We were in seven different churches in the Midwest during the month of August. Our first stop was in Muncie, Indiana, at Temple Baptist Church. We spent the weekend working with Pastor Lang and his church family. On Saturday, we went out soul winning with the church, and I got to lead a man on his doorstep to Christ. The man had recently had a stroke and was unsure of a lot of things, but the most important thing was that he made sure of his eternal destination on Saturday morning, August 4. This was an especially enjoyable weekend, as I got to teach the teens about missions and then present the work and preach. We learned sometime later in the month that they voted to take us on as their newest missionaries. That same Sunday evening, we reported back to one of our supporting churches, Beacon Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Indiana.
After a brief stay in Muncie, we made the long drive up to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to present the work at Victory Baptist Church. Pastor Wilson and his wife were wonderful hosts, and I really enjoyed presenting and preaching here. We were blessed not only to pick up another meeting farther West in the town of Osseo, Wisconsin, but also to find out that they had a prophet’s chamber that we were able to stay in for a week. This blessing allowed me the chance to present and preach at Tri-County Baptist Church and at Black River Baptist Church in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. It was a joy to be able to visit several nursing homes in Black River Falls and minister to those dear souls who live in them. Next we presented at Grace Baptist Church in Lockport, Illinois. I also got to preach a message about missions to their children’s ministries. We had a sizeable gap in our schedule after this meeting, but we would eventually end the month’s meetings with Prairie View Baptist Church in Lake City, Illinois. We were spoiled rotten here, with a lovely place to stay for nearly two weeks, great hosts, and good fellowship.
Because we had such a gap in our schedule, we were able to drop in to several different churches, as well as minister with them. We dropped in at Capitol Baptist Church in Springfield, Illinois, and learned that they go soul winning on Tuesday nights, so we decided to join them. I’m glad we did, because that evening I led a young lady to Christ. We also dropped in at Salem Baptist Church in Decatur, Illinois, and met several folks we went to college with. We learned that they were having a big day for their 171st anniversary the following Sunday and that they would be going out to invite people to come for it that week, so we helped them with that too. We also got to do much with John and Romans distribution while we were staying at Prairie View Baptist Church in Lake City. It was a great joy to help load a truck with Tamil Scriptures that were going to a native pastor in India and to help put together many Spanish John and Romans Scriptures that will eventually go to Mexico.
It’s been a busy but rewarding month of ministry. We’re thankful for the harvest of souls and for the Gospel seed that was sown. With yet another church taking us on for support, the streak continues now to eight months straight that God has brought us new supporters. The best we can calculate, we are conservatively at 75% of our support. However, if we include those who’ve promised support once we get to the field, we are close to 80%. Will those of you who support us through prayer prayerfully consider helping us raise the last 20%? Will you pray that God would bring along enough supporters through the rest of this year and the early part of next year to get us to the field? We are getting close, Friends!
Pressing towards the mark,
Brian Hebert