First Baptist Longview Connects with Massachusetts!

We are so very grateful to many members of our home church, First Baptist of Longview, Texas, who have been for several years involved in numerous ways in various missions efforts in New England. 

                                      
                                               BUSY HANDS SEW AND SEND!

A wonderful group of  "Busy Hands" ladies meet together each Friday morning to work on beautiful hand-made baby quilts and blankets, and they have sent over THREE THOUSAND of these handmade beauties to various recipients throughout the world in the last several years!  Included in those recipients are several New England churches, some of which are:  Evangelical Baptist Teaching & Worship Center in Winthrop, MA; Willimantic Baptist Church in Willimantic, CT; Pleasant Street Baptist Church in Worcester, MA; Hope in Jesus Ministries in Providence, RI;  and New Hope Community Church in Ayer, MA.   THANK YOU, BUSY HANDS! 

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                                  MAY MISSION TEAM DOES FIX-UP AND PAINT-UP!

At the request of Ray Allen, Director of Missions for the Massachusetts Baptist Association and Properties Manager for the Baptist Convention of New England, seven members of FBC Longview
(pictured above) worked diligently for a week in May helping with renovation at the MBA missions house in Worcester, MA, and doing interior painting at the BCNE headquarters building. You can view some of the team in action on the FBCL Facebook page, but our camera just barely caught them at Logan Airport in Boston as they were heading back to Texas and hopefully some much-needed rest!  Team members picturedabove are (l to r) Chris Telleri, Billy Smith, Bonnie Davis, John Glasgow, Todd Davis, and Bonnie and Stan Glenn.  In this group, there were first-timers, second-timers, and third-timers on New England mission trips!! Many accomplishments and much laughter were a part of this week in Massachusetts!  This trip was all about preparing for more volunteers from all over the US who will come to New England to plant, cultivate, and harvest for the Kingdom in this spiritually dark area of our nation.

We thought you'd like to see some of our painting handwork at the BCNE below!  Nice job, huh???

Texas Couple to Serve at Maine Encampment

A few days ago, our Texas friends JR and Gloria Mathews stopped by our "summer home" in Northborough, MA, on their way to Farmington, Maine, to assist at the Baptist encampment there for the next several months.  Among their duties will be helping with camp administrative duties, serving in general maintenance, and who knows what else!!!  The Mathews served for several months in Western Massachusetts about three years ago as they worked to "cultivate the ground" for a church plant in the  Pittsfield area.  They are no strangers to mission work for they have served numerous times over the last several years in various needed areas---particularly in constructing and rehabbing properties following natural disasters. 

On their way to Maine, JR and Gloria brought a large volume of personal clothing items (caps, handmade baby blankets and quilts, etc.) which were contributed as part of a church-wide effort at the Mathews' home church, Hollybrook Baptist Church in Hawkins, Texas.  These will be distributed by Pleasant Street Baptist Church in Worcester, MA,  as needed in their many ministries to their inner city neighbors.

In the first photo below, you'll see JR and Gloria and their poodle heading to Maine from our home in Northborough!  The second photo displays the stack of items from Hollybrook being received by Kathryn Nunnelley, Mission Service Corps Church Strengthener with Pleasant Street Baptist Church.

MANY THANKS to the Texas church and to the Mathewses for meeting these needs.  May the Lord use these items to show His love to our Massachusetts brothers and sisters. . .
                                                                                                                   

Update on our trek to New England

As you can tell when you read the previous posting on this blog, that entry was written about one week ago---before we headed out on Monday!  With the devastation from tornadoes that has occurred this week precisely in the path where we've just traveled, we wanted to thank you for your prayers and give a ready testimony to God's protection.

I'm sure by now you know about the tornadoes in Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia,etc.----some very near or exactly the location where we were just a few hours before.  We were through Tuscaloosa on Monday afternoon on our way to Gadsden, AL for the night.  Then on to Terrell, North Carolina, on Tuesday for a wonderful afternoon and evening with long-time friends---even had a leisurely, sunny boat ride and dinner on Lake Norman!  Then we began to encounter just the edge of the storms yesterday morning as we headed up I-81 in southwest Virginia , but we only had about ten minutes of rain amidst the threatening clouds and fog as we climbed up the Appalacian chain of mountains on the western side of Virginia.   Much of the rest of the day was overcast with several sunny spots, but nothing at all to worry about weatherwise.

However, during our overnight stay at the missions house here in Harrisburg, PA, the storms finally caught up with us!  We were staying in the basement bunk room. . . On the other end of the house during the early hours a window blew out and allowed lots of water into the basement, flooding two of the bedrooms and the hall at that end of the house.  This morning Ben has been helping to vacuum up the water and help "dry out" the area.

