by Pat Creed

The big concern for many mission boards today is young missionaries who can replace those who are coming off the field, because they have reached a time of retirement. BIMI has certainly been blessed of God to have many missionaries around the world who have buried themselves in a place of God's calling for a lifetime of ministry. A number of those are in the Caribbean. They are very special people who have set the example of committing themselves to God's Will and then going through the difficulties of trials and tests, conflicts and valleys, even tragedies in family and ministry. They stayed where God placed them and He permitted them to do a wonderful work in the lives of those to whom He called them.

These are people like Jerry & Scharmel Johnson who have been with BIMI for 45 years, serving on the island of Antigua; Shirleen Godfrey, who lost her husband while they ministered to the Haitian people in Nassau, Bahamas, and yet she has remained for 44 years; Russell & Bobbie Turner, 41 years on Cayman Brac; Joan Whitehart, 39 years in the Bahamas and Puerto Rico; Richey & Fran Young, 38 years in Jamaica; Wayne & Frances Witherell, 38 years in Peru and now spending their retirement years in Puerto Rico; Swante & Linda Lindquist, 36 years, mostly in Africa and then serving in a number of different islands and presently in Jamaica; Curt & Barbara Waite, 36 years at the Caribbean Radio Lighthouse on Antigua; Don & Bridgitt Dryden, 35 years in Haiti; Jerry & Linda Baker, 30 years at the Caribbean Radio Lighthouse on Antigua; Howard & Joyce Chappell, who are approaching their 30th year starting churches on Grand Cayman, Jamaica, St. Kitts, and now Aruba. We have a number of couples who have spent over 20 years. We praise the Lord for all of these and many who have come to the West Indies as young families, now blazing a better trail in the place that God has called them.

These folks have certainly set the standard. They are desirous that many others would answer the same call with the same desire and dedication, going to places throughout the West Indies and falling in love with the people and the place and giving themselves to God to be used in the way that these wonderful folks have.

Today there are many definite needs. Maybe God is dealing with you and you would surrender to go to a place like Trinidad and team up with a family like David & Terri Long or John & Brenda Gossett, or maybe to Jamaica and work with Swante & Linda Lindquist, or maybe you would let God speak to you about a place where there is no Gospel preacher on one of these islands throughout the West Indies. What a great way to spend your life and then one day to be able to look back in amazement and see how God has used you.

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Dear Noteworthy Friends,

This summer has been very special for us and hopefully for you as well. We had a wonderful wedding for our grandson Michael Creed and his fiancée, Rachel Spence. She is a wonderful addition to our family. We are thankful for such a blessing. In July, Pat and I traveled to West Virginia where Pat's family roots began. From there we drove to Grundy and Bandy, Virginia. There on Creed Road we met with some of our extended family. It was a nostalgic time for us.

In July, we visited our daughter and son-in-law, Reggie and Kim Rempel, for a family reunion. Our four children, their spouses, most of our grandchildren and their spouses, and two great-grandchildren were able to meet and together we celebrated Pat's 70th birthday, as well as our daughter Beth's birthday (born on the same day as her father). What a wonderful time we had. We looked at old pictures, shared fond memories and just enjoyed being with each other. Our family always has a lot of fun when we get together. I certainly appreciate Kim and Reggie's wonderful deaf church and ministry there. They were such a blessing to us.

Talking about our family reminds me of the wonderful family reunion we will have when Jesus calls us home. Just think how wonderful it will be to see our Saviour and thank Him for the salvation He freely gave to us! Then think of the time of rejoicing we will experience as we meet those whom we have unknowingly touched through our church's missions program. It will truly be the greatest family reunion we will ever attend! We will spend eternity with our Father and brothers and sisters in Christ – what a reunion it will be.

Life is so precious. I was talking to a friend the other day and we were saying to each other how thankful we were to be saved and that we have a home in heaven. Even though we live in an unpredictable world, where it seems at times evil is getting the upper hand, we must remember that our Lord is in control and that one day every knee will bow before Him and all will confess that He is Lord! We must be diligent and watchful each day. Keep on for the Lord! Don't be discouraged! God is still in control, and God is always good. We love you all!

Love and Prayers,
June
I Thessaloanians 5:17

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1 stick of Land of Lakes margarine
1 lb sifted powdered sugar (3 cups)
2-10 pepper mint oil drops
2 tbs carnation can cream
Food coloring

Margarine needs to be at room temperature. Mix oil, margarine, and food coloring. After it is mixed well, add powdered sugar. Mix well again with 2 tbs of carnation can cream. You can use butter, but I prefer margarine. Only use oil of pepper (get it at a cake baking store). Take plastic candy forms and roll the candy mixture into balls that will fit into the molds. Before putting the balls in the mold, dip the sides in granulated sugar. It makes it easier to remove later. Then put the filled molds in the freezer for 15 minutes. Take out and remove from molds. I refrigerate the ones I have already made. I made 16 recipes for a wedding and they were great! These are excellent to use as favors at a wedding reception or ladies' meeting. They are much less expensive than other mints. Hope you enjoy!

