By Bob Larson – USA Assistant Director

This summer, Reseeding America sponsored an exciting twelve–day–church–planting survey trip to the Southwest region of the United States. On July 10, I flew to Los Angeles to meet four men who had signed up for this trip. Our group rented an SUV and headed to Pacific Baptist Church in Long Beach, California, where Joe Esposito is the pastor. Over twenty years ago Brother Esposito went to Long Beach as a BIMI missionary to reach the Cambodian population of the area. Today, Pacific Baptist Church is made up of not only Cambodian people but Filipino, Laotian, Hispanic, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Caucasians.

BIMI Missionary Dave Board, who is the regional ethnic coordinator for church planting in the USA with BIMI, met and welcomed us as we arrived at Pacific Baptist. Brother Board and his family have worked for several years with the Cambodian people, first at Pacific Baptist then in Cambodia. Dave planned a special weekend for this group of church planters. It was evident that he had worked hard in putting together all the details for an 'eye–opening' stop in the Long Beach area.

After an evening meal, information packets were given to our prospective church planters concerning many locations in the greater Los Angeles area and southern California that have no Independent Baptist churches. While sharing this information, Pastor Esposito showed the group a map of the greater Los Angeles area. On this map several circles had been drawn. Each circle represented a twenty minute drive from one side to the other and a population of two to three million people. No Independent Baptist churches were located inside any of those circles!

Saturday Brother Board organized a tour of the areas in those circles drawn on the map around Los Angeles. The first stop was East Los Angeles where Pacific Baptist Church is planting a new church with a Grand Opening Sunday coming up on September 13. Our group spent the morning knocking doors in the neighborhood and passing out information about the new church start. Two of the men in our group led a dear lady to the Lord who lived right across the street from where the new church will be started! The next day was Sunday and we joined Pacific Baptist Church for all of their morning services. They had a great morning with a number of visitors and an attendance of over one thousand people.

That Sunday afternoon we made our way to North Hollywood, California, to meet with church planter Rob Badger. Brother Badger planted Victory Baptist Church about five years ago and now has a good group of people in the church. When we got to the church, the Hispanic ministry of Victory Baptist Church was holding services. Brother Badger was so gracious as he took us on a tour of a large section of Hollywood and Los Angeles and shared with the men his many experiences. He gave us a packet filled with information concerning the need for churches in his area. The tour took us through many communities without one Independent Baptist church. I enjoyed being able to preach the Sunday night service in North Hollywood. Before driving to Lancaster, California, that evening we stopped by Pastor Badger's home where his family and several members of the church had prepared a meal for us.

The next two days were spent at Lancaster Baptist Church where Dr. Paul Chappell is the pastor. The church was hosting their annual Spiritual Leadership Conference, and what a blessing it was to hear the power filled preaching and participate in many helpful sessions. How exciting to see a large emphasis placed on church planting in America at the conference. It was a challenge to us as well as to the thousands of other delegates who attended the services.

Wednesday morning we drove from Lancaster to Merced, California, to meet with church planter/pastor Andy Doss, who planted the Merced Baptist Church three years ago. Brother and Mrs. Doss and members of the church had prepared a noon meal at their church building. We appreciated a tour of Merced and visit with Brother Doss and his family. The pastor had prepared information about towns in his region of California that have no Independent Baptist churches. After checking into the comfortable motel arranged by the church, we headed back to the church for their Wednesday night services. Another filling meal was enjoyed by our group! In a special service, Pastor Doss shared details about the start of Merced Baptist Church and members gave testimonies of their salvation and how the ministry of Merced Baptist Church had made a great difference in their lives.

Early the next morning we made our way north to Fresno, California, to be with Pastor Josh Irmler and the Ambassador Baptist Church. Ambassador Baptist has planted several churches over the past few years and they are getting ready to plant another church right in their own city of Fresno. Brother Irmler had planned a morning of special church planting sessions for local pastors,which I helped teach, and then a noon meal was served. The afternoon was spent touring the area and visiting with church planter Jose Miano, who pastors Liberty Baptist Church, a new church plant in East Fresno. Ambassador Baptist holds their mid–week services on Thursday night and I had the honor of preaching the service. The entire auditorium was filled and a great spirit was evident from beginning to end. Our group enjoyed a fellowship at the Irmler home after the services.