We were scheduled to head to Massachusetts today on the final day of our four-day journey to New England.  However, when we consulted the weather this morning and looked outside at the ominous skies about 8:00, all we could find on the TV was the local weathermen with all of the tornado watches and warnings in the area. . . .streets and highways flooding, schools closing, etc.  After keeping an eye on the storm's predicted path right up I-81 where we were supposedly heading to Scranton, PA, we decided to delay for a while our departure.  With further contemplation and following our God-given common sense, we have decided to just "stay put" for today since every interim location enroute to our final destination of Northborough, Massachusetts is in the path of this storm system!

The missions house here in Harrisburg is well equipped with wireless connection in their conference room, so we can easily catch up on a three-day hiatus from internet connections as well as let you hear from us to know that we are safe. . . .

In the meantime, the Lord has blessed us in other ways! Guests last night at the missions house here in Harrisburg included a couple from Virginia who are heading to Washington, VT to be the summertime caretakers for the Calef House, the missions house we know well which houses LOTS of teams from all over the country.  Also there is a team of six people (staff and lay leaders) from Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville, NC, who have been using this as their headquarters this week for their "discovery" efforts in this area of Pennsylvania.  They are investigating potential church planting sites where their church will be sending some couples who are already committed to come to this area to establish relationships and begin Bible studies as they "do life together" in a community that needs Jesus.   Their mission is to establish a  Southern Baptist church as God directs.  So this has been a wonderfully blessed "discovery time" for us as we've met more Baptist co-laborers from the eastern US as well as learned from them!

So---now you can add these new friends and their ministries to your prayer list please!  Also, we want to thank all of you for your prayers for our safety, and of course, we covet your continued prayers as we begin our work tomorrow in New England!

And we'll TRY to keep in touch much more frequently!   Remember that we'd LOVE to hear from you at any time!  Please either post a comment at the end of this message or e-mail us at sherilynbj@gmail.com.  Our "home address" for this year's New England stay is 81 Lincoln Street,
Northborough, MA 01532.   We love keeping in touch with you!

May God continue to bless and guide you!

Ben and Sherilyn





        

Time to Head Back to New England!

Somehow the months in Texas (and in New England as well) seem to fly by so quickly!  In just less than a week, we'll be turning our Buick Lucerne toward the northeast.  This time we're taking the southern route over the four-day trek, stopping one night near Charlotte, NC, to visit with my "growing-up next-door neighbor" and her husband!  We're so looking forward to that. . . .We'll likely be spending Wednesday night in Harrisburg, PA, where the Pennsylvania-New Jersey Baptist Association hosts wayfaring missionaries and other ministry teams in their missions house.  We've done this a couple of times before enroute north or south!

When we get to New England on Thursday evening, we'll unpack and "hit the ground running" to get ready to participate on Friday and Saturday in the Baptist Convention of New England Ministry and Multiplication Multiplier Conference, a two-day leadership development session.  Sherilyn will also be a participant on Saturday in the New England WMU Annual Meeting in Billerica, MA.  So as you can see, we're off and running as usual!

This year we'll be living in a different place than our summer home of the last four years.  The Baptist Convention of New England headquarters is located in Northborough, MA, on the homestead of Luther Rice, who is considered along with Adoniram Judson as one of the founders of the modern missions movement.  In addition to the BCNE headquarters office building, also located on the homestead  property is the Rice Lodge which was originally the family stable and blacksmith shop but now has been converted to house mission teams from all over the country who come to serve in New England.  The
original barn has been made into a very nice residence which is the current home of Matthew and Kathryn Nunnelley and their two children.  Originally from Alabama, the Nunnelleys are completing their third year as Mission Service Corps missionaries, serving as Church Strengtheners at Pleasant Street Baptist Church in Worcester, MA.  The third structure on the Luther Rice homestead is a two-story home which features a very nice downstairs suite, used for short-term visitors who come for conferences or other special occasions.  The upstairs apartment will be our home for the next six months!  It is fully furnished and even features a loft for guests!  Come see us!







 

From Crime to Correction to Christ

By Pastor Tony Mancuso
Hope in Jesus Ministries
Providence, Rhode Island

Three weeks before Christmas, all the men enrolled in the Learning 2 Live Initiative at the Adult Correctional Institute in Rhode Island were presented an opportunity. Each man was presented the offer of having their families cared for at Christmas with food, gifts, and the Good News of the gospel. Each man who accepted this gift experienced a renewed hope in the name of Jesus.

Each wife and mother received a personal phone call from Dawn Mancuso, wife of Pastor Tony Mancuso from Hope Baptist Church in Providence, RI. The women’s openness to talk about their circumstances was gripping. Each was touched knowing that their son, husband, or boyfriend made this effort on their behalf.

