This year, for the first time, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention will stream an appointment service for new missionaries. The service can be viewed in Room 216 at Temple Baptist Church, Ruston, La., beginning at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 23, 2016.
Click here for a brief message from IMB President David Platt inviting you to celebrate and share in this event.
Temple members are invited to attend the Advance Regional Conference of The Voice of the Martyrs March 5, 2016. See the adjacent image for location and schedule.
Registration can be done online or by phone (800-747-0085). There is no charge for attending. An offering will be taken during the conference.
Featured speakers will be:
Doors will open at 8 a.m. for registration, access to the resource center and prayer.
Lunch will be on your own from noon to 1:15 p.m. at area restaurants.
Along with many other Baptist churches in Louisiana, Temple recently collected food for the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home as part of the home’s annual Fall Food Roundup. The picture below shows the items as they awaited pickup for delivery to the home.
Dale Oden prays for the 2015 medical mission team.
Dale Oden
At the end of the Aug. 16 evening Worship Service, Associate Pastor Dale Oden led a commissioning service for Temple members and other individuals who will compose this year’s medical mission team for Nicaragua. Each August, the church sends a group to treat physical ills and share the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Please pray for the following people as they minister in Nicaragua Aug. 22-28. Also, please pray for the people to whom they minister.
Here are some pictures from Temple’s Summit Kids’ recent mission trip to Arlington, Texas.
Among other activities, the participants sorted items that Mission Arlington will distribute to the community.
Julie White provided the following update on Temple college students’ activities in West Palm Beach, Fla.
This summer in West Palm Beach, Fla., was phenomenal and life-changing to say the least. God worked through and in our team these past eight weeks and has grown each of us in ways we never thought possible. I have seen brokenness restored, hearts changed, and life plans turned inside out. It is amazing to see how God is working in Palm Beach County and the vision that Family Church has for reaching the county for Christ. The goal of Family Church is to have planted 100 churches across the county within 10 years. There are already five church campuses, and now there is one being planted in Jupiter, Fla. It is amazing to see the core values of Family Church lived out in everything they do, including student ministry, family ministry, and community outreach.
To end the summer, July 13-17, we went to student camp, better known as Jurassic Camp. For Jurassic Camp students from grades six through twelve came to camp where they were always in constant worship and fellowship with one another. Two-hundred and thirty students went to camp along with over 90adult leaders and pastoral staff. It was amazing to see how many students came to camp and how all of the work for the summer was put into action and carried out that week.
Each morning and night a different pastor would speak and the series they went through were the seven stories of hope:
Through these seven stories of hope, it was amazing to see how each one applied to the students’ lives and how they responded to them. I saw God break down walls of a few students whose hearts were hard against God and who doubted He even existed. There were many students who made decisions at camp to turn their lives over to God for the first time, or back to God because they had run so far from him. There were also students who made the decision to be baptized because they had not taken that step of faith yet. When returning home from camp, the students who made a decision to be baptized were baptized in the ocean that Sunday evening.
Members of the SEND>> West Palm Beach team are (front row) Olivia Loewer, Sol Boehm and Julie White and (back row) Spencer Morris and Brennan Edwards
I am so thankful that I, as well as my team, was given this opportunity to serve South Florida this summer. Thank you for all of your support and your prayers for the team and me because we could have not done it without it. Also, a huge thank you goes out to Family Church for everything they have taught us, for the life-long friendships, and for being so willing and excited to allow us to serve with them this summer. This was an experience of a lifetime and I will never forget the things God has taught me through this season in life.
Thank you,
Julie White
Seth Scriber provided the following update on Temple college students’ activities in Los Angeles. Previous posts related to this summer’s SEND work in Los Angeles are available here and here.
First of all I would like to again thank everyone for your continued prayer and support! It’s hard to believe I only have 2 weeks left in this city! This past week we’ve been really pushing to be intentional with the relationships that we’ve made here and share God’s love with them.
The people here are opening up and being more receptive and interested in what we have to say and why we are here. The team is really getting into a “rhythm” in the city and through that we can continue build relationships. On Wednesday we all went to the beach down in Santa Monica for our much needed off day. We all got a little sunburned, but overall was a fun and relaxing day!
Yesterday we were able to meet with a church planter and pick his brain about his successes and failures in church planting here in Los Angeles. We also got to meet representatives from the Golden Gate seminary and hear the programs that were offered as well as opportunities that go along with going to school there. It was overall a great week as we continued working and constructing the relationships while showing Christ’s love to the people of the community.
Please keep praying for us here that we would not grow weary but run with endurance the race that is set before us (Heb. 12:1). There’s only a couple weeks left and we really need to push ourselves out of our comfort zones even more and be even more intentional with people as our time here comes to a close.
Participants from Temple Baptist Church are among those who are active in Chicago this summer as a part of SEND>>North America.
Fewer than 10 percent of the residents of the metropolitan Chicago area are affiliated with an evangelical church. As the Send>>> Chicago website says, “It’s time for a fresh wind in the Windy City.” Temple’s people and other volunteers are working to provide that “fresh wind” — to reach more people with the Gospel.
