First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte

P.O. Box 170, Eagle Butte, SD 57625

(605) 964-3617 (Office) / (605) 891-1704 (Pastor’s Cell)

Dear Friends,

What an incredible time it’s been over the past several months! Here in Eagle Butte, First Baptist Church has been busily working to spread the Gospel, while Windswept Academy has been actively educating the next Generation and teaching them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Last weekend, there was a major celebration for Labor Day. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe celebrated their annual Pow Wow, while the local ranchers put on a big rodeo. While these things were happening, a carnival was set up across the highway that everyone enjoyed.

All this came to an exciting peak on Labor Day itself, when we had a parade on Main Street. Windswept Academy had a float dedicated to the celebration, and I had the honor of being on it. We sang songs all the way down Main Street, praising God and scattering candy all the way! The float won third place in the competition. It was awesome.

Of course, not everything has been easy or fun. There has been a lot of hard work, and we have faced hard problems to solve. But the Lord has been with us, and I couldn’t be more proud of my faithful church members!

Oh, Canada!

On more than one occasion since our last newsletter, Eagle Butte has played host to an unwelcome visitor. Massive quantities of smoke, blown by the wind from the Canadian wildfires, enveloped the town. With each wave of smoke, people became very sick. We were forced to stay indoors, rather than breathe the smoke-laden air. Please pray that the wildfires in Canada will be put out, for the sake of the Canadians and all those downwind from them.

Windswept’s High School Chapel Gets a Special Visitor.

Terrence Lonon, one of the newest attendees at First Baptist Church, is one of those fascinating people who seem to have lived a thousand lives. A former soldier and former cocaine addict, Jesus gave Terrence the help he needed to overcome his addiction and find freedom. Since then, he has become an Emergency Services worker and a Christian rap artist.

At my request, Terrence paid a visit to the High School of Windswept Academy, where he shared his personal testimony and sang some of his Christian rap music. The students were delighted to hear what he had to say, and asked lots of questions. It was a great afternoon, when the students got to hear the Lord glorified through word and song.

My Home Church Comes, and God Works Wonders

When I was only 16 years old, my mother and I began attending Burkemont Baptist Church in Morganton, NC. It was Burkemont who first allowed me to be a Sunday School teacher. It was Burkemont who ordained me. The former pastor of Burkemont, David Mills, was a reference that helped me get my current job. And now here I am, at the age of 43, pastoring my own church, and the friendship with Burkemont is still strong. Dr. Eddie Bunton, Burkemont’s Minister of Students and Missions, decided it would be a great idea to lead a mission trip to South Dakota, where they could host a Vacation Bible School at FBC Eagle Butte. Accompanying him was Rev. Philip Shepherd, Burkemont’s Minister of Music and Worship, and a large team of volunteers, of all ages and skill sets, eager to serve the Lord.

The Vacation Bible School was a beautiful thing. Bible stories were taught, crafts were crafted, songs were sung, and fun times were had by all. Every child had a wonderful experience, and left with a solid teaching of the Gospel.

Unsatisfied with simply giving us a Vacation Bible School, Burkemont brought professional craftsmen from their church to fix several broken things in our church building and parsonage. I came up with what I thought was a formidable list of things to fix, and they fixed even more than that! They even fixed two of our electric ovens, which have been impossible to manage for the past several years!

I am grateful for the work that these men and women did, but I am also grateful for the opportunity to see these old friends of mine, some of whom became my friends when I was just 16 years old!

Red Scaffold’s Annual Vacation Bible School

Sevier Heights Baptist Church of Sevierville, Tennessee has been visiting us every summer for the past twelve years. With each visit, they use our church as a base of operations, and travel to the outlying settlement of Red Scaffold. There, they conduct a Vacation Bible School with the young people of the community.

Sevier Heights’ unique consistency in coming here every year has created an unusual effect. The children of the community have formed long-term friendships with the people of Sevier Heights. They actively look forward to Sevier Heights’ coming every year. Some of them are in their late teens, but were only little children when the church started coming. This year, one young woman was heard to say that the week Sevier Heights comes is her favorite week of the year-even better than Christmas!

This year, the people of Red Scaffold were more welcoming than they have been in any previous year. In addition to the usual Bible study, crafts and sports, the children took the people of Sevier Heights on long hikes, and swam in the local river. Everyone had fun, and real spiritual development took place. I love it when God shows that He is at work!

Sports Camp!

Calvary Bible Church of Pennsylvania is the home church of one of our Elders-Jonathan Maholic.This year, they hosted a sports camp at our church for all the children of the community. They played basketball and soccer, taught Bible lessons and walked the children through some craft projects. They did some difficult work around the church, like painting our steeple and front railing. They even fixed our air conditioner! 

We were deeply gratified to receive a visit from these good friends from far away. And the children couldn’t have been happier.

SUNDAYSCHOOLSUNDAYSCHOOLSUNDAYSCHOOLSUNDAYSCHOOL!!!

Every Sunday morning for many years, our church hosted children’s Sunday School and adult Bible study at the church, just before the worship service. Then the pandemic squashed everything, and the church was forced to close its doors for seven months. When we reopened, we lacked the volunteers to host children’s Sunday School anymore, and this ministry had to fall by the wayside. Until now.

