First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte
P.O. Box 170, Eagle Butte, SD 57625 www.fbceaglebutte.com
(Website)
(605) 964-3617 (Office) / (605) 891-1704 (Pastor’s Cell)
September 9, 2015
Dear Friends,
What an incredible Summer it has been! The weather has been magnificent, the sunflowers have grown tall, and the city has used the opportunity to begin a vast, far-reaching improvement project. By mid-fall, we expect that our street will have been dug-up and repaved, our asbestos pipes replaced with more modern materials, and our sidewalk widened to better accommodate the handicapped. It was expensive (both to the city and to the institutions located on main street, including us), but the benefit will be felt for many years to come.
We have even made an arrangement with the city contractor to build a handicap-access ramp at the front of our church, at the same that he is doing everything else. This ramp will provide elderly church members with a much more manageable walk into our front doors-especially during the wintertime.
It is against the backdrop of this beautiful scenery and landscape-changing construction that one of the busiest summers we have ever had took place! As I look back on it all, I can’t believe it all happened within the span of just three short months!
New Friends Enjoy Great Success
Recently, a group of young people from all walks of life began gathering for prayer in their home state of Illinois. They called their prayer group “Souled Out”, and the more they prayed, the more they found that God was leading them to work as a team on a missions project in the United States. The Lord led them to contact me, and to set up a missions trip here in Eagle Butte. Many of them had never been on a missions trip before, but their lack of experience was more than made up for by their enthusiasm and willingness to listen to advice. They quickly learned how to host a Vacation Bible School, and the entire community was very receptive to them. When they weren’t involved with the Bible School itself, they did community service projects. They helped me organize a large number of boxes that I never would have been able to organize myself. They even painted the interior of a house for a married couple in our church who suffer from certain disabilities. We deeply appreciate the young men and women of Souled Out, and the adults who led them in this trip.
A Blessing from the Deep South
This June, we had the pleasure of hosting a group of young people from Highland Baptist Church of Alabama. They came with the intention of putting in many hours of hard labor, and they did just that. And their work paid off, in spades. Each day, they put on a Vacation Bible school at our church, complete with songs, games, Bible lessons and crafts. There was even an unusual feature of the VBS for the older children-a lesson on the advantages of abstinence! This last lesson was one which we had never had at the church before, and I had my doubts about what the students’ reaction would be. To my surprise, the attendance of the older children increased daily, and some of them only showed up for the abstinence lesson, and nothing else! I was greatly encouraged by this.
But Highland Baptist Church did not find it sufficient to stop with doing these wonderful things. They also renovated the trailer of a local family. Its roof had been in such bad shape that actual icicles had been hanging inside the house in the wintertime, and the floor was also badly in need of repair. But the people of Highland Baptist Church repaired all of these things, making the house a far more pleasant place to live. Truly, God has used these brothers and sisters in Christ.
Beyond the Borders of Eagle Butte
Eagle Butte is only of thirteen settlements scattered across the reservation. Many of these settlements have no church at all, or only have church once in a very long while. Through the cooperation of churches across the country, First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte is able to reach beyond the borders of our community and into these settlements. This year, we first did this type of outreach in July, when Meadows Baptist Church of Madison, NC came to assist us in reaching Thunder Butte and Bear Creek. Their VBS was small, because these communities are small. But each child they taught was an immortal human soul, for whom Jesus was ready to die. And the magnitude of that will never be fully known, this side of Heaven.
Bidding Goodbye to an Old Friend
The time has come at last. This summer, we said goodbye to Amanda Benson, who by now is in the Philippines, serving on the mission field as a schoolteacher. Her going-away party was attended by church members, teachers, farmers, ranchers, and no small number of students. She had made many friends here in Eagle Butte over the past few years, and we are sad to see her leave. But it is our honor to be sending someone to the mission field for the first time. We wish you well, Amanda. May God use you as His hands.
Eagle Butte’s Youth Experience Christian Camp
Victory Center Bible Camp is a Christian-based summer camp that has been operating out of Fort Pierre, SD for many years. Ever since I arrived, and for some time before, First Baptist Church has provided an opportunity for local children (many of whom could not otherwise afford it) to attend this camp. There, they are given Christian teachings in a fun, safe environment. This year, our sponsors were particularly generous in funding children going to this camp, so we were able to send more children than we ever have previously-a total of 17! We thank our sponsors for their generous support, and implore God’s blessings upon them.
