Friday, January 4, 2013


First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte

P.O. Box 170, Eagle Butte, SD 57625

(605) 964-3617 (Office) / (605) 891-1704 (Pastor’s Cell)

January 4, 2013

Dear Friends, 

It has been a wonderful Christmas for us here in Eagle Butte, as the celebrations we had planned went along perfectly.  Some of us who moved here from out of town got the chance to visit with their out-of-state families, and those of us who stayed in town celebrated in the unique way that happens here on the Cheyenne River reservation.  One man blended Christmas with his native heritage by setting up a tipi in his front yard and decorating it with Christmas lights.  Unbelievable!  I’ve seen a lot of unusual Christmas trees in my time, but a Christmas tipi is an absolute first!

Tasi Livermont, the editor of the local newspaper, asked me to write an article on the true meaning of Christmas for the West River Eagle.  It was a harder thing than I imagined, since Christmas is so very full of meaning, and I only had a small space to fill.  But I finished the article, and you can read it by following this link:   http://eaglebuttefbc.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-true-meaning-of-christmas.html
                                                              

WEATHER I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE


When I first moved up here, everyone said I would have to get used to a huge change in the weather.  Well, I thought they were just talking about a lot of snow.  I WAS WRONG!!  Two weeks ago, we encountered a type of weather that I have never seen in my life: freezing fog.  I woke up one morning to find a cold fog totally swamping the city.  A really, really thick, cold fog.  The picture above shows Main Street at 3:00 in the afternoon.  People could barely see their hands in front of their faces.



















                   What was left on the trees the following morning was something to behold.  Every individual twig was thickly covered with ice crystals of marvelous beauty and complexity.  As you can see in the picture on the right, each bare branch seemed to have sprouted hundreds of tiny flowers, made of ice.  In the picture on the left, you see the effect of the freezing fog in an entire tree.  I’m still awestruck by it all.

MARCHING FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION

As you know, one of our own local youths, Tanner Gray, committed suicide recently.  There was a strong reaction across the community, and many churches and religious organizations made a commitment to do all in their power to prevent terrible events like this one in the future.  Our church was one of these.  As a demonstration of this commitment, representatives from the Baptist, Catholic, Church of God and Episcopal churches joined forces to stage a prayer walk in Eagle Butte.  The walk started from four separate locations, situated in the North, South, East, and West.  We converged on the Episcopal church, where we held a prayer service for the young people of our community.  May the Lord use us all to prevent the evils of suicide from plaguing this community again!

OUR CHRISTMAS PROGRAM!

I love Christmas! And every year, First Baptist Church arranges all kinds of ways to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  This year was no exception, and we kicked off our festivities with a special service, in which our Sunday School children heavily participated.



One bright Sunday morning, after the children had been given breakfast, we loaded them all up in the church van and took them down to the local nursing home, where they sang for some of the residents.  They sang a broad range of Christmas songs, with me reading excerpts from the Bible in between.  Finally, I closed with a brief sermonette, and a prayer.  Then the children presented the residents with presents that they themselves had made as craft projects.  This service was the result of weeks of practice on the part of the children, and I was proud to be a part of it.  I am also proud of our Sunday School teachers- Amanda Benson, Amy Holley and Tiffany Farrar (my wife!)-for teaching the children how to put on this wonderful presentation.

Following our trip to the nursing home, the children all returned to the church, giving a repeat performance during our Sunday morning worship service.  They were delightful, and the congregation really got a chance to worship that day, for the Holy Spirit was there.

Although we usually take the children home after Sunday School, on the week of this particular service we thought we’d treat them to something nice in honor of the season.  So we served them a special lunch of hot dogs and other child favorites.  At the center of it all was a nice cake, decorated with a Christmas wreath.

After the meal, we pass out some bags to the children-containing candy, fruit, and assorted nuts.  There were more than two hundred such bags, all of which had been stuffed by the older women of the church.  After we had given a bag to each child, we had a number of bags left over, so we distributed these to the community on the following day.

In addition to the bags, we were able to give each child a present, thanks to a generous donation from friends of ours to the South.  The children’s enthusiasm was through the roof as they tore into these gifts, rendered all the more precious by the fact that these would be the only gifts some of them would receive this Christmas.  One little girl, when she opened her gift, became so excited that she lost the ability to speak!  She grinned and moved her lips, but the sound just refused to come out!  I made a point of reminding everyone that morning that the reason we give gifts to the ones we care about at Christmas is because God gave us the greatest of Gifts as a sign of His love for us.  It was such a joyful scene. 

