Sunday, December 9, 2012

December 2012


First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte

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

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

December 7, 2012

Dear Friends,
 

Since I last wrote to you, Autumn has changed to Winter, and many things have changed here in Eagle Butte.  Yesterday, We were greeted by the first major snowstorm of the season (the first of many to come).  But as long as we have our homes to take refuge in, the ice and snow will be no trouble.

Early this November, Tiffany had the opportunity to live out one of  her lifelong dreams-to ride in a combine during a harvest.  One of the local farmers, Perry DePoy,  kindly offered to let her ride with him while he was harvesting sunflowers.  She loved it!  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her so excited.  I was also surprised to learn how advanced modern farm machinery is.  While the combine is harvesting sunflowers, it is simultaneously linking up with satellites that provide a map of the field they are in, and storing data about how much moisture and nutrients are contained in the soil at every point in the field.  Farmers use this to figure out the best way to fertilize their crops during the next season.  And to top it all off, when it comes to the end of a row, the combine tells you to turn around by making a really cool laser sound effect!  Okay, I’ll admit it-I enjoyed the combines as much as Tiffany did.
 
RENEWING OUR SPIRITS AT A MARRIAGE CONFERENCE

An organization called Family Life held a marriage conference this November in Sioux Falls, SD.  They called it, “Weekend to Remember”, and offered free admission to any pastors and their wives who wanted to attend.  So of course we jumped at the chance.  The weekend featured many guest speakers, some heartbreaking testimonials from real couples, and an in-depth look at managing the challenges that relationships face in the 21st century.  Tiffany and I went into the conference with no real problems that we wanted to address, but we still left feeling refreshed and happy, glad to have gone.  If other couples in our church wish to attend this conference, we will recommend it to them next year. 

A MUCH-NEEDED REPAIR


While we were gone, Some very good friends of ours from Brandon Valley Baptist Church in Sioux Falls, SD came to do us a huge favor.  Our carpet had been growing very old and ragged, and needed to be replaced.  So a group led by Mike, who is father to our own Amanda Benson, brought brand new carpet to replace the old.  Working together with some of our own volunteers, they installed the carpet in such a way that you would never know they weren’t trained professionals!  Thanks a lot, guys! 
CELEBRATING A THANKSGIVING FEAST
 
On the week before Thanksgiving, we were blessed with a visit from our friends at Hamilton Baptist Church in Virginia.  Each year, Hamilton Baptist Church pays us a visit around this time to help us prepare a Thanksgiving meal for the community.  Everyone is invited to attend, and it always amounts to a big celebration.  While this year was no exception, there was an interesting twist: Whereas volunteers from our two churches usually serve tables, we recruited young men and women from the Off-the-Wall ministry to serve the meal instead!  This turned out to be a very wise decision-so wise that I wish it had been my idea.  While a few of the youth only came to cause trouble, most of them were very helpful. 

In the left-hand picture above, you see the volunteers from Hamilton before the meal, praying over each individual chair that people would be sitting in, and asking God to use the meal to impact their souls.  In the center, you can see Brenton Veit, the hardest-working young man from Off-the-Wall who attended that day.  If Brenton does not leave the reservation when he grows up, he will be running the place.  And on the right, you see the meal in progress.  A record number of people attended this year-nearly 150!  Praise the Lord for all that He has done!

EAGLE BUTTE WALKS THROUGH THE VALLEY OF
THE SHADOW OF DEATH
 
What follows is a series of tragic events.  None of them could be photographed directly, out of respect for the dead.

Our town was met with a shocking surprise when one of the most cheerful and kind-hearted men in the city, Mr. Andre Cowins, passed away in his sleep from a heart attack.  He was only 32, so no one was expecting it.  Since I was privileged to know Andre as a friend, the family asked me to preach his funeral, and requested that it take place at our church.  This marked only the second time in our church’s history when a funeral has been performed on church grounds.  Our church is an unpopular location for local funerals, since we do not allow Lakota drums in our services, and Lakota spiritualism places a high importance on their use.  So you can imagine how honored I felt to be performing his wake and funeral. 
              Andre had many friends, so on the day of the funeral the place was almost bursting.  We will long regret the passing of this dear friend.
 
