From the Desk of:
Dr. Pat Creed
Caribbean Director:


As I write this article, we are dealing with the results of Hurricane Ivan going through Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.  There are some folks that we cannot reach at this time, but we know that there is much damage and there will be a tremendous need for outside help.  By the time you receive this, it will be well in the past, but at this moment we are very concerned and are attempting to help in anyway possible.

Candidate School in June was a wonderful time as thirty-five new missionaries were approved.  It is exciting to see God calling people into world-wide evangelism and sending many of them through BIMI.

Recently, I was able to take a trip to Trinidad.  It was a real blessing to be with our four families on this island.  We had a good time of fellowship, and I had the privilege of preaching a missions’ conference for Bro. John Gossett at Trinity Baptist Church.  We had a full house every service with many responding to the invitations, and their faith-promise missions’ giving just about doubled! What a blessing it was to see that the congregation was well-informed of their responsibility to reach the world with the Gospel, and were very sensitive and desirous to do exactly what God wanted them to do.

We are presently involved in putting together a presentation on Jamaica.  The purpose is to challenge missionaries to go to this very needy island.  Please pray for those who are involved in this presentation that they will put it together in such a way that it will be used to influence and encourage people to surrender their lives for Jamaica.  We would love to see teams of missionaries working together in starting churches.

At the end of November, June and I will be taking a trip to the Dominican Republic.  We now have eleven families in the DR, and we are looking forward to a great time of fellowship.

We are busy with missions’ conferences, our schedule is full, and we are seeing God’s blessings in the faith-promise commitment in a wonderful way!

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On the Move Again!

By Gary Sprunger — Assistant Caribbean Director

Solomon wrote, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" (Eccl. 3:1). Certainly we can see that God has a season and purpose in all that He does. Although we might not understand His complete purpose, we can by faith accept it. The past several months have been full of unexpected events. Our summer was filled with exciting weeks of ministry. We had a great time with the folks of Grace Baptist Church of Madison, Indiana. This fine team came to serve at Berea Baptist Church in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. As they devoted their efforts to reach folks with the Gospel through a VBS program, they also helped to complete the missions apartment above the church. Shortly after their return, Joy and I were at the BIMI director’s meeting. How thrilling it was to hear the mission reports from around the world. Our hearts were stirred by the testimonies. We came away from the retreat refreshed and rejoicing that our BIMI missionaries are privileged to be a part of God's great harvesting of souls.

The following week, I was able to attend the Church Planting seminar at BIMI World Center. As I heard the various speakers, I wished that each of our Caribbean missionaries could have been exposed to the challenges and the wisdom shared during the four days. If you have not attended the Church Planting seminar, I would recommend that you definitely make plans on your next furlough to be there.

As September arrived, our son, Stephen tied the knot of marriage with Anna Shavishvili, a sweet Christian girl from Georgia (Russia). As their week of honeymoon ended, the southern coast of Alabama became the target of Hurricane Ivan.

Joy’s mother, 92 years old, could not be moved from her home in Baldwin County, so we optioned to stay and assist her during the storm. Stephen and Anna graciously transported a generator from South Carolina to southern Alabama the night before Ivan struck land. The generator provided the power to maintain A/C for Joy’s mother in the aftermath the of hurricane.

As Ivan moved inland, we rode out the furry of the "Eye wall" of destruction. When morning light dispelled the darkness of the storm, we could see the results of the storm. Pine trees were shear off , old oak trees were bush-wacked midway, power lines were laying on the ground, trees blocked the majority of roads, tin and zinc panels were everywhere, buildings had been defoliated of their roofs, and life was at a standstill as we evaluated the priorities.

First we thanked the Lord for His goodness and provision of life. We thanked Him for strength and health to help others. We praised Him that the storm had passed, and that now we could be a blessing in the middle of the clean-up. Following our plight with Ivan, news was coming in from various parts of the Caribbean.

Immediately we began assisting our missionaries in the Caymen Islands. Generators had to be found and forwarded to the locations of need. Bro. Tibbets shared with me that his island would probably be without electricity for about three months. Bro. Linquist reported that Calvary Baptist had sustained roof damage and long term power outage.

