Bogata, Colombia, SA and the Highlands Camp

As far as the Evangelistic Event for Parents (August 6 and 7), we we're bit disappointed with the attendance. I think the last figure was 287 parents who attended. So in spite of factoring in the "no shows", we didn't calculate it well. There were over 100 people that stayed here in Bogota who could have gone if we had just known so many were not going to show up. We had about 2/3 women and 1/3 men. The latest figure as far as people saved was 97 adults. We had several Christians that slipped through, so the proportion was probably close to 40% of the lost who responded to the invitation. We have to get better at filtering out the Christians that just want a free camp, and estimating those who don't show up so that we accept more applications.
This past Sunday we had a special service for all of the parents who went camp. We had over 632 people in our services. That is almost double what we were averaging. By the end of the day, 4 more adults had accepted Christ as Saviour. I think it was a very worthwhile effort. Thank God for the 120 volunteers we had at camp, and all the great people that helped here in Bogota!
We just moved into a larger rented facility last February, and it appears that we will be starting a 2nd service shortly.
Thank you all for making this possible.
Craig and Fran Lingo

News From the Peper's in Sierra Leone

Even though we are in the midst of the rainy season, our churches have experienced excellent growth. The average for the month of August was 705 with 342 accepting the Lord as Savior. Last Sunday we had a total of 810 in the churches. Because all of our baptismal services are conducted outside, we only baptized 47 due to the heavy rains.

I am planning on returning to the States this month. Spiritually, this has been a very profitable nine months. As I reflect on where we were just a year ago....less than 200 in our churches....I am so amazed at what the Lord has done in such a short time. We have our 12 churches with a new one beginning in Mekeni this month. Last year the Bible Institute was started and this month we will be adding our sophomore year. Monday will mark the start of a new elementary school. In the two schools we anticipate approximately 450 students. Also, the feeding program will expand to 5 days a week for each of the students. The college ministry is averaging 270 a month in three locations. Since this ministry began last June, we have had 386 college students saved.

We feel like we have a solid foundation on which we can build. With our members being discipled, there is an increased confidence in the spiritual growth of this ministry. I am always aware of the fact that none of this would be possible without you. A "thank you" does not seem adequate.

May God continue to bless you in a wonderful way.

In Christ,
Mike & Diane Peper

Bob Hines Reports from Europe

Many articles that you will see about Western and Eastern Europe will tell you that ministry there is dead. That has not been my experience. Although ministry there can be slow, tedious, and difficult at times, it is being done. I have had the privilege of working with the Rawlings Foundation and the International Baptist Network (IBN) for the last 4 years in Eastern Europe, and the last year in Western Europe.
The Foundation and the IBN are committed to developing a network of Baptist churches and Pastors that have the same doctrinal DNA and want to be able to develop and share resources. After spending 18 mos. meeting and talking with missionaries in most of the Eastern European countries, I found that the resource they most needed was teaching materials to be available in their countries mother tongue.
After discussing the potential of this with Dr. John Rawlings it was decided to translate Harold Rawlings book, Basic Baptist Beliefs, into as many languages for Eastern Europe as possible. Dr. H. Rawlings book is one of the best resources on Baptist Doctrine I have encountered, and has the ability to identify those who are in doctrinal agreement with the traditional Baptist position. Using this mechanism to identify those who would work well with a network, I began the translation projects.
The credibility this brings the IBN has made it possible to begin to network churches and ministries together that had not been able to cooperate on anything before. It takes a great deal of time and work to locate a good translator, and then have the book edited into a working model that can be used by pastors and people. At this point we have the book translated and distributed into the following languages: Romanian, German, Russian, Slovakian, Spanish, and Polish. The French, Slovakian, Hungarian, and Portuguese translations are currently being done. The Polish translation has been done in paper back form for the Pastors, and then developed into lesson sets for the people so that they can use this material to train their own churches.
We have also had Bill Monroe’s book “Go” translated and distributed in the Polish Baptist Churches. We have taken a different approach in Russia. We have translated the book into hardback and paperback for the Pastors and students, then we have produced a c/d copy of the book to be distributed to the Pastors. They can then run off lesson sets for their people as they need them.
We are currently investigating the possibility of putting each translation on Amazon as a free download that can be accessed by the individuals, then used as a study reference. I am currently in the process of identifying leaders in each region to take the responsibility of leading the IBN for that region and promoting the cooperation of the churches and Pastors. I am praying about a potential door that has been opened for us to take the BBB book in Russian to 17 of the former Soviet countries for distribution.
Please pray with me about this opportunity. It will be handled by a Ukrainian national pastor that has contact with leaders in each of these countries.

Working with the people of Eastern and Western Europe has been a blessing and a challenge. They love the Lord and are committed to accelerating evangelism and church planting in their countries.

Bob Hines

Editor's note: The Internation Baptist Network Family will conduct an International Baptist Family meeting in the year 2011. We will conduct that meeting at the Castle, in Belgium. Dates will be forthcoming as soon as they are solidified.

Timothy/Barnabas Training for Haiti and Dominacan Pastors and Workers

Although not officially open, the Highlands Complex in the Dominican Republic hosted almost 200 pastors at the end of June. Herb Rawlings welcomed the pastors from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The event was the Timothy/Barnabas Pastors School conducted by Dr. Johnny Hunt, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Woodstock (GA). Dr. Hunt is the past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Jonathan Falwell was one of the featured speakers.

In addition to encouraging, equipping, and engaging pastors, the highlight of the conference was the footwashing ceremony in which Dominican pastors washed the feet of Haitian pastors. Dr. Hunt participated in this beautiful ceremony.

During the week, hundreds of American teens viewed the new complex. Gus Hernandez, camp director, had the facility and staff receive the guests although the official opening is not until November.

Great preaching, music, and Bible teaching were featured at the T/B Pastor’s Conference. On the last evening of the week, almost 3,000 people participated in an evangelistic rally held in San Pedro de Macoris. Ron Bishop, President of SCORE International, preached the gospel and there were close to 250 salvation decisions.

The beautiful Highlands Complex located in Boca Chica will be fully operational in 2011. Events are being planned to bring thousands of Dominican youth to hear the Gospel, be discipled to carry the good news of Christ to the entire nation, and plant hundreds of churches. Our goal is to make a spiritual impact to the millions who inhabit the island.

FREE Discipleship and Training Materials

I read with interest the article from Mexico City, where we help support a large work. It brought to mind that they as well as others may want to download free (pdf) files of discipleship prepared by Pastor Fred Allen, Lees Summit Baptist Temple in Lees Summit MO. Although the material is copyrighted, it also notes the material may be freely copied and used as long as it is not changed (translation is not a change). It is being used across Mexico as well as around the world to train and equip church members to be the workers in the church. The overall goal is to build the lives of people so they can truly be called "Christian".

Check them out at lsbt.org. Titles include: Basic Christianity, Building Christian Ministers, Building Christian Leaders (this has the philosophy of discipleship), Building Christian Counselors (what do you say when someone at work shares a problem), Building Christian Elders (42 characteristics of an elder), Building Spiritual Christians (flesh vs the Spirit) and Building Christian Ladies. All contain 14 lessons, designed to be used on a school semester plan. Contact ken@lsbt.org for more information and teaching helps. Currently available in English and Spanish(Mexico).
And it is about time we Baptists started fighting Satan and not ourselves.
Ken Kerr, Missions Pastor, LSBT