Table of Contents Vision Statement Director s Report Revolving Loan Fund Charts & Graphs Missionary Danny Bartlett Missionary Phillip Burns Missionary Sidney Farmer Missionary Bob Burch Missionary Bobby Elliott Missionary Wesley Martin Missionary Kenneth Pollock Missionary Anders Lee Coordinator Ed DuVall Missionary James Cook 1 3 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 18 i
Vision and Mission Statement www.bmams.org Baptist Missionary Association of Mississippi Missions and RLF Department I. Vision Statement: In partnership with churches and local associations, we will seek to plant 7 (or more) churches each year for twenty years through any biblical means possible. II. Mission Statement: Inspire, encourage, motivate and support the planting/reproduction of churches. III. Principles: 1. Mandate: The Word of God 2. Message: The Gospel 3. Method: Preaching 4. Means: The Church IV. Precepts: 1. Responsibility: Churches plant churches. 2. Activity: The Director of Missions will process, present and prepare each missionary candidate. 3. Accountability: Each missionary will report directly to the Director of Missions. 4. Longevity: Usually five years but may vary. V. Process: 1. Spirit It is extremely important that the Spirit of God direct every aspect of what we do. To this end, much prayer is needed. Initiation may be constituted by the man or the local church but in either case, it must find its roots in the direct catalytic source, i.e. the Holy Spirit! 2. Sword Each missionary will undergo an initial preparation time which shall include: o Determination of Biblical and Doctrinal Soundness o Evaluation of Personal Skills (Preaching, Personal Soul Winning, Personal Discipleship) 3. Site The missionary will conduct site research and preparation, and develop a written plan for deployment 1
4. Support The missionary will be supported directly through offerings received by the churches. All funds will be processed through the Missions Department accounting system. Church Planting Essentials Sometimes the Holy Spirit will speak directly to the heart of a man and place a burden on his heart for the work of missions. Sometimes the Holy Spirit moves in a congregation and a passion to reproduce the church is born. Sometimes the Holy Spirit draws a person, congregation or a group of churches to take interest in a specific site or location. Sometimes, an offering is given from the heart of a church, local association or person that becomes the catalyst for prayer and missions awareness. The Holy Spirit can use a variety of ways to initiate the missions/church planting process but to constitute a mission project, the following things must be in common in every case: THE LOCAL CHURCH A church, which has the sole authority for sending, led by God, must see a need. They must be willing to sponsor a person who will be called a missionary. That missionary must be a member of that church. The church must vote to endorse the missionary, thus giving him the authority to do missions work. The church must vote to initiate a new church in the area determined to be the mission field. The church must be willing to pray (as much as possible), participate (however possible), promote (as often as possible), provide support (as providentially, as possible), and protect (as prudently, as possible), the missionary and mission congregation. THE ASSOCIATION The association works with churches to select a potential area for a church plant; to assess and interview a missionary candidate; to train, prepare and supervise the missionary before and while on the field, on behalf of the sponsoring church and the association; to raise funds to help support the financial needs of the missionary and his work. THE MAN The church planter will be accountable to the association through the Missions Director. The church planter will be in a collegial relationship to other churches in the association, but his primary accountability will be to the Director of Missions and his primary responsibility will be to his sponsoring church. 2
Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) 2 Cor 9:10a Larry Geraldson Director God has blessed us with another good year. He has multiplied our efforts even more than we could ever imagine. Today, I begin my 6 th year as your Director and I am as excited today, as I was, the first day I stepped into the position. I am delighted to begin my report by telling you that three new church plants were begun this past year. I see new prospects on the horizon and I believe we will see new mission projects begun in the upcoming year. I am in the process of talking with a couple of men about the possibility of serving as State Missionaries. We are presently supporting (directly or indirectly) 20 men who are engaged in missionary activity. These men have engaged 3640 new people, and they shared the gospel 2069 times. Over 194 of those people professed faith in Jesus Christ and became followers of Him. Forty-four (44) of them have been baptized and 92 joined by letter. Efforts are being made to train these people so that they can join the ranks of those who are living out their faith in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. BMA of Mississippi Churches When missions activity begins, there is generally a strong emphasis on evangelism and discipleship. As this activity continues, the demand for facilities becomes paramount, as the newly formed congregation begins to meet for corporate worship and service on a regular basis. Typically, they will acquire temporary facilities. In time, the need to acquire land and build a more permanent meeting facility arises. This past year we were able, with the support of the Revolving Loan Fund, to purchase property for Grace Baptist Mission in Clinton, build a phase II addition for Caledonia Baptist Mission in Caledonia, purchase land for Central in Southaven, purchase property near 3