Sadly, one tragedy often follows on the heels of another, and the next one hit very close to home.  Tanner Gray, who had been a student in my wife’s class last year, committed suicide by hanging himself a few weeks ago.  He had been a good and helpful student, who did all the work of an adult ranchhand before he came to school each morning.  In May of this year, on the last day of school, Tanner stayed behind to help my wife put things away when all the other children had long since left.  In my own experience, I found that talking to him was more like talking to a short adult than to a child.  He was only in seventh grade, and the entire town mourned his passing.
But as soon as I heard what he had done, I began to be concerned for the other youth in our community.  In small towns like this, suicide traditionally comes in large numbers.  First one person kills themselves, and then everyone in town who was thinking about doing so finds the nerve to follow suit.  I sent out an e-mail to the church, and we quickly joined our prayers together. We asked that God would not allow the devil to turn this one death into a massacre.
Within a week of the funeral, it was evident that our fears were justified.  Four additional students, all of them in their teens, attempted suicide, one right after the other.  But praise the Lord, all of them were unsuccessful!!!  They are all currently in various stages of recovery, and no more suicide attempts have been made in the past week.  Please pray that this is a trend that continues!
Even so, our church wished to take a more active role in preventing future suicides, so we again decided to make use of our Off-the-Wall program.  Here we had a large group of young people (numbering as many as 60 on a good week), all of whom were within a few years of Tanner Gray’s age.  It seemed we had the perfect opportunity to speak to them on this subject.
 
To this end, we hosted a special Off-the-Wall which, in addition to the usual food and games, contained a pointed message about suicide.  I gave a brief talk to the group about the reasons people commit suicide, and why these reasons are not enough to justify killing oneself.  I talked about the pain and guilt with which this world is filled, and how many people seek suicide as a means of ending this pain.  Then I shared the Gospel, and showed it to be the ultimate solution to all guilt and all pain.  Afterwards, flyers were distributed to all the youth, giving numbers that they could call toll-free, to talk about anything, day or night.  One of our church members, Leslie Morrison-Veit, even arranged to have counselors come in from Four Bands Healing Center, to make themselves available to any of the young people who wanted to speak with them.  While the youth were a little too shy to talk to the counselors directly, nearly all of them took  the emergency phone numbers home with them.  One of them even asked a lot of questions about the Gospel and salvation.  We are hoping that this seed of curiosity will germinate into repentance and faith.
Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for He is with us.
 
CHRISTMAS!CHRISTMAS!CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS!CHRISTMAS!


I love Christmas!  And I love celebrating it with my church family!  Last Wednesday, First Baptist Church engaged in our annual Christmas party-by which I mean that we all shared a meal, then pitched in and put up the Christmas decorations.  The sanctuary was decked with boughs of holly, a Christmas tree was put together and decorated, many lights were strung, and a little manger scene carved out of Cottonwood root by a Native artist was placed down front.  But the newest addition to our Christmas decorations was a beautiful nativity scene that we arranged in front of the church.  Its figures light up at night and are very visible to everyone passing on Main Street.  Most churches here do not put decorations on the outside of their buildings, for fear of vandals, but we feel that this is a risk worth taking.  Everyone passing in the street now sees a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas, and that makes the holiday just a little bit sweeter.  This nativity scene, together with our Christmas tree and other related expenses were made possible by a gift from Mineral Springs Baptist Church in Louisiana.  God bless you all for your generosity!
My wife helped set the festive mood for the Christmas season by organizing our church’s second annual Cookie Swap!  All the women of the church baked a dozen cookies each, then swapped them around and went home with a dozen different kinds of cookies.  It was a lot of fun!  And so tasty, too! 

