It is finally here! We are on full time deputation to start churches in Thailand. We have been preparing for this day for 10 years, and the Lord has faithfully brought it to pass. Our schedule is about to change quite drastically, and we need your prayer that we would be able to have an effective ministry on deputation. Here are some specific things that we would ask you to pray about on deputation:
That our support will be raised very quickly and we would be able to have the resources that we will need to minister in that dark land. Our goal is 2 years.
That he would lead us to the right churches on deputation. I believe that he will, but we want to find like-minded churches that we can strive with together in the ministry.
That we could see people stirred up and raised up for the ministry. We are asking God to raise up actual workers that will work with us in Thailand or somewhere in the world. Would you pray with us for God to send forth laborers into His harvest?
That we will be able to learn a ton from the hundreds of people in the ministry that we will meet.
We have been busy the last few months filling our schedule, but if you know of a church that may be interested in having us come present the ministry, we still have openings!
Passing the Baton
This last week we have done a lot of things for the first and last time.
Lasts:
Taught the singles class at Vision Baptist. For almost the last 5 years I have had the privilege to be the Singles Director and we have come a long ways from when we started with nothing. The Lord has blessed and people have been saved and baptized, the class has grown, other classes have been started, and now we have turned it over to a young couple that I know will do a great job.
Lead music. It was also my last time to practice with, sing, and direct the congregation. I didn’t even know if I wanted that job 5 years ago, but the Lord has done so many great things through it and I am going to miss the music ministry and people that God has allowed me to serve with.
Firsts:
Anniversary! We have now been married for one whole year, and I had no idea how wonderful this was going to be. I have an amazing, sweet, and very helpful wife and I love her very much. She has been amazingly cooperative considering all the crazy decisions we have made over the last year!
Commissioning Service – We had our commissioning service on our anniversary actually, and we are extremely excited to be sent out of Vision Baptist Church. They showed us a ton of love and person after person encouraged us as we head out to start deputation.
Traveling
This month we had the opportunity to be in a few meetings in GA, and spent a week in Arkansas in a conference there. God has been providing for our needs in amazing ways as we transition from our normal job to traveling on deputation. It is strengthening our faith as we step out and begin to live in some uncertain months as we get started
Arkansas.
He has also already provided many new supporters this month and we look forward to our partnership together in the Gospel!
Tonight will be Vision Baptist’s monthly “Goer /Sender Coalition” service. This is a spectacularly exciting service that you do not want to miss! This service will feature Vision Baptist missionaries, and missionaries in training, all preaching mini messages! Instead of one message, there will be several, shorter messages, and there will also be several interesting readings about past missionaries and their service of the Lord.
This is a great chance to hear from your favorite missionaries, and those who are training to serve on the foreign field as well. We encourage you to be there, because this service is too special to miss! Services begin at 7pm. We hope to see you there
On the wall in the back of Vision Baptist church, eight pictures are hanging. Each of those pictures is a missionary family sent out of Vision. By the end of this week, there will be three more hanging.
All eight of those families are currently on the field.
Mark Tolson is in China. Chris and David Gardner are working in Arequipa, Peru. Travis Snode is working in Northern Ireland, while Mark Coffey and Ronald Tubillas are in the United States. Tyler Masters left only a few days ago for Ceuta, Spain, and Jason Holt is in Chile.
It isn’t uncommon for a church to support eight missionaries, but it is uncommon for a church to have eight missionaries sent out of that church. Those aren’t just some missionary from somewhere else, but eight families that are all members of Vision.
And what makes this even more unusual and exciting is that this is just the beginning.
Scott Newton and Philip Bassham are starting deputation to raise the needed funds to work in Spain and Thailand, respectively.
And what’s more is that Miguel Murillo, an absolutely fantastic church planter in Peru, recently joined our ranks as being sent out of Vision Baptist Missions.
And as the pictures of the Murillo, Bassham and Newton families are waiting to join the other eight on the wall, we are already looking to train more to join them there. With just these 11 families, we have seen God work greatly, and are looking ahead to many more pictures on the wall.
Anyone who has ever broken a toe can tell you, when one part of the body hurts, the whole body hurts. It is amazing how a little toe can cause such great pain to the rest of your normal life.
So when James Maguna is hurting, and in a rough time, he, being a part of Vision Baptist Church, is not alone. While it might not be to the full extent he does, we feel his pain, and bear his sorrows as if they were our very own. And we are doing all we can to help our brother in Christ as he prepares to return to Kenya to visit his wife, who is very, very ill.
