Bascom and Willie Brown WEST AFRICA

Transcription

1 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: January 7 Bascom and Willie Brown WEST AFRICA Please imagine you are going to West Africa as a missionary. Imagine all the things that would be different from your normal language, climate all sorts of things would be different. Now imagine going to West Africa as a missionary to Deaf people! Think how much harder your work would be. That s exactly the work of Bascom Brown and his wife, Willie. They are supported through our Cooperative Program giving, and we want to pray for them today. The two big non-christian religions in West Africa are Spiritism, with witch doctors and evil spirits, and Islam. When a West African comes to faith in Christ, his own family may disown him. Friends will have nothing to do with him. They might beat up or even kill the believer. One day Bascom told a recently converted deaf man that he might face this kind of persecution. The man replied in sign language, I will follow Jesus no matter what happens. Bascom says they need many more believers like that. Today, can we pray for Bascom and Willie and that the Lord will raise up many new believers both Deaf and hearing who will be brave and serve Christ no matter what happens?

2 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: January 14 Ron Shepard SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Today we re going to the Pacific Northwest, specifically Seattle, Washington, where our missionary, Ron Shepard, serves. We support Ron through our Cooperative Program giving. About 4.7 million people live in the Seattle area, and they are some of our country s most highly educated people. More people there hold library cards, percentagewise, than any other city in America. But, sadly, they are not reading the Bible. Ron knows because he has studied the city and helps train church planters in how to serve there. Seattle has fewer than 200 Southern Baptist churches. Many more are needed. People there are friendly but bring up a spiritual topic and often they become skeptical, Ron says. You have to know people a while before they will listen to the gospel, and most will have to hear it presented seven times before they will respond. Despite all this, Southern Baptists have started new churches all over the Seattle area. The work is slow, but it is happening. Ron thinks they will plant another 135 new churches over the next five years. Today, let s pray for Ron Shepard as he serves in Seattle. Let s pray that hundreds of new churches can be started in the years ahead.

3 STATE HIGHLIGHT: January 21 Chau Cil RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA Today we will have a lesson on how international missions has become local missions here in North Carolina. We want to pray for a strong and growing church in Raleigh whose members are Montagnards (mone-tan-yards) from Vietnam. And we especially want to pray for Chau (choe) Cil (seal), the pastor and church planter who we support through our church s Cooperative Program giving. Years ago, the Montagnards were mostly farmers who lived in villages in the highlands of Vietnam. They had their own language and culture. They endured heavy persecution, and thousands were killed during the war when the United States fought the communist government in Vietnam. (The Montagnards sided with the U.S. in the war, by the way.) Many of these people have come to America to live and have been adjusting to a different way of life. One man in the church was a farmer back in Vietnam. Now he works for a printing company. Chau Cil also works at a tech firm in the Research Triangle Park, in addition to his church ministry. Today, let us thank the Lord that this strong new church is doing so well, and let us pray that our missionary, Chau Cil, will stay strong as he leads them to grow in faith and in numbers.

4 SEMINARY HIGHLIGHT: January 28 Eric Gibbs GATEWAY SEMINARY Sometimes God speaks to us through experiences, doesn t He? That s what happened to Eric Gibbs, a young man who went on a week-long missions trip to the Gila O odham (say HEE-lah OOD-um) Nation Reservation in Arizona. Eric knew God was calling him to serve Native Americans there. So he, his wife, Brittany, and their two children packed up and moved to Sacaton, Ariz., a small town of about 1,500 people located southwest of Phoenix. They are serving on the reservation with First Pima (say PEE-mah) Baptist Church and also helping start two new area churches. Eric and Brittany have a fine ministry there in Arizona, but we re going to pray for them because our church has helped support them. First, they went as missionaries through our Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, so they are our missionaries. Second, Eric studied at Gateway Theological Seminary in California. It s one of our six Southern Baptist seminaries. Our church supports both the mission board and the seminary through our Cooperative Program giving. So we have invested in Eric s training, and we have invested in getting this fine young couple to Arizona so they can do what God has called them to do for Him. Let s pray for them now.

5 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: February 4 Joe and Judy Bowman FORT MORGAN, COLORADO We re heading out to the American West today as we pray for two of our missionaries named Joe and Judy Bowman. They have started a new church in Fort Morgan, Colorado, called The Mission. Fort Morgan is a farming community in the flat part of the state, northeast of Denver. Farm and factory work in the area has drawn people from Central America, South America and Somalia. Joe says many people there think they are Christians but have no relationship with Jesus Christ. He loves seeing people begin attending church and growing in their Christian faith. Our church is supporting Joe and Judy in their ministry in Colorado through our Cooperative Program giving. Let s pray now that their church will grow and that many will come to faith in Jesus Christ, becoming growing disciples for Him.

6 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: February 11 Ruth Harrison SOUTHEAST ASIA One of our international missionaries, we ll call her Ruth, serves in a country in Southeast Asia where the work is very slow and dangerous. Many of the people there are fearful because they believe in spirits that try to harm them. They think their lives cannot be changed because the future is already decided. Ruth is our missionary because we support her through our church s Cooperative Program giving. Today let s pray for Ruth as she talks to people in Southeast Asia about the one true God who sent Jesus Christ to free us of such fears and to give us hope for daily living.