Batesville for Midway Baptist Mission and purchase property in Oxford for the Way, Truth and Life Hispanic Mission. In the upcoming year, we expect to see the phase II addition at Caledonia completed, and building projects begun at Southaven and Clinton. We also hope to purchase property for Day Star in Sumrall. Our 2017 Missions and Evangelism Conference will be held on April 22 nd at Caledonia Baptist Mission in Caledonia, MS. We continue to work hard to improve efficiency. This past year we improved our efficiency from 84/16 the previous year to 87/13 this year. This means when we take measure of all our expenditures, $.87 on every dollar we received for State Missions was expensed directly to the missionaries. My goal remains 90/10 and I continue to work to achieve that goal. Our 2016 annual audit is complete and Missions ended the year in the black for the 5 th year in a row, and our Auditors gave us an, Unmodified Opinion. I am very thankful for our local associations. Our partnerships are critical to the ongoing work of missions throughout the State. In the absence of Bro. Lee, I spent a lot of time working Revolving Loan Fund issues this past year. The fund has grown to record heights and I am excited that we have added, to our team, Bro. Vernon Newman as the new Revolving Loan Fund Manager. Bro. Newman will be sharing a more detailed report concerning the Revolving Loan Fund in his separate report. I want to express my appreciation to the people who served on our Missionary Committee, led by Chairman Dennis Knight and our Revolving Loan Fund Trustees, led by Chairman Kenneth Lott, this past year. Thank you for all the time and attention that you give to our work. I want to recognize and express my Special Thanks to Bro. Dennis Rankin and his wife Sylvia for spending countless hours helping us finish a project that was yet incomplete when I arrived at the Missions office. I also want to say Thank You to Ms Kim Parker, our Office Manager. She is a jewel! We could not do what we do without her. She and I have worked together for 5 years now and I think it is time for me to express my appreciation in this special way. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as your Director and I covet your prayers as we face the challenges of the upcoming year. Prayerfully Submitted, Larry Geraldson Director of Missions and RLF Baptist Missionary Association of Mississippi 4
I continue to be excited about how God is using His Churches, the Local Associations, and the State Association of churches in growing His ministry throughout Mississippi. Through the continued evidence of trust that our depositors have shown in the RLF, we have been able to put the fund to work to grow God s kingdom. Further, the trust shown by our churches through applying for loan to build facilities as their local congregations grow has been deeply appreciated. Vernon Newman, Revolving Loan Fund Manager The RLF has been able to show growth over the past year and that has allowed us to continue to offer good rates to our depositors: 2.17%. With the deposits staying strong, we are able to offer good rates to our borrowers: 4.25% to BMA of MS churches. As the RLF has closed out the 2016 fiscal year, our annual audit has been completed very successfully and the findings has been worded as An Unqualified Opinion ; the highest audit opinion that can be received (a copy of the audit is available upon request). Likewise, their comments on the RLF s Management Practices are most complementary. PLACE CHARTS HERE Bottom Line, All of these figures represents a strong RLF financial position for which we give God all the glory and praise. Bro Larry Geraldson has done an outstanding job over the past year in the absence of a RLF Manager. Bro Lee s retirement left a void in the office that literally took a year to overcome. I have been able to talk with Bro Lee on numerous occasions and he continues to be a positive influence on your RLF. Your RLF Trustees have been very active and involved this year. I thank them for their selfless service to this work of the BMA of MS. Their willingness to serve coupled with their dedication to the churches of the BMA of MS has further developed the trust across our work. God bless you during the remainder of this annual meeting and we continue to pray for God s guidance and blessings on the efforts of the RLF. In His service, VERNON L. NEWMAN 5
6
