We helped start a church, Friendship Independent Baptist, to be a place where people will
hear what God says about sin and salvation. We stand on the Word of God and not on
man's traditions. Yes, we invited people to come to our church, but we realize that God
never commanded the unsaved to attend church. So we went out and gave the message of
salvation to people through door to door witnessing (soulwinning), a weekly market
square preaching service, open-air preaching in different villages and also through
children's meetings.
We started a King's Kids Club at the church. We had roughly 25 children who attended. We had a time of team competition with different types of races. Then a group devotional time. We ended with an achievement time where the children divide into small groups to say their memory work. The emphasis in the curriculum is placed upon Bible memory within the context of doctrine and character building. The King's Kids Program is a ministry of the Bay View Baptist Church in Washington, Illinois.
Friendship Baptist is now left in the hands of a national pastor, Stanley Roberts. He is a graduate from our Bible school, Ambassador Baptist Bible Institute and a man qualified for the pastorate.
Some Facts about the Caribbean
Once Caribbean missionaries played a major role in evangelizing West Africa. But not
today. The churches in the Caribbean are in stagnation. There is much enthusiasm, but
little depth and little outreach. There is much religion without personal faith in Christ,
and various cults are making rapid inroads.
Limited financial resources cripple church development and outreach. There are simply
not the personnel with the training to cope with the serious moral slide and breakdown in
family life. In some islands 85% of children are born out of wedlock. Here in Grenada,
75% are said to be so born.
- PRAY for revival in the Caribbean.
- PRAY that a strong, clear presentation of the Truth may influence future leadership of churches and nations in the Caribbean.
- PRAY for those pastors and leaders in the churches who are faithfully serving the Lord in the face of discouragement.
- PRAY that committed Christians may be placed in leadership roles in their nations.
Singapore, Southeast Asia
If it is humanly possible to measure
such things, Asia is the neediest portion of the planet, as far
as the lack of the Gospel is concerned. The continent of Asia
alone covers 30% of the Earth surface, with 56% of the world's
people living there. The population of South East Asia alone is
roughly 520 million with 3.5 million in the 247 sq. miles that
comprises Singapore. In 1819, Sir Thomas Raffles, a young
official serving with the British East India Company, came ashore
on the island. Even though it was a maze of swamps and jungle at
the time, he recognized it as a potential site for a free trade
settlement on the route between China and India. From that day on
Singapore has never looked back.
Singapore has some freedom of religion.
At least, religion is seen as a safeguard of moral standards. 54%
of the population are Buddhist, Taoist or Confucianism. Another 17%
are Muslim and 3% are Hindu. The Christian faith equals 11%, only
4% of which are Protestants.
Over the past 20 years, some of the
better educated have been coming to Christ. Most congregations
are filled with young people who are predominantly first
generation Christians. Building sites are very expensive,
somewhat hindering the growth of the church.
Our vision does not just stop with the church in Singapore. Using Singapore as our homebase and
Emmanuel Baptist Fellowship Church as our home church, we reached out to neighboring countries. The family has been to Malaysia to help the Jesus Saves Ministry. Stephen has also taken a trip in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. But we have been very burdened for the country and people of India. In July 2004 we shifted our homebase to India.
