A word from your Missions Office
By HEITH MITCHELL
The Annual Meeting of the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas was special this year. I really enjoyed interacting with the members at First, Jacksonville and Cornerstone, Jacksonville. We were warmly received and provided with great care. Local church hospitality results in the best BMA family gatherings. We also received a warm welcome from staff and students when the meeting moved to Jacksonville College. As an alumni, it meant so much to be in the old chapel. The Jacksonville College Singers were a blessing. I loved getting to see all of our missionaries and many of their families spread out across the stage. What a powerful closing message that David Erickson delivered in the chapel.
One of the most exciting parts of the meeting every year was the seating of messengers from new churches. Of the six new churches that joined this year, five of them are organized mission projects. The Lord is faithful to his disciple making mission. He is increasing His churches in Texas. The BMA of Texas is growing. To God be the glory!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PROJECT 2029
100 New Churches/10 years
- That we see an aggressive multiplication movement of churches who make disciples, equip and release leaders, and start churches for the glory of God and the advancement of his Kingdom Mission
- That each new mission begin with a plan to begin three new churches in their first 10 years
- That pastors and churches of the association be encouraged and equipped to start new churches
- That we connect, evaluate, identify and train new prospective church planters
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A word from your missionaries:
Jose Gil – Proyecto Misionero “Lidia” – Spring
josedario.gil@gmail.com
A sense of synergy as a real family has growth is being experienced in Spring. Most of the members are struggling to find employment and pay their bills. I am particularly grateful for their trust when asking for advice and prayer. In July, I baptized Raidemar Escobar and she had a baby in September. In November, the baby, Reiner Jesus, was taken to the emergency room due to a liver illness. We had the opportunity to support the family, and the baby is back home (as you may see in the photo below). The family is grateful and their love and faith are growing. Praise the Lord!
Prayer Needs:
Please pray for my health and endurance and a source of extra income for me.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Isaias Martinez – Conroe Mission
isaiasmj1966@gmail.com
We have been accepted and recognized as a church by the BMA of Texas.
Prayer Needs:
Pray for the growth and expansion of the Church.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kyle Cheatham– Grace Church Jarrell Mission
kyle@gracejarrell.com
Several months ago, we baptized a young man (Byron) and he and his wife became members. In those initial discussions about membership, I asked how he might like to serve. Immediately, he said that he would like to help with outreach and impacting the community. We have helped him and his wife to plug into discipleship and they have been super faithful in multiple ways. Now, he is heading up our spot at the local Christmas Festival and we will be talking about how he can build a team to do these kinds of things year round. He gets to serve in his giftedness and passion and it is a massive win for our church family.
Prayer Needs:
Please pray that we will follow through with a vision to mobilize our people to intentionally impact (each month) the shopping center where our church meets.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Haitao He– Free Salvation Bible Mission in Corpus Christi
haitao.he@bmats.edu
We loved our prayer meeting this month and we are very excited to have new friends who have no faith join us. We shared food and had some fellowship time. The atmosphere was so warm and joyful and everybody was had a good time. Our new friends had a lot of curiosity about our prayer and our faith. We are looking forward to the next meeting.
Prayer Needs:
Pray that God will illuminate the hearts of our new friends who came to our prayer meeting this month.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Brad Holcomb– Redemption Hill Ft. Worth
brad@redemptionhillfw.org
A cool story leading into the holidays is our advent involvement. One of our elders organized a team to help facilitate in home discipleship materials for our church. There has been really solid buy in from our folks, specifically from our dads regarding growth in leading their families in discipleship to Jesus.
Prayer Needs:
Please pray for my grandmother (she raised me). She was recently admitted to the emergency room with high blood pressure. We ask for prayer that the Lord heals her, provides for her a healthy church and makes a way for her to possibly move closer to us.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kevin Williams– Port Arthur Mission
mr.williamsp121@gmail.com
Things continue steadily moving in Port Arthur. Our Thursday night Bible study with Roberto and Betsy has been a great source of encouragement as we study through the book of John. Over the last few months the fellowship and love have grown between us and I am thankful for that.
We are still trying to make inroads into our neighborhood. We made and delivered cookies before Thanksgiving to our neighbors. One difficulty is that the sun goes down so early and people are not outside as much. I am continuing to try and cultivate relationships with coworkers at my school and we plan to have a second game night with a few of my colleagues this weekend.
