Newsletter March 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)

March 8, 2013

Dear Friends,

Greetings to all of you from your friends at First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte. In the Lakota language February is called,“The moon of the hurting eyes”. It is so named because there is usually snow on the ground from November to March, and one’s eyes start hurting around February from looking at the sun glinting off of the snow. We have been fortunate this year, in that the Winter has been warm-by South Dakota standards. Nevertheless, it is still pretty cold outside, and we felt there was no better way to assist the needy in our community than by holding a clothing giveaway at our church. We had 14 large boxes full of clothing, and all of it had been provided by you! Because of the generosity of you and our other supporters across the country, we were able to get a great deal of clothing into the hands of the greater community. Plenty of people are warmer now, and they have you to thank.

 

 Magnificent Musicians Make Marvelous Music

 

Recently, a women’s conference was held in the Western part of the state. Some of the ladies in our church planned to attend, but God was not content to let them stop there. Through a series of seeming-coincidences and bright ideas, Amanda Benson and Amy Holley (who do the music at our church) joined forces with three ladies from the Lutheran Church (Christina Osthus, Julia Osthus, and Barb Berndt) to form an excellent musical ensemble. It featured a guitarist, a pianist, a violinist, and two singers. They performed at the women’s conference, doing a mixture of old hymns and modern praise and worship songs. They had such a warm reception there that they soon moved on to play at a community event that was sponsored by the Lutheran church. Since I know a good thing when I see it, I was quick to ask them to play their music at our church’s revival in just a few days. And praise the Lord, they graciously accepted! So now it seems that I have yet another reason to look forward to the revival!

Missionaries from Our Church Recognized for Their Service

 

Adam and Rachel Cowan, who are fairly new arrivals to our church, moved to this part of the country so they could serve in a missionary capacity, working at Windswept Academy. Adam teaches some of the older children, while Rachel serves as the school’s secretary. They somehow manage to do this while caring for two little girls and one newborn baby! Our State Baptist Convention took notice of their hard work and decided to recognize them by giving them a place in their newspaper. As you can see, their article takes up the whole back page. Their twins even made page one! It makes me so proud to working in a church where I can serve alongside so many servant-minded individuals.

 

 Lakota Christian Artwork

 

Bryson Dupris, whose painting of the Creation was in last month’s newsletter, has been working steadily on doing a series of ten paintings for us. I have found his designs to be both innovative and beautiful. Pictured above, you can see his renditions of the Fall, the Nativity, and the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses. In some of these paintings, you can see the faint image of a man holding a camera. Bryson did not paint the man holding a camera. You’re looking at my reflection in the glass. I really stink at photography. Our walls are quickly becoming adorned with pictures of scenes from the scriptures-scenes from the Bible that can be understood, even by the illiterate. And the more we surround ourselves with Bible, I think the better off we’ll be.

 

 A New Intern

 

Our church has experienced an unexpected windfall of late, as a young woman from Tennessee has volunteered to come and work for us as an intern. Her name is Emily Smith.  She plans to stay through the entire Summer and Fall, and I am anxious to put her to work for the Kingdom of God. Please pray that God will assist me in devising and internship for her that will educate her, give her experience, and accomplish much good among the Lakota people.  

REVIVAL!

Of course, the largest and most compelling thing in our near future is the revival that is coming up this week. On March 10-13, we will be conducting a series of meetings that are designed to be special periods of worship and outreach, to draw more souls into the Kingdom of Heaven. We have a guest preacher named Michael Martin coming in from Oklahoma, and some special music from the Christian music ensemble that I mentioned earlier. I have been busily promoting the revival in every way that I can think of, but it still weighs heavily on my mind that all our efforts are for nothing unless there is a movement of the Holy Spirit. If God moves through this revival, miracles will be done. Lives will be changed. Souls will be saved. It is even possible that the entire community could be transformed through the awesome power of God. This has been my prayer every day, and it has been the prayer of this church, as well. Now I beg you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to unite your voices in prayer and ask God for a miracle in the days that follow. I believe that God answers prayer. And I believe that He transforms lives. So please, lift us up, brothers and sisters. We need your prayers now as never before.

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. Pray especially for the revival, that God’s spirit will move, and that many people will be saved.

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 made to the church this month in loving memory of Miles Pinckney Farrar and Elizabeth Henkle Farrar.

A donation was made to the church this month in loving memory of Joseph W. Farrar.

A donation was made to the church this month in loving memory of Phifer Pearson

A donation was made to the church this month in loving memory of Maurice Chapman

A donation was made to the church this month in honor of Inez Jenkins.

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