The first weekend of the month, I preached for Pastor Dexter Landers at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Whitesburg, Georgia. His annual Missions Conference began on Sunday. Mt. Zion outdid themselves again for BEST Missions by giving almost $5,000 for the Laotian Bible Project. Pastor Landers and his church have been a blessing to our ministry for years. He was one of my former students back in my college-teaching days. What a blessing he and his dear family are to me!
While on my way to Georgia, I stopped at Maranatha Baptist Church in Monroe, Louisiana. Pastor Daniel Goodman was holding a revival meeting. What a blessing he has been to me.
On Sunday, November 12, I preached for my good friend, Pastor Dave Seifert, at Twin Cities Baptist Temple in Wake Village, Texas. What a blessing his good folks were to me! I preached all three services that Sunday.
On the evening of November 12, we received word that our sister-in-law Verna had passed away and was now in Heaven. Jackie’s oldest brother and Verna had been married for 66 years. We quickly made plans to travel to Quincy, Illinois, to attend the funeral. We were thankful when our daughter Chrisy offered to drive us there. She and her husband even made arrangements for motel rooms there and back, which was a blessing. To Jackie, Verna was a mentor and a wonderful example of a loving wife and mother. Thank God for Heaven, where our loved ones will all be together again!
We made a regular trip to Dallas (every three months) for Jackie’s checkup. She is doing great after her kidney transplant 1½ years ago. We are thankful for good doctors and healthcare workers.
I was invited to preach a Wednesday night service for a young preacher friend in Henderson, Texas. He asked me to bring some soul-winning presentation booklets for his people. They wanted to learn even more about how to win souls. I challenged them to make sure that every home in their city had a Bible, which they are doing on a regular basis. His church gave $500 toward Bibles.
We are so thankful for good friends and churches that give toward Bibles. What a blessing you are to me and to those who have never owned a Bible or even seen one!
This month started off by loading our 41st container of Scriptures in Rogers, Arkansas. We would like to say a special thanks to BEAMS Bible Ministry for several thousand whole Bibles that went into this container. We would also like to say a special thanks to World Missions Bearing Precious Seed and Faith Scripture Printing for tens of thousands of John & Romans.
The Christmas programs in Thailand were a huge success. Thousands of children and staff heard the Gospel story for the first time. They each received a John & Romans and a Gospel tract. Can you imagine that in 2023, people are still hearing the Gospel for the first time? Thank God we live in America, where we are free to own a Bible and the Gospel is being preached freely. Thank the Lord for good churches that still believe the Word of God!
We hope you had a Merry Christmas. We are looking forward to a prosperous New Year with the same goal of making sure every believer in the world can receive a copy of God’s Word in their own language.
We want to thank everyone who gave us a special gift for Christmas. We appreciate your kindness very much. We are so thankful to those who faithfully give on a regular basis. Without you, this ministry would not be possible.
We would like to say a special thank you to friends who gave very generous gifts to BEST for Bibles, like our friend Linda Duncan, who gave $500, and our friend Scott Smith, who gave $10,000 to BEST. Praise the Lord!
We love you folks and want you to know that we could not keep our ministry going without your help and prayers. Praise God for your faithful prayers and for your generous support!
Into all the world,
Bro. Bob Bowen
Philippians 4:13