March 2008
A Tough Month
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints (Ps 116:15). During the month of February we had three funerals. Although they were all believers and are at home in the presence of their Savior it was a heavy load for our congregation. It was also a blessing for Diana and me to see our church come together to provide food and encouragement for those families who lost loved ones. Especially in those times is the message of the resurrection a profound comfort.
Picnic Outreaches
We enjoyed hamburgers and hotdogs and we saw a lot of people that do not normally come to our church at our church picnic on January 18. It was such a highlight that several of the guys wanted to plan another one real soon. On February 23rd, Bob was invited to speak at a picnic sponsored by Campus Bible Fellowship at Florida International University. He was able to give a very clear presentation of the gospel to about 20 college students. Operation Hope Tote
One statistic shows that the average person in the US knows less than 2 (1/75) of their neighbors. Operation Hope Tote gave us an opportunity to invite our neighbors to help the homeless in Miami. A “Hope Tote” is a plastic bag distributed by the Miami Rescue Mission in which one puts soap, shampoo, and other hygiene items for the homeless. We challenged our people here to invite five of their neighbors to participate with them in filling the bags. We wrote a little letter in English and in Spanish explaining what our church was doing. It was a way for our folks to meet their neighbors and cooperate together in a project that helps the community. Forty-five bags were filled and sent to the mission for distribution. We would like to think that each bag represented a new acquaintance being made with a neighbor but we have the sneaking suspicion that some of our folks went to the store instead of their neighbors. But we praise the Lord for the contacts that were made and the enthusiasm of our people to participate. We plan to do it again next year. Another benefit of the project is that we learned that the president of Miami Rescue Mission was a fellow graduate from our alma mater, Spurgeon Baptist Bible College.
Mother’s Day Gift
Our next outreach event will come on May 11, Mother’s Day. We plan to give gifts to every mother in the service. We will be having a neighborhood canvas day to pass out flyers to invite them for Mother’s Day.
Answered Prayer
Chris mad a profession of faith, although we will not be able to take part in his discipleship because he moved to Georgia. The Lord has carried us through many challenging situations and there are still more ahead of us. Prayer Requests 1) Success in our outreach efforts 2) Salvation of Carlos 3) We have had many visitors who have attended a long time without committing to becoming members. Pray that they will take the next step 4) Provision for monthly support Bob & Diana Ericsson |
