P.O. Box 170, Eagle
Butte, SD 57625
November 4, 2013
Dear Friends,
It has been a long
time since I have written to you, and so much has changed! Summer ended with a huge celebration, as
Labor day weekend brought the annual Pow-Wow.
Hundreds of dancers from this and surrounding reservations converged on
Eagle Butte and danced in celebration of Lakota culture. Hundreds more Lakotas observed the dancers,
while enjoying the company of their families and delicious festival food.
Eagle Butte takes
advantage of each annual Pow-Wow and its influx of people to have more than one
celebration on the same weekend. While
the Pow-Wow took place in one part of the city, area ranchers held a full-scale
rodeo in a different part-complete with bull-riding, calf-roping,
steer-wrestling, barrel racing and bronco-riding. Right in the middle of these two celebrations,
a carnival set up operations, and provided hours of fun for all the area
children.
Autumn does not last long in South Dakota. Our first blizzard came unseasonably early,
in the first week of October. In some
areas, like Eagle Butte, there were “only” six inches of snow, which quickly
melted. But in Faith, which is situated
45 minutes to the West of us, they received a full foot of snow, with some
drifts measuring much higher. But the
people who were hurt the worst, by far, were area ranchers. Their cattle had not yet grown their winter
coats, and this early snowstorm killed off all but the strongest of them. Some ranchers lost as much as 60% of their
herd. Pray for the ranchers of the area,
who will need God’s help to recover from this crisis.
School is In!
When Autumn comes around, school is back with a vengeance! Windswept Academy is running at its highest
capacity ever-with 56 students! It has
been my honor to serve as the chaplain of this school, as well as the chaplain
of the Noah’s Ark preschool and daycare center.
As chaplain of these fine institutions, it is my honor and
responsibility to be one of the first people in these childrens’ lives to
introduce them to the stories of the Bible.
Pray for me, that I may do my job well.
Pray also for Windswept Academy and Noah’s Ark, that they will have the
help they need to point the children in the right direction as they grow.
As the school year has started back, the number of children in
Eagle Butte who are coming to Sunday School has also increased. Pray for the children, that they will fall in
love with the God of the Bible, as we introduce Him to them. Pray also for our Sunday School workers, that
they will be given the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to present Christ as
they should.
Gospel, Grace, and Rock n’ Roll
As Labor Day weekend approached, together with its Pow-Wow,
rodeo, and carnival, I was contacted by a woman who had a dream. Barb Laplante, a member of the nearby
Lutheran Church, had seen an opportunity to have a Christian rock band play in
our town. The band was called “Seventh
Day Slumber”, and it has been featured on Christian radio stations in many
parts of the United States. Barb was
looking to bring about a combined effort from multiple churches in Eagle Butte,
with the goal of hosting a Christian rock concert on Labor Day weekend. Think of it-the biggest gathering of the year
for a hundred miles in any direction, and the Gospel being proclaimed in the
middle of it all! First Baptist jumped
at the opportunity, and assisted with promotion, food for the band, and the
loaning of various supplies. I even
volunteered to MC the event, and was honored to accept the position.
On the day of the event, God was kind, and provided good
weather. A good number of people sat on
the chairs we set up, and even more of them pulled their cars up at a distance,
listening from there. Though I approved
of the band’s message, I did not expect to enjoy their music. I was wrong-their music was really good! As the concert ended, the leader of the band
gave his personal testimony. He had
terribly abused drugs and alcohol in his lifetime, almost to the point of
killing himself. But God saved him out
of it, and gave him the strength he needed to break the chains of
addiction. At one point, he asked the
audience to bow their heads and close their eyes. Then he asked, “If you have considered taking
your own life in the past three months, would you signify this by raising your
hand?” He remarked that four people had
raised their hands. Then he spoke
directly to those people, as one who had been where they were. He encouraged them, prayed for them, and
pointed them to Christ. It was a very
moving time.
The band seemed to enjoy themselves as much as the rest of us
did. They even expressed interest in
returning to Eagle Butte. As I learn
more about that, I will let you know.
Our Latest (and Final)
Break-In
It happened again. Someone
broke into the church through our back window, and left through our back
door. Just like last time, they stole
nothing. And just like last time, they
damaged nothing except the window. If
they hadn’t left the back door unlocked, I wouldn’t have even known they had
been in the building. I suspect that the
entire crime was done to prove some sort of point (what that point was,
exactly, I do not know, but I suppose they proved it). Some people have too much ugly inside of them,
and they can’t survive unless they make the rest of the world as ugly as they
feel.
Since this is the second time this has
happened in the same year, I was determined to put a stop to it in any way
possible. Our policy at First Baptist Church
is to show vandals that our ability to rebuild is greater than their ability to
destroy. So I got two pieces of sheet
metal, attached them to either side of the broken window, and filled in the gap
with insulating sealant. Then I painted
the sheet metal a pretty blue color. The
resulting structure will keep out the cold, the rain, and any burglar who doesn’t
have a blowtorch!
Windswept Academy Gains a New Building
In the last newsletter, I showed you how the ground was being
cleared at Windswept Academy to construct a new building, to support Windswept’s
growing population. Since that time,
construction teams have been working almost continuously, to raise the building
in time for this year’s hard freezes. As
soon as the foundation was dry, the building sprang up almost overnight, nearly
doubling the school’s size. This
building will serve as the school’s cafeteria, chapel, recess area (especially
in the wintertime), and school office.
It will even provide some additional classroom space.
Please pray for Anne and Ilhami Konur, who are in charge of
raising funds for the school, that they will be able to raise enough money to
cover the cost of this new building. And
pray for the staff of Windswept Academy, that they will be able to manage the somewhat
cramped conditions at the school until this building is fully operational.
The Making of a Church Program
At all times, I have some project going on the back-burner that
I hope will make the church a better place to worship. My latest attempt at this has been the creation
of our first church program. It takes up
only 1 ½ sheets of paper, but is packed with information about our church. It has all our service times, the order of
worship, the lyrics to every song we sing that is not found in the hymnal,
announcements, and prayer requests. And
it’s all available at a glance to every person who walks in the door. It’s the little things that make me happy.
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
