Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Newsletter July 2016




First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte
P.O. Box 170, Eagle Butte, SD 57625
(605) 891-1704 (Pastor’s Cell)/ www.fbceaglebutte.com (Website)

July 5, 2016

Dear Friends,




It’s summertime, and boy, am I pumped!  The land is green and growing, the days are sunny and warm, and our church is whirling with activity!  I’m just taking advantage of a short respite to write to you about some of it now.
This summer marked a first for me, as I became involved for the first time in a real live cattle branding!  This is often considered a “rite of initiation” among ranchers, since the branding of cattle is a difficult and sometimes dangerous process, requiring a team effort from several people, at least.  Ranchers will often gather their friends and neighbors together for the branding, celebrating afterwards with a big meal.  And, of course, the experiences of new people, like me, are the source of endless entertainment!
I was assigned the task of convincing the cows to travel down a narrow chute, where they would be branded at the end.  If they decided against it, my job was to force them.  In the end, I managed to make it through with only a minimal amount of manure on me, and without taking any serious kicks.  Ha!  There’s always something new to learn!


One of Our Elders Gets a Helping Hand


 

Darlene Mestes, one of our eldest and most respected church members, has been needing a ramp into her house for some time now.  Her mobility has decreased over time, and she has found it difficult to climb the steps into her house, which you can see in the photo on the left.  This problem is made even worse in the wintertime, when the steps have ice on them.  I had wanted to build one for her myself, but I lacked both the resources and the skills for that type of construction.
But this May, God’s blessings rained down in the form of a mission team from Southwestern Baptist University, led by Everett Hornbostel.  They took up residence in the church, bought all of the needed materials, and completed the entire project in only two days.  Today, Darlene can much more easily enter and leave her house, and can get up and down the ramp without any trouble at all.  Praise the Lord, who works through the generous hearts of His servants!

An Outreach to Cherry Creek-and a New Kitchen!





Our friends at Grace Bible Fellowship (a church in Nebraska) came to visit us in June.  They got really busy, really fast!  Working as a team with On Eagle’s Wings ministries in Cherry Creek, they set up a Vacation Bible School and basketball camp in that town, lasting a full week!  On the first day, they cleaned Cherry Creek’s entire gymnasium, top to bottom.  They then played basketball with the young men of the community, and hosted a VBS for all the children.  On one of the evenings, they even hosted a 3-on-3 basketball tournament…which I played in…and lost…BADLY. 
The young people of Cherry Creek heard the Gospel being preached that week, from people whom they had grown to respect.  But this was not the end of the good work that Grace Bible Fellowship did.

While the main group went to Cherry Creek, a small, elite team stayed at the church.  These construction specialists repaired our church’s basketball goal, which had been ripped off of its’ post by vandals.  They also undertook the considerable project of remodeling our church kitchen.  They added cabinet space and installed new appliances.  While these changes sound cosmetic at first, they make all the difference in the world to a church like ours, which uses cooking as one of its’ key outreach tools.  With the kitchen updated, we will be able to store more food, cook more efficiently, and better supply our various ministries.  I only regret that I cannot show you a picture of the finished product, since the countertop has not yet arrived.  That will be in the next newsletter!.
To Grace Bible Fellowship, and to the anonymous donor whose generous gift made this possible, and to the Lord who stirred the hearts of all, we give our thanks.


Old Friends from the Northeast






This June, we were visited by the people of Hilltop Baptist Church, of Pennsylvania. For four beautiful days, they played games, made crafts, and taught Bible stories to the children of our community.  They were well-received and well-appreciated, a lot of children’s summers were made just a little bit better for having been shown the love of Jesus.
Somehow in the middle of it all, they managed to do a large variety of different projects on the church grounds.  They installed blinds on all of the church windows, and installed a series of cameras throughout the interior of the church, to make the entire place more safe and secure.  We are grateful to our friends at Hilltop Baptist church, for self-sacrificially giving of themselves for the Lord’s service.

Children Experience the Joys of Summer Camp


For many years, First Baptist Church has enjoyed a happy relationship withVictory Center Bible Camp, a Christian Summer camp located near Pierre.  For some children who rarely have a chance to leave the reservation, this is a great opportunity to experience new things, meet new friends, have tons of fun, and learn new things about the Lord.  Our church is proud to sponsor children to go to this camp, whenever their parents have been unable to pay their own way.
This year, due to the generous donations of God’s people, we were able to sponsor more children than ever before-more than twenty!  Already, we have sent multiple groups to the camp, according to their age groups. The response has been phenomenal.  One young lady, upon returning from camp, regailed me with a complete retelling of the story of the great missionary William Carey, and his mission work in India.  Another young man, I was delighted to learn, accepted Christ during his stay at the camp!  Both of these young people attend Windswept Academy during the academic year, so I can be sure of their continued discipleship.  Praise the Lord that there are places like this for the young people of this area!
  
Clothing Eagle Butte

 


From time to time, we receive clothing donations from generous people across the country, asking that we get them into the hands of people who need them.  I usually save these clothes until I have enough to host a large clothing giveaway at the church.  Unbelievable as it may sound, so many clothes have been donated recently that I have had TWO giveaways since May!  They were each well-attended, and much appreciated.  The last one was so popular that nearly all of the clothes (twelve tables worth) were gone within hours!  Thank you, all who sent clothes to make these giveaways a reality.

Women’s Bible Study

 


My wife has made it her project to host women’s Bible studies at our house on Sunday afternoons, whenever possible.  This gives the women of the church a great opportunity to strengthen their bonds of frienship, deepen their relationship with God, and generally live out the meaning of “church”.  I have not given these meetings much treatment in our newsletters, since my gender excludes me, so I have not been able to take any pictures.  But this month I received a special invitation to photograph their women’s Bible Study, then quickly leave the room. 
As a side note, I grateful that God has paired me with a woman who is so completely in love with His Son, and who is willing to use our home as a retreat for the enrichment of the women of the church.  She is the one in pink, on the right.  Isn’t she pretty? I think so!
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,



Ben Farrar
Pastor
First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte

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