The following letter is from a man in one of the like-skills classes that Pastor Mancuso teaches. To look at the personally scripted letter, in perfect penmanship, is staggering. To read the beautifully penned words, full of emotion, is inspiring. Justin wrote this letter to you.

Brothers and Sisters,
It is with great thanks and much appreciation that I am writing to all of you this New Year. My name is Justin K. and I wanted to send a quick note to all of you to make you aware of what it means to me to be blessed through fellowship with all of you in Christ Jesus this past Christmas.

I am currently serving a four-year sentence at the ACI. My sentence is half completed. Holidays here are always a struggle, not only because of my incarceration, but basically it is because of the separation between my son and I. Liam is thirteen years old and like the way all fathers feel, he is the “apple of my eye”. We are very close. Only by the grace of God am I blessed with a very close, very supportive family. This allows Liam and I to remain in constant contact with each other.

As a man, it is very difficult knowing that his own faults and own mistakes have prevented him from being a complete father. It hurts immensely not being present to share all the feelings and events that some along with that time of year.

When Pastor Mancuso, or Tony as I know him, told me of what was being made available to my son and his mother my heart was touched in a way that made me realize what it truly means to be a Christian, the love and concern shown to my family has brought me such comfort that words will do no justice.

My mother said how refreshing it was to know that there are still people who can, without judgment, extend their hearts to a stranger. This kindness shown to Liam has been a reminder of how good God is!

Liam enjoyed his gifts very much. His mom enjoyed hers as well, and I am a man forever grateful to all of you. We all are truly blessed to know and love Jesus Christ, and I am truly blessed to be given that opportunity to learn from Pastor Tony. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news! God bless.

Yours truly,
Justin K.

Hope in Jesus Prison Ministries, in conjunction with the Providence Rescue Mission's Learning 2 Live Initiative, is excited to offer churches the opportunity to invest in the life of Justin and his fellow inmates. Learning 2 Live is a faith-based life skills course that provides 72 weeks of classroom instruction.

Each week, through the classroom and Bible study, the gospel is shared and in time men are baptized. These classes include anger management, dealing with loss and grief, addiction, godly parenting, and money management. In addition to classroom time, men and, beginning in February, women engage in daily self-study in preparation for the classroom. As you read in Justin’s letter, the family is touched by our purpose of sharing the gospel. This means our affect goes beyond the prison walls to the wives, children, and parents!

In order to provide this life-changing rehabilitative service to those who are incarcerated, sponsors are being sought. A sponsor could be an individual, a small group, a Sunday school class, a youth group, a worship team, or a church. For $115 a year a sponsor provides an inmate with a Bible, life skills curriculum materials, one hour of weekly instruction, a certificate of completion for the 12 week class and the behind-the-scenes training of instructors and administration that makes this program work. Christ is touching the lives of hundreds in the Rhode Island prison system. Hope in Jesus Prison Ministries have a waiting list for their courses! Pray that they reach their goal of enrolling at least 500 inmates this year in the Learning 2 Live Initiative.


***This article copied from the eJournal of the Baptist Convention of New England, Feb. 7, 2011.

If you would be interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact Pastor Tony Mancuso at awmancuso@msn.com.

Left for Dead!

As many of you know, we have been  privileged to be closely associated with Pleasant Street Baptist Church since our first trip to New England in spring of 2007.  It's been such a joy to see how the Lord has worked in the lives of the people in this neighborhood!  Pastor Noel Williamson and his wife Shelley have been very ably assisted by North American Mission Board  Mission Service Corps Missionaries Matthew and Kathryn Nunnelly who serve there as Church Strengtheners.

We love to be involved in various ministries at Pleasant Street.

Enjoy this video made recently by the North American Mission Board!

http://www.essentials.tv/Left_for_Dead/

Ministry Investment Opportunity in Old Saybrook, CT!

One of our church plants, Lighthouse Community Church in Old Saybrook, CT, is growing in number and occupying more space! Praise the Lord! Many partners have already helped by donating various items to enhance the ministry of Pastor Brendan Saunders and his wife Mary. As a result of this growth, they would love to have the following items:
　
Entryway…
Area Rug
2 coat racks
Bulletin board

Children’s Room
Table & chairs
White board
Supply cabinet
13"-21" tv with dvd player

Bathroom
Wall mounted diaper changing station

Misc…
Partitions/Room Dividers
Lectern
50" LCD tv and wall mount
25 NIV Pew Bibles
We are also looking for one more church to consider financially partnering with us at a level of $200 per month.

If you would like to invest in this ministry in some way, please contact Pastor Saunders directly at lighthousecommunityoldsaybrook@gmail.com.