By Dr. John Bailes, USA Director

Reseeding America has joined with a group of pastors in the Southwestern states of California, Nevada and Arizona to plan a Church Planting Survey Trip. These pastors have one thing in common: a passion to see more churches planted in some of the neediest areas in their states. They have agreed to host a group of serious-minded men of God to come and see some of the areas in need of a church plant. Those making this trip will see what God has done through the lives of other church planters and will meet with large groups of pastors who are committed to supporting church planters coming to this tri-state area to plant churches. We also have a select group of pastors across America who are concerned about seeing more churches planted and willing to help with the cost of this trip. Therefore, we are able to keep the cost down so that anyone who desires to go can afford to make the trip. Let me say this, if you are definitely planning on planting a church in the next two years and you need help with the cost of this trip, please contact me and I will make sure you get the help you need to go. Refer to the advertisement on this page and give us a call so that we can reserve you a place.

Return to Top

By Dr. Jim Townsley
Pastor and Founder of Central Baptist Church
Southington, Connecticut

The greatest concentration of people in the United States is located in the Northeast region of our country. Almost 25 percent of all Americans live between Washington, D.C., and Boston. Yet, this area accounts for the least concentration of fundamental churches by percentage.

In 1975, when I came to Connecticut, one could merely drop a suspended pencil on a map and find a good place to start a new church. Since that time several new churches have been started. Many of these new churches have moved from the store front, purchased property, and built permanent buildings. Praise the Lord for what He has done. After three decades of church planting, every location in southern New England now has a church, at least within driving distance.

Although a major effort has been made to start and build churches, there are some great concerns about this historic region of the country. The Northeast is the most liberal area of the country. Anyone I vote for never wins. Although Catholicism still dominates the religious minds of the general population, liberalism is leading the next generation into humanism and even paganism.

Some of the churches that had been started in the past 30 years have become weak and some have followed the modern trends of the day. Fewer men have been moving to this area to start churches ,and church growth has become stagnant at best.

More young men are needed to start churches in, this, the devil's territory. Many towns of over 30,000 people still have no fundamental church and in some case no Baptist church at all. There are literally cities of over 100,000 in population that have no fundamental church, or even one that remotely resembles a fundamental church.

New England desperately needs many more fundamental churches. Long Island has five million people, whose residents are literally from all over the world, and yet a person can count on one hand the number of fundamental churches. In greater New York City a handful of godly men are trying to reach the millions of lost souls. The Bible certainly applies to the need of the Northeast when it states, "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few:" (Luke 10:2).

Churches can be built in the Northeast. In fact, I believe one will find a refreshing spirit among the Christians in this area. My wife and I came to Southington, Connecticut, in 1975 and these 34 years have been a joy and a blessing. We have watched God build a strong church, a Christian school, and now a Bible college. The Lord has provided us with several buildings and 18 acres of prime real estate on a major highway. Our church has started 13 churches out of our church and helped to start scores of others. Souls are being saved and the Lord's work is being done. There are many towns where this needs to be duplicated. Many more men are needed to come and give their lives to building a ministry for God's glory in the Northeast.

Return to Top

By Bob Larson
Assistant USA Director,

I always enjoy seeing God's hand at work, especially when it comes to church planting. Last spring my wife, Jennifer, and I were making our way across New Mexico after working with several church planters on the West Coast. (We live full-time in a fifth wheel travel trailer so we can be available to churches and church planters. We pull our RV with a diesel pickup.) We were enjoying some wonderful tail winds and great fuel mileage that Monday morning when my cell phone rang.

The call was from Pastor Steve Kilpatrick. Bro. Kilpatrick pastors the Gospel Light Baptist Church, which he planted five years earlier in Helena, Alabama. This church, located about twenty miles southeast of Birmingham, is in an area of the Southeast which has seen dramatic growth in the past ten years. The church had experienced God's blessings and was ready to begin steps to plant a new church.

As I talked with Pastor Kilpatrick, he asked if I knew of a man who might come and help his church plant a new church about 15 miles south of Helena and then pastor the new church. The new pastor would need to be Bible college trained and have some ministry experience. Even though I had no one in mind, I told Pastor Kilpatrick that I would be praying about the situation. We ended the phone call with a promise to keep in touch.

As we continued across New Mexico that morning, I thought about how exciting it was that a young church was getting ready to plant another church. I asked the Lord to bring someone to my mind as I drove. Less than an hour later as I pulled off the freeway for fuel, my cell phone rang again.

