VOLUME 45 ISSUE 4 JULY-AUGUST 2005 . How to Keep Your Church Small (I found the following from something I read once—Bro. Jim Shemwell) 1. Make prayer optional. Let only the few who can stand up in front of everybody and impress them with their fluent vocabulary do the praying for the entire body of believers. 2. Encourage Bible study only for those who already know all there is to know about God and living godly lives. 3. Ignore conflict and avoid it all costs, even if it means compromising your integrity. If you avoid troublemakers long enough, they will grow tired and just leave. 4. Try to keep people from truly loving and caring for one another. Let the paid staff do that—after all, what else are they paid for anyway? If members can concentrate only upon themselves, then a lively atmosphere of grumbling and complaining will be maintained by all. 5. Be more concerned about survival than reaching out to others. 6. Try to keep things the way they have always been. You ruffle fewer feathers that way because you only have the same people in worship every week. If others don’t feel they can worship like you’ve always done it, then it is their problem. 7. Don’t invite strangers, especially unbelievers to worship service (not services plural), because one service should be good enough for everyone. (How else will you get to know everybody?) Inviting strangers only encourages change, and could possibly cause a power shift from the old and established to the new and experimental. Two of the doctors on the Mission Team that our Associational nurses participated with on the KBA Medical Missions trip April 2-9. Three nurses from our Association participated on the trip: Sue Connors, Pollye Hyatt, and Dee Wiswell. People treated Physically And Spiritually Across the Border By April Medical Missions Team Pollye Hyatt and Sue Connors pose by one the mission churches serving as a clinic. The Kaskaskia Baptist Medical Missions Team that went to Mexico April 2-9 had an experience not only to minister to the medical needs of the people across the border, but to their spiritual needs as well. Sue Connors, Pollye Hyatt, and Dee Wiswell, three nurses from the Kaskaskia Baptist Association, joined a missions team of about 18 doctors doing ministry in Mexico. Over 400 people were treated by the combined medical missions team and eight people gave their hearts to Christ. Sue Connors was emotional as she described her experience down there. “It was wonderful,” she said. “It was absolutely indescribable. We had two doctors that were extremely dedicated doctors and humble Christian men who took their mission very, very seriously. Their mission was to take Christ to the people.” Pollye Hyatt also found her experience with the mission team to be quite moving. “Dr. Ronald Yamamoto (one of the doctors on their team) said, ‘Isn’t interesting that we go through life like Moses in our early years to figure out that we think that we are somebody, but in the middle years we realize that we are a nobody and in the latter years we realize that God can do remarkable things with nobodies like us?’” “Although our two medical teams assessed and treated over 100 people each day, ages ranging from babies to the elderly, God provided enough medicine, wisdom, and stamina. Compassion, competence, and Christcentered work for Jesus Christ was evident among all of us. We were a group of people who had never met, brought together for His Glory and I felt that we accomplished remarkable things. Dee Wiswell concurred with the other ladies on the trip. She told KBA Missions Director that it was “a great experience,” and wished that she “could do missions all the time.” More pictures of this mission trip and the others will be posted on the Association at www.kaskaskiabaptist.org. Continue to pray for our Mexico Missionaries! Page 2 Kaskaskia Baptist Visitor Gleanings & News From The State & Association Please pray for our July Mexico Mission Trip! You Too Can Help! (Way To Participate in El Paso/Mexico Ministry without leaving home! Mission Bible School Packets (At this time we have 15) Please pack these items in a two gallon zip-lock bag: One package pencils, one package pens, one box of 24 count crayons, child’s safety scissors, rectangular eraser, school glue, comb, two toothbrushes, toothpaste, and two Tootsie Roll Pops. Include $1 of cash in each kit which will be used to purchase small novelty toys and school payer. (We want to purchase the paper in bulk when we arrive there rather than to weigh us down in transporting the items.) Packets need to be brought to the Association office by July 13. For more information and applications, contact KBA office at 618-432-7133 