SOUTH AFRICA

We were happy to have Susan Stokeld with us on Sunday; Susan is a Southern Baptist Missionary with the International Mission Board (IMB). She has been working in the Pacific Rim. She was here for our On Mission Celebration which were are doing in conjunction with our Red Fork Annual Jubilee.
I always love to have a missionary in our service, we need to be reminded of whom and how the message of Christ is being carried around the world. We as adults, youth, and children need to learn about missions. And the best way to do that is to hear from missionaries, this is the best way for that spark to be put in our hearts for missions. We give about 30% of the money that comes in to missions, that includes 20% to the Cooperative Program. The Cooperative Program is what enables our missionaries to stay in the field. It is great to give the way that you do, but when we meet someone who is on the receiving end of our missions money and hear about what they do then we have a better understanding of how it all works. Through the International Mission Board (www.imb.org), Southern Baptists support approximately 5,100 missionaries who are engaging more than 1,170 different people groups around the world.
New churches numbering over 1,458 are planted through the efforts of more than 5,153 North American Missionaries, whose efforts are coordinated through your North American Mission Board (www.namb.net) and individual state conventions.
Working together, Southern Baptists saw 836,898 new believers baptized in 2006!
If you missed hearing Susan, you missed a treat!!
Sunday night at Calvary Baptist in Vernon we had our Annual Jubilee and all of the missionaries that were at Red Fork churches were there with tables set up so that you could see things from all over the world. We also had a missionary speak during the 6:00 service, I had the honor to speak during the 4:00 service. If you did not go because you did not see the importance in it, shame on you. We as an Association to begin going to the Mbalantu tribe of the Owambo nation in the South African country of Namibia.
I will be sharing more about these people soon, but begin praying about going, and get your passport ready, if you don't have one, get one.
Let me know what you think about going to Africa.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19 (NIV)
In HIS Service, Bro. Randy