Jamaica, too, was not spared of the raging winds of Ivan. Palmers Cross Baptist Church sustained heavy damage to the roof. Upon hearing the damage reports, I flew to Jamaica to help Richy and Fran Young plan for the repairs of the facility at Palmers Cross. We praise the Lord that the other facilities that BIMI missionaries had established in Jamaica were without damage.

Already we are seeing positive effects from hurricane Ivan. The Lord had a purpose in all of this. Certainly we can say that we see how temporal our earthly possessions are.

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by Mrs. June Creed

Dear Noteworthy Friends,

Things are busy here; never think that when you get older, life will slow down – it doesn’t. We’ve been blessed with great meetings and have met some of the nicest people from all over the USA.

It was graduation day for many in our family. We had one grandson graduate from high school and one from college, as well as two nephews and a niece — one from law school and two from college. Many friends have also graduated. These have completed a very important avenue in their life.

Completion is a wonderful thing. Our son-in-law, Reggie Rempel, has just about completed a new church building and is already pouring the foundation for a gymnasium with plans to build a new dorm. When we complete one thing there is always something new to complete. I am trying to complete a cook book for our family as daughters and granddaughters are always calling and asking, "How do you make that dish?" The cookbook will always have a new page to add, as I love to cook and am still learning.

As long as we live, the Lord will have a task for us to complete — it is a wonderful thing to be used of God. There is an old song ... "To be used of God to sing, to speak, to pray, to be used of God to show someone the way." May the Lord use you in a wonderful way and complete His will in your life!

Love and prayers,
June
I Thess. 5:18

CHICKEN A LA KING

½ can (6 ounces) sliced mushrooms (drained)
½ cup diced green pepper
½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup of all purpose flour
1 t.phpoon salt
1 t.phpoon pepper
2 cups of milk or light cream
1 1/4 to 1 ½ cups chicken broth
2 cups of cubed cooked chicken or canned chicken
1 jar of pimento (chopped)
Toast cups and/or Toast points

In large skillet, cook mushrooms and green pepper in butter for five minutes (stirring constantly). Blend in flour, salt, and pepper. Cook over low heat until mixture is bubbling (stirring constantly). Remove from heat. Stir in milk, broth, and a little water if needed. Heat to a boil (stirring constantly). Boil one minute. Stir in chicken and pimento, heat thoroughly. Serve hot in toast cups or over toast points.

Toast cups: Heat oven 350 degrees, trim crust of any fresh bread, spread with soft margarine or butter. Press buttered side down into muffin cups. Bake for twelve minutes or until lightly toasted. This is a great little recipe!

(I had to make lunch for four people recently and had only a can of chicken, no pimento, so I used green peas and served it with a garden salad. I did not trim the crust this time and it looked like tulip cups. They seemed to enjoy it very much.)

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by Luke Townsley

"God wants to use you in the Dominican Republic!" We heard it many times on deputation, and we believed it. After a year of language school, Hannah and I arrived in the Dominican Republic in May of 2001 excited to see how God would use us to win and disciple souls in the Dominican Republic. We were thrilled that God was going to use us to reach the unreached! Little did we know that His plans were far different than ours.

As we began to labor, the first work that we saw God do was not through us, but rather, in us. To many friends and supporters, what we were going through was relatively unnoticed those first two years. The Lord took us, and worked us over time and again changing us permanently and completely. Before we could effect change in the Dominican Republic, we ourselves had to be changed.

In our first year in Santo Domingo, we spent part of our time just driving around the city familiarizing ourselves with our new surroundings and praying about where God would have us start a church. We would take our map, select an area, and then set out to explore it. Trip after trip confirmed the great needs of the city. For us, they also confirmed they were not the areas God was calling us to. In time, our map was literally turned into shreds from regular use. It was not on one of our mini survey trips, but on a trip to the grocery store that God called our attention to an area we never knew existed before. As we pulled into the parking lot of the store, we gazed over a rise and saw dozens of middle class homes that had been recently built. As we explored the area, it was confirmed that it was indeed the area in which God wanted us to start a church.

We soon moved to that area and began working among our neighbors. We began to hold Bible clubs and vacation Bible schools for children in our carport. Dozens of children came, and we were becoming known in the community. After a few months, we started an adult Bible study in our living room with the help of missionary Chris Phillips.