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by Don Dryden

Recently, around 60 of the folk from Independent Baptist Church in Port-de-Paix, Haiti, were involved in an open air meeting. This is a once per month ministry our church uses to reach out with the Gospel. For two weeks prior to the 4th Saturday service, several church members had done canvassing and witnessing in the area. On the day of the meeting, a church council member walked up and down the hill with a megaphone announcing the service that was to take place in the afternoon.

Later that day, 60 believers (men/women/children) from the church walked up the hill to the designated place. A storm was blowing in off the coast and the meeting had to be changed to the downside of the hill. People stood where they could at the crossroad of a path coming up the mountain and the one skirting the side of the hill. Three different singing groups sang and another church council member preached. During the invitation, one lone soul, a mother of 4 little children responded to the invitation.

Was one soul worth the effort of all that was done in preparation? Luke 15 repeatedly tells us that there is rejoicing over one sinner repenting! The continuing joy lies in the fact that when a bean seed is planted, you don't get just one in return; you get to keep on returning to the bush to pick more. Four days after the open air meeting, five of us went into the area to witness and do follow-up with the woman that confessed her faith in the Lord. I had the joy of leading her man (they are not married yet) to the Lord. And, by the grace of God, as these small children come to understanding they too will put their faith in the Lord Jesus.

Yes, yes, the effort was worth one soul! But don't forget, every soul is connected with other souls who need the Lord. It is a joy to be where the Lord wants us to be.

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Meet some interesting missionaries on deputation. They need your prayer support. Each of these missionaries would be a blessing to you and your church. To contact them, call BIMI, 423-344-5050 for more information.

Al and Tami Gruber - Dominican Republic

Nathan and Renee Owens - Caribbean Radio Lighthouse, Antigua

David and Terri Long - Trinidad

Wesley and Faith Bartley - St. Lucia

Coco Chan - Trinidad

Kerri Emmett - Haiti

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by Ronnie Autrey

We are continually blessed by God's Word and the effects that it has on our lives. Sometimes God gives us special verses that impact us. One such text for us is Rev. 1:12–18. God here shows John, that though he was in a time of great trial, He was not yet through defining his life. God chose him to write the book of Revelation.

We, as many of you, have been blessed by God, in that he has given us many defining moments throughout our lives since surrendering to His will. I would like to share a few of these life changing moments that God has used to bring us to where he has us today.

It was October 12, 1985, and my wife and I were stationed in Yokota Air Base, Japan, where I served as a young Airman with big plans. As I was going about my business, once again it was to deliver some special orders to the office of Jeff Goldstein. I always dreaded that daily trip because he always wanted to invite himself and his pastor to my house. I had no interest in the things of God because I had been taking on the lifestyle of my father—heavy drinking of alcohol, smoking, and taking drugs daily. But since he had pursued me for the last six weeks with the question, I decided to get it over with and said, "Yes." This was the start of a great defining moment in my life. They came on October 15, 1985, at 7:00 p.m. and my wife and I received Christ at 8:30 that night. That same night I poured out all of my liquor and beer, stopped smoking, and stopped taking drugs. We were baptized and became members of Yokota Baptist Church.

God used the preaching of Brother Ed Gibson to bring about the next two moments that defined the direction of our life commitment to God's work. Six weeks after being saved, God called me to preach His Holy Word. Five years later in a mission conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at Pastor Al Goss' church, once again God used Brother Ed to impact us to God's call to the mission field of the Dominican Republic.

After being in the Dominican Republic for about a year, we were able to see all that God was doing throughout the country. Also during this time, I was asking God to make clear His will for us in the D.R. God quickly revealed His will for us, which has defined us and enabled us to stay focused throughout the past 16 years. God showed us the great need of preparing national Dominican leaders to pastor and lead the work of the Dominican Republic. With this task in hand, we developed a plan to start the Resurrection Baptist Seminary. We started the Bible school with 35 students, some of them were already pastors but with no formal Bible training. To this point we have graduated 50 students with 39 currently serving as pastors, assistant pastors, or workers helping their pastors to fulfill the great Commission of God throughout their local church. We are now preparing to have our third graduating class on December 5, 2009, with 23 students. This group has 16 men who will be able to start new churches throughout the Dominican Republic after they complete their two-year internships under their pastors.

