FBC Picnic & Baptism

What a privilege for Katherine and I to attend Faith Bible Church as they joined together for a picnic and baptism last weekend. We began the picnic by singing a few songs down by the water. Then Pastor Tim shared a few verses and thoughts concerning baptism from Romans 6. Following his comments, Jessica Shipman gave her testimony and then Ben Dort followed sharing his story of coming to Christ. It was a wonderful act of obedience by these two in following the ordinance of baptism as Pastor Tim led them in the process of believer's baptism in the lake. The weather was great and we had plenty of food. A couple of the men barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs and many of the gals brought various salads and desserts. The kids had an opportunity to play in the water while some of the guys threw the football around or tossed the frisbee while others just visited.

Rural Home Mission's Conference

I recently attended, along with Bob Allen, Church Team Missionary with N.I.C.E., the Rural Home Mission's Conference at Frontier School of the Bible in Southeastern Wyoming. It was Bob's first time in this neck of the "frontier" and my second. This was a great opportunity for about five different organizations to share their ministries in Church Planting, Restoration, Youth Ministry and Camping. I taught a workshop called, "Keeping Hope Alive in Small Town America: The Challenges & Blessings of Rural Ministry." Bob taught "Country Church Meets City Folks: The Impact of the Migration of the City Mindset Into the Country Church." I also shared a multi-media presentation on the ministry of Northwest Independent Church Extension in one of the chapel times. We spent a majority of time answering questions and getting to know students around the table at the various meal times. We hopefully have a couple possibly candidates for ministering with NICE. We also had the opportunity to attend a few classes with the students. One sideline opportunity was a trip to Scott's Bluff in Nebraska, about an hour from the school, where we went to Monument Rock. This is one of the areas that the Oregon Trail passes through that the pioneers used. Frontier School of the Bible seems to be a solid, biblical school that has a unique ministry for those planning to obtain their BA degree. The students must be involved in an internship program their fourth year; either with a pastor, missionary, camp director, etc. It is definitely set in the frontier in the town of Lagrange, Wyoming. Outside of a local store-cafe, auto shop and a tavern, the school pretty much is the town. They have great facilities and a brand new chapel. Part of our time there was evaluations and discussions with Will Fellows, the Mission's teacher and organizer of the conference. Bob and I enjoyed the trip and spending some quality time getting to know each other better but also participating in the ministry of encouraging the students to seriously consider planting a church or being part of a revitalizing ministry in a church that needs help.