Jack starts another semester on August 21st . It will be a busy semester so we ask for prayer for endurance. Pray also that Jack will be able to really minister to his students. Jack has prepared a new class and 2 independent studies for the school.

Jack was able to attend his parents 70th anniversary. That was a milestone that is glorifying to God.

Continue to pray for Lorenzo’s salvation. He is our daughter’s husband. They did renew their vows last Saturday and Jack officiated. It was a very blessed time.

Melissa continues to reach out and pray with students and spend time with grandchildren. She also helps with the women’s ministry team at our church here in Dallas.

Since 1992 New Creation Ministries has provided theological training to Rwandans who are doing ministry in their churches, workplaces and homes. Our aim isn’t just to provide our students with knowledge or skills. We want them to be transformed by what they’re learning – to become true disciples of Jesus. To that end, we take our training beyond the classroom, providing personalized mentoring and discipleship by visiting students in their homes and observing them in their ministries.

Pray for our students – that God would open their minds to hear the Scripture clearly and that they would be effective in sharing with others what they’re learning. Pray also for our teachers – for wisdom as they teach and disciple students and also for safety and health as they travel to visit students all over Rwanda.

“Preparing others to reach and disciple the world for Christ”

By the end of April, the MPM staff were meeting with 90 students weekly on three campuses doing one-on-one Biblical discipleship appointments and praying for each of these students. Several students kept coming back to talk more about what it means to truly know Jesus Christ on a personal basis.

This summer, we sponsored two mission teams: The first left in May with eleven and spent five weeks in a “closed country” meeting University students, sharing their testimonies and the Gospel. The response was that many wanted to speak English and were interested in interacting with the content of the Gospel.

The second two-week mission team, Crush Fear, with 12 students did a lot of discipleship and ministry training at Three Trails Ranch doing outreach on the streets of Durango and in Towaoc.

Because of these summer mission projects, we hope to have more student leaders that are able to reach and disciple more fellow students on each staffed campus.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GREAT SUPPORT AND PRAYER FOR GOD TO CHANGE LIVES

Ramon and Ana Rodriguez serve in Nogales, Mexico, at the Nogales Baptist Seminary (SEBANO). Ramon is the director of the seminary and serves as Coordinator of Missionaries in Mexico through Missions Door. SEBANO completed another school year this spring, training pastors and teachers to spread the gospel in churches throughout Mexico. The seminary also holds retreats for missionaries and teachers, an Annual Missionary Banquet for women from their churches, a prison ministry called Sol de Justicia, and summer youth camps. Please pray that through each of these ministries, as well as the training for seminary students, people would hear the good news, remain faithful to the Lord, and continue to serve him.

Ross and Mindy Smith, with their sons Daniel (10) and Nathan (8), are serving families in Asia through camps, life coaching, member care, and discipleship. We make our home in the sweltering tropics of southeast Asia, but will have to endure the brisk, mountain breezes of Colorado for the next few weeks!  Our heart is to see transformation all over Asia – especially in the families of those who are bringing the gospel to the unreached!  We have a passion to see Kingdom workers thriving, not only in ministry but in their family life.

Since you last saw us, we’ve added another element to our family ministry – Word By Heart. Internalizing and sharing stories of Scripture and equipping others to do the same has been an exciting new part of our adventure, and has opened doors in new corners of the world.  

Ross grew up in Durango until he joined YWAM at age 18.  Since then, he has been working in missions in Asia.  We thank First Baptist Church for your faithful prayers and financial support over many years of ministering overseas. If you’d like to hear more, come on up to Molas Lake on Friday evening of this week! We’d love to spend time at our campfire with you, sharing stories!

Shelly and I have been on staff with Master Plan Ministries over 10 years now.  It has been an amazing time watching students go on to reach and influence the world for Christ.  We are serving at Colorado Mesa University located in Grand Junction Colorado.  We have been blessed to see evangelism happen weekly these last two years, multiple Bible studies per semester, over 50 folks in one-on-one discipleship and 10 in a servant-leader capacity learning to die to themselves to reach the next generation.