GIFTS SENT BY WISE MEN AND WOMEN FROM AFAR
 
            Eagle Butte is a very poor community, and many of its people (particularly its children) often go without.  But our church is richly blessed by many generous donors who help us to make the winter a little bit merrier for the people of Eagle Butte.  This year is no exception, as we have received gifts from people all across the country, from such far-flung places as Virginia and Iowa.  There are warm socks, assorted assorted winter clothing, Beanie Babies, and all kinds of useful Bible study materials!  We will all get to work immediately, preparing to put these things to work for the people of this town.  A special thank-you to James Griffith of Charlestown, West Virginia; Christine M. Carver of Brightmoon, Virginia; Brenda Halls of Douds, Iowa; Burkemont Baptist Church of Morganton, North Carolina; Bethlehem Baptist Church of Clarkesville, Georgia; Ellen Mustoe of Washington, Virginia; Ms. Kim Gilkey-Breeden of Amissville, Virginia; the District N Retired Teachers’ Association of Flint Hill, Virginia; Larry and Vivian Sutton of Washington, Virginia; The Rappahhannock County Retired Teacher’s Association of Washington, Virginia; and Frieda Herman of Washington, Virginia, and all the people who helped them gather all these wonderful gifts to send to us.  May God bless you all.
 
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

 

If you wish to give a donation in memory of another person, or in that person’s honor, we will recognize the person you designate in our newsletter. 

 

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


Thursday, October 18, 2012

Newsletter October 2012


First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte
P.O. Box 170, Eagle Butte, SD 57625
(605) 964-3617 (Office) / (605) 891-1704 (Pastor’s Cell)
 
October 19, 2012

Dear Friends,
             Autumn has come to Eagle Butte, and with it the many marks of the season. The fields are full of giant bales of hay, preparing the livestock for the long, cold winter. Two weeks ago, we had our first snowfall-and although it didn’t stick, it was still a good indicator of things to come. As I write this, a windstorm is raging outside which is so violent that it has ripped a large chunk off of a neighboring building. Good thing nobody lives there!
 
                While the weather is going through its usual changes, the human population of this area has been happily involved in many annual celebrations. The Lakota celebrated their annual Pow-wow, where they enjoyed sing, dancing, and festival food. A parade accompanied the Pow-wow, at which lots of floats from all over the community (including our own Windswept Academy) were represented. A traveling carnival came to town, complete with ferris wheels, tilt-a-whirls, and cotton candy. There was a rodeo near the Pow-wow grounds, giving local cowboys and ranchers a chance to showcase their skills. And all of this took place in the course of a single weekend! There was even a baking contest at the local community center and (I’m proud to say) my wife took third place! We are enjoying our lives here more than words can say.
 
 
WINDSWEPT ACADEMY BEGINS A NEW YEAR


Of course, the coming of Fall also brings a new school year, and Windswept Academy is starting this year off on a better footing than ever before.  Since the time of the last newsletter I sent, the school has added six, count ‘em, SIX, new students to its roster, for a total of 41!  They are now running at their absolute maximum capacity- they can’t fit any additional students into the building!  Clint Holley, the Headmaster of Windswept Academy, has even asked me to do my weekly chapel service twice, so that they can divide the students into separate groups and not have the room be so crowded.  It is such a privilege to be given the opportunity to preach the Gospel to so many young people.

 
These two wonderful people are Julia Osthus and Adam Cowan.  They were hired as teachers for the school to handle all the extra workload, and they have been doing a marvelous job teaching the older students.  On the left, you can see them in one of the classrooms, preparing for the school’s open house.  On the right, Julia leads the music during a typical Tuesday afternoon chapel service.

A BETH MOORE SIMULCAST

  

At First Baptist Church, we welcome any opportunities we can get to enrich our members in the Christian life.  So when we learned that Beth Moore was going to be hosting a women’s conference in Nashville, and that it was going to be simulcast all over the world, and that we could have it broadcast to us for a very reasonable price, we jumped at the chance.  On the appointed day, we had several women from the church in attendance, as well as one woman from the nearby town of La Plante.   It turned out beautifully.  We used the back wall of the church as a projection screen, and easily created the effect having Beth Moore standing right there in the room.  Our women left the church that day with their spirits renewed, and their hearts gladdened.  What a great God we serve, to give us such wonderful opportunities! 

