September 23, 2013

It has been several weeks since we have reported on the good things that God has been doing at Greater Rhode Island Baptist Temple. We are sorry for the delay, but we trust that you will not consider this delinquency any indication that there has been nothing to report. To the contrary, several significant things have happened over the past few weeks.

On August 28, Karen and I had the privilege to drive our daughter April to Pensacola Christian College where she will begin in her studies in political science. On the way down, I had the privilege of speaking at Capitol Baptist Church in Dover, Delaware, where Pastor T. H. Moore is the pastor. Brother Moore was a student of mine at Northeast Baptist School of Theology and has been a great encouragement to me. God is blessing the church in Dover, and it was great to see God’s anointing on this ministry.

During our stay in Florida, Pastor Krampert and John Aspray filled the pulpit. Pastor Krampert preached an excellent message on baptism, and two people responded by publicly identifying with Christ through this ordinance. Daniel deOliveira, son of Glennison and Lisa, was baptized, as well as Martha Cruz, a mother of some of our bus children. It was especially gratifying that Daniel was able to be baptized while his grandparents from Brazil were present.

Karen and I experienced a wonderful week in Pensacola, enjoyed the services of the Campus Church, and made our way back to Rhode Island. On the way home, we stopped at Victory Baptist Church where my good friend Radar Ogden is the pastor. I had the privilege of speaking there on September 4. It was a great time of fellowship.

It was great to be back in the pulpit at GRIBT on September 8. The Lord blessed with another great Sunday. Matthew Shaub followed the Lord in baptism and joined with his wife Sarah. They have been a great encouragement to this preacher. Matthew’s faith is really taking off! Charlene and Peter Bricault also joined on September 8. They were former members of GRIBT before moving to North Carolina. They have always been New Englanders at heart, however. The Lord recently sold their home, and they moved back to the area and reunited with us. Amen! Marcos Ballard, one of our outstanding young men, also joined this week.

On the 9th GRIBT hosted the September meeting of the New England Baptist Fellowship.  We heard great preaching from our own Tom Krampert, Chris Baker (pastor of Knotty Oak Baptist Church in Coventry, RI) and Rand Hummel (director of the Wilds of New England). God used each message in a mighty way.

Jim Bracelin returned to GRIBT for our annual Deaf Appreciation Weekend. On Fantastic Saturday, September 14, over 50 deaf and deaf workers from around New England came together for a time of fellowship and evangelism. Donald, a deaf man from New Hampshire, prayed to receive Christ. Amen! On Sunday, Jim preached a great message on the woman taken in adultery, and Monique who accepted Christ on visitation the day before, came forward to make her public profession of faith. It was my privilege to baptize Monique yesterday.

Jim stayed over to conduct sign language classes for our church on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights. I learned a lot, but still have a long way to go. The church honored Karen and I on Sunday night the fifteenth on our first anniversary at GRIBT by paying for us to have a few days away for relaxation. It was a great and thoughtful gift!

In addition to baptizing Monique yesterday, I had the privilege of baptizing Danashya Johnson. Danaysha first came to us as a professing atheist. But through our teen series on creation, the Lord opened her eyes, and she prayed to receive Christ. What an encouragement to plunge her beneath baptismal waters yesterday and to see the transformation on her young life.

Sean Carew, executive director of the Providence Rescue Mission, visited our services last night and presented the work of the mission. We voted to add them to our missionary family. We are thankful for Chris Kampf and Tony Barbosa, the two men from our church who minister faithfully each month at PRM.

As you can see there has been no moss growing on the ministries of this church. Be in prayer for the continuing education classes of New England School of the Bible that meet each week at GRIBT. We have students enrolled in Hermeneutics, Homiletics, and Greek II. Karen’s Bible studies on “Lord, Change My Attitude” and “The Excellent Wife” are reporting good attendance. And the weekly discipleship class at our house continues to grow. Amen!

Thank you for your prayers and support of this ministry. Your friendship means much to us!