First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte
P.O. Box 170, Eagle Butte, SD
57625
(605) 964-3617 (Office) / (605)
891-1704 (Pastor’s Cell) / www.fbceaglebutte.com
May
26, 2015
Dear Friends,
Spring has come to Eagle Butte at last, but I have never seen
winter put up such a violent struggle for survival! Two weeks ago, I was forced to cancel
church-because of a blizzard! A
blizzard! In the middle of May! I had been needing to cut my grass, but I
couldn’t because of all the snow! But
even this was not the end of Eagle Butte’s weather problems.
Recently, the Tribal Council held a meeting in the gymnasium of
Cherry Creek, here on the reservation.
What happened next is a little unclear.
Some say it was a tornado, while others think it was simply a very high
wind. It struck the gymnasium with
terrific force, causing the entire roof to collapse. Only two of the walls remained. But God was kind. Of the 40 people who were inside, not one of
them was killed. Only four of them were
injured. All of them recovered. Praise the Lord, who protects!
Revival!
In early March, First Baptist
Church hosted its annual revival, in cooperation with Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary. That great
institution honored us by sending one of its students to preach a series of
revival services at our church. The week
began with a clothing giveaway for the general community, with clothes supplied
by the generous donations of friends of this church from all across the United
States. Every person who stopped by
received a flyer, advertising the revival.
Each day, Thomas Fortner (the revival speaker) and myself would work
diligently to promote the revival throughout the community. And each night, for four nights in a row, we
held revival meetings at the church.
There was great worship and praise in those meetings, and they were
punctuated by members of our church giving their testimonies.
By the end, two young women had
come forward, seeking to know more about Jesus.
I am currently conducting pre-baptismal classes for one of these young
women, who has embraced God’s offer of salvation with joy. But most important of all, God was glorified
in those days. May He be glorified forever!
Amen.
First Baptist Church Joins the World
Wide Web
For years now, having a website has
been a long-term goal of this church.
But our lack of knowledge prevented us from making that goal a
reality. But this March, we had an unprecedented
opportunity. Our revival speaker, Thomas
Fortner, had some spare time on his hands, and used that time to teach me how
to set up a website. Now, First Baptist
Church is live on the internet! Here is
the address:
Now that the website is in place, a
whole world of possibilities has opened up.
For a long time, the prospect of ministering to this reservation has
been daunting, purely from a geographical perspective. The reservation consists of 13 small
settlements, spread over 9,000 square miles.
Many of those settlements have no place where its people can go to renew
their spirits in church. But now, with
the aid of this website, I can upload all of my sermons to the worldwide
web. People can hear them when they are
out of town, or snowed into their homes, or sick, or living in one of the
outlying settlements. There is even a
weekly feature I call “Ask Pastor Ben” in which anyone can ask me a question
and (if I know the answer), I will answer it in an audio recording on the
website! This is a great step forward
for us.
The website does more than this,
though. In addition to providing all
sorts of useful information about the church and its people, the site has an
“online giving” option, in which donors can conveniently donate to First
Baptist Church.
I invite you to visit www.fbceaglebutte.com and see for
yourself the various things that it has to offer!
Our First Missionary is Commissioned
Many years ago, a fiery missionary
named Ballard White arrived in Eagle Butte.
He was full of purpose and energy, and dedicated himself to the founding
of this church. He was assisted in this
endeavor by other churches throughout the United States, who helped him
according to the proper practice of the Body of Christ. Ballard White has since gone on to be with
the Lord, but our church has grown strong.
We continue to operate with a great deal of help from churches across
the country, and we stand on the shoulders of giants. But we also recognize that it was always
intended by our Lord that other missionaries would one day stand on our
shoulders.
It is for this reason that First
Baptist Church could not be more proud to commission its first missionary,
Amanda Benson. She will soon be leaving
for the Philippine Islands, and she takes with her our blessing and
support. There she will work in the
capacity of a schoolteacher, and work to spread the Gospel to those who need it
most. Farewell, Amanda. First Baptist Church will miss you.
Good Friends Help Make Our Church Secure
I have been the Pastor of First
Baptist Church for the past four years.
During that time, we have had no fewer than three break-ins. When the third break-in occurred last summer,
I knew that the problem could be ignored no longer. Anyone wishing to enter our church could
smash a window and crawl right through.
So I called on our good friends at Burkemont Baptist Church in
Morganton, North Carolina.
Sending up a team of skilled
craftsmen, they installed a series of bars on each of our windows, with a decorative
cross on each. Now, if someone wants to
get in, they’re going to need a blowtorch!
Not being content to only secure
our windows, the crew from Burkemont turned their attention to our back
fence. This fence had been very badly
treated by passers-by over the years.
Three of its posts had broken off at the ground, and large sections of
it were being held together with coathanger wire! Setting to work with the matter-of-fact
efficiency of skilled professionals, they made the entire fence strong and
sturdy in less than 24 hours. Our
heartfelt gratitude goes out to all those who helped make these projects a
reality.
Friends Come From Afar, Bearing Gifts
This April, First Baptist Church
had the great honor of hosting two good-hearted philanthropists: Sarah and Lowell Connell, of Arkadelphia,
Arkansas. They arrived in Eagle Butte
with a trailer full of useful things to put to use in our church. There were cabinets and whiteboards for the
Sunday School rooms, sspice racks for the kitchen, and even some doors for our
Sunday School rooms.
Not content to merely drop off some
gifts and leave, they got the help of a local carpenter and installed
everything, tight and secure. Our church
is much better off due to their help.
All our thanks.
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