I have also begun working on getting my teaching certification to teach ESL Reading. This is a hard process with multiple tests and much studying, so I appreciate your prayers for me.
Prayer Needs:
Pray that the Lord would give us urgency in sharing, genuine love for our neighbors and opportunities to share the gospel with fertile hearts. Also pray for our health as we enter the winter months. Lastly, pray for me as I work on getting my teaching certification.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Chris Driver– West Texas Multiplication Network/
Texas Missionary Care
cjdriver316@gmail.com
Howdy from west Texas! This has been a wonderfully exciting month for us here at Oasis. We have had several young families come and connect. We have seen our attendance grow to around 40 on a consistent basis this month. But what makes it most exciting for me is that the ones who are coming are coming because of the investment of our people and not me. It is so exciting to see our people reaching out to the people in their spheres of influence and inviting them into their lives and into our church family. This transition is such an important piece of the planting process that I’m so thankful to see God beginning to bring about in our church. We continue to make inroads into the college and the neighboring town of Sundown through new relationships. We are really expecting to see God do some truly special things this next year in and through Oasis. Thank you so much for all you do for us. Please continue to pray. God is definitely on the move!
.Prayer Needs:
A church van to help with new ministries
New connections to the college and Sundown
Open doors for the gospel
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jose Torres– Tyler Hispanic Mission
josetorres@gmail.com
The Lord heard our prayers! By ours, I mean you–the churches of the BMA of Texas and us. Thank you! I know that your support comes not only in financial form, but in preparation, motivation and prayer. Recently, we received the pleasant visits of Heith Mitchell and Elvis Garcia. You do not know how much we were encouraged by those visits. In my report last month I asked for your prayers for baptisms and in this report I can inform you that two boys are ready to be baptized. What excites me is that they are men who have not yet baptized men in our groups and I know that it is of utmost importance to have men come to the feet of Christ because they will be leaders in their homes and in the congregation. I hope we can open at least one more discipleship group with what is happening. Thank you my beloved brothers and sisters of the BMA for all your support! May the Lord greatly bless each of the congregations, pastors and leaders. It was also a great honor to be among some of you at the annual meeting in Jacksonville.
Prayer Needs:
Please continue to pray for Tyler’s New Life in Christ Church!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Aderemi Badru- Light House Mission in Houston
remibadru44hope@yahoo.com
Our church plant is making progress. We have decided to launch Feb. 9, 2025. We are still trusting God for a new location for worship but we do not want that to hold us back from launching. We have successfully planted a new church in Nigeria and inaugurated it in October. We are actively in the process of selecting two elders and preparing them for ordination. We have a vibrant youth group that’s ongoing with about five of them ready for baptism. We are grateful for your support and we hope that with your support we can find a more suitable place of worship that will enable our children and youth to have a conducive atmosphere during worship.
Prayer Needs:
Please pray for us to find a place of worship as soon as possible. Pray for the success of our launch. Pray for our baby church in Nigeria. Pray for the selection of elders. Pray for provision for the church. Pray for my wife for strength and pray for me so that I can always remain focused on the goal of pleasing Jesus.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tim Alba– The Bridge Mission in Seagoville
timalba1986@gmail.com
So far we have had made much progress this month. We have multiple people engaged and have had success sharing the Gospel with multiple people leading to salvations. Our men’s ministry had a great outcome again and we now have multiple men engaged in our Bible studies. I think so far we have had much success through events and planning. It has brought much attention to our church with new people visiting of late.
Prayer Needs:
Please pray for Debbie Bickel. She is currently dealing with cancer and need much prayers lifted up for her at this time. Thank you.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Marvin Mirena– Plano Mission
mirenamarvin7@gmail.com
The mission is very stable but we want to start reaching out. We had a delivery of gifts for the children of the community and took advantage of presenting the gospel. A van was donated to us that will aide us in reaching children.
Prayer Needs:
Please pray for my wife’s health, my children, my family from Spain, the congregation and our financial situation.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rudy Villareal– Hometown Church Mission in Helotes
rvillarreal1@gmail.com
We are sharing the gospel and are encouraged because of your prayers. I told our congregation upon my return from the BMA of Texas Meeting that many churches are going to the Lord, lifting us up in prayer. They all were very grateful and appreciate each of you. Please continue to pray that God’s hand moves in this community.
Prayer Needs:
Pray that God brings laborers to work alongside us to share the Gospel.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Recent Comments