7 STATE HIGHLIGHT: February 18 Corey Alley KANNAPOLIS, NORTH CAROLINA Corey Alley served several years as pastor and planter of a new church in Kannapolis, Mission 217, which grew into a successful church. In 2017 Corey left that church with a new pastor and went on to start another new church in nearby Concord, northeast of Charlotte. Our church supported Corey as he started his first church and now we are supporting the new church he is starting all through our Cooperative Program giving. In fact, our church has a hand in planting a new church somewhere in North Carolina just about every week on average, because part of our Cooperative Program giving supports our Baptist State Convention s Church Planting Team who work cooperatively with local churches, associations and others to help get new churches planted. Today, let s pray for Corey and ask the Lord to bless him and his family as they turn to their new assignment!

8 SEMINARY HIGHLIGHT: February 25 Kambiz & Sepideh Saghaey SOUTHEASTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY There was a man in Central Asia named Kambiz Saghaey (say kahm-beez sop-aweee), who once worked to stop a church there from telling people about Jesus, just as Saul did in New Testament times. In fact, for nine months he tried to shut that church up. But the church stood firm. Eventually Kambiz began doubting his Muslim faith. He asked God to show him the truth. A voice told him that Jesus Christ is the truth. In that moment, Kambiz became a follower of Jesus. Now he equips people to share their faith, just as the apostle Paul did. And that church he tried to stop? He became its pastor! Kambiz survived prison and certain death in Central Asia and eventually he and his wife came to the U.S. Now he is studying and serving as coordinator of the Persian Leadership Development program at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina, offering help to Farsi-speakers. Southeastern is one of the six Southern Baptist seminaries we support through our Cooperative Program giving. Today, let s thank God for guiding Kambiz and preserving his life. Let s pray that his ministry to Farsi-speaking people will have results far and wide just as Paul s ministry did!

9 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: March 4 Jacob and Jessica Dahl ELLENSBURG, WASHINGTON Today we re going to pray for two of our collegiate missionaries who serve in Washington State. They are our missionaries because our church supports them through our Cooperative Program giving. Jacob and Jessica Dahl (say like DOLL) serve in Ellensburg, which is a university town less than a two-hour drive southeast of Seattle. Our missionaries are campus ministers who are working to reach the some 12,000 students who study on the 380-acre campus of Central Washington University. It s a big mission field when you consider that only about one in 10 students is a Christian. Washington State needs new churches, but the liberal/secular mindset in the state makes outreach slow. The busiest time for Jacob and Jessica is in the fall when nearly 2,500 new students arrive to start their studies. They go all out to make early contact with the students before they settle into a church-free routine for the year. Let s pray for Jacob and Jessica and their very challenging ministry.

10 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: March 11 Kelly and Brandy Parrish TIMNATH, COLORADO For our missionary prayer time today, we head out West to Timnath, Colorado, which is on the east side of the larger city of Fort Collins. That s where Kelly and Brandy Parrish went to start a new church called Living Rock Church. They moved from home in Texas to a place where they knew nobody. But as they made this big change, they also prayed for God to give them a great love for the new people they would meet in Colorado. The Parrishes come up with lots of ways to get to know the people in Timnath. They have invited people in for southern-style sweet tea and taken people fly fishing. They gave out Bible verses with candy at Halloween. At Easter they held Easter egg hunts. Gradually people are coming to faith in Christ and Living Rock Church is growing, one person and one decision for Christ at a time. We are supporting Kelly and Brandy in their ministry through our church s Cooperative Program giving. Now, let s pray for God to bless them as they serve Him. And let s ask that many will come to faith in Christ.

11 STATE HIGHLIGHT: March 18 Jazz Cathcart ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA We know that Asheville is a beautiful city in the mountains, but it s also a city that needs new churches to reach the many people there with no Christian faith. Today we are going to pray for one of our missionaries in Asheville who we support through our church s Cooperative Program giving. His name is Jazz Cathcart. He and his team have started Reach Life Church. Reach Life meets for worship on Sunday afternoons in a building they rent from another church on Merrimon Avenue in downtown Asheville. The church is reaching hard-to-reach young adults and students, along with older adults. Members also meet in home groups for growth in discipleship, a major focus of the church. They work with a local service group to provide food for homeless people. Let s pray now for Jazz Cathcart and Reach Life. Pray that many in the city will meet Christ and accept Him as Savior through this ministry.