Please pray for the following workers from Temple as they are on the SEND>>Chicago mission:
Lane BristerJenna Price provided the following update on Temple college students’ activities in Grand Isle, La. See SEND North America for an overview of similar efforts that are going on nationwide.
July 10, 2015
Seven weeks ago, Andrew, Riley, and I left the city of Ruston with its rustic features, agricultural influence, and prominent Christian atmosphere for Grand Isle, known for being settled by pirates, overrun by drugs and alcohol, and funded by its prime fishing spots. Throughout the summer on almost any given weekend, the population of Grand Isle could expand up to 10 times its residential size (which is around 1,000).
First Baptist Church of Grand Isle, pastored by John Boss, was placed strategically on the island to reach the residents that come to the southernmost region of Louisiana to isolate themselves and give into abusing sins and to reach those who only come to the island for a weekend at a time. This is the ministry that we have been blessed with this summer.
The children of Grand Isle love love love to dress up and preform skits to Bible stories. Andrew was a part of this particular production. I bet you would never guess that it was the story of when Jesus walked on water. Complete with a princess, witch, lamb, and puppets.
The first six weeks of the summer, we ran a children’s day camp where 30 to 40 of island locals participated in day after day. Very much like an extended VBS, the three of us Temple students were able to build strong relationships with the children and youth helpers through bible study, games, Scripture memorization, and songs. In addition to each week, we, as the summer missionaries, put to work mission teams that come from all over the country to serve in Grand Isle.
Elizabeth (the other girl missionary to my left) and I lead a Girls’ Night each Tuesday night where we participate in a Bible study, bake cookies, and play board games, volleyball, or Just Dance. The youth may be few on some nights, but they are very eager to learn God’s Word.
We also lead youth on Wednesday nights (and Thursday nights at the church plant up the bayou in Galliano), teach children’s church on Sunday mornings in both locations, put on a Girls’ Night for the youth girls on the island, pass out Bible tracts to fishermen on the piers, and plan outreach events on the island and up the bayou. The rest of the summer will include directing a youth camp for over 30 youth, helping with a sports camp at an Indian reservation in Mississippi with a partnering church, and preparing for Tarpon Rodeo (the largest fishing event for the island and outreach event for the church).
Andrew Thompson, Jenna Price and Riley Thompson
Although I cannot speak personally for the Thompson boys, we all can attest to the vast amount of spiritual warfare that is taking place on the island. The enemy is throwing his hottest fiery arrows at this church and church plant to bring down one of the last evangelical ministries in this region. A number of incidents have occurred at the beginning of the summer which caused repercussions that are still beating down on us today. But our God is mightier than any puny, pathetic arrow Satan fires at First Baptist Church of Grand Isle.
Making Grand Isle #BulldogCountry, of course!
We have celebrated over 10 known salvations the past couple of weeks and continue to reap what God has sown here. The harvest is ready in South Louisiana and Satan is having a hard time stopping what God is doing and plans to do.
I thank God every day for Temple Baptist Church, Temple Tech, its members, staff, and students who have been consistent, constant, and relentless in their prayers for Andrew, Riley, and I and this ministry. I could not have asked for a better summer mission opportunity, a better team, or better church. I now know how Paul felt when he said he longed to see the church because I long to see Temple so that I recount the victories God has had in Grand Isle. But this summer is not over yet, and we have much work still to be done.
I love you all. Please continue to pray without ceasing. Love, Jenna Price
During our Fourth of July outreach, Riley made balloon swords. It was serious business as depicted here.
Casey Casady provided the following update on Temple college students’ activities in Washington, D.C. For an overview of mission efforts in that area, see the North American Mission Board’s SEND>>Washington DC page.
Our teams just got in on Monday (July 6), of course as you know, which is already making a great difference. So yeah things are a lot different here. Only 8-12% of people in DC proclaim to be Christian. So about 9 out of every 10 people I pass on the street are lost.
It’s not a social norm like back home to be a Christian. It’s not a cool thing to be a part of. But despite that, you can really tell people here are searching for Him but they just don’t realize yet that it’s Christ they’re seeking.
There’s 5 SBC churches in the city right now and 4 of those are new church plants. There aren’t many Christians here, but the ones that are here are completely sold out for Christ which is awesome. There’s over 650,000 people in DC and about 6 million in the greater DC area. So the harvest truly is plentiful.
An SBC church I’ve been plugged in with here started 8 months ago and has 100 or more on Sundays and has baptized 16 people all while meeting in a hotel ballroom on Sundays, so the workers are multiplying. It’s a really great experience so far to be able to live in a city and actually feel the social sacrifice that comes with being a follower of Christ, and also making being “sent” a part of your everyday life on a grand scale.
One thing I appreciate is that Christians here aren’t lukewarm. You’re either hot or cold. So it makes the work easier because you can tell who is the body of Christ and who needs to be reached. I definitely miss everyone back home, miss my Temple family, but I am really loving my time here with the people I’ve met so I think it’s a good spot to be in!
Please pray for these students on mission in Washington, D.C., and for the people with whom they come in contact:
Hey we’re good! Been going to our neighborhood every day and we seem to be getting a rhythm. Today a few of us helped in a local garden that James, Lane and Hannah found.
