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