12 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: March 25 Daniel Chung CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Baptists start many new churches and some of us wonder: Do those churches survive? The answer is yes! Most of them do survive and grow. Today we re going to Chicago. It s a big city with big problems. Many older churches have closed over the years, so new churches are desperately needed. One new church is Church of the Beloved; our church s Cooperative Program giving helped start it two years ago. And in 24 months they ve grown to about 400 members with three worship services. Now they have started a second church, and the pastor of that church is who we want to pray for today. His name is Daniel Chung. His parents moved to the United States from South Korea, but Daniel grew up in Maryland and Virginia. Daniel served two years as worship leader and student pastor at Church of the Beloved. Now he leads the new church, Church of the Beloved, Near West, which meets on West Roosevelt Road, not far from Lake Michigan. Daniel is one of many missionaries our church supports in Chicago through our Cooperative Program giving. Let s pray that this new church will also grow quickly and share the gospel with thousands.

13 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: April 1 Omar and Cindy Vargas PEMBROKE PINES, FLORIDA Today we want to pray for one of our North American church planters who is starting a new church in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Now, quick who knows where Pembroke Pines is? Well, it s not nearly as well known as Miami or Fort Lauderdale, but Pembroke Pines is right between these two betterknown places and farther inland from the Atlantic. It s a city of more than 150,000 people and has big problems with drugs, gangs, crime and alcohol abuse. Omar Vargas, our church planter, knew about these kinds of needs in South Florida because this is where he grew up. He says people have many needs but they need the gospel of Christ most of all. Starting a church is only one of Omar s jobs. He also teaches the Bible at a Christian high school. Today, let s pray for Omar, his wife, Cindy, and their family as he stretches his hours and his commitment to start a new church. Our church is supporting him and his ministry through our Cooperative Program giving.

14 STATE HIGHLIGHT: April 8 Barry Matos KANNAPOLIS, NORTH CAROLINA We know there are now many Hispanics living in North Carolina and they are a big missions challenge for our churches. Baptists have started nearly 200 Hispanic Baptist churches, but many more are needed. That brings us to Barry Matos (MATT-ose), our Spanish-speaking missionary we are going to pray for today. Barry has started a thriving Hispanic church in Kannapolis. Our church is a part of this because we help support Barry through our Cooperative Program giving. In English, the name of the church is Disciples of Christ Baptist Church, because discipleship and Christian growth are central to the church s beliefs. He and the members did a lot of work on a storefront building on Cannon Boulevard to convert it to a church building. The building does not have a baptistery, of course, so when they baptize new believers, they heat water in the back, pour it into a portable tank and wheel it into the sanctuary. Many of our new churches use portable baptisteries like this. Today let s pray for Barry Matos and the important ministry he is doing in Kannapolis. Let s pray that this church will grow and start other churches to reach the hundreds of thousands of Hispanics who now call our state home.

15 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: April 15 Wes and Adrienne Walls SEATTLE, WASHINGTON We want to pray for two of our North American missionaries today. Wes and Adrienne Walls have started Dwelling Place Church in Seattle, Washington. We support them through our church s Cooperative Program giving, so of course we want to pray for them. But we also need to pray for them because we have sent Wes and Adrienne to a very difficult place. About 4.7 million people live in the Seattle area and only a small number are Christians. So when Wes and Adrienne start talking to someone, they have to assume two things: that the person does not know anything about Jesus Christ or the Bible and that there s no telling what the person does believe. A while back they talked to a lady working in a coffee shop. She said she wanted to tear down the government and that she was looking to find spiritual enlightenment through Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. They kept talking to her, and one day she agreed to come to a Bible study. Today, let s pray that the Lord will bless Wes and Adrienne with opportunities to share the gospel with people and that their church will grow quickly.

16 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: April 22 Michael Harrington WESTERN EUROPE Our missionaries tell us that Western Europe is one of the hardest places in the world to start churches. Europeans often reject Christianity even if they do not know much about it. It usually takes a long time for a European to come to faith in Christ. Today we re going to pray for Michael Harrington, one of our missionaries who serves in Europe. Our church supports him through the Cooperative Program. Michael said he talked for a long time to a man named Alex, and finally he came to a Bible study. But Alex walked out in the middle of it. Those Christians in that room just could not be for real, he said. But our missionary persisted and got Alex into months-long Bible study. Finally, God s truth began to get through to him. He wrote out hundreds of Bible verses in longhand so he could remember them. Finally, Alex was baptized. Folks, we re happy that this one European came to faith in Christ! But how can we reach hundreds? Thousands? Millions? The first thing we need is more missionaries. Let s pray for Michael as he teaches, coaches and works with people whose minds are closed at least at first.

17 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: April 29 Rick Sharkey CHAPLAIN LOUISIANA Our prayer time today is going to be sort of a lock-in because we want to think about the Louisiana State Penitentiary. With more than 6,000 prisoners and covering 18,000 acres, the Louisiana State Penitentiary is the nation s largest maximum security prison. It is bordered on three sides by the Mississippi River. Most prisoners there have been sentenced to life in prison for terrible crimes. But here s some better news. The prison also has a Baptist church;; prisoners arrive wearing shackles. There s also a Bible college operated by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and, yes, that s one of the six seminaries our church supports through the Cooperative Program. The person in this prison we want to pray for today is one of the Baptist chaplains named Rick Sharkey. He teaches the Bible and disciples the prisoners who become followers of Christ. But he does not preach because he wants the prisoners to do the preaching. We know that Rick s ministry is both very difficult and very rewarding. Rick is one of the more than 3,000 chaplains endorsed by our North American Mission Board, which our church also supports through the Cooperative Program. Let s pray for Rick now.

