‘Workers are multiplying’ in efforts to reach Washington, D.C. for Christ

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:

• Brett Hooks
• Sarah McCorkle
• Cameron Young Wisher

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.

Los Angeles: Fertile field for ministry

Amid the glamour associated with Los Angeles, Calif., the need for a Savior often goes unmentioned. More than 10 million people live in the metropolitan Los Angeles area, but fewer than 1 million of them are affiliated with an evangelical church. 

Can 11 college students make a difference in Los Angeles in one summer? A group from Temple Baptist Church would say, “Yes!” The students are in L.A. as part of the North American Mission Board’s SEND>>North America campaign. Seth Scriber, a member of the group, wrote in a previous post: “Everyone is doing such an amazing job of meeting new people and being intentional with those relationships as they continue to get to know them. People are finding coffee shops, gyms, comic book stores, skate shops, and volunteer opportunities to be regulars at.”

Please pray for these students on mission in Los Angeles and for the people with whom they come in contact:

• Charissa Aalgaard
• Matt Beard
• Scott Felder
• Sarah Fogle
• Tim Gregoire
• Dakota Oxford
• Matt Martin
• Mandi Rose
• Seth Scriber
• Christian Smith
• Allison Whittenburg

Los Angeles team reaches people through variety of venues

Seth Scriber provided the following update on Temple college students’ activities in Los Angeles.

I apologize for not writing an email last week, it was very busy! My sister and girlfriend came and visited me last week and it was so good to see them both! We had so much fun going around and seeing all the sites LA has to offer. Other than being a tourist for a couple days last week it has been great seeing the team find their respective “niches.”

Everyone is doing such an amazing job of meeting new people and being intentional with those relationships as they continue to get to know them. People are finding coffee shops, gyms, comic book stores, skate shops, and volunteer opportunities to be regulars at. It has been such a blessing over the past couple of weeks to see the team branch out into the community and find things they enjoy doing and others that have similar interest.

I’ve also been so impressed with how intentional everyone is being with the people they’ve just met and showing them a love like no other. Every night we have “debrief” to share stories from that day of conversations or events from that day and it has been so encouraging to hear everyone’s stories.

I want to thank everyone again for your continued prayer and support! It is still overwhelming to me the support we are receiving from back home. Please keep all of us in your prayers over the next month that we would continue to be intentional with the people God is putting in our paths and that they would come to know Him. Also be praying for the people we have met. A few of their names are: Zach, Kebron, Luna, and Jeff.

Activities increase in Los Angeles

Seth Scriber provided the following report on Temple members’ activities in Los Angeles, with accompanying photographs.

Hello everyone,

This week has been a blast! The teams arrived on Monday, and I couldn’t have been happier to see all of my friends. It’s been great showing them around the city and where we are staying. We’ve been in orientation for the week which has included meeting with our city coach to discuss expectations for this summer, encouraging messages from him, going out to see the city, finding central locations where people spend their free time, and meeting new people. Last night was a lot of fun because we got the chance to travel down to El Segundo (where the Temple youth are living while on mission here) and speak with them about Generation Send. It was also a treat for us because Dr. Vessel cooked muffulettas for us! Seeing the youth and hearing their stories was so encouraging to all of us. Overall it has been an exciting week! Again I want to thank everyone who is supporting the work that God is doing here and the many, many prayers! It is such a blessing to have this tremendous amount of support from back home!

Thank you all,
Seth Scriber

More pictures from Hungary mission trip are posted

Here are some additional pictures from Temple’s 2015 mission trip to Hungary, during which Temple members are using Bible stories as they teach English to Hungarian students. Please continue to pray for that mission effort as well as those in Los Angeles and other places where Temple people are ministering this summer.

Advanced class

Intermediate class

Intermediate class

Beginner class

Pictures show efforts in Hungary

Here are three pictures from Temple’s mission group in Hungary, where our members on the mission trip are teaching English through use of Bible stories. The photographs show advanced, intermediate and beginner groups being taught.

Habitat efforts provide new home for family

The Coleman family celebrated the new year in a new home, thanks to volunteers from Ruston, La., with leadership from Temple Baptist Church.

Angela, Brianna and Nicholas Coleman, who had been living in a rundown trailer, moved into their new house Dec. 31, 2014. The house was built under the auspices of Habitat for Humanity, with construction beginning in March 2014.

Temple member Woodie Cooper led the project as construction coordinator. Besides providing leadership, he supplied most of the tools used, because Habitat has no tools of its own for use on construction projects.

Cooper was joined by a group he called the “faithful four” – Temple members Richard Hood, Donnie Parkman, Joe Rainer and Galen Turner Sr. The five of them went to the site every Wednesday to prepare for the next weekend’s volunteers to work.

“We had a lot of fun,” Cooper said. “They are a great bunch of guys.”

As is usually the case with Habitat houses, building this one brought widespread support from this area. Cooper said that 19 groups participated with more than 400 volunteers involved. The groups included businesses and churches. A significant amount of support also came from the drug court, with some offenders spending community service time at the construction site.

Participants were consistently enthusiastic. Cooper said, “Everybody who came there came to work.”

Cooper noted two specific examples of Temple’s involvement, one as part of a Released afternoon and the other when 65 Temple Tech students worked at the site. Additionally, members of Cooper’s Sunday School class not only worked on the house but also provided furnishings for it.

Angela Coleman and members of her family also worked on the house, meeting Habitat’s requirement that the recipient of a house put in at least 300 hours’ work during its construction.

Cooper also cited the members of the Presbyterian Church of Ruston, who not only worked on the project but also had a pounding for the Colemans to provide food to stock the new kitchen’s cabinets.

