang several beautiful songs—at least I am sure our Father counted it as beautiful. Lately, it seems as if we are losing contact with our children. I still remember their beaming faces as they learned and experienced the love of God at the IBF. Will you pray for them, and for the thousands of children like them in Boston, and the millions of children like them in the urban centers of our world?

Dumplings Anyone? We had a full house on the night of Spring Festival—Chinese New Year. Somewhere between 30 to 35 people filled our home, gathered around the table, and enjoyed all manner of Chinese cuisine. We were able to initiate new friendships with several, and all of our new friends learned that we believe in the God of the Bible and stand ready to teach them more of our Savior. Some attended church the next Sunday and hopefully, these will soon be engaged in evangelistic relationships/studies. Please ask our Father to help this happen.

Baptisms Two of our disciples were recently baptized. Jason became a Christian some time ago, but wanted to make sure he really believed, before following the Lord in believer’s baptism. In the spring, he will be leaving for Taiwan, and then Singapore. Fabiola, Bruce’s Argentinian wife, also requested believer’s baptism. She has proved to be a wonderful addition to the IBF family. We are planning another baptism for the month of April. We have several potential candidates, but we need to pray. In each potential candidate’s life, ministry remains to be done before they are either ready or desire to be baptized. Please pray with us.

The Battle for the Bostonians Please also pray for our Bostonian Bible study. As I have said before, I have a particular love for the participants of this study. They seem to have a tenacious desire to know and live for God, but all of us in this study have our problems—lots of them. It seems like I (Bill) am dealing with major sin problems within this group on a weekly basis. The need for anonymity requires that I not list what I mean by major, but, believe me, major is what it is. And yet these folks fight with grit and determination to overcome the power of sin in their lives, working to become a trophy of God’s grace. I love them, and I love the God who has given me the privilege of ministering to them.

Deb Deb is extremely busy. Today I asked her to help me know the people to whom she is personally ministering. She presented me a list of well over 20 people whom she regularly communicates. These are either language conversational partners or individuals with whom she has Bible studies. Of course, this is on top of her normal hospitality ministry, including dinner on Fridays, for 12, and lunch for 20+ on Sundays. Deb is stretched extremely thin at times, and she needs you to pray for her.

Building our Foundation On Sunday afternoons the IBF is working on the church doctrinal statement with the intention of becoming a local church sometime this year. Please pray that we will be able to develop just the right balance in our gospel-centered doctrinal statement.

Yawn I, (Bill), also need your prayers. My schedule is becoming demanding—I love every bit of it—, so I must be very disciplined. I go to bed early and rise very early to care for the administrative and study details of our global-church-planting endeavor. It seems to me, we have the potential to extend the life of Christ to a great many within the urban-global community. However, this potential, at least partially, depends upon extreme personal discipline on my part. Successfully extending life to the urban world is possible if one disciplines himself for the task. As Paul admonishes, “Run in such a way that you may win.” I want to win at extending the life of our Savior. Will you pray for me?

$$$ We lost a bit of our monthly support, but we gained some, as well. The budget constraints of one church forced them to cut us out of their mission’s budget, but another was able to renew their support after a hiatus of several years—what an encouragement! In addition to this, a third church recently picked up our support at $150.00 a month. In addition, pending an upcoming missions conference, there is another potential supporting church on the horizon. Never fear, if you desire to support us, there is still time. :) Even with the increased support, we still lack $1,200 per month. We cover the support deficit, augmenting our income by teaching as an adjunct professor and by speaking in churches and mission conferences. These activities have the additional benefit of helping build the global-urban-church-planting network. The IBF also helps with almost all of our ministry expenses, which is a big help indeed! This help will continue as long as I am the pastor of the IBF. Having 100% support would allow us to plan mission trips for the purpose of visiting our disciples in other parts of the world, thereby building the international urban-church-planting network. Also, full support would accelerate the paying down of our mortgage—several years ago our financial situation forced us to refinance, resulting in a payoff date well past our retirement years.

In the meantime, we remain fully engaged for the sake of the gospel,

Bill and Deb,

International Thanksgiving Dinner

Thank you for praying for our Annual International Thanksgiving Dinner. The Lord helped us fill our room with 65 guests. Of course, many of these were either members of our fellowship or friends from other churches who came to help. We also had a significant number of people with whom our parishioners had already initiated life-giving relationships. A third category of individuals were those new acquaintances who heard about us from our friends and decided to join the festivities. Deb did most of the cooking for our dinner of 65, with Trinity Baptist Church providing pies and support for the dinner itself. Our small church family joined together working throughout the day to prepare the fellowship hall for the dinner. All in all, it was another solid night for the ministry in Boston. Most importantly, the IBF was able to show its Christian heart to our international friends. We hope and pray that this will be the first step into life eternal for some.