18 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: May 6 Jason Vance SURPRISE, ARIZONA Today we want to pray for Jason Vance who serves in Surprise, Arizona, which is in the northwestern part of Greater Phoenix. Let me ask you something. What if you were called to start a new church in a place where more than 100 other church planters had tried to start churches and failed just gave up and left? That s exactly Jason s situation. Surprise has grown very rapidly. Today more than 120,000 people live there three times the number there in So there s a big need for churches. But there are only two Southern Baptist churches in town and, besides Jason s, just one other new church being started. For now Jason s church, Valley Life Church, meets in a high school. They have to set up chairs and equipment and then tear it down every Sunday. Despite all this, they are reaching people. A while back they baptized a young woman in her 20s, another young woman in her 30s, and then Mary, who is 72. We support Jason in this challenging place through our Cooperative Program giving. Let s pray for him now. Pray he will succeed in planting a healthy, growing church that will be a source of Living Water in that dry land.

19 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: May 13 Joe and Kim Busching LIMA, PERU We are going to South America today to pray for two of our international missionaries who serve in Peru. Joe and Kim Busching serve in Peru s capital city, Lima (say LEEmah), which has almost 10 million people. They are two of our more than 4,000 missionaries serving overseas, and we support them through our church s Cooperative Program giving. Joe and Kim have been meeting with Baptist leaders in Lima to encourage churches to pray for the neighborhoods around them and do more to bring those neighbors to faith in Christ. Now, many people come to Lima and stay for a while, then return to their home countries. Joe and Kim also want to reach these visitors and send them home with the gospel in their hearts. Today let s pray for Joe and Kim and ask God to bless their ministry. The work they are doing is so important, but it s also incredibly difficult and the numbers of lost people are huge.

20 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: May 20 Anna Wilson and June Borg JAPAN Today we want to pray for Anna Wilson and June Borg, who are two of our missionaries serving in Japan. Our church supports them through the Cooperative Program. Japan has proven to be very resistant to the gospel. Less than one percent of the Japanese people are Christians, though missionaries have been in the country for many years. Let s just think about one incident that helps explain why missions work in Japan is hard. Anna and June were teaching English to Japanese children in their apartment of course they were teaching Bible stories. One day they started the class with a prayer that began, Dear Father in heaven The children immediately began talking among themselves. Did your father die? one child asked Anna. They wondered about this because the Japanese are taught from an early age to pray for their dead ancestors. Today, let s pray for Anna and June. They are serving in a difficult place and the Japanese language is very hard to learn. And let us pray that these children will come to understand their true Father in heaven!

21 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: May 27 Tyler Shields CHAPLAIN KENTUCKY All of us support the fine men and women who serve in our armed forces, and we re glad they have chaplains to support them. Through our church s Cooperative Program giving, we support our North American Mission Board, which endorses several thousand chaplains, including those serving through the U.S. military. Today we want to pray for one of those chaplains. Tyler Shields serves with the Army National Guard. We know the National Guard has been busy in recent years, helping with all the conflicts overseas. As a Guardsman, Tyler spends several days a month in his chaplaincy ministry serving on military bases. And sometimes he serves for weeks at a time. Along with leading worship services and Bible studies, he spends a lot of time just talking to the soldiers. Tyler is often the first to know when there are problems like depression or troubling family situations. He is quick to point people to Jesus Christ with the Bible as the handbook. Tyler also pastors an active and growing church called Rockhouse Baptist Church in Hyden, Kentucky. Can we pray now for Tyler Shields, our Army National Guard chaplain?

22 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: June 3 Barry Kellem BELGRADE, SERBIA Some of us here will remember the terrible war that was fought in Yugoslavia during the 1990s. Thousands died. Barry Kellem is one of our international missionaries who serves in Belgrade, the capital city. We support him and a number of other missionaries there. The war has left many problems in Yugoslavia to this day. Barry says there is a feeling of hopelessness in the city of Belgrade. Another negative factor is the Serbian Orthodox Church, which teaches many things not supported by the Bible. But our missionaries think a sort of revival may be on the way in Belgrade. Two new churches have been planted, and there is a growing group of young believers who are committed to reaching their city for Christ. Today let s pray for Barry and the other missionaries we support as our church gives through the Cooperative Program. Let s ask God to give hope where there is none and spiritual victory that will last longer than the political kind.