Grace Baptist Mission Sponsored by Wilderness Baptist Church, Vicksburg 2016 Annual Report Danny & Brenda Bartlett Danny Bartlett grew up in Poplarville, MS and was saved at age 13 at College Heights Baptist Church. He surrendered to the ministry shortly after he was saved. He graduated from Southeastern Baptist College in 1979. He graduated from the BMA Theological Seminary in 1984. He has pastored BMA churches in Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana. He has been married to his wife, Brenda, for 40 years. They have two grown daughters; Rebecca and Ashley and three grandchildren. The Lord continues to smile on us at Grace Baptist Mission in Clinton. We are very grateful to the Lord for the many blessings He gave us this past year. My main focus of ministry continues to be the preaching and teaching of God s Word. This past year has been a good one for us. I am so thankful to the Lord for His faithfulness to us! My Vision: That we would keep the main thing the Main Thing to win people to Jesus Christ and help them grow in the Lord. My Plans: That we would conduct evangelism training during the year and from that training engage in community outreach efforts. That we would also use connecting events, one day VBS, and possibly a one day Sports Camp, to help reach people in our community for the Lord. That we would begin construction on our building, hopefully, this year or by the Spring of 2017. Results for 2015-2016: In October, the Lord added another family to our church. In November, the mission began supporting 1/3 of my salary and has been faithful to continue with this. Also in November and continuing through March of 2016, we were busy presenting our building site plans to the City of Clinton for their approval. We received approval from the City of Clinton for our site plans on March 1 st Amen! The month of April was bittersweet due to the death of Bro. Ed Waddell, a very faithful and godly member. But, great joy was given from the Lord on April 15 th when we closed on the purchase of our land Amen! On May 22 nd, we had our afternoon service on our new property and placed our Future Home of Grace Baptist Church sign there. There were a number of members and pastors from the local Capitol Association there, as well. In June, we had our Father s Day cookout at our church. We had a good response for this event, as well as, first time visitors on Father s Day. On July 16 th, our first VBS was conducted by some GMA girls from Shiloh Baptist Church of Mt. Olive, MS, along with some GMA girls from nearby churches. We had youth from our church and visitors from the community to attend. It was a great day! On August 25 th, we took part in Back to the Bricks, a block party for students at Mississippi College. Many students stopped by our table and received information about our mission and purpose in Clinton. Since then, we have had a number of new students to visit us at Grace. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve as your missionary to Grace Baptist in Clinton. Danny Bartlett 7
Day Star Baptist Mission, Sumrall, MS Sponsored by First Baptist Church of Bay Springs 2016 Annual Report Phillip & Dawn Burns Bro. Burns has a BA in Christian Education from New Orleans Theological Seminary. Bro Burns has served on staff at First Baptist Bay Springs for 11 years. Bro Burns and his wife, Dawn have two girls, Makayla and Hope. My family and I have been in Sumrall for three years, and the Lord has truly blessed us in many ways. The Lord who is my helper and guide has been faithful to us. Thanks again for the opportunity for another year to serve as your state missionary to Sumrall, Mississippi. The events that we have participated in this past year were the Christmas Festival, the Fall Festival, and the Fourth of July Festival. Through these events, we have been able to make our presence known and share the gospel with others in the community. We were able to have VBS again this year thanks to MT. Carmel Baptist Church s parents and youth. I have also continued to go out weekly, sharing the gospel and contacting new people in the area. We also had a Christmas Open House, a Family Day, and a Thanksgiving dinner as connect events. The Lord has blessed me with three men who have faithfully been going through a one-on-one discipleship study. I have two of these men who have gone out to make visits with me. They are also learning how to share the gospel with others. My wife has one lady that she has been leading through this study, as well. The attendance and giving have both continued to increase throughout this past year. The plans for the upcoming year are to continue our planned events and be more intentional with equipping others in the church to share the gospel with people they come in contact with at the festivals or outreach events that the church plans. We are also praying God will bless these individuals who have completed the discipleship study to be where they can disciple others, as well. We are planning a temporary Sunday night study on prayer by kick-starting this event off with the movie, War Room. After the first of the year, Dawn and I plan to offer a Bible study on money management to the individuals who would be interested. We pray for an increase in membership and having families who are willing to open up their homes for temporary Bible Studies. We are diligently seeking property and prayerful for God s provision before the close of this year. We have been blessed to have had two professions of faith and one baptism this year. It has been exciting to watch these two individuals grow in the Lord. In His Service, Bro. Phillip Burns 8