or www.kaskaskiabaptist.org to download applications from missions section at www.kaskaskiabaptist.org WMU Ladies Retreat “Following the Master’s Footsteps” KBA CAMPGROUNDS AUGUST 12-13 COST $10.00 Speaker: Ann Caruthers, Missionary from South Africa Registration Deadline August 1st. Register through KBA Office 618-432-7133 Free Christian Concert! All Day! September 10th Fairfield Cumberland Presbyterian Route 4, Outer West Delaware Fairfield, IL 62837 (618) 842-2219 (618) 847-5281 Prayer is the most vital part of this ministry! Everyone can pray even now as preparations are being made. We would like special groups of prayer partners especially during the week of July 22-30 when our mission teams will be ministering in El Paso and Mexico. We need people who will commit to praying for our safety in travel and that souls will be brought to the Lord as a result of our labors. Please inform the Associational office as to what your plans are so that we can provide you with specific prayer lists as the time draws nearer. Vandalia Christian Academy Vandalia Christian Academy seeks to build young Christian lives through a godly academic environment and embolden them to be a witness in their communities and beyond! Contact Information Vandalia Christian Academy P.O. Box 395 Vandalia, IL 62471 618-283-9073 A Ministry of Vandalia FBC Join Us For the KBA 165th Annual Meeting at Temple Baptist Church September 10, 2005 Greenville Christian Academy Isaiah 40:31 School Mission Greenville Christian Academy educates students through a Christ Centered curriculum that nurtures their intellectual, spiritual, social, physical, and emotional development. Contact Information Greenville Christian Academy 949 Airport Avenue Greenville, Illinois 618-664-2175 A Ministry of Smith Grove Baptist Church Second Annual Pastor’s Conference September 10th, 2005 Temple Baptist Church 9 a.m. Speakers will include Elmer Towns, Liberty vice president, and Roger Ellsworth, former IBSA president (1995-1996). Special music will be provided by Sons of the Father. Sessions are open to all who wish to attend. Kaskaskia Baptist Visitor Sun Mon Page 3 Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 KBA Director’s Meeting 24 25 KBA Trustee’s Meeting 26 KBA MEXICO MISSIONS TRIP 27 KBA MEXICO MISSIONS TRIP 31 28 29 30 Page 4 Kaskaskia Baptist Visitor Boy’s Camp June 6-10 fts a r C Wo rshi p New Friends Swimming Fun Discipleship Growing in Christ Lo t Learning Rocket Science! so Tim f fun & e from away hom e! Kaskaskia Baptist Visitor Page 5 Church Openings within the Kaskaskia Association Calvary Baptist Church: Is seeking a full-time pastor. Carlyle Baptist Church: Is seeking a full-time minister. El Calvario Spanish Mission: The Spanish mission in Effingham is seeking a bilingual pastor who could serve fulltime or part time. Eternity Baptist Church: Is seeking a full-time youth minister. Glenridge Baptist Church: Is seeking a part-time pastor. Marshall Creek Baptist Church: Is seeking a part-time pastor. Zion Hill Baptist Church: Is seeking a full-time Associate Minister of Children and Youth. If you have any questions about these positions call the KBA office at 618-432-7133. Winners of KBA Bible and Speakers Tournament Twelve children and three youth won medals in the KBA Bible Drill and three youth won in the KBA Speakers Tournament on April 17 at Carlyle FBC and advanced to the State Level where they also won. Children who participated included: Rochelle Howard, Andrew Howard, Nathan Howard, and Joy Dice from Covenant of Grace Church in Salem; Anna Wheeler, Caleb Wheeler, Aubrie Wheeler, Christyanne Wheeler, T.J. Sutton, and Tyler Sutton from Vandalia FBC; and Emily Chambers and Kyleen Chambers from FBC Carlyle. Youth speakers included: Isaac Howard and Jason Howard from Covenant of Grace; and Nathaniel Wheeler from FBC Vandalia. We wish to extend our congratulations to these young people for a job well done. Page 6 Sun 7 Kaskaskia Baptist Visitor Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 WMU LADIES RETREAT KBA Budget Meeting 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 26 27 KBA Executive Board 7:00 pm 21 22 23 24 28 29 30 31 Kaskaskia Baptist Visitor Page 7 Church News, Prayer Requests and Praises CALVARY — Please be in prayer for our sister church as they seek a new pastor. Please also be in prayer for the church as they continue to work with the new Hispanic mission in Effingham. CARLYLE — Please be in prayer for our sister church as they seek a new pastor. Carlyle will be having their Vacation Bible School June 27-July 1. The church will also have a booth for their upcoming county fair in July. CENTRAL CITY— The church will host their 