John King, Temple’s minister of missions, said that building the house is but one example of “Temple members getting involved in community projects.” As is true of Released projects and other mission activities, participation in the construction showed Temple’s members demonstrating Christ’s love beyond the walls of the church building.

With the Colemans now enjoying their new home, Cooper is looking ahead to a site in Downsville, where an existing house that needs renovation has been donated for use by Habitat for Humanity. The donor also gave $20,000 for use in renovation. Local Habitat leaders are studying the situation and making plans for the project.

Coordinating so many volunteers and putting in so much work might seem like a chore to some people, but Cooper’s enjoyment of his role is obvious. “I had a barrel of fun,” he said.

Team trains young women to serve in South Asia

The following message was forwarded from Minister of Missions John King. This activity in South Asia is one of many of Temple’s mission efforts in the summer of 2015.

During my time in South Asia I was able to help organize and teach a 4 Fields Training to young women who are new believers. This study was so rewarding, and I enjoyed educating these women on what God’s vision is, how to make disciples, church planting, and how to preach the gospel. We discussed with the new believers the importance of sharing what they have learned and heard to their village, nation, and country. God calls us to go and make disciples of all nations.

We were able to teach them this very thing and equip them to do the same. This is an important lesson for everyone to not only hold God’s word in our heart but share the pure joy that comes from knowing and following Christ. The women’s attentiveness and eagerness to learn made me realize that God’s word should never become a routine but should be a new and exciting experience every time His name is spoken or learned. Please be in prayer for these young women as they step out in faith to minister to people in their village and that others would be receptive of what they have to say.

Allison Brister

Team writes from South Asia

The following message was forwarded from Minister of Missions John King.

23/3/2015

Greetings from the South Asia !

Our trip has been very crazy thus far, even more so than the usual here. We left Ruston Friday morning at 10:30…ish and headed to Shreveport, where we got stuck on I-20 by a wreck. We made it to the airplane in plenty of time and arrived happily in Houston. When we arrived in Houston, we found out that the company that owned our connecting flight from Munich to our capital city, Lufthansa, was having a pilot strike. Through God’s grace, we found a United Airlines worker at the boarding desk, named Miguel, who set us up with a new set of flights through London. We were excited and ready to go. ..then the plane to London was delayed an hour due to a computer problem. With the plane delayed, we would miss our next flight, but our buddy Miguel gave us directions for the fastest route inside the London airport and booked us into a separate flight just in case. By the time we arrived in London, we were too late for our first flight, so security saw that we were already booked for another flight, printed our new boarding passes without any problems, and gave us each 10 pounds to use during our 8 hour layover.
So far its been 4 hours Ruston to Houston, 2 hours in Houston, 8 hours to London, 8 hours in the London airport, 8 hours on the plane to our final destination city.
We finally get to the capital city,, and our one bag we checked, filled with Pepto and gifts for a local man and his family, was lost, it took us 1 hour to get all the forms filled out, (quite a few people lost their luggage.) We finally meet our driver who will drive us 3.5 hours to our train in a major tourist city. 9.5 hours later than we had planned. We missed out on seeing the Taj Mahal, but we did get to eat our favorite restaurant in that city. After we ate, we made it to the train station 30 minutes before our train departed, as recommended, and then the train was delayed 45 min. We finally board for our 1 hour ride to the city and get to our hotel at 8 p.m.

After 36 hours of travel, 10.5 hours of delays, and at least 3 plane itinerary changes. We were finally able to shower, change clothes, brush our teeth, and lay down in a bed to sleep. Friday 1030 am – Sunday 8 p.m. Then, on Monday, we could start working.

Monday we ate a healthy breakfast of chickpeas, white bread, penne pasta in red sauce, and corn flakes before driving 100 km south to our first training session. We were expecting 9 pastors, but only 6 were able to come and what a 6 to have! These 6 brothers in Christ were very well prepared amd eager to work and learn. They told us of success and troubles they faced. Villages they wanted to reach, but that they could not go to for the villagers would drag them to the police. They told us of health problems in their families and great success in reach new people and teaching them to follow God. We taught, reviewed, mapped out their churches, planned for the rest of the week, and, most importantly, fellowshipped and listened.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we review and visit local churches in their villages. Through the grace of God, it will be as good as today, if not better.

Daniel and Patrick

International Missions: Ecuador

Tony Mathews, pastor of North Garland Baptist Fellowship in Garland, Texas, leads his church and pastors of other churches in his area in partnering with International Mission Board missionaries in Ecuador.

Tony Mathews talks with teens at a school in Lagarto, Ecuador. (Source: http://www.commissionstories.com/)

Missionaries Donna and Johnny Maust work with Mathews and others to increase the involvement of people in their area with the activities of those in full-time missions in Ecuador. Mathews leads missions trips to Ecuador, where he and others from his area join with the Mausts in trying to reach Afro-Ecuadorians (descendants of African slaves) with the Gospel.

IBM missionaries Donna and Johnny Maust use a swinging bridge to reach a village in Ecuador that is accessible only by this bridge or by boat. (Source: http://www.commissionstories.com/)

Activities during mission trips include visiting and sharing the Gospel with Ecuadorians and teaching Ecuadorian students English as a second language at a local school.

Mathews and others hope to form a body of believers in Lagarto, Ecuador, in a region described on an IMB website as having “only a handful of Baptist churches”in a region of 600,000 people. The website added, “The pastors realize it won’t always be that easy to lead people to Christ in an area steeped in drug trafficking, witchcraft and teen pregnancy.”

Your gift to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering can help with these missions efforts in Ecuador and with international missions around the world.

Material taken from Prayer Guide supplied by the International Mission Board and from www.imb.org and  www.commissionstories.com.