On Sunday alone, almost 1,700 dollars were raised to help James on his return voyage. And while he physically may soon be gone from among us, we will keep him in our thoughts and prayers, and surely miss him until we meet again.
Vision Baptist loves all of its members, and that especially includes James Maguna. We love him, pray for him, believe in him, and pray God’s blessings upon his life.
Below is a picture of Omega Baptist Church (Igelsia Bautista Omega) and Nicolas Mazella, one of Jason’s leadership team heading up this new church plant in the Maipu area of Santiago Chile. Services are currently being held in this community building at a small rental price per month. The community building will not be available for use to grow or expand the church as those in charge don’t permit churches on an on-going basis. Funds are currently being raised to purchase land for Omega Baptist Church. Funds for church property raised in advance give the ministry the change to take advantage of unexpected opportunities.
Nicolas preaching in the services at Omega
The (Seminario Chileno Bautista) Chilean Baptist College in Santiago Chile was formed for the training of men for the gospel ministry in Santiago and around the world. There are five men studying at present in the seminary under the direction and teaching of missionary Jason Holt. Jason is the founder and director of the college and presently has five men that he is training for the ministry. The men spend 12 hours each week in morning classes with Jason where they receive instruction in Bible doctrine, missionary methods and other practical lessons for ministry and leadership. They also attend the bible institute held on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for 2 hours. Each one of the five men studying is also involved in one of the three churches in operation in Santiago as part of the team of missionaries working together with Jason. In addition, the men are required to work in the ministry for 45 hours per week not including services. In addition to the work, these men pay a monthly tuition toward the operational expenses of the seminary.
(From left to right) Carlos Fernandez, Vladimir Caro, Yerko Aravena, Nicolas Mazzella, Cristian Alarcon, Jason Holt. Carlos Fernandez currently works with Jason at Faith Baptist church and is involved in the music program. He is extremely talented and a real blessing to the church. Vladimir Caro is working with Missionary Jason Kenny and his family in a new church plant in another part of Maipu (a suburb of Santiago). Yerko Aravena also works with Jason Holt at Faith. Micolas Mazella is heading up the church plant out of Faith Baptist church that is meeting in the community center in an area about 15 minutes by car from Faith. Nicolas has an amazing testimony and is doing a wonderful job at Omega. Cristian Alarcon works as the assistant pastor at Faith Baptist church and will be overseeing the ministry there when the Holts come in for furlough in April of 2011.
By John Pearson
Jason and Lori Holt and their family are missionaries serving in Santiago Chile. They have three children, Katie (7), Josh (5) and Andrew (3). They are members of Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta GA. Jason and Lori trained in Peru in language and cultural adaptation before coming to Chile.
Their first church in Santiago is the Faith Baptist Church (Iglesia Bautista Fe) in the southwest portion of Santiago known as Maipú. This area is home to hundreds of thousands of people that live in tightly packed neighborhoods of individual homes, two story duplex homes and apartment complexes. The area is ideal for church plants because of the high concentration of people and because of the affordable housing options for them. Jason was able to find two houses for sale and lead a team that raised the money necessary to buy the land and buildings and make the necessary improvements so that the church could own its property without any debt.
Services at Faith Baptist Church on Sunday Morning
By John Pearson
Vision Baptist Church is a relatively young church, less than five years old. But in that short time, God has greatly used the church to spread His gospel across the world, and in no small part is that due to Pastor Austin Gardner.
Under his experienced leadership, Vision has gone from meeting in a basement, to renting a building on a main strip of Alpharetta. From a handful of members to a large, diverse congregation full of members who have all been influenced greatly by Pastor Gardner.
And it’s not just in Alpharetta that he’s helped spread the gospel and influence people. In Peru, China, South Africa, the whole of the United States, North Africa, Spain, Chile, Northern Ireland, Argentina, Bolivia, Burkina Faso and so many more countries, Pastor Gardner has been used of God.
And last night, we, as Vision Baptist Church, did everything within our power to show him how much we appreciate him and his wife, and that we love them with all that is in us. That we appreciate all of their hard work, and that it has been used greatly of God in our lives.
And through God using the Gardners in our lives, God takes that work, and has used many of us to help others, creating a chain effect. In this way, it is not at all unfathomable to say that the Gardners have impacted millions of people all over the world.
And as a church, we want so say that we love our pastor and his family, and appreciate them, and all they do.a