2005 VBS, “Holy Land Adventure: Jerusalem Marketplace,” beginning Sunday, July 10 and continuing through Thursday, July 14, 6:15 p.m. -8:30 p.m. for children ages 4 through those who have completed 5th grade. A celebration for friends and family will be held on the last evening. Central City Baptist Church recently honored 8th grade (Kristen Hollingsead, Haylea Swartzlander, Bronson Verhines, Rachel Wernsman, Lois Wilson), high school (Curtis Cates, Cristi Cox, Jesse Smith) and college (Sara Nuxoll—Southwest Baptist) graduates. A Young Men’s Sunday School Class for men of approximate ages 25-40 years of age will begin on Sunday, June 12. The class will be led by Richard Rich. EMMANUEL—The Ladies Spring Banquet was attended by 48 women; with guests from California and Indiana and one family with five generations. The theme "Footprints" was carried out with shoes filled with spring flowers and finished with a chalk drawing of Jesus carrying a person across his shoulder. Artist Linda Barthelmey drew with background music of "walking in Jesus' footsteps. Pastor's wives from the area did a sketch, dressed as 'bikers', giving all present some great laughs. Emmanuel collected $400 for their Annie Armstrong and $140 for the 30 pieces of silver offering. ETERNITY — Eternity Baptist Church has celebrated over 20 baptisms since Easter. The church will be hosting a youth Rally on Saturday July 18th at 7 p.m. A worship team from Two Rivers church of St. Louis will provide the music and the pastor from that church will be preaching. All churches and youth groups are invited to attend. On July 18th-22nd the church will be hosting their VBS Ramblin Road Trip from July 18th-22nd. Their youth department has grown in recent months with between 45 to 50 kids attending. From July 13th15th “Champions for Christ,” an evangelistic team from Texas, will be leading a youth revival. From August 19th-21st the Potter’s Puppets, the church puppet ministry, will perform at the Centralia Balloonfest on August 20th and 21st. Starting on September 7th, the church will begin again its Bible Skills, Drills, and Thrills program, a program similar to AWANAS where children learn Scripture and participate in activities. FLORA — A ministry team from Flora participated in the Evangelism Mission Trip to Mexico June 3-10. The church will have its Ramblin Road Trip VBS the week of July 25-29. GLENRIDGE — Be in prayer for our sister church as they seek a new pastor. MARSHALL CREEK—Be in prayer for our sister church as they seek a new pastor. Marshall Creek is putting the finishing touches on their new family life center. The church celebrated three baptisms in May and had their Vacation Bible School June 6th-10th. MULBERRY GROVE—Mulberry Grove will be holding their VBS on the week of July 25-29 with the Lifeway Ramblin Road Trip curriculum. The church will also continue their men’s Bible studies on Monday evenings with a study in the book of Mark. The studies begin at 7:30 p.m. and any man is welcome to attend, even if they attend another church, says Pastor Gary Loeffler. The gospel group, Sons of the Father, will perform at the church morning service on July 3rd at 10:45 a.m. On July 8th, the church will host a movie night with a showing of Spiderman 1 and 2. On July 12th-13th, Mulberry Grove will be sponsoring an Illinois Department of Agriculture camp, “Field to Fork,” where young people learn to cook. It will be held in the church kitchen from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The church will also host a community singspiration with all Mulberry churches participating on July 31st at 6 p.m. SALEM — Salem FBC celebrated Pastor Andy Dewitt’s recent achievement of a Doctorate of Ministry Degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in a service Sunday night, June 5. Recently Salem FBC sent care packages to soldiers serving in Iraq. Packages included food, snacks, socks, drink mixes, stationeries and other items. On June 17-18th Salem FBC will be participating in Relay for Life. The church will host a car wash and will be selling purple bracelets for $3 a piece which say “hope.” FBC Salem will be starting its church softball season on June 4 and will continue throughout the month of June. In other news, several youth from the church will be participating in summer missions. Danette Jones will be leaving on June 17 for 10 days in Honduras. She is teaming up with the Southern Illinois Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Timothy Chapman will be going to Bulgaria July 24-August 9, and Mallory Simmons will be going to Romania from July 27 to August 10. SMITH GROVE — Smith Grove has reported a good inaugural year for Greenville