South Forrest Baptist Mission, Hattiesburg, MS Sponsored by Paramount Baptist Church 2016 Annual Report Bro. Sidney Farmer was saved in 1978 and surrendered to the ministry in 1997. He has pastored three churches: two in Mississippi and one in Alabama. Sidney accepted the call to the mission field in March 2012. He has been married to Becky Farmer since 1987. They have three sons: Austin, Dexter, and Kyle. It has been a busy year here at South Forrest. In May, we hosted the Missions and Evangelistic Conference. In June, we partnered with BMATS to provide EE training to 30 people from several churches. This is an event that we hope to be able to make available annually. Sidney and Becky Farmer In July, we held our first week-long VBS. One significant accomplishment to note is that, with the exception of my family, none of the people had any previous experience in a week-long VBS. With proper training and their commitment, they not only pulled it off, but were very competent in doing so. Over the course of this year we have had representatives from various national departments of the BMA of America so that the people at South Forrest are not only familiar with each department, but also involved with them. As you well know, South Forrest is committed to discipleship, and we continue to provide discipleship training to both the people here and people from other churches, as well. In fact, due to this commitment, South Forrest has been blessed to see approximately 35 people from 9 different churches receive discipleship training. God has positioned this work to be an equipping center to train people to become more effective disciples and disciple makers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is not only exciting to see happen but is also very valuable to the BMA! Looking forward, we will soon be organizing into a New Testament church and hope to be able to become an even greater asset to the community, the BMA, and mostly to our Heavenly Father. It has been an honor for me to serve as a church planter for the BMA of Mississippi and I look forward to continuing to contribute to missions in any way that the Lord allows me to. In His Service, Sidney Farmer 9
Caledonia Baptist Mission, Caledonia, MS Sponsored by East Fulton Baptist Church, Fulton 2016 Annual Report Motto: Serve God, Love People Bob and Edie Burch Bob Burch is from South Mississippi, was saved in 1970 and surrendered to the gospel ministry in 1987. He attended college at Southeastern Baptist College in Laurel, Mississippi and completed his PhD from Andersonville Seminary in Georgia. He pastored churches in Mississippi for the past 20 years before surrendering to missions in January 2012. He is a church planting missionary with the Baptist Missionary Association of Mississippi in Caledonia, Mississippi. He has two sons: Robert, who is married to Brooke, and Justin. He and his wife of 34 years, Edie, have 4 grandchildren, Hunter, Ryder, Clay & Carson. The Past: The Lord moved us to Caledonia, MS in March of 2012, and our journey of faith began on the mission field. We did not know a person when we arrived here and started knocking on doors and introducing ourselves as a new pastor and church in the area. We, along the way, purchased 3.8 acres with a church building (not completed), and a trailer. My wife (Edie) and son (Justin) were with me when we first started the mission. They helped me in every part of the ministry. We started by having our worship services in the trailer and when the sanctuary was finished, we moved into it. During this time two families started coming to the mission, the Windles and the Coopers, who are still with us, today. On the 18 November 2012 we had our opening of the new sanctuary and invited the Tombigbee Association to be with us. There were 89 in attendance and the message was Starting from Scratch. It was a wonderful time and the Mission was now on its way. The Present: We now have a membership of 68 and a morning attendance in worship of about 100 every week. God has blessed in so many areas. Our Sunday School is staying around 35 at the present time and mid-week about the same. But now we are being blessed with a new fellowship hall and six new classrooms. We have an addition of about 4800 square feet that will help us move forward in our Sunday School and Mid-week services. We hope to have this completed by the Thanksgiving holiday. We do have a women s group called Far above Rubies ; a men s group also has been gathering for a brotherhood. With the new classrooms we will be able to develop a more stable Sunday school environment. Pray for growth in this area. We have grown in spirit and in numbers. The Future: The people need a vision. We have and are still growing in a lot of areas at this time. We are praying that God will send a family that we can start praying for and growing in the area of starting a church plant in our area. Caledonia Baptist desires to be a mother church and wants to be fully involved in missions on the state level. We desire to be a part of God s work and see His kingdom grow. Bro Bob Burch 1 Thess: 5:24 Faithful is He that calleth you and He will also do it. 10