SERVING THE COMMUNITY’S YOUTH AND CHILDREN

 

            Due to the harsh weather that Winter brings here, travel conditions are often rendered very difficult.  For this reason, whenever anyone wants to do any significant traveling, they do it in the summertime.  So for the last few months, many of the children (who might otherwise have attended Sunday School or come to our Friday night youth events) have been visiting relatives in other cities.  But with the advent of the new school year, the kids are back with a vengeance, and First Baptist Church is ready for them!  On the left, you see some the children of the community enjoying breakfast before Sunday School on a typical Sunday morning.  This is very helpful to them, as it is the best meal that some of them will receive all weekend.  On the right, you see some of the young people from our Friday night youth activity enjoying a game of basketball.  The Off-the-Wall ministry is now so successful that we routinely have in excess of 40 young men and women visiting the church every Friday night.  It is a great honor to be a part of God’s work in this community.

AN UNEXPECTED CHALLENGE
 
 

Unfortunately, when any person or group of people devote themselves to doing God’s work, it may be guaranteed that the Devil will try to fight them.  Our church is no exception to this rule, to be certain.  This month, the Devil’s attacks came in a more obvious form than usual: our church and a sign next to the parsonage were vandalized.

The first two acts, which you see on the left and in the middle, came from an unexpected source.  Some of the young people from the Friday night Off-the-Wall activity were responsible.  At the left, you can see where they twisted our gate off of its hinges by carelessly using it as a swing.  In the center, you can see where one young man, who was angry about having to follow some of our rules, kicked out some of the slats in our fence.  The vandalism which you see on the right comes from a more sinister source than the other two, as it was done by one of the local gangs-the Crips.  You can tell that the Crips did this because the initials “BK” are a reference to the Crips’ arch enemies, the Bloods.  “BK” stands for “Blood Killer”.  The “B”, which is crossed out, is a further sign of disrespect to the Bloods.  Did I mention that this mark was placed right outside my house?

I confess that I was very angry when I saw that these acts had been committed.  I was both furious and sad to see that some of the people from Off-the-Wall, for whom we had worked so hard, were willing to treat this church so carelessly.  And I was sad to see this mark of hatred and violence placed outside my house.  But then God convicted me of the way I was feeling.  After all, not all the young men and women who come to Off-the-Wall act in this way-only a very few.  And there is not a single young man or woman who comes to my church, for any reason, that God did not send.  He sends them to us so we can minister to them, and if they do act badly while they are here, then we will repay good for evil.  Always.  As for the Crips, they are just as lost as I once was before God saved me.  And they need my prayers-not my anger.

Therefore, this is the policy of First Baptist Church toward vandalism:  We will show all vandals that our ability to endure and recover is greater than their ability to destroy.  If they break something a hundred times, we will repair it a hundred and one times. And we will never, under any circumstances, seek vengeance or allow bitterness to grow in our hearts.  We will meet destruction with repair, anger with love, and ugliness with beauty.  We will turn the other cheek.  And now, as you can see below, we are as good as new once again!  Praise God for guiding me through this.
 
 

HELP FROM FRIENDS FAR AWAY
 

On behalf of First Baptist, I want to extend great thanks to Burkemont Baptist Church of Morganton, North Carolina, who graciously sent us a year’s worth of Sunday School Curriculum for the children of this church.  We promise to put it to the best possible use for His Kingdom.

 

Our thanks also go to First Baptist Church of Waldorf, Maryland, who sent us additional educational materials, whose use can be applied in Sunday School and other areas.  We will make good use of these materials, as well.
            Thank you to all the Brothers and Sisters in both of these churches, as well as all our supporters throughout the country.  God is using you to make our ministry here possible.

