Spanish Ministry at FBBC

Approximately 4 years ago the Lord began to deal with me about beginning a Spanish ministry here at FBBC.  I have prayed about this truly seeking the Lord's full direction for the initial questions I had...the "who, what, when, where" type of questions.  The Lord began giving me direction and filling in all the blanks I had in my mind and heart.  This past year was really the year the Lord began to completely put all the pieces together.  I praise the Lord for His guiding me in every step of the way.  He has ordered my steps for this entire journey.

Two months ago we began handing out invitations and John and Romans in Spanish in the heavily Spanish speaking areas of Bristol and New Britain.  They were well received.  We also had pocket sized Spanish invitations printed.  During the last several weeks I had run into so many Spanish speaking folks every where I went.  I was able to give the invitations out to very receptive hands.  We were doing all we could to follow the Lords direction for this new ministry.

The start date was last Sunday, January 8th.  We have prayed, we have worked and invited, and now it was the first service.  Saturday, January 7 I received a phone call from a man who received a tract from our church as well as a Spanish invitation tract.  He said he wanted to come to church but he needed a ride. He also said there were several Spanish folks who also wanted a ride to church.  I told him we would pick them up.  I called Harry that Saturday afternoon and he immediately went to visit those folks.  Sunday morning Harry and his wife took one of the church vans and brought those folks to church.  Brother Harry Torres and his wife, Estella were excited, we as a church were excited to see what the Lord was going to do as we began this new ministry.  Well, praise the Lord, we had a class of 9 show up! Each of them were genuinely excited to be in the church for the Spanish Sunday School Class. They came out of that class all smiles.  The man who called me that Saturday also came, brought a friend and they both sat in my Sunday School class (as they both spoke English). They all stayed for the morning service and sat together in the church.  At the conclusion of the service three of them came forward for salvation!  WOO! HOO! GLORY TO GOD!

Please be in pray for the Torres' and for FBBC as we go forward in this ministry reaching the Spanish speaking community here in our Jerusalem for the Lord.

Zambia, Africa... November 8 - 23, 2011

Well, on Sunday night , November 7th, at midnight 23 of us left VIA a bus to drive through the night and early morning hours to head to Washington, DC Dulles airport. We arrived at 7:00 am in DC and at 11:00 AM we were aboard an Ethiopian airplane heading to Zambia, Africa.

We flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, had a 2 hour layover then departed for Lusaka with a short stop to refuel in Zimbabwe.

We arrived safely in Lusaka and were greeted by John Sarra, Yohannes Getaneh, Joseph (John Sarra's right hand man), Pastor Douglas Sakawaka and a few others. We were so warmly greeted and hugged and loved. I have been to Zambia several times since 1993 when I first took John Sarra there to view the work and get God's direction for his life and ministry these last 18 years. It was so wonderful to see many of the men I knew from previous trips still serving the Lord faithfully! Joy flooded my soul!

We then split up to spend the first night in two different locations to sleep that first night. The next morning we split the group into two groups of 8 and 15. Eight of us stayed in Lusaka and preached and taught several times for the next 6 days at a Bible conference run by 9 pastors from the area of Lusaka, teens and adult services and also ministering to the deaf at Brother Yohannes Getaneh's ministries. The remaining 15 went on to John and Lorna Sarra's mission station in the copper belt area of Luanshya (about 5 hours drive away from Lusaka).

Those who stayed with me in Lusaka for those first 6 days were blessed to minister in the deaf church and school, the deaf Bible college, a bible study group at the Intercontinental Hotel (where there met about 18 hotel staff who have been faithfully meeting each week), and also at the Bible conference in a compound area of Lusaka. Pastor Drummond, George Kie, Cameron Prewitt and myself preached and preached, and Cam drew chalk drawings and preached. It was an amazing week there because in the 6 short day while we were there we saw 46 deaf folks, 5 teenagers, and 18 adults saved at the Bible conference during that first week. The group that went on to the mission station saw 28 saved. All together we were aware of 97 souls who were born into the family of God through repentance of sin and faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary! There was also a plowing, and planting of the seed of corn as Ed Young, George Kie and Cameron prepared about 10 acres of fallow ground to plans corn for the mission station. Physical seed and spiritual seed planted in order to see a harvest of souls and nutrition for the body. GLORY TO GOD!

I want to say that I was blessed to have such a great bunch of young people and "ol goomers" go on this missions trip. There was a GREAT spirit during the entire trip. THANKS FOR GOING! You ALL blessed my heart and filled me with wonderful memories as we worked together for the Lord Jesus Christ . I sure do love you all!

Below is a web site to view some of the video and pictures taken by Brent Burhoe who was at the Mission station. I have also attached a few more pictures at the beginning of this post. They were taken in the area of Lusaka with our group of 8 so you can get a brief glimpse of the deaf work and services at the compound in Lusaka.

Go to this site to see the video of our trip to Zambia, Africa: http://vimeo.com/32826221

Thanks Brent! Great job putting the video together!

Ministry Updates: Some food for thought...and comment:

Ministry Updates: Some food for thought...and comment:

Some food for thought...and comment:

I read the following from Oswald Chambers. Insightful. Let me hear your comments. When you were under the fig tree, I saw you —John 1:48

Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us— it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, “If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion”? Yet you won’t rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God’s training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person’s true character.

A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private “fig-tree” life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.

Are you saying, “But I can’t be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn’t come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready”? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God’s work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around you.

God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.

ABOUT 60 OR 70 OF THE FOLKS FROM FBBC WENT TO THE BALL GAME MONDAY NIGHT. Here is Johnny Hugging the New Britain Rock Cats Mascot!

OH YEAH MAN!

Johnny is such a great sport!

PLEASE PRAY FOR 4 ORPHANED CHILDREN

Please pray for Tom, age 12, Simon, age 10, Titus and Tabitha, age 7. About 5 or so years ago their Dad died of a heart attack. Yesterday morning Simon found his Mom dead. She had died the night before of a heart attack. This is such a heart breaking situation. These are four GREAT kids.

Please pray that I would have the wisdom of the Lord to be able to help these kids. Also, please pray for the funeral service this Saturday at 4:00 PM.

Thanks for caring!

JOB 29:11-2 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: 12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

A SOUL SAVED TODAY!

PRAISE THE LORD!

Today we saw an answer to 13 years of prayer! Todd Sturgeon's Mom was in Connecticut (she lives in Florida) visiting Todd and his family and his Mom and Step Dad came to church. Well, she was gloriously saved this morning. Thirteen years but worth it all today as she stepped out and came forward to repent of her sin and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour! GLORY TO GOD! A new name written down in glory!