Freedom Baptist Mission Sponsored by: Forked Oak Baptist Church 2016 Annual report Brother Elliot surrendered to the ministry in 1980 at Calvary Baptist Church in Burnsville, Ms. He was ordained in 1981. He attended Southwest Baptist Institute, where he also taught for 3 years, and received a Master s degree in Bible Languages. He has pastored churches in both Mississippi and Tennessee for the last 40 years. Brother Elliott and his wife of 41 years have one daughter Jodi, sonin-law Bryan and two granddaughters Lauren and Katie. Bobby and Lesa Elliott Another year has come and gone and the Lord is still taking care of us. The mission is coming along great with a little help needed in some areas. Our attendance is holding in the high forties. We have had several deaths and two families have moved from the area. This has hurt our offerings and our attendance. Pray for us as we work to get both built back up. We had another great camp at Yellow Creek Camp in Hodges, Ala. We had 6 saved with 37 in attendance. I thank God for the workers that take their vacation time to help teach and to go camp with us. Without them we would not be able to have the success that we do. VBS was even bigger and better this year with an average of 40! We were tickled to death. We had one saved! Praise the Lord!! It was hot for sure, but it was an awesome time. Our visitation teams are still going out and witnessing. There are so many people that do not seem to care about God it sometimes gets discouraging but they still go on. We are praying for five good families to join us. We had a great gift of a van given to us from First Baptist in Mantachie. We are using this vehicle. It is so appreciated. Our youth department is truly blessed with this. Thanks to First Baptist. Our Drama Team has been asked to visit several churches and perform their skits so now we can travel together. Pray for these young people. They work hard to get these skits together and do a wonderful job. We are in need of a better parking lot. We would like to be able to pave but we need the funds to be able to do so. We are looking into ways of being able to get this going. Prayers please. The ladies are working on several projects at this time. They have started a food pantry for needy families. Mrs. Laura and Mrs. Mandy served five families last month. We take donations and a couple of area stores are helping us out. We get to serve and witness at the same time. Pray for us as we continue to serve the Lord in Burnsville. We have so much to look forward to and so little time to accomplish all that we would like to see done. But we serve an awesome God who is in control. Thank all of you for your wonderful support and prayers for us at Freedom Mission. Without you we wouldn't be where we are today. May God bless you all. In His Service, Bobby Elliott 11
Redemption Baptist Mission, Diamondhead, MS Sponsored by Campground Baptist Church 2016 Annual Report Bro. Wesley Martin grew up on the Gulf Coast where he attended Campground Baptist Church. In 2004, he was saved and in February 2008 he surrendered to the gospel ministry and was licensed by Campground Baptist Church. He was ordained in 2013 and served as Associate Pastor at Campground until January 2015. He is currently working toward his Bachelor s degree at Southeastern Baptist College. In 2012, he married his wife, Holley, and they have three sons, Lawson, Greyson and Hudson. Wesley & Holley Martin As I look back on the last year of ministry in Diamondhead, I am reminded of the blessings that God has shown us and the work that he has done. There have been ups and downs along the way, but that s just life, isn t it? God has grown His church in Diamondhead and the people inside of it. I am just glad to be a part of what He is doing. Our Sunday morning attendance has averaged in the mid 30 s for the majority of the year. Many people who began with us last year are still involved in the ministry and have begun to serve even more. I am thankful for new families that the Lord has sent to be a part of the church. I am seeing the members of the mission excited about what God is doing. Because they are excited they are inviting their friends to come be a part of it, as well. This has given us new families visiting frequently with several of them getting connected with us. We started our small group Bible study last October. Because of a lack of educational space in our building, these groups are our main discipleship and Bible study time as a church. We started with two groups meeting at two separate homes. Our small groups have now grown to three groups, and with the addition of a new family we will begin making plans to start our fourth group. This is the first ministry people are encouraged to connect with when they visit the church. I am excited to see this ministry grow and thankful for the new families that have connected just recently. We held our VBS again in late July. The members from the mission made up the entire staff. It is a blessing to see everyone in the church serving in the ministry to share the gospel with these students. Our numbers from last year improved and we were able to meet new families throughout the week. One of these families was a deaf family. We had the opportunity to minister to their children and they liked