This time the call came from Pastor Adam Pierce in Afton, Iowa. Bro. Pierce planted the Cornerstone Baptist Church in South Central Iowa. (Jennifer and I went to Afton to assist him and his sending church when they began the church in Iowa less than a year earlier.) The first thing Bro. Adam asked me was if I knew of a church that wanted to plant a church! He told me that one of his church members in Iowa (who was Bible college trained) had come forward in their Sunday night service and surrendered to plant a church in America. I told Adam that I didn't believe this was a coincidence and told him about Bro. Kilpatrick.

Now let me make a long story short. This spring the Gospel Light Baptist Church in Helena, Alabama, will birth a new church in Calera, Alabama. The church planter and pastor will be Pastor Butch Mace, the man who answered God's call to service last year in Iowa. I like the way God puts things together. I am also convinced that God honored Gospel Light Baptist Church and its pastor as they desired to reproduce their church down the road in their "Judea." Reseeding America will be assisting in this new church start. Watch for a follow-up article after the Grand Opening of the Old Paths Baptist Church in Calera, Alabama. To God be the Glory!

Return to Top

By Bob Larson
Assistant USA Director

As my wife and I travel nationwide with the Reseeding America Ministry of BIMI, we frequently hear the above question. Quite often this inquiry comes from a pastor who plans to reproduce his church. Sometimes it comes from a church planter and his family who feel the call of God to plant a church somewhere in America.

According to the example in the book of Acts, we believe churches plant churches. After placing ourselves under the authority of the birthing church pastor and congregation, the Reseeding America ministry of BIMI stands ready to assist local Independent Baptist churches who want to start and establish a new church. Sometimes the church plant is within driving distance from the reproducing church or it could even be several states away. From the pre-planning phase to Grand Opening Sunday and even beyond, Reseeding America is prepared to assist local churches and church planters who want to start and establish Fundamental Independent Baptist churches.

Many small and medium sized Independent Baptist churches do not have the necessary budget to finance a new church start and also provide living expenses for a church planter and his family. On the other hand, having to work a secular job and also trying to start a new church from scratch can be an overwhelming task for the church planter. Consider the BIMI Reseeding America Associate Missionary Program. This plan can be a great asset not only to the church planter, but also to his sending church. Church planters who come with the BIMI Reseeding America program raise funds to start a new church and finance family needs for a three to five year period.

Some of the benefits of this program include:

• Step-by-step guidance from veteran church planters who have planted churches in America
• Assistance and pre-planning advice for the USA church planter and his sending church in the start up and establishment of the new church
• Deputation training
• Church planting school
• Assistance in preparing a deputation presentation
• Availability of a donor base of over 8000 churches to utilize in the raising of support
• On the field assistance at the start of the new church
• Start up financial assistance from Reseeding America Donors
• Follow up assistance on the field once the church has been started

For more information and an application for the Reseeding America Associate Missionary Program, please contact Baptist International Missions, Inc., at 423-344-5050 or Bob Larson at 423-605-6098.

Return to Top

by Dr. John Bailes

In October while I was traveling and speaking in churches in the Mid and Northwest states, I had the opportunity to visit with Tate Throndson, pastor of the newly planted Castleview Baptist Church. I first met Pastor Throndson in March 2008 during our Annual BIMI Action Conference in Chattanooga, TN. I was very impressed with Tate and his vision as he shared with me his plans to start a new church in Castle Rock, Colorado. He was raising support and making plans to move his family to the new church plant area. I had called Brother Throndson while in Montana, knowing that our travels would take us near him as we traveled through Colorado. He readily invited my wife and me to stop and spend the night in his home. We had a very enjoyable time there and we found that we had a lot of the same connections. Tate and Debbie were overjoyed with the success of the new church and I was impressed as they shared with me the details of it all. Over the past few years, Castle Rock had just exploded with new growth and construction. What a great place to start a church! I want you to hear about this great adventure in Pastor Throndson's own words.

One year ago today we were serving at Gulf Coast Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, and asking the Lord for His timing regarding our church plant. We determined that He wanted us to hold our first services in August, 2008, even though we had not officially started deputation. We began deputation in earnest in February and traveled until June. During those 4 months the Lord allowed us to raise 75% of our support!

Castleview Baptist celebrated its birthday August 17, 2008. The Lord gave us a great first week of meetings in which we saw over 75 people from our community come and see what the Lord was doing. Many people told us at those meetings that they had been searching unsuccessfully for months, and even years, for a church like ours. During our first Sunday morning service we had 18 people join our church! We believed that Castle Rock was ripe for a church like ours and it was exciting to watch the Lord confirm that belief!

