Monday, September 23, 2024

 First Baptist Church of Eagle Butte

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

(605) 891-1704


Dear Friends,

       

                                                   








                   

     


I am so happy to be writing to you all. Our community has experienced many exciting things over the past few months. This past Labor Day Weekend, we enjoyed a fantastic Pow wow and Rodeo, together with an exciting carnival. On the Fourth of July, the entire sky exploded in a thousand fireworks. And all over the prairie, crops grew strong and tall. It has been a gorgeous summer.

It hasn’t all been good news, though. One night in mid-July, we were hit by the worst storm I have experienced since arriving here. Thunder, lightning and rain were the least of it. The wind was blowing at 80mph, with gusts of up to 100! The following morning, the entire city was covered in hundreds of fallen tree branches. An enormous one fell on my house, in fact. Thankfully, the Lord was kind. My roof was undamaged. And to my knowledge, no one was injured in the storm.



Reggie’s 5k Run



My good friend Reggie Kills a Hundred, who regularly attends 

First Baptist Church, has lived a thousand lives. He served in 

the U.S. Marine Corps; he has traveled to places all over the world; 

he has served side-by-side with me on multiple ministry endeavors. 

And last year, despite being in his seventies, he decided to 

participate in a 5k run around the city. He trained for weeks, 

and put in a great showing. And he even had a special T-shirt 

made, so he could represent First Baptist Church as he ran. 

This year, Reggie participated in the 5k run again, and this t

ime he trained even harder. He pushed wheelbarrows uphill, to 

build up his strength and endurance. And it paid great dividends. 

He ran the race with an even better time than before, and once again 

sported his special t-shirt, to proudly represent his church. I am so 

happy to have this man as my brother in Christ.


A Float for Windswept Academy


During the annual Labor Day Parade, I had the honor 

of helping with a float for Windswept Academy, our 

local Christian school. The teachers and students all 

collaborated to make it special. The top of a trailer was 

set up to look like a classroom, and it was decorated by 

banners inscribed with Bible verses. As we made our way 

down the parade route, our teachers and students scattered 

handfuls of candy to all the children of the town. The 

parade-goers seemed to enjoy the float, although (I confess) 

not as much as I enjoyed riding on it!


Vacation Bible School Taken to Red Scaffold


This July, we were delighted to receive a mission team from one 

of our oldest sister-churches: Sevier Heights Baptist Church of 

Sevierville, Tennessee. For thirteen years, a mission team of youth 

from Sevier Heights has made an annual trip to our reservation, 

where they have stayed at our church. This year, we received a group 

of about twenty young people. Using First Baptist Church as a base, 

they struck out each morning for the community of Red Scaffold. 

There, they brought Bible stories to the children. But they also played 

games, did crafts, made friends and had fun. They broke down barriers 

to the Gospel that would otherwise exist. They brought joy to people’s 

hearts. And one heart that was made joyous from their coming was 

definitely mine.



Bible School, and Far-Reaching Repairs

I was born in Morganton, North Carolina. That is where I grew up, and I 

feel a piece of me still lives there. This year, our church had the 

great privilege of receiving a mission team from Mount Home Baptist Church, 

from my own home town! They came from all age groups, backgrounds and 

skill sets, and each person was determined to make full use of his abilities 

for the Kingdom of God.



They set up a beautiful Vacation Bible School, and advertised it, 

and kicked it off with a large block party. Everyone who came loved 

it. The children learned about Jesus, played games, did crafts and had a 

lot of fun.For some of the children, I learned it was the best time they

had had in ages.



A great number of people who came with this group wanted to focus their 

attention on fixing things that were broken. I can usually come up with a few

projects to keep mission teams busy, but this team was AMBITIOUS. They 

were intent on accomplishing as much as possible in the time they had available. 

They replaced rotten wood on my house, then they painted the entire building! 

They removed an old rotten cross we had on the front of our building, and 

replaced it with one that lights up at night. They replaced all the rubber stoppers 

(hundreds of them) on the bottom of all our metal chairs. They unloaded 400 

bags of rubber mulch from a horse trailer, then spread that mulch all over 

Windswept’s playground. They replaced a dilapidated basketball goal in our 

front yard with one that is better than new. They replaced five light fixtures. 

They surveyed the church, and gave us recommendations for how to use 

energy more efficiently.


They did about a thousand other things. I cannot think back on that week without being 

filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Each day, I was surrounded by friendly 

faces, actively seeking ways to help. Each day, I was greeted by the laughter of little 

children enjoying our Bible school. And when everything was over and the group had 

to go home at last, I was left greatly encouraged. I pray God’s blessing on each and every 

one of these kind souls!



Sports Camp!



Johnny and Amy Maholic have been faithful members of our church for years. 

And for years, Johnny’s family has led a mission team here, to great effect. And 

so it was that this year, we welcomed Calvary Bible Church of Centre Hall, 

Pennsylvania. They focused their efforts on bringing a sports camp to the children 

of the community, including basketball, soccer and more. But they also included 

elements of a traditional Vacation Bible School, such as music and Bible lessons. 

Good times were had by all.

One day, I was helping conduct traffic in the hallway when a little girl pointed to 

a picture of Jesus on the cross, and asked me what that was about. I told her about 

the salvation Jesus offered to those who trusted in Him, and she said that she wanted 

to trust Jesus. I told her to go back to her group, promising that if she returned to me 

later I would tell her all about Jesus. (In doing this, I was checking to make sure that 

she was really interested.) She did return later, and she brought a friend! I told them 

both all about the story of the scriptures, from creation to the Fall, from the Law to 

the coming of Christ, from the crucifixion to the last judgment. When I had told them 

everything, they both prayed to receive Christ! These are the things that a Pastor lives 

for.


   

But Calvary Bible Church was not satisfied with only having a sports camp. 

They also took on multiple work projects at Windswept Academy. 

They painted several rooms in the school, and (hopefully) fixed a 

problem with their sewage line. Up until this point, one of Windswept’s

sewer lines would freeze every winter. To help this situation, the men of Calvary 

Bible Church dug down to the sewer line and covered it in a thick insulation material. 

Then they re-covered it with dirt. If all goes well, Windswept will have twice 

as many usable bathrooms this January! Our heartfelt thanks go out to Calvary 

Bible Church for all their sacrificial generosity!



So perhaps you are wondering how you can become a partner with us in 

our ministry here in Eagle Butte? If so, we welcome your help, since we 

treasure any assistance from the body of Christ. Here is what we need the

most:

Prayer. It may be true that our church is getting along 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 be real and 

lasting. 

E-mail addresses. For those of you who have e-mail addresses, please send 

them to me. That way, these newsletters can be forwarded to everyone in your 

church who wants one! Just send your name and email 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 still have 

very little that they can give. We have long been blessed with assistance from 

outside churches and individuals, and we work hard 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