Since starting the Resurrection Baptist Seminary, we have seen the starting of eight new works in the D.R. We currently have four men finishing their internships this year. We will be planning new church planting efforts in the coming year with these men.

God has so richly blessed in allowing us to be a part of His work in the Dominican Republic. It is my hope and prayer that He will allow us to continue to serve Him in the Dominican Republic for many years to come.

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Joyce, Stephen, and I are encouraged to see new people come and continue be to faithful. In our Cactus Kids Club children are going home and telling their parents that they will not go back to their former churches. What a shock to us! One little girl came up to the van as we were passing VBS literature and said, "you are the one that saved me last year." I knew what she meant and I am hoping to see her again as we have Valley Forge Baptist Temple here August 1st – 8th for VBS and Teen Fun Night, led by Jeff Buckmen. Please pray for the island of Aruba!

On August 16 we are going to have a celebration as we come together and praise God for organizing the church. We are truly thankful for the Lord allowing our son, Stephen, to help us here in Aruba. He has been a wonderful help.
Howard Chappell - Aruba

We were privileged to host the Temple Baptist Church youth group from Flower Mound, TX, for twelve days during June and July. We were blessed with incredible music from their youth choir as well as different groups that sang special music. Their group, together with our young people, distributed thousands of invitations and tracts in the barrios surrounding our church. We hosted a Christian movie night, where we had more than 300 in attendance and many decisions for Christ. They also ministered in our mission church in Batey Palamara, where we had our highest attendance ever of 105, including a lady named Altagracia who accepted Christ as her Savior. When we asked her why she came to the service, she responded by saying that one of the young people from Temple Baptist Church gave her an invitation earlier that day. Praise the Lord for the lives that were changed during their time of ministry in the DR. Thank you, Temple Baptist, for the investment you made in our lives and our ministry.
Michael Doering - Dominican Republic

Since our last letter, we have gained two new supporting churches and we have won souls on soul winning. Also, from our church in Nigeria comes the story that a young lady recently read one of my tracts and got saved, along with one of her friends. We have been gone from Nigeria for two years, but the Gospel seeds we planted are still producing fruit. God's Word will not return void. We are looking forward to sowing and reaping in Trinidad.

Our oldest son, Daniel, just got done with his broken collarbone issue and then Nathan badly sprained his ankle and is now on crutches. They just have to stop acting like boys.
David Long - Trinidad

I would prefer that my son would sell drugs than to be going to church." This was the wish of an alcoholic mother with aids. This summer her son and another young man were killed in drug related crimes. Both of them attended our youth meetings several years ago and supposedly made professions of faith. Please pray for the urgent need of a youth director in our church.

In June I was able to visit Nassau, Bahamas, where I served for 16 years. What a joy it was to visit with friends and to have the opportunity to share my ministry in 3 churches! It also brought great joy to my heart when 20 children accepted Christ as Saviour the following week in Vacation Bible School.

During the month of July, the Keelins, their son, daughter,and daughter-in-law were here for a visit. Former members that were saved under their ministry returned for a Sunday morning service and many of them shared their testimony of how their lives were changed through the influence of the Keelins.

I truly am thankful that the Lord has allowed me to serve Him for the past 39 years and pray that I can serve Him for many more years!
Joan Whiteheart - Puerto Rico

A teen group from Breezy Hill Baptist Church came down to Puerto Rica and helped us conduct a summer camp in the mountains for a week. There was a great spiritual awakening among our youth. None of our teens had ever been to a camp before. The remark from them that I heard the most was that this week at camp had been a life-changing event for them.

Our teens rededicated their lives to Christ and vowed to be more faithful in reading their Bibles and praying. One young man told me that he went home and cleaned out his IPOD of these that were not honoring to God. All of our teens gave soul-stirring testimonies of how God had worked in their lives this special week in Las Marias.

Please pray that they can lead the way in our youth group and set an example for others to follow.
Pastor Steve Buchanan - Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

Things here in Aguada, PR, have been the busiest they've ever been. We had two groups this past month, and teen camp done in between them. However, it has been a great time to see God work in the hearts of the people here. Many of our teens made great decisions, life changing decisions for the Lord. We are excited to see them so pumped up in serving the Lord now. We started off the month with VBS with Bethel Baptist Church, had Teen Camp with a supporting church of Steve Buchanans, and ended with a Teen Conference with a group from Heritage Baptist Church.

