Feb 25, 2015
Focus on Missions
Clinton R. Brown
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: (and recounted in the Gospel of Mark) “BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY; THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.’” Isaiah 40:3
For centuries, Seventh Day Baptists have been part of making ready a way for the LORD to reach the lost for His glory. They have invested their lives in training new believers to carry the Gospel forward to generations to come. They also invested the assets that had been entrusted to them towards the work so there would be finances available to assist messengers of our living Savior to reach communities around the globe.
This year we are excited that the Missionary Society has the privilege to help several teams carry the Good News across the country and out to other continents.
Among the missions in 2015:
A youth team, primarily from the Berlin SDB Church in New York state, is headed to Puerto Rico in July. Rebecca Olson, Melissa Brown, and siblings Casey, Wyatt, and Katie Greene are practicing speaking Spanish. They are also learning about missions and some Caribbean culture in preparation for their short term service in San Sabastian.
Originally slated for late February, our hope now is that later in this year, we will get David Stall, pastor in Ashaway, RI, back for follow-up training of SDB ministers in Ethiopia. John Pethtel, our conference Director of Church Planting and Pastoral Services, is raising funds to go and assist. They are looking to take Thouk Bol, a native of South Sudan, as translator and guide. Thouk is a deacon of the SDB Church in Anchorage, AK, and is anxious to help peoples of the upper Nile region, particularly of the Nuer tribe, to have a closer walk with Jesus.
Kory and Amanda Langley of Texarkana, AR, are teaming up with Caroline Snyder of Daytona Beach, FL, to help Steve James, on his return to work with the SDB leadership in Kenya. This time Steve, the pastor of the Verona SDB Church in NY, is making plans for his wife Debbie to also go to work with the lady leaders and pastor’s wives.
We have other SDB individuals or teams making plans to minister this year in the U.S., Haiti, Jamaica, India, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Zambia, Brazil, and Guyana.
The LORD has and is preparing a way, and often that way is through someone as unassuming as a person who read a Sabbath Recorder article to the last paragraph. It may be that the someone He is preparing a way through… is you.
