Greetings from Oneonta, NY! Spring is trying its best to arrive in upstate NY… we did have a hard frost this morning, so we may have to wait a couple more weeks! The tulips looked good for a little while! Lee Ann and I just returned from a week with our daughter and son in-law in South Carolina - it was fun to see the transformation of seasons as we headed south from NY to PA through MD, WV, VA and NC on the way to Spartanburg, SC. Azaleas and other flowering bushes and trees displayed their colors in South Carolina…we have faith that the browns will be replaced by greens and the other colors of Spring!
We have many opportunities to serve the Living God in our future with Partnership Ministries, but before I get into it, I want to thank all of our faithful prayer and financial supporters. Words cannot describe the reassurance we feel because of you… thanks! We are just over 31% in pledged support with many generous one-time gifts. As the news of our ministry gets out, we are attracting more and more partners…we look forward to the coming opportunities in the next few months. Please pray that the support discovery phase is fruitful and that we approach 100% support levels quickly so we can mobilize! If you are being lead to support us financially, please let me know – let’s talk!
We have a few things on our docket coming up… please remember us in prayer as we prepare for these and other approaching opportunities to share our ministry. Also as I plan for further my Spanish language study – amongst all this activity, I will need to concentrate on that again so my ministry will become more effective.
This past Sunday, Lee Ann and I presented in Franklin, NY at the Community Bible Church. We have a few friends there and also share a rich history. As board chair of the Central New York Youth for Christ, I worked closely with CBC. In this new capacity, I am excited about the opportunity to share the scope and vision of Partnership Ministries with this congregation! The congregation received us openly and some folks are interested in hearing more about how they can get involved with short-term missions.
Next week, I will team up with Steve Reed, our director and will be exhibiting and presenting our ministry at the annual conference of the Mid-Atlantic Conservative Baptist Association – we will have time to meet and share with many pastors and church leaders! MACBA geographically includes churches from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, DC and West Virginia. We want to thank MACBA Executive Director Dr. Jim Leary for offering us this wonderful opportunity!
I am coordinating our first official team effort with our home church, Main Street Baptist and Ray Ramos and Edwin Colon – both are Missions Door spiritual warriors in Brooklyn. Ray is an urban church planter with two Recovery Houses of Worship in place – one in the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn and the other in Staten Island. Edwin is the pastor of the New Baptist Temple in Brooklyn centrally located with a wide spectrum of opportunities to serve and glorify God!
We are also working with Calvary Baptist Church in Warwick, NY as they are finalizing their plans to travel to Catacamas Honduras to help build a church there from July 26 – August 2. It is exciting to guide this team through the team building and fundraising phases – we look forward to sharing this potentially life-changing experience with them! Please pray for our next meetign with this team on May 10th as we begin the process of preparing VBS crafts.
We hear wonderful stories from Rigoberto Reyes, our bother in Christ in Nicaragua who we have partnered with… the church we just helped build in El Pochote is growing and flourishing. It seems like success breeds success as we also hear of other smaller community churches that are now meeting in homes are eager to have their own worship centers built. The ministry in Bluefields continues to amaze me – a sister church has already sprung from the church we started to build last year and completed this past February. Rigo has plans to build a church building for this growing congregation as well as maybe venturing up the coast into some new communities. Praise God for the many people who have heard and responded to the Gospel of Jesus in these areas! Please continue to pray for the Nicaraguan Bible Extension Institute – that it continues to grow and to train new pastors to serve the entire country of Nicaragua.
Do you want to hear about Partnership Ministries or learn about how your church or organization can be blessed by serving God via short-term missions, please give me a call – I am available to talk on the phone or to travel and meet with you at your facility. Take it from someone who was blessed himself – it is awesome!
Thanks again for your prayers and support of our ministry… we will keep you posted on any new developments!
Peace,
Rick & Lee Ann
No comments:
Post a Comment