First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte

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

(605) 891-1704 (Pastor’s Cell)/ www.fbceaglebutte.com (Website)

December 15, 2017

Dear Friends,

Wow! What a year it’s been!  Since my last newsletter, Eagle Butte has hosted its’ annual Pow-wow and rodeo, all the crops have been gathered into their silos, and the cattle are being shipped off to market.  All the usual signs of the season are here.  All of them, that is, except for bitter cold and blinding snow.  We’re having the kind of weather we would normally expect in mid-fall!

We South Dakotans know better than to expect this to continue, however.  Sooner or later, the cold will be back with a vengeance, and we’ll be ready for it!  In the meantime, we enjoy the blessings we have been given.

The past few months have been full of activity for the church.  Our attendance has been steadily climbing, so that it is now not unusual to have more than fifty people present on a Sunday morning.  Youth activities and learning experiences take place on Wednesday and Friday nights.  There is a prayer meeting every Wednesday.  And our Sunday School is full.  It’s like I’m living a beautiful dream.

 

Our First Mission Trip

As you all know, 2017 has been beset with all types of natural disasters, ranging in size and scope from hurricanes and flooding to wildfires and drought.  There was a critical period this Fall when all of these things were going on at once, and I began to feel a burden of sorrow for the nation, and particularly for the emergency workers whose energy and resources were all being stretched thin to answer  these catastrophes.  It was in this heaviness of Spirit that I began to feel the persistent tugging of the Holy Spirit to do something about this.  At first I resisted the idea, since my church is very small and very poor.  What could I do in the face of all this tragedy? But then I remembered that the Southern Baptist Convention specializes in coordinating efforts with churches just like mine.  I called them up and asked how I could be of help.

To my surprise, the thing they needed the most in the disaster relief efforts was the very thing that we were able to supply: hands.  They needed hands to clear away rubble, clean up job sites, and make unliveable areas livable again.  If we could supply our hands to the people of Houston Texas, I was told, the Southern Baptist Convention would take care of the rest.

And so was born the first mission trip ever led by First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte.  We were unaccustomed to doing this, since mission teams usually come to visit us.  But it is always the way in the Kingdom of God that we are called to reach out and help those less fortunate than ourselves-and many people in Houston had lost everything.  Over a period of a few weeks, I put together a team.  Together, we boarded the church van and set our course for adventure!

Three days' journey brought us to Houston, where Hurricane Harvey had ravaged the coast.  Along the way, we stopped at friendly Southern Baptist churches, which opened their doors to let us stay the night.  When we arrived, we were met by representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention, who saw to all of our needs.  A large church in the area had loaned its facilities as housing for disaster relief workers, and a whole warehouse full of supplies, collected from around the country, was ready for us to use in the community.  Each day we would set out to work, and each night we would refresh ourselves at the main church hub.  We were even given instructions on where to work and what to do.  All that was needed was our hands.

For four and a half days, we worked in a coastal neighborhood of Houston.  We were overwhelmed as we drove through the streets, surrounded on every side by piles and piles of garbage.  All the houses had been flooded, and everything had become tainted with mold and raw sewage.  It was hot, and humid, and the smell took some getting used to.  But once we came to the first house, we quickly focused on the task at hand and began the work.  We hauled garbage out to the curb.  We pulled nails out of the walls, to make room for new sheetrock. We removed everything from the superstructure that might retain moisture.  We pressure-washed everything until it no longer smelled like sewage.  Finally, we covered everything with a fine coat of fungicide to prevent the growth of mold.  Then we would close up the house, and move on to the next.  We accomplished a lot each day, but we were consistently overwhelmed in the evenings by how much remained to be done.

The owner of the first house told us, “I have scarcely rested at all for the past 14 days. I feel like I can finally take a nap without thinking about what I have to do next.  I can rest now.  Thank you.” 

The owner of the second house was a woman in her 70s, who took me aside near the end of our time there.  “I like you”, she said.  “Let me give you something”.  Then she took a piece of paper and began filling it with instructions.  She told me what internet service provider I should use.  She told me exercises I should be doing.  She told me how to lose weight.  She told me a dozen other things to do.  Then I realized what she was actually doing: This woman didn’t like accepting help without giving something in  return.  But the hurricane had taken everything she had except her knowledge.  So, she gave me that.   I thanked her for her wisdom.

The owner of the third house was married to an airline worker, who had been temporarily stranded in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria.  While he struggled to get home, she struggled to put their house back together, and to maintain some sense of normalcy for her young daughter.  She took a picture of our group, and had us all sign it.  “When our house is livable again,”, she said, “I want this picture in our living room”.

The trip had been difficult, but deeply gratifying.  By the end, we were all so homesick that we made the entire return trip in one long haul.  I can’t tell you how grateful I was that God allowed our church to be a part of this great work.

Clothing the Needy

First Baptist Church is about half a mile away from the border between Dewey County and Ziebach County. These counties are the third poorest in the nation, and the poorest in the nation, respectively.  So there is no shortage of immediate need in our community.  Fortunately for us, we have friends from across America who have generous hearts and a willingness to share their bounty.  They send a great quantity of  clothes and other useful things to us, so we can distribute them to the poor.  And whenever we have a good quantity of these things stored up, we host a big giveaway at the church.  We had one of these this November, when dozens of people from all over the community came and took possession of high-quality donated clothes, without cost. They were all grateful, but the joy didn’t stop there; I took the liberty of using this giveaway to advertise another event, about two days later…

The Great Thanksgiving Feast

For many years, First Baptist Church has enjoyed a strong partnership with Hamilton Baptist Church of Virginia.  This takes many forms, but is rarely more evident than at the feast of Thanksgiving.  Each year, Hamilton Baptist Church sends a visiting team to prepare a large meal, to which the entire town is invited.  This year was more successful than any year previous to this, with more than 300 people in attendance.  Roughly 120 pounds of turkey was prepared and served, together with stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and other traditional favorites.  Our church youth assisted in serving the meal.  Everyone present had the opportunity to write down prayer requests and put them in a “Prayer Jar”, to be prayed over later.  And every place setting included a good tract.  Everyone left satisfied, especially me.  I am grateful to God for using us in this way, and to Hamilton Baptist Church, for their gracious assistance to us.

Operation Christmas Child

  

As the Christmas season approaches, it’s important for us to remember those less fortunate than ourselves.  For this reason, First Baptist Church partners with Samaritan’s Purse each year to send gifts to children in third-world countries around the globe.  Small items, which can be had from any dollar store, can make a child’s Christmas magical in places where there are no luxuries to be had.

This year, the various church members pooled their resources to give gifts to 17 young boys and girls.  These gifts were packed into shoeboxes by our youth, then sent on to the shipping stations of Samaritan’s Purse.  Our efforts do not transform the world, but we did manage to make it a little better for 17 young children.  And I am grateful to have had that opportunity.

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 

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