23 SEMINARY HIGHLIGHT: June 10 Steve Thompson SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Today we re going to Ecuador, South America, with missionary Steve Thompson to learn about ministry partnerships. In Ecuador you can see hell by looking up. That s because a giant, active volcano called Tungurahua (say tung-goo-gwar-ah-wah) has been spitting out fire and lava since it erupted again in More than 500,000 people live in this mountainous province, and they need to hear the gospel. So Steve has set up a seminary to train the local people for ministry. Steve is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, one of our six seminaries. Southwestern partnered with Steve to train 11 students in the Bible through online classes. These 11 will become the seminary teachers beside the volcano and will train many other students in the years ahead. We support this ministry by supporting Steve s education at Southwestern and now in training the students in Ecuador. And we re supporting Steve as he serves there all through our Cooperative Program giving. Isn t that a wonderful collection of ministry partnerships? You might say people in central Ecuador have already gotten a glimpse of hell. We want them to be saved so they will be spared spending eternity in the real hell!

24 STATE HIGHLIGHT: June 17 Dustin Gillespie TEACHEY, NORTH CAROLINA Drive down Interstate Highway 40 from Raleigh toward Wilmington and on the way you ll pass the town of Wallace. Near Wallace is the Teachey community. Today we want to pray for one of our North Carolina church planters, Dustin Gillespie, who is starting a new church in Teachey. Our church supports this new work through our Cooperative Program giving. The new church is called Redemption Fellowship Church. They have been meeting in one of the schools in the area. This church wants to reach lost people and help them come to know Jesus Christ as Savior, and then develop their faith as His disciples. Redemption is doing this through worship, teaching and small groups, along with contemporary music and informal dress. Today let s pray for Dustin and this new church. Let s ask God to keep it growing.

25 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: June 24 Billy Hurst LATIN AMERICA Just as we need seminaries in North America to train pastors and missionaries, we also need seminaries in other countries. As our missionaries help bring people to faith in Christ and start new churches, they need seminaries to train pastors and others who will lead churches into the future. All this is to explain why we have a missionary like Billy Hurst. Billy works with seminaries across Mexico and down into Central America to Panama. He helps train the seminary teachers and shows them how to stay focused on teaching Bible truths and staying missions-minded. Our church supports him through our Cooperative Program giving. Let s pray for Billy now and ask God to keep him safe during all his traveling and to stay spiritually strong as he works with seminaries that will have a big influence on churches across a big area.

26 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: July 1 Charlie and Diane Brown BALTIMORE, MARYLAND Baltimore, Maryland, has lots of poverty, crime, drugs and all the other problems big cities have. It s a place where the gospel is urgently needed! That s why our church supports two missionaries in East Baltimore through our Cooperative Program giving Charlie and Diane Brown. They started East Baltimore Graffiti Church in Charlie says when you show people you care for them, they become open to hearing the gospel. Charlie and Diane run summer sports camps for kids and give out free food and Bibles at local bus stops. One couple took some hot dogs, because the man was a drug addict; they were broke and homeless. That led them to attend Bible study at the church. Later both were baptized; now they are growing Christians. Folks, aren t we glad to support this ministry? If we can send enough missionaries like the Browns, we can make a difference, even in places like Baltimore. Let s pray for our missionaries, Charlie and Diane, today. Let s pray that God will keep them safe and that He will help heal broken lives through the total healing that only comes through knowing Jesus Christ as Savior.

27 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: July 8 Gregg Fort AFRICA Today we re going to Africa for a special victory celebration with missionary Gregg Fort. Our church supports him through our Cooperative Program giving. Gregg worked with an older man named Sungwa (say SUNG-wah). Sungwa practiced witchcraft until the day he accepted Christ. He threw out all the charms and potions and things he used in witchcraft. But evil spirits came and whispered to him: If you are baptized, you will die! Word got out that the witch doctor would be baptized as a Christian, and a big crowd appeared to see if the spirits would indeed kill Sungwa. Sungwa went bravely into the water and was dipped under. As he came up, he stood silent for a moment. Everyone stared. A big smile spread across Sungwa s face, and he began singing in a loud voice, Praise the Lord! I was bound by the chains of Satan, but I ve been set free! Praise the Lord! Sungwa was celebrating his victory! We Christians know that God will defeat Satan and evil spirits every time. As we pray for Gregg let s also pray that people will experience God s power for themselves as they come in faith to Jesus Christ. Pray the celebrations never stop!

28 STATE HIGHLIGHT: July 15 Mike Pittman PEMBROKE, NORTH CAROLINA For our missionary prayer time today, we go to Pembroke, near Lumberton, which I think we could say is a college town for the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Several years ago, a church planter named Mike Pittman started Vertical Church in Lumberton. At first they met in a movie theater, but later they moved into a nearby school building. Vertical Church grew rapidly, enabling Mike s plan to start other new churches in and around Lumberton to come to life. Now Mike has started a new church in Pembroke, meeting in a student center next door to the office of the Burnt Swamp Baptist Association and right across the street from the university. The new church is called Vertical University. Our own church helped fund Vertical Church and is now giving support to the new church, all through our Cooperative Program giving. J.D. Locklear, a local man, has been named as the new church s pastor. So far, attendance includes mostly students, and the church looks promising. Today let s pray for Mike and J.D. as they work with this new church. Let s ask God to raise up hundreds of church planters who don t want to start just one new church, but rather hundreds of new churches!