 

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 to the church has been made this month in honor of Annie Laura Henkle Russell, who passed away on September 29, 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

Friday, September 14, 2012

August 2012 Newsletter

First Baptist Churchof Eagle Butte


Dear Friends,

Greetings to all of you from your Christian brothers and sisters in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. My name is Ben Farrar, and I have been the pastor of this church for over a year now. Since many of you have been known friends of our church for some time now, and others are just beginning to get to know us, I thought it would be a good idea to send you this newsletter, giving you an overview of who we are and what we are doing up here. 
This is the city- Eagle Butte, South Dakota. What you are looking at here is the business district. This is the largest settlement on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. It is home to the Lakotas-the last Native American tribe that still maintains a measure of its sovereignty. But you know them as the only Native Americans who ever dealt the United States Armed Forces a sound defeat. Remember the Battle of Little Big Horn, where Custer made his last stand? Well, he was fighting these guys.
Also, if you’ve ever seen the film“Dances with Wolves”, you have seen a historical reenactment of how these people once lived. Some of the extras in that film still live right here in Eagle Butte.

This is City Hall, the center of the local government. Sitting in front of it is about one quarter of the local police force. On the right-hand side, you see the Outrider Café, the fanciest restaurant in town. Don’t let its modest exterior fool you: the food is delicious!
Much has changed since the Lakotas first came into contact with white settlers. Unable to follow the buffalo as they once did, they have settled down into small towns that are scattered across the region-Eagle Butte being the largest of these. The United States government, who tries to help in ways that are not entirely wise, has made a regular practice of giving tribal members enough money to get by-just barely. The Lakotas are not rich by any means, and many of them live in conditions some would consider unlivable. But they nevertheless have just enough to make it from one month to the next-just enough to make many of them dependant on the government for everything, lacking any incentive to improve their lives. In time, despite our rural location many of our people have come to face the same problems felt by residents of an inner city.


Jobs are scarce (many sources cite unemployment between 80-86%), gang violence is high, teen pregnancy is the norm, and alcoholism is everywhere. Above, you can see one the city’s bars. If you own a bar in Eagle Butte, you are a very rich person.
Other drugs ravage the people here, as well. There is not a single person in the entire town who is not either addicted to alcohol or drugs, or has recovered from an addiction, or who is close to someone who has been touched by these substances. No one is unaffected.
The overall effect of these problems is to leave much of the population in a depressed state of mind.Many of them have given up any hope of accomplishing anything significant in their lives. The suicide rate is very high.


This area has a wide variety of churches, but the most common religion is Lakota spiritualism. Those who follow this way pray to the spirits of the sun, the sky, the earth, and the rock, and will often invite the spirits of animals into their homes. Above, you see a Pow-wow, an annual Lakota festival that was once a sacred religious ceremony. As time has passed, its significance has been somewhat forgotten, and most of its attendees just go to enjoy some singing, dancing, and festival food. The drummers, who you see on the right, are still aware that their singing and drumming calls out to the earth spirit.
The most sacred of all Lakota religious ceremonies is the Sundance. Here, the Lakotas will cut themselves with knives and put themselves through terrible feats of pain and endurance as part of this ceremony.
Most of the population is wary of Christianity, for a number of reasons. For one thing, it was brought by white people, and white people brought a lot of bad things. For another, the United States government started a program after the massacre at Wounded Knee, collaborating with the Catholic and Episcopalian churches to educate the Lakotas. As a result, many Lakota children were forcibly removed from their homes and taken to Christian schools hundreds of miles away. There, they were forbidden to speak their native language, and were punished severely for even the smallest offence. For years, these children never saw their families, and some of them never got over the trauma. Some of the older Lakotas still remember attending these schools, and can be very cautious when dealing with Christians.