the church, but we did not have a deaf ministry in place. Two weeks later the Lord sent a lady to the church who was fluent in sign language and felt like this was her place to serve. God has opened a whole new door of ministry for us through her. She now signs throughout the entire service and the Rodriguez family has begun to connect with us. I can't wait to see how this ministry grows. We are continuing to try to meet new people on a weekly basis. As a church, we are trying to do an outreach event every month. More and more people in the community are learning about us. In September, we held a yard sale with all the proceeds going to missions. Yard sales are very big in Diamondhead. We were able to meet about 60-70 people that morning. We gave them Bibles and church information as they checked out. For as many people who know about us, there are still many who do not. This means that there is still plenty of work for us to do. 12
This year we had our third child, Hudson Cruz Martin. We were also finally able to move to Diamondhead. We were in search of a house for a year, but we were unable to find the right place. Finally, God opened the door for us to buy a home and move into the community. It is such a blessing to live near the people you are ministering to. We now live within a couple of miles from many people at the church. I have begun to meet our neighbors and tell them about the church. It s a blessing to not only minister in Diamondhead but to be a part of the city. This year has been a wonderful year of ministry. I look forward to next year as we continue to meet people through outreach. We will be trying to expand our deaf ministry and small groups. We also have many children in the church with a limited space to minister. This year we are looking to restructure our children s ministry so that we can continue to see that grow. The Lord has been sending us new families frequently and it s my prayer for that to continue. As we grow this year, we will begin to look for a permanent location for Redemption to minister for the future. Many things that we report on, involves a number. I am excited about the spiritual growth of our people and their excitement to reach others. I can t really put a number on that. I pray that we continue to see that this year. I want to thank you for all of your prayers and support since our beginning. I would ask if you would continue to pray for us to reach the city of Diamondhead with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is my honor to serve as a missionary for you and I am blessed to be a part of the work in Diamondhead. In His Service, Wesley Martin 13
Midway Baptist Mission Sponsored by First Baptist Church of Mantachie 2016 Annual Report Dr. Kenneth Pollock is a native of Mississippi and has lived in Itawamba County, Mantachie Community for most of his life. He is a retired high school teacher and also a retired US Naval Officer. Since his preaching ministry began on October 5, 1976 he has pastored four churches in the Tupelo area, served as Wing Chaplain for the Mississippi Civil Air Patrol, conducted a Cowboy Church ministry, and enjoyed various itinerate ministries. Dr. Pollock served as a BMA of MS Support Kenneth & Carole Pollock Missionary at Caledonia Baptist Mission and at Freedom Baptist Mission before accepting the call to Mission Pastor of Midway Baptist Mission at Batesville in December 2015. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Bible from Luther Rice Seminary, a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Andersonville Theological Seminary, a Doctor of Ministry and Doctor of Christian Counseling also from Andersonville. He is married to Dr. Carole Pollock who is a retired teacher and is presently providing an after school tutoring service for disadvantaged children. Drs. Kenneth and Carole Pollock have three children and seven grandchildren. Midway began in her facilities, located on Highway 6 between Oxford and Batesville, as a mission church in January 2016 with a core group of five members. At first, attendance was very inconsistent but visitors kept coming. After about three months the average attendance in morning services grew to seven. Over the next couple of months, several new visits by prospective members occurred. A special Gospel Singing was held one Sunday in June and about fifty people came during the church service and singing. Attendance held and the month of June ended with the average attendance in double digits. In July a drop in attendance was experienced but one new member was gained. Average Sunday morning attendance for August was nine. Fourteen people are considered as regular attendees but work schedules make it impossible for all to be present in every service. Looking forward, September into the next church year, an increase in attendance is expected. By January of 2017 the prayer is for a doubling of both membership and regular attendance as day-by-day contact with the community is continued. A special day of youth and children centered activities will kick off an effort to build a youth and children ministry at Midway. Other special activities are in the early planning stages and will be announced in the future. God has begun a great work at Midway Baptist Mission. Everyone is excited about what has been accomplished so far and what will happen over the next several months. Continue to pray for Midway Mission and the work that God has commissioned. In His Service, Kenneth Pollock 14