29 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: July 22 Jeff and Sheila Brown JACKSON, WYOMING Today we want to pray for two missionaries serving out in cowboy country Wyoming. Jeff and Sheila Brown serve in Jackson, Wyoming. We support them through our church s Cooperative Program giving. We think of the West as an area that welcomes churches, and that is generally true, but not so much in Jackson, a wealthy, liberal and politically correct area. Most people there reject Jesus and Christianity without knowing anything about it. Despite this, people still need Jesus and many there have become Christians. One man had given up on God and was generally bitter and angry with life. He told people he actually hated God. For some reason he began attending Jeff's Bible studies. As he bathed in God's Word, he slowly changed. He was saved and became the first person to join the new Baptist church Jeff and Sheila were starting. Jeff pastors two churches in different towns and also helps a Spanish-language church in Jackson. One of these churches has grown big enough to need a building. Today let s pray for God to bless Jeff and Sheila. And while we re at it, let's ask God to make it possible for them to have a new building. We're thankful they need it!

30 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: July 29 Shaun and Monica Stotyn BURLINGTON, VERMONT Today we want to pray for Shaun and Monica Stotyn, who are missionaries in Vermont with a double challenge. First, Vermont is one of our nation s least Christian states. Second, they are ministering to college students in several schools in and near Burlington. Our church supports their work through our Cooperative Program giving. Shaun s Vine Campus Ministry, as he calls it, tries to bring students to faith in Christ and then to disciple them toward deeper faith and commitment. He works with the University of Vermont and Champlain College in Burlington and St. Michael s College in nearby Colchester. Shaun tries to get students into small groups so they can concentrate together on learning about and following Jesus Christ. Shaun says the most rewarding part of his ministry is seeing the eyes of students light up when they finally get it about Jesus. Once that happens, he says he begins to see their lives change as well. Today let s pray for thousands of college students to come to a growing faith in Christ, so they in turn can lead many others across Vermont to faith as well. Let s also pray for the well-being of Shaun, Monica and their two young children.

31 STATE HIGHLIGHT: August 5 Scott Reid WINSTON-SALEM/THOMASVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA Today we re going to head out of Winston-Salem through a rural area with horse farms, and we re going to stop in front of one of those barns and go to church there. This was one of the early places Scott Reid had his new Home Church meeting in a barn behind his house that had been turned into a combination den and study, with rough-cut boards and bare-bulb lights. With his long beard, Scott looks right at home preaching in a barn. But this is not the final meeting place for Home Church. They plan to move into a storefront building in downtown Thomasville. It will include a meeting space for Sunday worship, but it will also have a coffee shop in the front, so that the general public can stop in for an espresso or a double whip latté and possibly hear the gospel as well. Scott and his group are willing to try about anything that will help people hear and respond to the gospel of Christ. Aren t we glad that our church is supporting this new ministry through our Cooperative Program giving! Let s pray for Scott and Home Church now.

32 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: August 12 Timothy and Rebecca Braden AFRICA We are going to Africa today to pray for one of our missionary families. Timothy and Rebecca Braden have moved with their three children into an area where people practice folk Islam or else they believe in witchcraft and that spirits are everywhere. The people are fearful because they think the spirits want to hurt them. They often perform ceremonies they think will keep the spirits away. Every day Timothy and Rebecca hear guns fired or the beating of drums which are part of these ceremonies. At this point there are just two Christian believers in their area just two! Our church s Cooperative Program giving is supporting the Braden family there in Africa. They are in a hard place where spiritual warfare is being waged in ways we cannot imagine. But they say God is being faithful to sustain them in this sin-darkened area where they serve. Can we pray for them now and ask God to keep them safe, to give them opportunities to share the good news and to bring many new believers into this area?

33 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: August 19 Dan and Amanda Coleman KENNEBEC, MAINE Dan and Amanda Coleman are two of our missionaries serving way up in cold Kennebec, Maine. We can say it s a cold place because of the long winters. Generally speaking, people there are cold to the gospel as well. Both Dan and Amanda are native to New England, though, so they know how people there think. They also know how to live through the long, cold winters. But the biggest challenge is how to get to know people well enough so the gospel can be shared. One answer they have found is sports camps for children. They work with hundreds of kids in sports. That has given Dan and Amanda opportunities to talk with parents. Some of these parents have already joined their Kennebec Community Church and been baptized. We are supporting the Colemans and helping them do their ministry in Maine through our church s Cooperative Program giving. Let s pray today for them and be thankful that God knows how to call the right people to the places He wants the gospel shared!

34 SEMINARY HIGHLIGHT: August 26 Freddy Sinarahua SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Freddy Sinarahua (say seen-ah-rah-wah) was a semi-professional skateboarder in Peru. When he wasn t on a skateboard, he partied. That was his life. Then Freddy met Jesus, who had big plans for him. Freddy became a translator for Southern Baptist missionaries serving there in Peru. Then the Lord called Freddy to minister to people in Syria. Yes that Syria in the Middle East the one where war has been so bad and so many thousands have been killed. To prepare for ministry, Freddy enrolled in The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in Louisville, Ky. SBTS is one of the six Southern Baptist seminaries supported through the Cooperative Program (CP). CP support helps lower tuition costs. Freddy s work has moved outside the classroom to the 7,000 Syrians who live in Louisville. He meets with many of them in local parks, teaching English and telling them about Jesus. They in turn teach him Arabic, which he will need when he gets to Syria. Let s pray for Freddy as we thank the Lord for turning a skateboarder in Peru into a missionary in Kentucky and Syria. Let s also pray that many Syrians will come to faith in Jesus Christ, whether here or there.