It is in this environment that First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte was founded, and has persisted for many years. We have had good times and bad, but through the help of the Holy Spirit and the assistance of kindhearted people like yourselves, we have built the church into a healthy, growing body that glorifies our Lord with every opportunity. I can personally testify that it is one of the healthiest churches that I have ever seen. God is doing mighty things here.

So you can imagine how delighted I was to receive a call to Pastor this church. Since that time, I have worked here for over a year, and never regretted a moment.  Well, that's not true.  I have regretted that I did not arrive here sooner!  The people of this church, both Lakota and white, have accepted me as one of their own.  They have treated my wife and I as their friends, and they have been friends to us. Here you can see a picture of me delivering a sermon on a typical Sunday morning. 
Here I am standing with my lovely wife, Tiffany.She feels called to this area, just as I do. We have shared the adventure of ministry in this church for one year, and the adventure of marriage for three!  She has been a source of comfort and support for me whenever life has become difficult, and a sharer of joy when we have felt God's blessing upon us.  She also helps with our breakfast ministry, keeps order during children's Sunday School, Helps cook for our Wednesday night potlucks, and many other contributions, too numerous to mention.


Unlike me, Tiffany feels called to the area of education. She teaches sixth grade at the local public school. There, she handles all subjects, with a particular concentration in reading.  Here you see her standing in her classroom, where she teaches everything from math to manners.  She arranges her classroom in such a way that it actually holds over 5,000 books!
The men and women of First Baptist Church are friendly and kind, and live at peace with each other.  What is more, there is a goodly number of them who are not afraid to get their hands dirty to serve the Lord!  If you don’t mind, I would like to show you some of the people of this church, and some of the ministries they provide. But no matter what I say, the help they give the church is not limited to the things I list, nor are the people I mention the only ones serving in this church:










 


This is Amanda Benson. Although she does not hold the title,“Minister of Music”, she does all the same things that ministers of music do. She also teaches Sunday School for the young children. If the energy of this woman could somehow be harnessed, it would provide power to the entire eastern seaboard. On the left, you can see Amanda leading the music during a typical worship service. Amy Holley, another member of the church, is accompanying her on the piano.

The woman you see on the right Rita Lafferty. She serves on our church finance committee, and also runs our breakfast ministry, one of our focuses at this church. As part of this ministry, we feed breakfast to about thirty hungry local children each Sunday morning, then teach them the Sunday School lesson. It is our belief that, if we get the Lakota children thinking about church and Christianity in a positive context, they will be more receptive to the Gospel. This is a philosophy which has proven true, because during the past year I have baptized two of these children-both of whom accepted Christ one year ago. 
The man you see on the left is Glenn Wilkins.  He works in our breakfast ministry every Sunday.  He almost never uses a car, but walks everywhere- and for this reason the Lakota have given him the Indian name "Walks Fast".  When he happens to arrive at church before the door is unlocked-as he often does-he passes the time by picking up trash in our parking lot.  
In the center, you can see a typical Sunday morning, with Rita and Glenn feeding the children breakfast (probably the best meal they will get for the entire weekend).
Of course, many of these children have parents who do not attend church, and some of them have no means of getting here whatsoever. This is where our next ministry comes into play.

This man is named Gilbert Lind. As a point of interest, he is a descendant of the Lakota chief Sitting Bull. He, along with Ilhami Konur, Mark Shupick and Clint Holley, operates our bus ministry. Every Sunday morning, Gilbert, Ilhami, Mark and/or Clint take our vans out to the various neighborhoods, and give children a ride to church. After the children are done, these men take them all back home.
Gilbert also assists the church in other ways. When something large and heavy needs to be moved, Gilbert picks it up with one hand and sets it down wherever it needs to be. During the past year, he moved all of my office furniture and about two tons of dirt for the church (using his truck, of course).


These two happy people are Anne and Ilhami Konur.Both of them have retired from their normal working life, and have dedicated their lives to starting Christian schools on Indian reservations. They now find themselves twice as busy as they have ever been before!The building on the right is the school they have founded here: Windswept Academy.  Here, Lakota children receive quality education in a Christian environment. The Konurs charge almost nothing for tuition, and operate the school on donations from others.The school turns no profit, and is not meant to.  As for the Konurs themselves, they live entirely off of their life savings, taking nothing from the school.