During the month we also passed out about 2,500 Romans in Aguada with our groups. Pray these teens keep on with the decisions they have recently made. We are also at the same time in a trying time as we are losing a couple for sure, and possibly a few more by moving to other areas. We are a small church as it is, and it is difficult to see them leave. Pray the church does not get discouraged during this time and that God will see us through it. What ever He wills, we will be glad in it.
The Sheltons - Missionaries to Puerto Rico

Greetings from the States! This is my first newsletter from the U.S. in 23 years and coming back feels a bit strange. Two words come to mind: culture shock. "They're doing what?" "You can't do what?" But I guess this is a sign of the times.

Our plane from the islands arrived 12 hours late so we got in during the wee hours of the morning. After renting a car, we proceeded to my ailing father's side. He had greatly declined in a few weeks.

On Saturday night June 20, four days after arriving, I watched him draw his last breath and go to be with the Lord. The next day, Father's Day, my first Sunday in the States, we spent at the funeral home preparing for the services. God was gracious to us and the funeral went very well.

While we are in the U.S. we have a two-fold plan. The first is to deal with my back and neck problems that have plagued me for the last 17 years. I've tried a quick fix by coming to the States every now and then but never staying long enough for good therapy. It was actually this that forced me to take this furlough. The second is to visit supporting churches and give a report of my ministry face to face. There have been some that have not seen me since 1985.
Chet & Jeanetta Tibbetts (Cayman Islands)

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by Gary Sprunger

This year Joy planted some tomato plants, some squash, and some pepper plants. By the time June came, we were enjoying the yield from the plants. Whenever we were home, she would go and evaluate the yield. One by one she would bring the tomatoes to the table. The few squash provided a meal or two. The anticipation of picking the fruit was as good as eating it.

June is synonymous with BIMI Candidate School. Yearly our attention is on seeing who the new candidate missionaries will be. When Dr. Bob Green gives us the files to review, our hearts are thrilled to see how the Lord has been working in the lives of these new candidates. This year's candidate school was the largest since the 1980's. The testimonies stirred our hearts as we heard how they were saved and called into full-time missions. Our prayers to open new areas of the Caribbean were answered when Wesley and Faith Bartley were accepted as missionaries to St. Lucia.

Following the Candidate school, Pastor Mike Davis of Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church of Pensacola accompanied me to Haiti. We were privileged to assist the Drydens in the Commencement activities. This year 13 received their diplomas for completion of the 5-year Bible Institute program. This mission trip had a profound effect upon Pastor Davis.

He wrote:

What a difference one week made in my life. At the beginning of the summer I had the opportunity to go with one of our church missionaries, Gary Sprunger, to the country of Haiti. Before this trip, I had never been outside of the United States except for a few hours across the Canadian border at Detroit. When we landed in Port-au-Prince, I knew that things were going to be different. I had no way to imagine how different they would be. I have prayed for missionaries before this trip, but now I pray for friends that in my estimation are heroes.

Haiti is a third world country. To say that I was shocked by the culture would be an understatement. As we drove from the international airport in Port-au-Prince to the domestic airport terminal, I couldn't imagine anything more "third world." Five days later after flying back from Port-de-Paix, the same drive back to the international airport looked like modern civilization. My perspective was different.

It was not being in a third world country that changed my life, although it will make you appreciative of everything we have here in the United States. What changed my life was clearly seeing people who need the Lord. Until this trip, I had never looked at every person I saw and thought about eternity. As a people, less than 1% of Haitians have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. For the first time in my life, I came face to face with the magnitude of eternity. It should do something to your soul to recognize that every person you see does not know Christ as their Savior.

If you want to put on a set of eye glasses to see your ministry in a different light, visit one of your missionary families and look at ministry through their eyes. The difficulties that I face in ministry are real, but the way God's choice servants handle everyday life on a foreign field made me reevaluate those things that seem so "important." Many aspects of pastoral ministry are the same no matter where you are located. The Dryden families (Don & Bridgett and Benji & Kerri) are real people with the same every day cares as the rest of us in ministry. The simple pleasure of a Pepsi at the end of the day is contrasted by the work it takes just to live (having drinking water and electricity in a country where those items are difficult to come by). There is no such thing as a quick trip to the grocery store.

My life is different because now I can see. Now, I see people. Now, I see ministry through a different set of lenses. I have a new perspective. That new perspective has made all the difference in the world and has made me a better pastor to Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church.

It is our desire to expose pastors, congregations, college students, and other saved folks to the reality of serving Christ on the mission field. Maybe God would call some of them to reach the "harvest field that is white already to harvest." We are planting the seeds and praying that the Lord will give us a glorious response.

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ATTENTION
Field Conference 2010 June 14-18, 2010

Embassy Suites, Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic

Attendance is required for all BIMI Caribbean missionaries

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Scot C & Katie Daku -  AMERICAN SAMOA
Paul J & Wendy Daku Jr -  FIJI ISLANDS
James & Dawn Daley -  INDONESIA