Since those opening meetings the Lord has continued to bless. Our attendance has steadily increased since we started. In September, we averaged 48 people per Sunday, followed by 60 in October, 63 in November, and 65 in December. We held our first baptismal services in November and saw two young people follow the Lord in believer's baptism and have three more candidates for this month. Over 40 people have joined our church and this recently two more families approached me about their families joining as well.

We held our first "Vision Sunday" this past weekend and presented to the church our theme for the year, church calendar, and 9 goals for 2009. Please pray for us that the Lord will allow us to meet and even exceed the goals that He has led us to set. Our theme for the year is GROWING IN GRACE and our theme verse is 2 Peter 3:18. Please pray with us that our church will have a year of tremendous spiritual, physical, and financial growth. We desire to see souls saved this year, so please make that a great matter of prayer as well.

Brother Tate just called me in the past few days to let me know they are planning their first Mission Conference scheduled to take place in April and asked if I could help him with the names of several missionaries they could schedule. This is definitely missions full circle.

Return to Top

The Starting of a Deaf Independent Baptist Church
by Bob Larson—Assistant USA Director

BIMI Reseeding America Missionaries Bill and Linnea MacCallum arrived in Frederick, Maryland, in July 2007. Their goal was to plant and establish the first Deaf Independent Baptist Church in the city. Frederick is located about an hour northwest of Washington, D.C., and is the home of the Maryland School for the Deaf. The Lord led them to Frederick County because of the large deaf population, which is, according to the Frederick Deaf Services and other deaf leaders, estimated at 16,000 persons.

After an apartment was found only one mile from the Deaf School and a half mile from the Deaf Services, Bill and Linnea started the task of finding a place for their new church to meet. They also started canvassing local neighborhoods with John and Romans packets, which were provided by their home church, Stanley Heights Baptist Church in East Ridge, Tennessee. A local Independent Baptist "hearing" church helped them with the distribution of literature. During one such endeavor, Bill met a young man named Howard. Howard was away from the Lord and had quit going to church. The Lord allowed Bill to become friends with Howard and share some Bible study materials with him. Since that contact, Howard started attending a local hearing church and recently thanked Bill for helping him get right with God. Since the first distribution, the MacCallums have passed out thousands of pieces of Gospel material, including a piece especially for the deaf.

To start the church, Bill and Linnea found a meeting room at a local Best Western Motel. This motel was located about one half mile from their apartment. Next, they were able to secure a lease on a store front building that belonged to the local deaf services. This new meeting place seats 130 people and has ample parking. It is in a wonderful location, and most of the deaf community know where the building is located.

After arriving in Frederick, the Lord blessed the MacCallums with an opportunity to teach American Sign Language classes in local elementary schools. Since their first class in the fall of 2007, they have been able to reach out to 70 students and their families.

One of the first people to attend services in one of the schools was a young man named Jeff, who came to know the Lord through the weekly Bible study. Jeff is a young man whose life has been tremendously changed by the Lord. He has been brought out of the drug culture and is now faithful in church. He has gone from being homeless to having his own place, and starting a new business that has already secured several new high paying contracts! Jeff's brother, a local lawyer who was in a major car wreck in April of 2008, now meets with Bill on Monday mornings for Bible study.

In July 2008 Bill and Linnea started publishing a small church newsletter designed to reach out to the deaf community. Their first letter was sent out to almost 200 deaf in the area. It was through that newsletter that they have received their best response. As a result of the newsletter, they now have several deaf attending their services. One Sunday they were thrilled to have 10 deaf in attendance.

Recently Bill sent an update to Reseeding America and shared the following, "The Lord has given us the command in Mark 16:15, 'And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.' As we work with the deaf here in the Frederick area we can't help but be reminded of this command. Many times the deaf are overlooked because they look and act like hearing people. Yet they are a group of people with their own culture, history and language. The Lord has given us a great mission field within a mission field. We have encountered hearing churches here that have set the deaf to the side or do not see the need to reach out to them. If the deaf are going to be reached, it will need to be done in their language in a setting where they can hear the Gospel clearly preached and taught. As I think of the job before us in reaching the deaf of Frederick for Christ and establishing a deaf Independent Baptist Church, I can't help but think of Romans 10:14 'How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?'" If you would like more information on this new church plant to reach the deaf, please go to www.crossroaddeafbaptistchurch.com.

Return to Top

Sunday, May 19, 2013

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Noel & Charlene Shrivnauth -  GUYANA
Raymond & Sharon Shull -  CAMBODIA
B Clayton & Joan Shumpert -  ARM PERSONNEL