Here we see a typical day in one of the school’s main classrooms. While WindsweptAcademy has no official connection with First Baptist Church, its students are taught sound Christian doctrines, and when they are older they are more likely to become members of First Baptist.  Also, both of the school's founders and most of its staff attend this church.  So in many ways, the school and the church share the same goals.  That is why I am proud to be the chaplain for the school.


These two wonderful people are Clint and Amy Holley. Clint serves as the Headmaster of Windswept Academy as well as a teacher, while Amy teaches multiple grade levels. 
When Amy and Clint first arrived at Windswept academy, the largest number of students the school had ever had was 15. Amy then began praying that God would entrust them with 25 children that year-nearly double their previous record! It was an ambitious prayer, and God would have to do a mighty work to bring it about. But by the time the year began, 27 children were in attendance! Now, one year later, that number has increased to 35.  In fact, if the school continues to succeed at its present rate, they will soon reach a point of not being able to fit any more students into the building!  It makes me so happy when I see God show off!


Clint and Amy do not limit their service to the confines of the school, however.  Being people of selfless hearts,  they give of themselves in many areas of the church.  Clint teaches adult Sunday School classes, while Amy manages the preschool children.  Amy plays the piano during worship, as well.  Together, they manage our Off-the-Wall ministry, with considerable success (but more about that in a minute).


These hapy people are Adam and Rachel Cowan.  Adam teaches at the school, while Rachel is a secretary there.  They have just moved to the area, but they are already distinguishing themselves through acts of service.  Rachel has begun helping to teach children's Sunday School, while Adam has volunteered to fill in for me on a Sunday when I will be absent.


This is Darla Shupick, our youth Sunday School teacher.She is also the no-nonsense founder and operator of Noah’s Ark Preschool and Day Care Center. During the summer, this center takes care of children while their parents are at work.But when the fall arrives, Darla actively sets to work-teaching the children their numbers, and their colors, and their letters, and their three bears, and how to get along with other people.When these children arrive in kindergarten, they are one step ahead of the other children because of this extra training.
              In addition to traditional preschool topics, children at Noah’s Arkreceive some basic Bible instruction. Like Windswept Academy, Noah’s Ark has no direct affiliation with the church, but certainly works towards some of the same goals.


               This is Mark Shupick, Darla's husband.  He serves on the church finance committee, works in driving the children to Sunday School, and generally gives the church the benefit of his knowledge about how things work.  If there's a problem, he can solve it.  If it's broken, he can fix it.  And if he can't fix it, he probably knows someone who can.


This woman is Leslie Morrison, who has joined our church during this year.  A few months ago, she asked permission to start a "women's talking circle" at the church.  The purpose of this ministry was to provide Christian-based group counseling to women who are recovering from addictions.  She was frightened at first, since she had done nothing of this nature before.  But she soon overcame her fears, and has begun leading this group's meetings every Monday and Thursday night.  This provides a much-needed service to local women who want to get their lives back on the right track. 


This woman is Jennine Dolphus.  During the passt year, she has become our church treasurer.  This is a job to which she is particularly well-suited, since she works at the local bank.  She has proven as exact and meticulous in her bookkeeping as she is sunny and kind in her disposition.


This man is Randy Slides Off.  He is a faithful servant of the Lord, who conducts Bible studies in his own home, in addition to attending church.  He also serves as the church custodian.  Thankfully, with Randy around, cleanliness in the church is something that I don't have to think about.

This is Darlene Mestes.  She is one of the eldest members of the church.  And since it is both the Lakota tradition and the Christian tradition to respect the counsel of your elders, it is only appropriate that Darlene also serve on the finance committee.  She has been an active member of the church almost since it was founded in the early 1960's, and she will serve in it another 50 years, if the Lord allows.

