Thanks for the Prayers

I returned home from China yesterday. My Discovery Trip was very rewarding and successful. Over the next several weeks I would like to tell you about my trip to China and about the people of China.

I do appreciate your prayers for me while I traveled to China. The day that I left for China I was very sick. The 13 hour flight over to China was trying and at times I wonder if I was going to make it. I knew that my church family was praying for me and I felt the Lord's presence as I went to this new frontier.

There was 57 people from the United States that went to China. We represented many of the states on this great country. None of us had met each other before so we had great time meeting new friends. Most of the group was younger than myself but it was good to see some of the energy and excitement that came from this group.

Yesterday, as I got back in Labelle I enjoy seeing some of you about town and I knew I was back home. As I look out at the people of Labelle, I'm grateful God has called me to serve him here in Labelle. I know this is my place of service but opportunities like going to China, help me broaden my vision and challenge me in ways that benefit my ministry. I just want to thank you for allowing me to go to China and your prayers for me and my family while I was away.

Thanks

Yard Sale

This Saturday, May 17th we will be having a Yard Sale at Parsonage 2 on Bronoc Drive. The proceeds of this Yard Sale with helps us with our expenses for our Mission Trip to Jamaica. The dates for our Mission Trip is July 11-18th. For the last 4 years we have gone to Jamaica to work with churches and conduct Vacation Bible School and do Revival Services at night.

Our Mission Team thanks all who have help with bringing items for our Yard Sale. Please be in Prayer for our team as they prepare for this trip. We have 21 people going this year to Jamaica.

Gideon Speaker - Sunday, January 27, 2008

This coming Sunday, January 27, 2008 in our Morning Worship Service, we will have a speaker coming to share about the work of Gideons.

The Gideons International are an interdenominational association of Christian business and professional men who are members of Protestant, evangelical churches. Members are dedicated to saving the lost through personal witnessing and the distribution of God's Word in more than 180 countries around the world.

Having access to God's Word can lead people to faith in Christ, and those new Christians can then grow by studying their Scriptures and even use them to share their faith with others.

For this reason, Gideons focus on distributing complete Bibles or New Testaments. These Scriptures are printed in more than 80 languages and are either given directly to certain individuals or placed in selected public locations where large numbers of people who may be searching for answers will have the ability to encounter the Word of God.

Distributing complete copies of God's Word also . . .

Plants powerful seeds that God can use in His timing. (I Corinthians 3:6)
Allows people to read the truth for themselves. (John 8:32)
Provides a continuing witness when the Gideon is no longer present. (Hebrews 4:12)
Makes it easier for the people we reach to in turn reach others with the truth about Jesus. (II Timothy 2:2)
Makes it possible for new Christians to learn and grow through personal Bible study.
(II Timothy 2:15)
Areas of Distribution
Scriptures are distributed one by one by members of The Gideons International to these groups:

*Students in the 5th grade and above
*Prisoners and police, fire, medical and military personnel
*Anyone else Gideons witness to individually
*Scriptures are placed in certain locations, including:

**Hotels and motels
**Hospitals, convalescent homes, medical offices and domestic violence shelters
**Prisons and jails

Come this Sunday, January 27, 2008 and hear our Gideon Speaker

Panama Mission Report

My recent trip to Panama was a wonderful experience. I had a safe drive from LaBelle to Miami Airport, was able to get checked in and to my gate without any problems. Our flight was delayed by two hours because of snow in the Boston area (the inbound flight was delayed). I arrived in Panama around 4:15pm and got to the seminary for my first class around 5:30pm. The class was suppose to start at 5:30pm, but because not everybody was there yet I had time to eat and was able to start teaching around 6:15pm. Our class time usually ran from 5:30 pm to 9pm Monday through Friday night. The course I taught this time around was "Missions, Evangelism and Discipleship." I throughly enjoyed going through it with the pastors and lay leader of Panama. I believe this is a course every believer should find time to take.

On Friday they took me into Panama City to do some site seeing and shopping. We used the local buses to travel to and from the seminary to downtown Panama City as this is the way most Panamanians travel. As such there were 40 to 50 people on our bus. It was interesting to see the other buses as we rode since the individual drivers seem to compete on who could decorate their bus in the loudest colors. On the way back however, just as we crossed over the Panama Canal, our bus broke down. We all had to get off the bus and try to flag down other buses. But we finally got back to the seminary and it was a good trip to Panama City.

Saturday, January 19, 2008 we had the Graduation Ceremonies for 24 students that had completed the ten-book course that took two years to complete. The ceremonies where held at the hotel near the airport in the banquet room. There were close to 200 people present. We had a breakfast buffet and then the graduation ceremony. Dr. Jerry Gesell and Dr. Ron Long from Luther Rice Seminary were present with Dr. Long preaching the graduation message. Dr. Gesell and Dr. Long passed out the graduation certificates. It was a wonderful moment to see these individuals complete this achievement in their lives and to see how proud their families were for them. The end of the ceremony was marked by two local dances. One was done by some teenagers from a local indian tribe and the other dance was a traditional Latin dance done by two teenagers. This was a great ending to our Graduation ceremonies.