Friday morning we set the GPS to direct us to Liberty Baptist Church in Las Vegas. This leg of the trip would take us across the Mojave Desert. The thermometer in the vehicle we were driving revealed that it was 118 degrees outside the vehicle, which by the way developed many problems in the heat even though it was new! We made it to the church by mid–afternoon and met BIMI missionaries Jorge Noriega and Clyde Simpson. Brother Andy, a staff member at Liberty Baptist, treated us to an authentic Mexican meal at a nearby restaurant where all of us sat down to talk about church planting in that area of Nevada. Brother Noriega was able to share about his inner city work with the Hispanic people and we also received information from Liberty Baptist concerning needy areas of Las Vegas that need churches. After our meal we drove across town to meet with church planter Joshua Ties, who pastors Southern Hills Baptist Church. After a tour of the facilities, we benefited from a question and answer time and then we went to the airport to trade out our very problematic and heat–challenged rental vehicle!

The final weekend of the tour was spent in Phoenix, Arizona, hosted by BIMI Missionary Tony Bulawa, who planted Mountain Side Baptist Church three years ago in Surprise, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. When we arrived, our group was well fed at a local Olive Garden Restaurant. We were joined by pastor/church planter Dave Crichton, who planted Lakeside Baptist Church in Peoria, Arizona, another suburb of Phoenix. The dinner gave the men an opportunity to direct questions toward the Phoenix church planters. Information packets, which were prepared by Brother Bulawa and distributed during the dinner, showed many facts and needs of the Phoenix Valley. After the meal the day ended with a tour of Phoenix.

Our group was made to feel right at home by the friendly members of Mountain Side Baptist Church during Sunday services. We were filled by great fellowship and food at the Bulawa home throughout the day on Sunday.

Monday we departed Arizona to drive back to Los Angeles where we had started our journey. Then on Tuesday our prospective church planters flew back home.

At this writing we would ask that you pray for those that made this trip. Two of the men are taking steps to come back to the Southwest to start churches. The other two men will be starting Bible college in August, but both are praying about the future concerning church planting. Next year Reseeding America will be taking a church planting survey trip to the Northeast United States. For more information on next year's church planting survey trip, contact Dr. John Bailes or Bob Larson at Baptist International Missions.

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By Bob Larson – Assistant USA Director

On the first weekend in May, my wife and I made our way to Plymouth, Indiana, to be with Pastor Dan Botterbrodt to assist him in the charter signing and organizational services of Good News Baptist Church. Located southeast of Chicago, Illinois, Plymouth is a growing town. Pastor Botterbrodt came out of Faith Baptist Church in Gulfport, Mississippi, to restart this church that had never been officially chartered and organized. I preached the morning and evening services. A charter signing service was conducted after the morning service, followed by a wonderful fellowship meal. The following Tuesday we met at the church to distribute materials about the newly organized church. Several of the members and my wife, Jennifer, and I spent the day canvassing the city of Plymouth and knocking doors and meeting the people of the area.

Recently, we received an e–mail from Pastor Botterbrodt informing us that Good News Baptist Church has moved across town. Their previous meeting place had limited parking and limited access to the building. They are now in a much larger facility all on one floor with a large parking lot. This new meeting place (across the street from a Wal–Mart Supercenter) now provides a much improved meeting place for this new church.

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By John Bailes – USA Director

I met Dave Board in the early 1990's when he was working with Pastor Joe Esposito, who had gone to Long Beach and started the Cambodian Baptist Church, later to be named the Pacific Baptist Church. Brother Board interpreted for me when I was there speaking to the Kmer Congregation. He impressed me with his burden and passion for reaching the Cambodian people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so excited to see how God is using this man to make a difference among the ethnic people in Southern California. He is mentoring several couples who are preparing to go back to Cambodia to plant churches. David Board is now Regional Ethnic Coordinator for church planting with BIMI and writes in his prayer letter: “The Lord answered your prayers! He miraculously opened the door for us to rent an actual church building for the new church plant in Los Angeles.