Old Friends Pay Us a Visit
For the past fourteen years, Hamilton Baptist Church has been our trusted friend and ally. They have been a constant source of support and encouragement, and this summer was certainly no exception. They came, along with a coalition of brothers and sisters from churches across the country, to work alongside our volunteers to put on a Vacation Bible School here at the church. There were daily skits (in which I played the incompetent Inspector NoClue), crafts, games, and Bible lessons. I had the privilege of presenting the Gospel to dozens of children who would not have otherwise come to our church. It was a grand and glorious week for our church.
They also brought with them Jonathan Toombs (a phenomenal basketball player and coach) to put on a basketball camp at our local middle school, as well as at Cherry Creek. The Lakota love basketball, and the opportunity to hone their skills was well-appreciated.
Construction and Edification
Our neighboring Christian school, Windswept Academy, was visited by a team of churches, led by a man named Hubert Labner. They brought with them people with a variety of skill sets, ranging from construction to music. During the week, the team split into two parts. One part remained at Windswept Academy, where they built a new storage shed in less than three days! That group had time enough to spare to do some landscaping on the windswept grounds, and fix a major issue with my house. (My house was built with a window in the shower. It rotted constantly, and I couldn’t maintain it. So they removed the window and replaced it with a wall! I didn’t even know that was possible!)
The other group traveled to the outlying settlement of Red Scaffold. There, they put on a Vacation Bible School for the children of that settlement. It was greatly appreciated and well-received.
An Unprecedented Outreach
Sevier Heights Baptist Church of Tennessee came to visit in late July, and attempted a thing that I have never seen before: Five Vacation Bible Schools, in five different locations, in a single week! Using First Baptist Church as a base, they left each morning for the settlements of Red Scaffold, Thunder Butte, Iron Lightning, White Horse and Swift Bird. The team divided into two groups to lighten the work, each group still did two Vacation Bible Schools per day. I was elated to be a part of the work, as communities that rarely had any Gospel influence were exposed to light of God’s Word. In one community, a little girl was asked if she knew Jesus. “Yes, I know Jesus”, she said. “He’s funny.” Upon further inquiry, it was found that the girl thought I was Jesus! Please pray for the unreached people of this reservation, that they might know God and love Him.
The Heartland Opens its Heart
We had the honor of receiving visitors from the Church of the Open Door, of Leavenworth, KS. These men and women worked diligently throughout the week on a variety of projects. In fact, their ambition for service was so great that I had no idea how they accomplish all their plans!
Each day of the week, they traveled to the outlying settlements of Iron Lightning and Bear Creek, where they had a vacation Bible school. This brought our church’s total outreach for the summer to thirteen Vacation Bible Schools, spread across seven different cities. We were so grateful to be involved in this.
Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord
A woman named Connie Jackson, who is a member of our church, expressed sorrow to me a few months ago about her hometown of Wakpala. She said that she wished that we could do some sort of outreach to that place-perhaps involving some sort of music. The very next day, I was approached by a friend of mine, Tom Fortner, who wanted to know if my church had any use for a Christian music concert. Seeing that the Lord’s hand was in this, I immediately agreed.
The concert that followed, a few months later, was a great success. Justin Stone was the performer who graciously agreed to come and sing, free of charge. The people of Wakpala appreciated the concert, and Connie was deeply gratified to see the people of her hometown ministered to in this way.
Praise the Lord! I Have a Roof!
For years, I have
been faced with a steadily accumulating problem. My roof has been falling apart. I found more shingles in my yard with every
passing windstorm. I knew that it would
not be long before my ceiling began to leak.
All of this worry came to an end, however, when I received a visit from
Fred Igert, Steve Rodgers, and Steve’s son, Sam. These men worked constantly for days, putting
together a roof made from metal. Their
finished work was fantastic. It will
never blow away in the wind, the winter snow will slide right off of it, and
best of all, they tell me that it will last the rest of my life! My thanks goes out to these men, and to
Hamilton Baptist Church, whose generosity funded the entire project.
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.
This summer, a financial gift was made in
memory of Philip Banks. Another was made
in honor of Lynn Carr.
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