Bostonian Bible Study

I also asked you to pray for our Bostonian Bible Study. I am happy to report that the study went well. It was a little chaotic, which is only to be expected when a small apartment is inhabited by so large a number. However, the children were well-behaved, and the Bible study participants attentive. Lenny, who was quite argumentative at the study several weeks ago, prepared a sumptuous lunch for all, which was proceeded by prayer with held hands joined together. Lenny again asked for prayer concerning getting his life together and becoming a responsible father. The study produced good soul-searching questions followed by a meaningful, biblically-directed discussion. A step forward was made. Please pray for Lenny, his family and the Bostonian Bible study. Pray that this family will be rescued, and that it will be the first of many such families impacted by the ministry of our International Baptist Fellowship.

What are We Doing?

Please remember, it is our goal to minister the gospel to the whole demographic (community) of urban Boston, and, by doing so, minister to the world here and abroad. We plan on ministering across all ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic divides—just like the early church. Doing so is difficult, and the opportunity for misunderstandings incessant. Please pray for us as we join our Savior in building His global-church.

Pray and Praise

Our fellowship has been praying for many months (even years) for several reoccurring requests. We are thankful to God that He is answering those prayers. One of our members recently acquired meaningful employment after a prolonged search. This means she and her husband will be able to remain in the United States. This is welcome news indeed. Secondly, Bruce’s wife, Fabiola, arrived from Argentina on Thanksgiving Day. He has been waiting and praying two years for this to happen. I am so thankful for the faithfulness of our fellowship, who persevered by means of prayer, and received the answer we all needed. Mostly, we praise our God who works in us and for us. Recently, a young lady from China placed her trust in the Savior, and Jason from Taiwan, is preparing for baptism. We sense the smile of our Savior as we work to do His will in Boston.

Please continue to pray for us. Ask our Father to enable us to successfully and effectively join Him in building His church in Boston and from Boston to other global, urban centers. I also have a very personal request. It looks like our daughter, Linda, will not be able to return the second semester of her sophomore year at Maranatha because of lack of funds. She needs wisdom concerning what to do, where to live, and how to make the necessary money to return to school.

Thank you for being our partners in ministry,

Bill and Deb

P.S. This morning, at the end of an evangelistic Bible study held by means of Skype, my friend, who currently lives in Beijing, concluded the study with this prayer, “Thank you God for saving me.” Boston to Beijing—Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow

I just finished finalizing plans for the Bostonian Bible study, which is to meet tomorrow. We had to shift the location since Bruce’s home will not be available. Bruce’s wife, Fabiola, finally received the appropriate permission to immigrate to the United States from Argentina (thanks for praying). She arrived Thanksgiving day, and the two of them are taking several days to become reacquainted. As a result, we have moved the Bible study to Antonio’s home. At the present time, Antonio is hosting a large, needy family in his small condominium. There is a mother, father, at least seven children and Antonio all living in very limited space. Antonio has taken this family into his home in order to prevent them from living on the street. Several of the children have been attending our Sunday fellowship meeting and the father was at the last Bostonian Bible study. In fact, Lenny (the father) and his friend Julio attended our study for the first time two weeks ago. During our prayer time each of these men asked us to pray that they might be delivered from cocaine and alcohol addiction. After our time of prayer, the study turned into a rollicking affair, at times combative, but in the end productive. Antonio later reported that the study actually continued late into the night as Julio and Lenny discussed what they had learned and experienced earlier during the Bible study. I view tomorrow as an exceptional opportunity to further the work of God in Boston. Please pray that the Word of God will be effectively ministered to this family. Pray that our God will save them in every way.

It has been difficult to schedule the time needed to write an end-of-year review of the Boston ministry. Although I still plan to do so, in the meantime, I hope to send several shorter updates. The Lord willing, tomorrow afternoon I may send a short note sharing the blessing of our International Thanksgiving Dinner, and the results of our study tomorrow.

Please pray for me and the Bostonian study to be held tomorrow at 12PM in Chelsea.

Bill Edmondson

Dear partners in ministry,

On Saturday evening of this week, our small church family will be hosting an international Thanksgiving dinner.

Approximately 55 reservations have been made by mostly mainland Chinese friends. These friends are not new contacts but individuals with whom we have developed close relationships. Please pray that on Saturday evening these relationships will be deepened, and, as a result, we are able to share the love of the triune God, who desires an eternal relationship with all.

We need to communicate with you in much more thorough way, and hope to do so by early next week. Meanwhile, please pray for us this weekend.

Your co-workers in Boston,

Bill & Deb