WINDSWEPT ACADEMY’S CHRISTMAS PAGEANT

Windswept Academy took on the ambitious project of a full-fledged Christmas pageant this year.  Considering that the school is host to over 40 students, ranging from 7th grade to Kindergarten, all of whom were somehow involved in this play, it was a very difficult thing to pull off.  But the faculty and staff at Windswept Academy was quick and talented, using the resources they had available to put on a very Christ-honoring production.  I can honestly say that the true meaning of Christmas shone through in this, and I was honored to play the role of the prophet Isaiah.

So perhaps you are wondering how you can become a partner with us in our ministry here in Eagle Butte?  If so, then we are happy to tell you, since we welcome assistance from the body of Christ. Here is what we need the most:

Prayer.  It may be true that our church is getting along very well at the moment, and that God is doing great things here.  But it is precisely when a church is being used by God that Satan does all in his power to destroy it.  So please pray, my brothers and sisters.  Pray that our leadership will keep their hearts pure and humble, and that we will live at peace with each other.  Pray that we will be protected from the power of the enemy, and that God’s Holy Spirit will shine through in our lives.  Pray that the Lakotas in the community will come to know the Lord, and that the commitment they make will not be a superficial group of words, but a real change in their Spirits that will alter the course of their lives for eternity. 

E-mail addresses.  For those of you who have e-mail addresses, please send them to me.  That way, these monthly newsletters can be forwarded to everyone in your church who wants one!  Just send your name and e-mail address to me at benfarrar777@hotmail.com, and I’ll make sure you receive this newsletter as often as it comes out.

Financial Assistance.  Our church is fortunate to have members who are generous in their giving. But some of our most generous members are, nevertheless, very poor.  We have long been blessed with assistance from outside churches and individuals, and we try to use those gifts wisely and well. 

If any one of you wishes to bless the church with a financial gift, you may send it to:


First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte

P.O. Box 170

Eagle Butte, SD 57625


A donation was received in honor of Ellen Mustoe.

A memorial gift has been received in memory of Peggy Banks of Burnsville, NC, who died on Tuesday, December 4th 2012.

A memorial gift has been received in honor of the late Andre Cowins, who passed away on November 9th, 2012.

A memorial gift has been received in memory of the late Tanner Gray, who was lost to us on November 19th, 2012.

A memorial gift has been made in memory of the late Robert Frye, who passed away on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012.


May God bless you all, and draw you closer to Himself each and every day.

Yours in Christ,


Rev. Ben Farrar

Pastor

First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte

The True Meaning of Christmas

The following article was published just before Christmas in the West River Eagle-Eagle Butte's local newspaper.
 
 
THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

 

by Ben Farrar, Pastor, First Baptist Church

 

It was my honor to be given the task of writing an article about the true meaning of Christmas.  I hope you will find the answer as beautiful as it is surprising.

The true meaning of Christmas can be summed up in one word: gifts.  That’s right-gifts.  And none of that silliness about giving gifts, either.  Christmas is about receiving presents, and one present in particular.

For you see, Christmas is the time of year that we celebrate the best gift ever given-the gift of Jesus Christ.  Christmas is the time when God Himself became a man, and gave Himself to us as a gift.  You have heard that Jesus died for us, and this is true.  But Jesus also lived for us.  For thirty-three years, He lived among us as a man, suffering all the things we suffer, and spending all of his time working to save the human race.  And in His last moments on this earth, as He died in terrible pain, He shed His own blood so that the punishment for our sins would fall on Him. 

By giving us the gift of Himself, Jesus changed the entire world for the better, so that there is now hope for the human race.  Thanks to the gift He gave us at Christmas, we now have a God who sees our suffering and says, “I know just how you feel.  I’ve been there.”  We have a God who has given up everything so that we could be forgiven for the evil things we have done.  We have a God who offers us Heaven, as a gift.  The little gifts that we give each other at Christmas are only pale reflections of that one, awe-inspiring gift that was given to us two thousand years ago.  We give gifts to the people we love BECAUSE we have received a great gift from God, who loves us.

But like any gift, it isn’t yours unless you accept it.  And accepting this greatest of all gifts is as easy as falling in love.  Just talk to God and confess that you have done wrong in His sight.  Trust that Jesus really did live His life for you, and died to take your punishment.  Ask Him to forgive you.  Then ask Him to help you follow him all the days of your life.  Then the gift of Heaven will be yours.  Merry Christmas, Eagle Butte!  May you all enjoy the blessing that God offers you!