Some personal Joys for me this semester: Joel committed his life to Christ in November due to caring student co-workers and has been a joy to meet with as he was raised Mormon and has seen the difference of grace.  Kailea, who came from a church background, but put her trust in Christ as a freshmen shared with me how very helpful our co-ed study in 1^st Samuel been for her to see the relevance of the Old Testament.  Lastly, in a very special place in my heart has been Isaac, who just graduated.  He has quietly been a stable force serving and growing and is looking to invest in youth and possibly become a Boy Scout leader in the future.  It has been so encouraging to see examples of the Lord’s faithfulness and their confidence grow in Him.  Thank you so much for your support for Shelly, Addie, Lily, RJ and I!

Some prayers for this year:

• We have students in both summer projects! Pray for growth and depth of trust in the Lord!
• Willingness to be known.  That students at CMU would be willing to keep talking about spiritual things with us and hear the Gospel!
• 23 in 2023!  We would love to see that many become new creations!
• Emily Alsdorf (new intern!) to be fully raised up to start on campus in the fall.
• for Shelly and I to raise our Children well in the midst of a ministry schedule.

Wes and Julie Shoemaker work with people of the Tarahumara culture of Northern Mexico. Because of the low literacy level in their very remote canyon system, speakers of this ancient language are dependent on the audio recording of God’s Word which has been distributed to them on mini-SD cards that play through their portable radios. Christian songs and scripture messages and testimonies are included on those memory cards, to help explain God’s plan and how to respond to Him. God is illuminating them and they are slowly responding to Him, despite the grave dangers of life around them. Please pray that God would raise up mighty witnesses to this people from within their own language and culture, so that His truth would endure and prevail over the lies of the enemy.

Malcolm and Leah Hillewaert serve with Master Plan Ministries at Adams State University in Alamosa, CO. They build relationships with students on campus and share the gospel. Many Christian students also partner with them to share the gospel with their fellow students and also to grow in their own discipleship and walk with Jesus. Please pray that their ministry would grow as they continue reaching students with the gospel and pointing them to the Bible. Please also pray for healing, endurance, and clear direction, as Leah battles cancer.

Willie and Miledys Santiago run the Cuba Connection Ministries, which works to connect Cuban churches with the rest of the world to bring the hope that is in Jesus Christ to the Cuban people. CCM is committed to combining social work with preaching the Gospel in Cuba, to helping and equipping those who are on the front line. We do this through our ministry farm, which provides work and food for families in need, like single mothers and families of children with disabilities. We also hold seminars to equip and train pastors, to encourage them in their service to their congregations.

Tim Miller joined Cross Bar X in May 2006. Tim serves alongside his wife Marci, daughters Addie, Whitley, Cora, Della, & Thea, and sons Elias & Allan. Tim has served in camping ministry for over 20 years and has an undergraduate degree in Youth Ministry from Colorado Christian University and M.A.’s in both Executive Leadership and Professional Counseling. Tim’s passion is to communicate the transformational truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to help families thrive as they live life together!

Mike and Rachel work with Christian Challenge, a college ministry at Fort Lewis College. In over 20 years of ministry at FLC, this has been one of the most exciting school years since the pandemic. They’ve seen students make decisions to follow Christ and be baptized. They also had a successful mission trip over spring break to Juarez, Mexico. Their adoption is moving along as well, and they will be traveling to Thailand to pick up their son at the end of May.

I grew up attending First Baptist Church with my parents Chuck and Cindy Helvoigt. It was during this time that the Lord saved me. Later, after getting my education and meeting my wife, I joined a church plant called Gospel Church Durango where I’ve been serving for over a decade. I am now one of the pastors at Gospel Church and am being sent by them to plant a church in the Denver area. My family and I are moving up at the end of May, and are woefully underfunded at the moment, and have a very small team. We know that God goes before us and will provide. That said, please consider joining the mission. Please visit us. Please give to the mission. Please pray for us. We love you First Baptist, and are grateful for how God has used you in our lives.

Sean and Angie have been working alongside others in southeast Asia for ten years to establish a business that enables church planters to engage unreached coastal villages with new hope. One hope is economic development in villages where, other than the arrival of the internet through cell data service, little has changed for many decades. The more significant hope comes as our staff lives and works alongside the villagers, many of whom have probably never seen what faith in Jesus really means in the life of someone they know.

We are excited that the business is on track to become self-sustaining by the end of 2023. Please pray that God would, through our team/staff, bring the growth for that to become reality. One of the most exciting developments in the last six months has been seeing villages investing in what is needed to work with us and we are regularly approached by individuals, communities and buyers who are excited about working with us. Please pray that God would provide more local church planters who can be the primary interface with the villages and the partners in them.