A year after beginning the first Bible study, we believed it was time to start having services as a church. We had been looking for a building for nearly a year and finally, the Lord opened the door in a nearby area. We held our first services on November 16, 2003. This first year, attendance has averaged about twenty-five in each of our three weekly services. The blessing of this first year has been to see our most faithful members grow and mature in the Lord.

This first year, the greatest disappointment has been that we have seen very few adults profess Christ. Only recently, we saw our first fruit from the adult Bible study started nearly two years ago in our home. A neighbor who has attended our Bible studies and church services with her husband for nearly two years came to our door and told my wife, Hannah, she wanted to be saved. We are still praying for the salvation of her husband.

We are finding that most Dominicans are nominally religious, but completely lost. We are reminded that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." We believe that the Word of God is breaking down their false beliefs and misconceptions about God and the Bible. We trust that one day, a harvest will be reaped from the seed that is being sown today.

The greatest physical obstacle in starting this church has been the sheer enormity of the task. Just preparing and preaching three messages a week in Spanish is a huge task. There have been numerous important things that have been left undone because of a lack of resources and energy to do them. Thankfully, some of the members of the church are jumping in and helping out. We thank God for their help.

It is our prayer that we will be able to leave this church in Dominican hands within about three years. For that to happen, we are praying for four things. First, we need to see the church grow in size to an attendance of about 80-100. Second, we need to see continued spiritual growth in the church and particularly among its leaders. Third, we need to find a semi-permanent meeting place that could seat 300 people allowing the church to grow until it can buy property and erect a more permanent facility. Fourth, we are praying for wisdom in finding and training a pastor to take over the work.

Roughly half of the Dominican population resides in the northern part of the island where there are many cities of thousand and tens of thousands of people that have never had a fundamental Baptist Church. For the last fifty or so years since independent Baptists first started working and planting churches in the Dominican Republic, most of the work has been concentrated on the southern half of the island which includes the capital, Santo Domingo. We are praying for a group of five missionary families and some single individuals to go to the northern part to start a network of churches in neighboring cities and areas as well as a Bible institute. It is our belief that with ten to fifteen years of labor, several churches could be started leaving a lasting impact on the Dominican Republic. Never again could it be said that those cities had never had the witness of an independent fundamental Baptist Church.

We believe the Lord is leading us to that area and already there is one young man who also believes the Lord is leading him to that area. We are praying for three more couples. This spring or summer after school is out, we are planning a week-long survey trip to that area. We cannot take a large group, but we are inviting any adult or couple who would just be willing to pray and ask God if He would call them to that area to serve.

Today, for most missionaries in the Dominican Republic, the real difficulty is surviving day to day life. It is not particularly difficult in any one.phpect, but for the missionary, it is a continual challenge in every way. Just as the Chinese water torture could drive a man mad one drop of water at a time, so can day to day living greatly discourage the missionary. For the first term missionary, perhaps the most important task of all is just simply to survive and learn.

Over the last fifty years, the Dominican Republic has proved to be a missionary graveyard. The problem is not physical fatalities, but rather missionaries leaving the field. In no way do I intend to criticize those who have been called of the Lord to serve in other areas, but one veteran missionary said it this way of the Dominican Republic, "They [the missionaries] seem to leave faster than they come."

Behind the fast food restaurants and shopping malls giving the appearance of a modern country, lies a civilization that is far more corrupt, godless, and difficult than most of our supporters could ever imagine. Certainly, we ourselves had little understanding of what we were really dealing with when we first came. Only now do we believe that we are starting to understand what we are really up against. For five hundred years, the Dominican Republic has been gripped in a stranglehold by Satan and his allies.

We are truly in a fight against the forces of darkness. We need your prayers daily for the power of God, for strength, and for wisdom. God is doing a work in our lives. We also believe that He is starting to do a work through us in the lives of others for His honor and His glory. Please pray that God would send forth more laborers into this harvest field.


The official members of the church


Luke Townsley in front of church


Hannah Townsley teaching children

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BIRTHS:

Luke and Hannah Townsley have been blessed with a little boy, Benjamin Daniel, born on June 11th.

Steve and Nohemy Sidler were given a blessing on June 29, a little girl, Sarah Bethany.