Central Church A Family of Baptist Believers! Church Planter Anders Lee in Southaven, MS Central started in May, 2013. Their Mother Church is Charity in Ward, AR. They are supported by a cooperation between the MT. Calvary Association in North East AR., the BMA of MS Department of Missions and the BMA of America Department of Missions. 2015 & 2016 Comparison Category 2015 *2016 Financial $2390 weekly average $3807 weekly average Missions Giving $960 monthly $1523 monthly Families Gained 15 Gained 11 Attendance Averaged 104 Averaging 138 Worship High/Low 172/65 212/85 Professions 20 17 Baptized 13 9 Added by Letter 4 2 Added by Statement 10 19 Membership 77 107 (*stats represent Jan Aug 2016) Easter Service April 2016 Baptism Service 2016 15
Homestretch Baptist Church, Cleveland Ed DuVall, Pastor Annual Report 2016 Greetings to my Brothers and Sisters in Christ in the BMA of MS I just wanted to let you know how the LORD is blessing us tremendously here at HomeStretch. We have had the best year so far and I expect things to get a lot better this coming year. I have a young man that is shadowing me and things are going well with him. We meet every Saturday for training. He is a promising project. ED DUVALL Bro. Cook is doing well. He works fulltime and it is extremely difficult for him and I to get together for a sit down. I am looking forward to visiting him soon and get a more personal feel for his needs and the direction he is going. On the 9 th of July, we took a group of men, women, and children on a fishing rodeo. The kids had a blast, as well as the adults. We caught nearly a hundred pounds of fish and my wife and I caught our first fish ever. We were able to minister to some young boys in the community. We are considering doing another Rodeo and inviting the general public to come. Maybe we can catch a few men, as well as, fish. On the 16 th of July, we went to the community park to hand out tracts and flyers and witness. It was a challenging time for most of my people, but it was necessary for all of us to get out of our comfort zone and go and try to win souls. When we go, many times we might not win anyone to the LORD but God always rewards our effort. The next day we had two people get baptized and a family joined and all of this was a pleasant surprise. The young people pictured are kids that came to my ministry when I first got started, and God has brought them back to get saved and baptized. We have had four baptisms this year and eight members to join our church. Of the people who joined some are strong in the faith and are capable of helping with teaching and preaching. Bro Ambrose Webster came to us as a licensed minister who handles the Word of God faithfully. He is a tremendous help and we hope to ordain him soon. We had VBS from July 18-22. We were blessed to have ministered to 80 kids and we averaged at least 60 16
children every night. It was a challenge, but we survived. Next year, if the LORD is willing, we will partner with another church. If we just wanted numbers, our baptisms would be a lot higher but we are careful to make sure people have a genuine relationship with God. Our church is praying and seeking God s guidance in building some homes or apartments for abused and homeless women. Continue to pray for our ministry and thank you for all of your support. Your Brother in Christ, Ed Duvall 17
James & Deloris Cook Harvest Baptist Mission, Olive Branch, MS Sponsored by Homestretch Baptist Church, Cleveland, MS 2016 Annual Report Bro. James A. Cook is from Tattnall County, Georgia. He graduated from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served on staff at the Kirby Woods Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Longview Baptist Church in Olive Branch. He is married to Deloris Cook of twenty-eight years. They have three beautiful children: Kimble L. Hall, Jonathan E. Cook and Min. Jarvis A. Cook. Four Grandchildren: Kerri B. Cook, Dravius A. Hall, DaShawn O. Hall, and KaShawn Hall. Present: We started out the year with an evangelism initiative, in which we set aside two Saturdays out of each month to conduct evangelism. This gave us the opportunity to introduce ourselves to our community, as well as introduce Jesus to those we encountered. Due to this new intuitive we experience weekly visitors to our ministry. Harvest Church currently has eighteen active members, and some future prospects that we look forward to joining us. Future: Harvest Church does look forward to growing as God see fit in the future. We will like to find another building that would be more feasible and conducive to do ministry. We encounter so many people that do not have transportation to church. At some point we hope to have the resources to provide transportation to those individuals. We plan to incorporate a small group bible study throughout the week to enhance Christian education and personal growth. We have some limitations; however, we are looking forward to contributing to the growth of our ministry. We will plant the seed and God will provide the increase. In His Service, James Cook 18