I would like to thank everyone for allowing me to go to Panama to teach these class and to represent First Baptist Church of LaBelle.

Begin Praying about Jamaica

The dates have been set for us to go to Jamaica with Dr. and Mrs. Long! This year we will to go to Jamaica on July 11-18, 2007 and we will be staying at the Bethel Christian Mission in Newport, Jamaica. As usual we will be running Vacation Bible School for local churches. We are asking for Youth and Adults to begin praying; ask God if he is leading you to work in Jamaica this summer. Space will be limited this year so seek God's guidance.

If you have questions, as you pray, you can always talk with Pastor Jeff or myself. We will have an orientation meeting early in January to answer any questions and lay out the guidelines for our trip. This will be a great trip, I am looking forward in going back to Jamaica this summer.

Prayer for Haiti

Last week I received an e-mail from our Executive Director of the Florida Baptist Convention, Dr. John Sullivan. He was asking for prayer and financial support for the 700 churches in Haiti that have been started and nurtured by the Florida Baptist Convention. Late in Hurricane session Hurricane Noel devastated this island nation. One hundred seventy five churches were damage and seventy one were destroyed. Also Two Hundred seventy six Pastor's had their Home's damaged. Their also was 943 church members that had their home damaged by the storm.

Last week I asked our Missions Committee to take $1,000 from our Missions Fund to send to the Florida Baptist Convention for the work in Haiti. The committee approved this action. Please be in prayer for the work in Haiti.

I would also ask for your prayers for a Mission Team that my daughter, Aarika, is a part of that will be leaving for Haiti on Monday, December 10 and returning on December 17th. They will be doing Vacation Bible School and working in the orphanages.

Support of Missionaries in Vienna, Austria

In July of this year we had Brian and Pearl Williams came to our church to share about their work in Vienna, Austria. They work in a Chrisitan school where many of the UN workers and Ambassadors send their children to school. This gives them an opportunity to share Christ with these students.

The current money exchange between the dollar and the euro put the Williams in a position where they need more support. Our Missions Committee has decided to support the Williams Family starting in October 2007 with $100 a month for one year. At the end of one year our Missions Committee will reevaluate their position.

I ask each person to pray for Brian and Pearl in their ministry in Vienna, Austria. They will be sending us a newsletters of their ministry and we will post them on the bulletin board. We hope to have them back in our church summer of 2008.

I thank the Lord every day that we are able to support Missionaries like Brian and Pearl Williams.

Revival with Dr. Long

The Lord truly blessed us last week with Dr. Ron Long and his wife Leitha for our Revival. Dr. Long has become a great friend to me and he loves this church and it's mission minded spirit. He shared some great messages with us and all of his messages can be heard through our church web page or you can download them to listen to later. Our church web address is http://www.fbclabelle.org/. I hope if you haven't seen our website lately that you would look it up.

I would ask each of you to pray for Dr. Long and his wife as they travel this fall. On October 4 through the 16th they will be in China and South Korea. On October 19-22 they will be in Quebec, Canada. November 2-9 they will be in Jamaica and November 12-18 they will be Maine. Pray that doors will be open and souls saved.

Pastor Jeff and I will be with Dr. Long in Panama this coming Janaury. Jeff and I will be teaching the final course to group of Pastors and lay leaders on Missions, Evangelism and Discipleship. After the course we will have the honor to be there for their graduation. I ask that you pray for our upcoming trip.

Stay Strong in the Lord!!

With Love, Pastor Frank

Update on Jamaica

Jeff and I talked to Dean Dawson today about the needs in Jamaica. Pastor Dean express the need for money to purchase building supplies while they are able to obtain them. Many of the churches and homes in the area of the camp have been damaged and Pastor Dean would like groups to come help these churches and individuals repair and clean their homes.

We would like to take a small group possibly as early as September to help these people. Our biggest obstacle would be coming up with the money to pay our way to Jamaica. I ask that each of us pray and ask what the Lord would he would want you to do. Some individuals might want to give money for building supplies, others might want to give so that someone in our church could go and do the needed repairs. We would like to send a check for building supplies as early as next week.

Hurricane Report from Jamaica

Pastor Dean Dawson, Director of Bethel Christian Mission, Newport, Jamaica has shared with us about the water and wind damage that was done to the camp and in Manchester and Clarendon parishes in Jamaica. Pastor Dean is asking for volunteers to help with the recovery of the camp and helping the people in the surrounding area. It has been reported that between 50 and 60% of the homes in Manchester and Clarendon parishes have lost their roofs. If you would like to help provide humanitarian assistance to those who are financially unable to repair their roofs, we ask that you consider giving a financial gift that we can forward to Pastor Dean to help with the repairs. You might pray and see if the Lord would want you to go to Jamaica and be part of a team that would do repair work, if you are interested in going or would like to know more, please let myself or Bro. Jeff know.

Bethel Mission Website