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Preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ!
VBS, Youth Rallys, and Youth Camp
A time for harvest!
Our summer schedule is typically the most fruitful time of the year in terms of people giving their life to Christ. Pray for the churches who are coming to serve with us this year; Fellowship Baptist Church from Thonotosassa, FL, Liberty Baptist Church from Clermont, FL, and All Nations Baptist Church from New York, NY. Here are the dates to pray for:
July 14-18 - Faith Vacation Bible School
July 15-17 - Faith Youth Rally
July 21 - New Life Baptist Church special service
July 22-26 - Riverside Community Vacation Bible School
July 22-24 - Amazing Grace Youth Rally
August 4 - New Life Baptist Church special service
August 5-9 - Achieve Youth Camp
Farm Project
As a ministry, we want to make a deep impact upon the lives of people living in the communities where we serve. The ministry of the Word and making disciples is the center piece of all that we do. Providentially, the land that we occupy is some of the best farmland in our area. We are capitalizing on that now through a significant investment in farming. We are employing members of our churches to do farming work which helps many families. Additionally, we are utilizing farming techniques that the Ministry of Agriculture is trying to promote. This has positioned us in a favorable position to showcase a farm that models good farming principles, providing jobs for local people, and a testimony for Christ in the community. We hope that these efforts will one day help self-fund many of our village churches and pastors.
Looking Back On 25 Years
God Is Faithful
In July of 1999, Wendy and I visited this remote spot in the world for the first time. Little did we know what God was going to do. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary of ministry, we give God all the glory and honor. He is the one that has made it all happen!
On a typical Sunday we draw people from more than 15 villages, and we will have 400-500 people in our churches. On special occasions we might see as high as 1,200. So far in 2024 God has given us 115 people who have trusted Christ as Savior. Some people travel as much as 4 hours one way to attend church. Most of these are small communities, ranging in size from 200 to as high as 1,500 people. The people are indigenous to this land. Our Region is home to the Warao, Carib, and Arawak tribes. We also have a large migrant community from Venezuela. Ancient beliefs and superstitions often hold the people in spiritual bondage, even in the Christian community. Deeply held generational beliefs are often hard to die. High rates of illiteracy among the adult population creates challenges to making disciples and training leaders.
Access to cell phones and the internet has had a devastating, chilling effect upon the lives of the younger generation. The older people largely do not understand the dangers of the internet, leaving the youth to explore with no boundaries.
Other challenges include extremely high rates of suicide among the youth, (3 in our area in just the last week), teen pregnancies and children born outside of marriage, (the institution of marriage is often seen as optional and many families are established without a marriage covenant), deeply divided communities often caused by "church" leaders, and the easy access to alcohol and drugs. There are so many days that we feel like we have taken two steps forward and three steps back. If it were not for the power of the gospel to transform lives, we would be in a hopeless cause.
We are asking for you to pray. These challenges can only be overcome through the power of prayer.
Pray for the VBS's, Youth Rallies, and Youth Camp.
Pray for the dozens of men and women who faithfully serve in our ministry every week.
Pray for reinforcement. We need both local people to step up, and we could use a co-worker to come help.
Pray for our personal health and well-being; physical, emotional, and spiritual.