Christian Academy. Supporters of the Academy gathered for a “Soar Like Eagles Banquet” at Greenville College on April 28th. The church is currently enrolling members for the fall. Those interested in attending should call GCA at 618-664-2175. Eleven people from Smith Grove participated in the recent Associational trip to Mexico June 4th through the 11th. Sami Ryan, one of the Smith Grove youth, said the trip was “awesome” in the way that God moved. TEMPLE — On April 10th, Temple celebrated the ordination of Dale Ayers as deacon. On Sunday evening April 17th, youth minister Matt Robbins brought the message preceding the Centralia Community wide Youth Crusade. Paul Vick, a guest evangelist from Texas, led a service on April 20th. There were 235 in attendance and 13 accepted Christ. In a service on April 24th, five were saved and six members rededicated their lives to Christ. The Homecoming Gospel Choir will be at Temple on July 24 at 6 p.m. There will be many featured soloists and groups that will be singing gospel favorites WATSON— The church had a Mother’s Day banquet Saturday, May 7th. In other news, the church also remodeled the pastor’s office, foyer, and the library. Improvements in the foyer included a table, mirror, and light donated in the memory of Kathryn Bales by Leanne and her sisters. A picture was purchased in memory of Mary Ann McCoy. Curry Carpet donated the carpet and tile. Watson had revival services June 1-4 with a potluck that concluded the services held that Saturday. Missionary Kelley Carruthers and Gary Pate preached with Gary Beck leading the music. Page 8 Kaskaskia Baptist Visitor Building Disciples at Kaskaskia Boys Camp “We have been emphasizing that to build something we need a vision, planning and directions. We need to then follow them,” Williams added. “We have been learning much about Noah who also had to follow God’s instructions.” Besides the ten boys participating in youth camp, four young people served on the summer staff. They included: James Bryan, Chris Cobble, Steven Hall, and Kyle Steinman. Many Souls Won to Christ with Associational Evangelism Trip Quenton Wadkins, a nine-year-old member of First Baptist Church of First Baptist Church Patoka, helps assemble picnic a table for the KBA Campgrounds. Ten participants in Boy’s Camp gained valued construction experience as a part of their camp experience June 6-10th. Steve Williams, pastor of St. Elmo Baptist Church, organized the week’s curriculum around the theme: “God Is Still Working On Us.” To help illustrate that theme, he had campers help construct four picnic tables for the campgrounds. “They had to work together,” Williams said. “They had to follow directions. This is the first year the Association has sent an evangelism team to Mexico and as of press time, Wednesday, June 8th, it was reported that 68 souls were won to Christ in the first two days they were down there. The team, consisting mainly of members from Smith Grove and FBC Flora, arrived Sunday, June 5, and began going door to door with translators, Monday, June 6. KBA Evangelism Director Bill Thompson reported the “team was excited about the 68 souls that were won.” More about the trip will be reported in the next Visitor. The deadline for submitting information for the September-October KBA Visitor is Thursday August 4 KASKASKIA YOUTH DIES IN CAR CRASH Jennifer Hall, 18, daughter of Mike and Deborah Hall, died on May 6 from injuries sustained in a car accident occurring west of Springfield, near Berlin, Illinois. Jennifer was born May 30, 1980 in Centralia. She was active in Kaskaskia Baptist Associational camps and participated in Associational mission trips to Mexico. Jennifer was a 2004 graduate of Rushville High School and was attending Hannibal-LaGrange College in Hannibal, MO. She was a member of First Southern Baptist Church, Rushville. Her father Mike Hall, is a former pastor of St. Elmo Baptist Church and presently pastors First SBC Rushville. Her grandparents are members of St. Elmo, Eternity, New Harmony Baptist churches. She leaves behind her parents, Mike and Deborah Hall; brother, Stefan; grandparents, William and Martha Hall, Centralia, and Virgil and Louis Jones, St. Elmo, and her fiancé, Jared Pierce, Sandoval. Jennifer was a great blessing to the Association and all her knew her. On behalf of the Association we wish to extend to her family and friends our most profound heartfelt sympathy and prayers. Kaskaskia Baptist Visitor _____________________ Published by: Non-Profit Organization U. S. Postage Paid Patoka, IL 62875 Permit No. 2 _____________________ 7362 Seven Hills Road Patoka, IL 62875 618-432-7133 kba@kaskaskiabaptist.org
© Copyright 2024