Dominican Republic:

Jerry Reece reports that the there has been great progress on the construction of the new church building in Las Mameyes, Dominican Republic. He also is praising the Lord that 2500 copies of Volume Two of Dr. Mark Cambron’s book "Bible Doctrines, and Beliefs that Matter" in Spanish have been prepared for distribution. To date these doctrine books have been sent out to pastors, churches, Christian schools and Bible Colleges and seminaries in 14 countries. Another 2500 copies of Volume one is to follow shortly.

Joshua and Joy Wesson are presently on a brief furlough, but Joshua states, "I returned from the DR having almost completely finishing the main shell of the church building in Los Mameyes. During the construction project, we made many trips to the hardware store. There was only one cashier, and I have had the opportunity to invite her to our church many times over the past two years. I told her that I had one more Sunday in the DR before returning to the States for several months. She promised me that she would come. It was exciting to see her come for the morning service, but it was even a greater joy to see her receive Christ as her personal Saviour."

John and Kelly Webbs were thrilled to have a youth mission team from their home church. They planned a VBS program with the help of this team. The first day they had 80. By the third day they had 120. The greatest thrill was to see 35 children come to the Lord. John reports that the following week, the second youth team from Oxford, Alabama arrived. They assisted with a teen camp. Of the 80 teens, 13 young people came to know the Lord in salvation. The Webbs are excited about the growth of the church. Recently they have had to divide the Junior Church group so that they can grow some more.

Chris and Dawn Philips report, "Our second medical missions operation was an overwhelming success. Dr. Larry Gaetano and his group from New Jersy teamed with Grace Baptist Church Youth Group from Columbia, SC. Over 1200 came though our gates for medical treatment, and 203 made professions of faith. Most exciting was to see young Christians winning their first souls to the Lord."

Jeff and Traci Garrison have teamed with Alexis and Consuelo Givens to reach the northwest sector of Santo Domingo. The rented house has grown to small for the attendance so the church was using the patio behind the house for classes. Recently a roof was installed. 120 folks attended the service under the tin roof. The following week, a youth team from Cincinnati arrived for VBS. The Lord opened the windows of heaven and rained in children. First day they had 132, second day over 200, third day 236. Jeff states that they are still counting the number of decisions for Christ. Since then they had 108 children and 75 adults for Sunday service.

Steve and Nohemy Sidler are celebrating their eighth year in the DR. Steve reports that they have had 93 public professions from soul winning and in regular services. Mario, an elderly man who helped with construction, accepted Christ as Savior. He has stopped drinking and is faithfully attending services. Steve also reports that their VBS program average over 450 per day. There were 330 salvation decisions recorded. Steve reports that it was a blessing to have the church’s second floor sufficiently completed that they could use the facilities for VBS.

Cayman Islands:

Swante and Linda Lindquist share that 21 made professions of faith in their Vacation Bible School program this year. A group from Friendship Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC came to assist in this ministry. Of these two adult ladies and a teenager made decisions for Christ. Swante also shares that a stranger called him one day concerning a burden that was on his heart. Before the call ended, Swante had the opportunity to lead the fellow to the Lord.

Russ and Bobbie Turner share that David, Kim and family came from Missouri and led our Children’s Crusade. We enrolled 100 and saw four saved. Three more children were lead to the Lord prior to the Crusade. Another of our old retired, hard-hearted seamen professed faith in Jesus recently.

Jamaica:

Richy and Fran Young have returned to oversee Palmers Cross Baptist Church. Recently they have instated three new deacons. During this years Vacation Bible School they had a high attendanced of 123 with 21 professions of faith. They report that they had the highest attendance of teenagers ever for this VBS. They also celebrated their 30th anniversary a few weeks ago. Missionary Keith Ford with his wife Jane returned to participate in this special event. Keith and Jane helped Bro. Young establish a deaf ministry at Palmers Cross. Hurricane Ivan passed to the south of Jamica, and Palmers Cross Baptist Church lost most of the roof. Major repair is ongoing to replace the entire roof with a quality steel frame system. Pray for the Youngs as they oversee this ministry.

Trinidad:

John and Laura Nemo are laboring at Amazing Grace Fundamental Baptist Church in Tunapuna. The Lord is blessing this ministry with many decisions for Christ. John reports that 11 were baptized, five adults and six children. Recently three young girls began attending services. At the invitation, two came forward and accepted Christ as Savior. The following Sunday they brought the rest of their family (brothers and cousins). Of this family, another person accepted Christ. John also shares that within one mile of the church there are 5 Pentecostal churches, 2 Kingdom Halls, 2 Catholic churches, one Mormon, a cult called the nation of Israel. There is also a strong Hindu presence. Praise the Lord their Sunday school and church services have grown.