35 STATE HIGHLIGHT: September 2 Victor Oses CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA Today we are going to pray for one of our many Hispanic church planters here in North Carolina. His name is Victor Oses (oh-sayse), and he is planting a new church in Concord, which is northeast of Charlotte. If you have passed by or shopped at the big Concord Mills Mall on Interstate Highway 85, you know where we re talking about. Victor speaks excellent English, but of course he also speaks Spanish. He talks to people in Spanish every day because there are thousands of Spanish speakers living in this area. In fact, about 12 percent of the population of Cabarrus County is now Hispanic. When you hear that kind of number, you can easily see why we need hundreds of new Baptist churches for the many Hispanics who now live in North Carolina. Victor is helping meet this great need, and we thank the Lord for the great ministry he is doing. His church, known as Concord Baptist Spanish Church, meets in a room of Concord Baptist Church on Saturday evenings. We are supporting Victor in this work through our Cooperative Program giving. He is our missionary. Can we pray for him now?

36 STATE HIGHLIGHT: September 9 Brian Norris CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte is our state s largest city and a big missions challenge. Even though there are many fine churches there, many more are needed to reach the thousands of people who are not in any church. Today we want to pray for one of our missionaries, Brian Norris, who is starting a new church in Charlotte. He and his team started Citylight Church, and they meet in an office park just off Independence Boulevard, southeast of downtown. This is a great location because it is near one of the pockets of lostness, which is an area identified as having a large concentration of unchurched people. Brian says they do not plan to stop with one church they want to start many churches. Today let s pray for our missionary Brian Norris, who we support through our church s Cooperative Program giving.

37 STATE HIGHLIGHT: September 16 Noel De Asis DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA As we come to our prayer time today, we want to pray for one of our Asian missionaries whose name is Noel De Asis (dae-ah-seese). Noel is from the Philippines. He has started a new church called LifeZone Fellowship in Durham, but he has also started churches in several other cities. We need new Asian churches all over North Carolina because there is a large Asian population living here now. Did you know our Baptist state convention is working with people from more than 60 different Asian nations? When Asians first come here, they often speak little English. But their kids start attending school and soon they speak only English, or sometimes better English than their native Asian language. These are the young people Noel is trying to reach through the churches he starts kids who speak English but are still part of an Asian family, causing them to have different needs than other people. Our church has helped support Noel in his church-planting ministry because part of the money our church gives through the Cooperative Program helps support more than 125 church-planting missionaries here in North Carolina. Let s pray for Noel, our missionary, now.

38 STATE HIGHLIGHT: September 23 Gerald Baldwin NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA Today we re going over to coastal North Carolina, to the place where Pepsi-Cola was born the city of New Bern. That s also where a new Baptist church has been born and the church planter, Gerald Baldwin, is one of our missionaries we support through the Cooperative Program. There are other churches in town, but Gerald says he and his members are reaching out to the people who are not in any church. He says he wants to give people a new vision of God in their lives. He calls this multiethnic church New Vision. If you visit, you ll find this new church has a nice, traditional church building, which is unusual for new churches. New Vision was able to move into a church building downtown that was left when another church closed. So today we re going to pray for our missionary, Gerald, and that hundreds of people will get a new vision of God as the church grows.

39 STATE HIGHLIGHT: September 30 Tom Gore SUNSET BEACH, NORTH CAROLINA If you like seafood, listen up, because today we re going down to Calabash on the coast of North Carolina and just a few miles from the border of South Carolina. That s where Tom Gore and his team of helpers have started a new church called River of Life Church. It actually has a Sunset Beach address, but the church is located on some 40 acres of land alongside U.S. Highway 17. The church began in a Sunset Beach community center, but when someone later gave the church land along the highway, they started a new building. Teams of volunteers with North Carolina Baptist Men came from all over to help with the construction and saved the church a ton of money. Now it looks like that new building will be filled with people pretty soon because the church has grown steadily. Our church has had a hand in this new church through our Cooperative Program giving. Now, can we praise the Lord for His blessings on Tom and on River of Life Church and let s pray that the growth continues!

40 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: October 7 Nikki Kirby PICAYUNE, MISSISSIPPI Today we want to pray for one of our missionaries who has an interesting ministry. Keep in mind our church supports her work through our Cooperative Program giving. Nikki Kirby lives in Mississippi, but she travels all over the United States to lead Lay Renewal events. Lay Renewal ministry aims to revive a church by ministering directly to the laity;; it is often a weekend event. The goal is for lay people in the church to become more focused on God s leadership and more involved in ministering for Him. A whole team of lay people will visit a church, sharing their testimonies about how they are serving in the church. Churches who sponsor a Lay Renewal weekend usually become more energized toward service and involvement in kingdom-focused ministries. Nikki often leads teams on renewal weekends in faith-based drug and alcohol rehab centers around the country. They have seen lives restored because of God s grace. Let s pray for Nikki and the many who work in Lay Renewal ministry. North America s need for the gospel is so great that we need all our churches active and figuring out how to serve Jesus more.