Furthermore, He has made it evident His plans are to have us focus for a time on the densely populated Chinese part of the city. As our family is knocking on doors and inviting the community to the opening service, we are finding that approximately 80% of the homes are Chinese. The vast majority of these people have never been inside a gospel preaching church. It is sad to see the hundreds of English-speaking Chinese teenagers who have no knowledge of anything other than Buddhism and Taoism.” David is working with Pacific Baptist Church to target other locations in the LA area. In further communication with Brother Dave, he stated the following: “Our home church is blessed to have so many members who are willing to jump in and help knock doors. All together we will have around 100,000 doors knocked and an additional 62,000 direct mailers sent out. This is wonderful on the job training for several of the men who are training to be church-planters. It is very exciting to see what God is doing. Pray for our workers and for all of our prospects as we approach our opening day on September 13, 2009. We believe that God is preparing to do a great work for His glory in this city.”

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This spring Reseeding America assisted in the opening and of a new church in Calera, Alabama. Calera is a bedroom community south of Birmingham in a region that has seen dramatic growth. This populated area has a number of new subdivisions with hundreds of homes in them. Most of these subdivisions have been built in the past five years. Church planter Butch Mace and his family moved from Iowa six months before the opening of the new church to begin preparations and to raise some support for this new work. The Maces had been faithful members of Cornerstone Baptist Church (a new church plant) in Afton, Iowa where Adam Pierce is the pastor/church planter.

A warehouse in Calera was rented and remodeled. The birthing church (Gospel Light Baptist Church in Helena, Alabama) along with Alabama pastors, volunteers, Reseeding America and the BIMI CLAIM ministry participated in funding and/or working to remodel and get the building ready for Grand Opening Sunday on April 12, 2009. Missionary Mark Gage with the BIMI CLAIM ministry and two volunteers from Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, put in many hours and much hard work with the sheetrock, framing and siding an entrance, and hanging a suspended ceiling to help make the April 12 opening a reality.

Churches and individuals (even the Holtz family drove over from Louisburg, North Carolina) helped in a large distribution of literature in the Calera area. To God be the glory, 31 people met for the first service of Old Paths Baptist Church! Please pray for the Mace family as they start and take steps to establish this Fundamental Independent Baptist Church.

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By John Bailes – USA Director

I traveled to Smyrna, Georgia, in 2001 with our missionary Bruce Kelly to talk with the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church about allowing Brother Kelly to start a deaf church at their church location using a Sunday School room. It is difficult enough to plant a hearing church but much more difficult to plant a deaf church. One has to employ a totally different strategy. After we had agreed on some things Bruce began meeting with several deaf and teaching them. A church has now been raised up by God and is moving forward in faith. The church now averages forty in attendance. I have been to their services and the people are excited about what God is doing. Pastor Kelly has located a building that he feels they can afford and has made an effort to purchase it. However, in their negotiating for a loan, the bank has asked them to pay up front much more than they expected to pay.

The church has put aside $22,000 but the bank is asking for $55,000 as down payment. This would leave a mortgage of $80,000 to $100,000, a payment that they can easily afford. This deaf church needs help from other local churches that are willing to invest in getting the message of the gospel to those who have never heard. Your church can have a part in making this an established church plant in greater Atlanta. Consider a one time gift or a monthly amount to be given for the purchase of this building. You may send your contributions to BIMI, PO Box 9215, Chattanooga, TN 37412 and designate it for the Deaf Church Building in Atlanta. You also may go online to www.deafbaptistchurch.com and see more information about this church. Dr. Bruce Kelly is a good preacher, a good administrator and worthy of your support.

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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Matthew 6:21

Walter & Thrasilla Hornung -  GERMANY
J Paul & Laura Hostetler -  MADAGASCAR
Douglas & Carolyn Lee Howard -  SOUTH AFRICA