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
29, 2014
Dear
Friends,
The warm weather is, at last, coming to an end. But as summer has faded away, we are left with
a great collection of memories, and bright hopes for the future.
On Labor Day weekend, the town was gripped with its usual
excitement as three large events took place in our city. The annual Pow-wow was a huge success, as
dancers from all over this and other reservations gathered to perform their
traditional dances. The Pow-wow went on
for three days, attracting hundreds of onlookers.
The ranchers who live nearby hosted a rodeo at the same time, and
entertained crowds with everything from bull-riding to calf-roping. These events are serious business in this
part of the country, and some nearby high schools actually have “rodeo” as an
elective sport!
The entire weekend was accented by the coming of our annual
county fair, which set up in between the Pow-Wow and rodeo. I’m proud to say that my wife’s cookies took
4th place in the baked goods competition! There was even an enormous parade down Main
Street, complete with floats, as well as every government vehicle for 50
miles! All of this made for some pretty
fantastic celebration, which was good-because school started back the next day.
Working to Feed the Hungry
On September 20, fourteen people of
all ages from our church met in Pierre to join in a very satisfying
endeavor. It had to do with an event
sponsored by the humanitarian organization, “Feed My Starving Children”, which
packs and ships nutritious food packages to needy countries all over the
world. The organization saves money by
finding volunteers to pack the food into boxes, and it was at one such packing
event that the group from First Baptist Church set to work.
Over the course of a few short
hours, the group filled scores of bags full of rice, protein and dried
vegetables, and packed the bags into crates.
Their efforts were combined with those of other volunteers from all over
the state, who had gathered in Pierre for the same purpose. When the job was done, they had packed a
total of 34, 128 meals, according to a Feed My Starving Children
representative. They told us that the
food we packed would be enough to feed ninety-four children for an entire year!
It is rare that you can have so much fun
making a positive impact on the world.”
Feed My Starving Children hosts
annual packing events at Capitol Heights Baptist Church in Pierre. So next year, we intend to send more
volunteers, and see if we can break this year’s record!
Our Children’s Ministry
As many of you are aware, First Baptist Church sends buses all
over town each Sunday morning, picking up children from throughout the
city. After the children have been
brought to church, we feed them breakfast (the first meal, for some of them,
that they have eaten since Friday). Then
we teach them a Sunday School lesson, and give them a ride home.
What you might not be aware of is the more-recently-started
youth ministry on Wednesday nights. Clint and Amy Holley, who operate Windswept
Academy, founded this ministry several months ago so that the children and
youth could have a Bible study appropriate to their age group. The result was a dramatic improvement on the
effectiveness of our Wednesday night meetings.
But an even more exciting development has occurred recently: Amy Holley has rallied this group of young
people to form a Youth Choir! Just last
Sunday, the choir sang for the first time in our Sunday morning service. And they sounded fantastic! I am actively looking forward to the next
time I can hear them perform. If you
would like to here how they sounded, I have included a link to their
performance here:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152793540154581&set=vb.841644580&type=2&theater
Our
Missionary, Preparing for Her Long Journey
Our own Amanda Benson has been hard at work these past few
months, raising support for her upcoming career as a missionary to the
Philippine Islands. She is slated to
leave next Summer, and has already begun the long and painful process of saying
many goodbyes. But her devotion to the
Lord is strong, and her calling is sure.
We as a church are honored to be one of those who are helping to send
Amanda on this incredible journey-through prayers, encouragement, and financial
support. She is pictured here, telling
our gathered congregation of her love for the Philippines and her conviction
that God has called her to teach there.
On a related note, if any of you are interested in finding out
more about Miss Benson and her ministry, you can visit her website at oboejo.wix.com/foundfaithful.
The
Construction of Windswept Academy is Completed!
After nearly a year of construction, Windswept Academy’s new
addition is finally finished! Whereas
the previous school building was a house that had been modified to accommodate
classroom space, Windswept now has a building which was specifically designed
to accommodate the needs of education.
It includes a cafeteria/chapel, an office, a large kitchen, several
classrooms, and spacious bathroom facilities.
Even more impressive, the moving of the school to this facility frees
the old building to be used as a house by the Holley family. So instead of driving the 45-minute commute
from Faith every day, they get to live right next to the place where they
work! And since I live right next door,
I have the pleasure of getting some new neighbors.
The new building was ready for use as of the start of this
school year. Due to its increased size,
it was able to accommodate an expanded student body-nearly five times the size
of what it was three years ago. All
grades, from Kindergarten through the 8th grade, are represented there. And just as it has always been, I have the
honor of conducting chapel services there every week, and counseling the
children whenever they have problems.
The only difference between chapel services today and chapel services
three years ago is that I now have two chapel services-one for younger students
and one for older ones. In the pictures
above, you see me preaching in chapel. I
frequently have the students come up front to act the stories out!
Learning
from the Book of James
Recently, my wife has been leading a Bible study of the Book of
James. She is doing this with the help
of Beth Moore study tools graciously donated by Burkemont Baptist Church of
North Carolina. Women from multiple
different churches throughout the city come together at First Baptist Church to
study through the Book of James and share their personal struggles with one
another. I wish I could give you a
picture from the Bible study, but I’m afraid it’s strictly “no men allowed”!
Please pray for the women of our church, that their studies
together will result in their spiritual growth and development.
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
This
month, a financial gift was made to the church in memory of Blanche Sprinkle.
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