Ken and Nancy Guth state, "I helped Pastor George Mohammed in Chaguanas where some 85 VBS children were saved with 425 attending. Nancy helped at our sponsor church, during the same week, where four were saved and 110 attended. At our "Family Camp", Marvin, a teenager, and Sunil, a man who came with his family, trusted Christ as Savior.".

Mike and Phyllis Hader in Point Fortin report that two VBS sesions kept them busy for a solid month. In Point Fortin, 100 children attended resulting in four public salvation decisions. The VBS at a sister church in Chaganas had over 400 children and recorded many more decisions for Christ. Our teen ministry is growing. Pray for these teens, they need a clear understanding of God’s principles of morality from Scripture. Mike shares that the ministry at the Youth Training Centre (a pre-trial detention center) has been fruitful. He says, "The high turnover rate in the Youth Prison gives us new faces each week as we preach the Gospel. . .Six salvation decisions last week alone have been reaped..."

Puerto Rico: Jerry and Liz Harmon share that several have accepted Christ as Savior in the drug rehabilitation center in Manati. Liz began to go to the center once a month, but the Lord has opened the door for her to go every Thursday to counsel the women.

Joan Whiteheart reports that Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida in Mayaguez planned to have their annual Vacation Bible School. Because of the many social programs of the government, it has become more difficult to get children to come to VBS. With anticipation of only 30 children the church was surprised to see a high attendance of over 80 one day. The church is praising the Lord that 48 professions of faith were made during the week.

Phil and Lisa Bell share that their church just had a family conference at Calvary Baptist Church in Carolina. Phil spoke to the young people regarding purity in their relationships. Many decisions were made. During the two weeks of camp at Las Marias, three young men, Felix Santos, Julio Marin, and Wilmer Rivera surrendered to preach the Gospel. The following week we had our first "Encounter God retreat" for adults. We had 20 adults that participated. We will be having our next "Encounter God retreat" for teens and college kids.

Barbados: Robert and Rhoda Smith share this story. "It was about 6 pm on Friday evening. I was at my dining room table teaching a young man to be a soul winner. We heard a timid knock at the door, and we answered. Two young ladies from a neighboring house were standing there. We invited them into the house, chatted for a while, and then AI witnessed to them and they trusted Christ. When we finished, I asked them why they came in the first place. The older girl said, ‘I told my sister, let’s go to his house for prayer. And so we came.’ Hallelujah! Folks, the fish are jumping into the boat over here.!" Robert states that he sent out a nice first class color brochure to thousands around their area, and he also placed a quarter page ad in the largest newspaper on the island. As a result, the Smiths are better known, and he says, " it is much easier for me as I go door knocking throughout the neighborhoods."

Bahamas: Shirleen Godrey shares "Our new addition to Calvary Haitian Baptist Church is almost completed. It is wonderful to be able to have room for everyone to sit although during the special services we just had, it was standing room only. We are averaging 450 in our Sunday morning services. God is truly working miracles in this work.

Antigua: Curt and Barbara Waite share that sufficient matching funds have been promise so that Wixi Duran can be hired full time to assist in the Spanish broadcast. Curt states, " (this) has taken much of the weight of the Spanish ministry off my shoulders, allowing me to more effectively oversee other needy areas of the ministry." Carribean Radio Lighthouse is the first to broadcast weather forecasts in Spanish from the Antigua Meteorological Office. Curts says, "Our prayer is that some will tune in to hear the weather and stay to hear the Gospel." He also requests prayer for a young man to assist in the English broadcasting schedule.

Jerry and Linda Baker are excited that they will soon be able to move into the new CRL mission apartment. There is still much to be done on the facilities, but they are hopeful that the move can be made by December. These new facilities will provide housing for mission teams and for the Bakers. Because of the close proximity to the radio station, they will be able to devote more time to the needs there. Recently CRL expanded their broadcast day by 30 minutes in English and 5 ½ hours in Spanish daily. Pray for the Bakers and the personnel at CRL. The longer broadcast day require more maintenance of the station.

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