The Holy Spirit moved in the heart of Grant Cotton, a young man who attends our church while teaching at Windswept Academy. Grant took the initiative, and presented me with a plan to revive Sunday School. He volunteered to teach the lesson and drive the van to pick the children up!

Moved by his selfless act, I contacted Beth McLeod, who had been involved in our Sunday School in the past. I asked her what she thought of Grant’s idea. She quickly voiced her approval, and even volunteered to make the children breakfast! I could not doubt God’s hand in this, and immediately gave them all the encouragement I could. On a good Sunday, they are already hosting five kids! Praise the Lord!

Women’s Bible Study

My wife, Tiffany, loves to study the Bible. And I mean she REALLY loves to study the Bible. The way America loves bacon. The way the Walt Disney Corporation loves money. The way teenagers love their phones. Tiffany can’t get enough of Bible studies, and often has more than one going on at once.

So I was very fortunate that Tiffany volunteered to teach a women’s Bible Study at First Baptist Church this Fall. The women of our church have taken to it with enthusiasm, and I am sure that they will all grow in Christ by studying the Book of Acts this year!

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

If you wish to give a donation in memory of another person, or in that person’s honor, we will recognize the person you designate in our newsletter.  

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

Newsletter February 2023

First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte

P.O. Box 170, Eagle Butte, SD 57625

(605) 964-3617 (Office) / (605) 891-1704 (Pastor’s Cell)

Dear Friends,

The last several months have been a regular roller coaster, with many highs and lows. This December, a blizzard hit which was so enormous that it shut down the entire state. In the nearby city of Timber Lake, temperatures plummeted as low as 61 degrees below zero! So much snow fell that much of it still remains, unmelted!

Tragedy befell us as my wife Tiffany’s father passed away from pneumonia. We drove to Kentucky for the sad occasion of his funeral. He was as good and loving a man as I ever knew, and he treated me like a son. I will miss him very much. Pictured here are Tiffany and me, standing next to her mother, Margueritte.

Our church surprised us in October with a small party, showing their gratitude to us in celebration of Pastor’s appreciation month. We love our church family so much! 

Help Arrives from Our Neighbors to the North

Last Fall, Windswept Academy received a visit from Trinity Bible College in North Dakota. A mission team of students arrived and immediately set to work. They helped organize textbooks. They helped give individual attention to students. They conducted a “see you at the pole” activity on Windswept’s front lawn, in which the students joined them in prayer. They did a puppet show for all the younger students. And they shared their personal testimonies for all to hear. It is important for children and high schoolers to see a Christian example from those who are older, and I am grateful that these students provided that example.

The Annual Thanksgiving Feast

Each year, our church hosts a major dinner which is open to everyone in the community. For over a decade, we have partnered with Hamilton Baptist Church of Hamilton, Virginia to make this possible. This year, a dedicated team arrived from Hamilton and put together the dinner more efficiently than I’ve ever seen it done. And when the time for the dinner arrived, roughly two hundred and fifty people were fed! Everyone was so happy. 

One of my favorite opportunities connected with this ministry is that the guests are given blank slips of paper, on which they can write prayer requests. It has been my pleasure to pray over these requests, just as the team from Hamilton also prayed over them. May God bless this team for their service!

Clothing Those in Need

Sometimes, servant-hearted believers from all over America send us items of clothing to give to those in need. Whenever I have a quantity of these, I host a clothing giveaway at the church. This December’s clothing giveaway was a great success, with dozens of people getting much-needed clothes for the harsh winter. Thank you so much, to all of you who sacrificed to get us these clothes!

Windswept Academy Celebrates Christmas

Our local Christian school, Windswept Academy, always puts in the work to make sure that the students have a good Christmas. This year was certainly no exception. They put on a complete pageant, telling the story of Christmas. They had Christmas parties in each of the rooms. And, making use of the donations from sponsors across the country, they gave Christmas presents to all the student body.  As I walked through the room that day, I was surrounded by dozens and dozens of smiling faces, as they ate candy and tore into their gifts. It was a good day, and it was all made possible by Windswept Academy and their kind supporters.

Beginning a New Women’s Bible Study

This Spring, First Baptist Church will be starting a women’s Bible Study titled, “Encountering God”, by Kelly Minter.  It will be led by wife, Tiffany. The study will be covering the spiritual disciplines, including prayer, worship, rest, and generosity. We anxiously look forward to the spiritual fruit that this investment will bring!

Preparing to Send Children and Youth to Bible Camp

Each year, our church has made a point of sending any interested children to Victory Center Bible Camp in Fort Pierre, SD. There, many of our children have encountered Jesus over the years as they have participated in worship services, memorized Bible verses, and learned about mission work. All the camp counselors are summer missionaries, themselves. Campers receive plenty of individual attention as they get away from the internet for a while, participate in sports, and above all experience Christianity in a positive context. We look forward to doing the same thing this summer, as soon as the applications have been collected!

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

If you wish to give a donation in memory of another person, or in that person’s honor, we will recognize the person you designate in our newsletter.  

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