For those of you who have only been in contact with this church for a short time, this letter should give you a general idea of who we are and what we do.  But for those of you who have been friends of ours for a long time, here is a review of how the church has changed during the past year:



For beginners, there is the building.  Our building was strong at this time last year, but it was in need of repair.  It needed painting, the roof was damaged, the sign out front was inaccurate, and the electrical wiring needed repair in several places.  Now, thanks to God's blessings and the generous assistance of you, our brothers and sisters in Christ, our building is now in the best shape it has ever been in.  It looks brand new!   


This April, I had the great pleasure of conducting my first baptism ever in this church!  I performed it for two young boys who gave their hearts to Christ last year, at Vacation Bible School.  Baptism is a fairly involved process at First Baptist Church of eagle Butte.  Before I will baptize anyone, I put them through a series of classes about what Christianity is and what following Jesus will mean for their lives.  Those who are not complete in their commitment to Christ will not attend the classes, so this process tends to inspire a more serious and disciplined conversion.  These two young men stuck it out with me all the way to the end. When the classes were complete, I asked them, "Now that you know what it is to be a Christian, do you still want to be one?".  They enthusiastically answered yes, and their baptism was conducted with celebration and gladness!


This summer, First Baptist Church experimented with the practice of taking on a summer intern.  The girl who offered to be our first intern of all time was Madeline Renee Holman, from Sevier Heights Baptist Church in Tennessee.  She gave invaluable help to the church throughout the summer, and quickly handled any task I gave her to do, whether great or small.  Here you see her dropping off some local kids at a Christian summer camp in Pierre, SD.  She did so well with this assignment that the church has begun to consider bringing in other interns in the future.


Maddie made a video during her time here that not only chronicles what she did, but what magnificent things the Lord did in this church this summer. You can view the video by clicking the link above.


We attempted an outreach effort with the local hospital this summer that proved very effective.  We prepared a breakfast for the hospital staff, and had members of our church on hand to thank them for alll they do for the community.  Our efforts were met very warmly by the hospital community, and even resulted in some of them coming regularly to our church!


My wife, Tiffany, took the initiative to start a ministry of her own during the past year.  Each month, whenever possible, she hosts a ladies' social for the women of our church at our home in Eagle Butte.  She does this in recognition of the fact that the women of our church do a great deal of work in the various church ministries, but often have little opportunity to be ministered to themselves.  These women's socials were started during the past year so that the women could have an opportunity to relax, eat, talk, and enjoy fellowship with each other.  So far, the women have found it delightful, and my wife has been glad for the opportunity to share her hospitality with her sisters in Christ.
One of the biggest innovations of the past year has come in the form of a new ministry, designed to reach the local young people.  Normally, the most popular activity for young adults in Eagle Butte is to sit on a wall (conveniently located across the street from our church) and stare at traffic.  Drug dealers know to come there to ply their trade, and someone was stabbed there just a few months ago.  We wanted to do something about this, but we recognized that all the young people were coming there because they were bored.  That was when someone had a brilliant idea.

The result was a ministry called "Off the Wall", an initiative by the church designed to give the young people of Eagle Butte something fun and safe to do on Friday nights.  Clint and Amy Holley have headed up this ministry, and other members of our church volunteer to help with the festivities.  Each Friday, we set up a movie projector, some board games, a basketball hoop, some crafts, and a meal.  Young people come from everywhere, and for a few hours they enjoy themselves in a Christian setting.  In time they have come to enjoy being here.  Some of them have even surprised us by coming to a Wednesday night meeting.  And the popularity of this event now rivals the wall itself, as we routinely get 40 kids a night!
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.  If any of you knows someone who would like to stay updated on the activities of this church, please send me their e-mail addresses.  That way, they can receive monthly newsletters, just like you!  Just send their name and e-mail address to me at benfarrar777@hotmail.com, and I’ll make sure they receive this newsletter as often as you do.
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 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