41 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: October 14 Jonathan Todd BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND More than a million people live in Birmingham, England. It s England s second largest city after London. But listen to this: Almost half of all those people are younger than 30, and they need to hear and respond to the gospel of Christ. Jonathan Todd, our missionary for today, has stepped up to the task. God has enabled Jonathan to do some remarkable things in Birmingham. For example, he has been able to speak at a number of high school assemblies, presenting the gospel to students and teachers alike. One school was in a community that is predominantly Muslim, yet Jonathan was able to give New Testaments to 48 students. The principal of another school agreed to start an after-school Christian club because of the gospel presentation Jonathan made. Part of the money our church gives through the Cooperative Program goes to support Jonathan in this wonderful ministry there in England. Since he is our missionary, can we pray for him now?

42 STATE HIGHLIGHT: October 21 Spence Shelton MATTHEWS, NORTH CAROLINA Today our prayer time is sort of a praise time. We re going to pray for Spence Shelton. He and his wife, Courtney, along with a team of volunteers started Mercy Church in Matthews in A short time later, Mercy Church is averaging several hundred people attending on Sunday. More than 650 people came to Easter services last year. We thank the Lord for this growth! Spence is partnering both with North Carolina Baptists and with The Summit Church in Durham he was a pastor with Summit before starting Mercy Church. They re also partnering with our church, because we re helping support this new church through our Cooperative Program giving. They have home groups that focus on community and discipleship and ministry teams involved in the local community. For now, Mercy Church meets in a Jewish community center in Matthews, just off the Matthews Township Parkway and near a major shopping area. Their address says Matthews, but for us outsiders, Matthews is part of Greater Charlotte. Let s pray now for Spence, Courtney and their four young children and for all the folks helping get this new church up and going.

43 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: October 28 Darryl and Veronica Brunson LIVINGSTON, MONTANA Montana is a beautiful state filled with mountains, rivers and wildlife. But only one in 10 people in the state know Jesus, so most people there don t praise God for Montana s beauty. Today we want to pray for Darryl and Veronica Brunson, two of our North American missionaries, who moved to Livingston, Montana, to start a new church. Our church is supporting them through our Cooperative Program giving. Before actually launching the church plant, Darryl and Veronica started by getting to know the town and its needs. They serve with two local food ministries, and they try to meet people around town every day. They re even going to work part time so they can get to know more people. Let s pray that God will bless the Brunsons as they serve Him there in Montana and grant that a strong new church will grow. Let s pray that through the Brunsons thousands of people will come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and understand that the beauty around them in Montana came straight from Almighty God.

44 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: November 4 Cody and Carla Ridge DEAF PEOPLES We want everyone to hear the gospel, but what about Deaf people? How can they hear? Today we are going to pray for two missionaries, Cody and Carla Ridge, who share the gospel through sign language. They work with Deaf people. There are millions of Deaf people around the world and for years now we have sent missionaries to share the gospel with them. We support them through our church s Cooperative Program giving. There are different kinds of sign language overseas, just as there are different spoken languages. Amita (say ah-meet-ah) was a deaf woman Cody and Carla knew who came to faith in Christ. She went to a meeting of deaf women and signed to them about her new faith. The women reacted harshly. They grew angry and actually attacked Amita. When Carla talked to her, Amita was still hurt and was weeping. Carla told her about how Jesus was beaten before He was taken to the cross to die. Amita signed that she was going to stay with her new faith. Today can we pray for Cody and Carla, our missionaries who have a special ministry of sharing the gospel with the Deaf.

45 MISSIONARY HIGHLIGHT: November 11 David and Kathy Britton PUEBLO, COLORADO What comes to mind when you hear someone talking about Colorado? Snow skiing? The Rocky Mountains? Cowboys? Well, all of those are in Colorado, but this morning think of it as a mission field where people need to hear the gospel. Today we re going to pray for David and Kathy Britton who serve in and around Pueblo, Colorado. They work with the Royal Gorge Baptist Association, which has 23 churches, most of them small. The Brittons help figure out how the members of those churches can get out of their buildings and share the gospel. They have come up with all sorts of events for that. One is a big barbecue they call the Beast Feast. They recruited volunteers to set up a baby changing station at the Colorado State Fair, so Baptist folks could share the gospel with young families. They help set up programs to tutor kids in school and help people distribute witnessing horseshoes at rodeos which are often held in Colorado. David and Kathy are self-funded missionaries sent to Colorado by our North American Mission Board. Though self-funded, Cooperative Program giving helped make the arrangements for them to serve in Colorado. Let s pray for them now.