In early 2014 Open Door Baptist Church in the Filipino village of Pandan began a Lifeword Community Radio station with the help of Lifeword Asia-Pacific. Pandan villagers immediately loved the station, which broadcasts from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. and provides the only radio service in the area. After several months on air, Lifeword began receiving calls in response to the programs from a place no one had never heard of—a place called Melendrez. Only four miles from Open Door, the village of Melendrez was unknown to the people of Pandan until they called with requests for more information on the Bible.

As soon as they could, Open Door’s pastor and a deacon visited the village, bringing transistor radios to distribute and estimating that there were 90 households and 500 hundred people in Melendrez. After that initial visit, they planned to return during Christmas of 2014 and meet more of the people who had been listening to Lifeword.

Loaded with gifts from EIM (Evangelistic International Ministries), the young people from Tangub Baptist Church in Bacolod City and Open Door Baptist Church in Pandan played games and shared the gospel with the children during the trip. This was the first time they had been visited by any Christian group, and the first time these children ever heard a Bible story or received a Christmas gift.

Pastor Pete (Pedro Etabag, director of Lifeword Asia-Pacific) said, “It is amazing what these small radio stations can do. Even though the signals do not travel a long way, they go places we have never been and reach people we have never met. Open Door Baptist Church was organized in 1978, but this nearby village was not known until the church at Pandan started its radio station. What a great way to reach people and plant churches. Our goal and challenge in the coming years is to use the LPFM Radio (Lifeword Community Radio) to reach more places and then start a mission that will eventually become a church. To God be the glory!”

The work in Melendrez continues to this day with an extension class held every Saturday by leaders at Open Door Baptist Church in Pandan. More young people and adults have been saved and are attending their Sunday worship services as well. Responses to the church’s Lifeword broadcast continue, but since they have no available workers to start a new church, new believers attend Open Door Baptist Church. Pastor Pete says that he and other leaders are praying for the Lord to provide trained workers for a church plant in Melendrez. Please join Lifeword in that prayer as well.

 

 

DiscipleGuide’s annual Senior Adult Conference will take place November 7-9, 2016, at the Branson Convention Center in Branson, Missouri. Early registration is only $150 per person by October 14.  Hotel rooms at the Branson Hilton are $132 per night if booked before October 14.

Dr. Allen Tilley, pastor of First Baptist Church in Carthage, Texas, will share a series of messages entitled “Heroes Reborn.” Larry Wood, worship pastor at Farley Street Baptist Church in Waxahachie, Texas, will lead music.

In addition, a concert featuring Grammy-nominated and Dove Award-winning music artist Dallas Holm, will take place the evening of November 7 followed by The Harper Family the morning of November 8.  Each registration also includes admission to a special Christmas performance by The Haygoods, one of Branson’s most exciting shows.
For more information, or to register, visit discipleguide.org/nsa.

ALUMNI RETREAT IN BOLIVIA
Just a couple of weeks ago I was privileged to speak at the BMA Bolivian Bible Institute´s Alumni retreat.  The topic of “Not looking back” from Luke 9:62 was the theme. I enjoyed sharing six m
essages with about 15 alumni in those days. Fellowship and sports activities were some added times of joy.  At least I didn´t score an “auto-goal” in soccer.

 

COURSE IN PERU
Áfter Bolivia I flew to Lima, Peru where I met John Michael and Angela Poulin. Later that same day Dr. Charley Holmes and two students, Santos Juarez and Axsel Zavala, arrived and we all traveled to Ica, Peru to teach a course on sermon preparation and delivery. Twleve students attended the beneficial course. Three of those were distance students from Mexico and Bolivia via the internet.

 

A BIG THANKS
John Michael and Angela Poulin deserve a big thanks for hosting the course on sermon preparation and delivery.  Not only did the course meet in their house, they housed us from the U.S. (five) plus four pastors from Peru. Each day they fed around twenty people including students, their family, and some workers who helped.  They were gracious and helpful. May the Lord continue to bless their work there in Ica, Peru and the surrounding area.

 

UPDATE ON PRISCILLA
While I was away in Peru, Priss fell again here with our daughter, Amanda.  That was due in part to her low hemoglobin.  She continues to be weak but now is “gun shy” about walking by herself.  She has several doctors´ appointments in these days.  Pray for her and her doctors so that she can see some marked improvement.

The M.S. Arrington River Boat of the BMA in South America

By Buddy Johnson

There is bad news and good news concerning the Arrington riverboat in South America. The bad news is that its hull rotted and the motor ruined. During the past ten years, the Arrington has made many trips up and down the Mamoré River in Bolivia. From the Chapare River at the southernmost point to Guayara-Merin at the northernmost point there are many river villages that have been contacted as a direct result of the ministry of the Arrington.            Through the years, many medical teams, flood relief teams, and evangelical teams have traveled the hundreds of miles up and down the Mamoré. Pastor and boat Capitan David Flores reports that there are believers in 37 different villages who are direct results of the ministry of the Arrington. Along the river, several church houses have been built and the pastors of these churches have been trained as part of the Arrington ministry. Our River Bible Institute in Belencito has been built, commissioned, and is being used to train young men to evangelize up and down the Mamoré River.

 

Sadly, this entire ministry came to a splashy halt as the Arrington motor became useless, and the boat slowly filled with river water. After much prayer and discussion, we decided to sell the boat and purchase one or two smaller boats with which we could continue the ministry. In order to sell the boat, much needed repairs had to be made. The boat was lifted out of the water with hydraulic jacks and placed on stumps of large trees that had been cut for this purpose. More than fifty 2x12x20 hardwood boards were cut from jungle trees with chain saws by our brethren in Belencito. The rotting hull was repaired and coated anew with tar to make it floatable once again. While this was happening, the crew repainted the boat inside and out. Also, plans were being made to replace or rebuild the straight six-cylinder Volvo diesel motor.

The problem with the motor is this: The cooling system had been taking in water from the river, and over the years the algae and minerals in the river water corroded and destroyed the cylinder walls of the motor. We decided to rebuild the motor and install a radiator for the cooling system. The drive shaft, U-bolts, etc. were all rusted and in need of replacement. However, before all this work began, David received an invitation from people who lived along another huge river, the Intenis, which intersects the Mamoré and comes from deep within Brazil. As he made contact with several new villages along the Intenis, God began to refresh his vision for the Arrington River Boat.

Instead of selling the boat, we decided to repair and renovate it and begin a completely new era in Brazil. Several of our men along the river are bilingual and speak both Spanish and Portuguese. They, along with David, have made contact with several villages in Brazil and already have several believers along the new river. In early July, I visited the boat to accompany David and the crew on the “maiden voyage” of the newly repaired boat. On the trip, we found that the radiator was too small to continually cool the motor, and the air flow was not sufficient to cool the water as it circulated through the radiator. David and his mechanical abilities solved the problem by circulating the water with a lot of coolant through a barrel filled with clean water. After a few adjustments, the motor was tuned up, smoothed out, and fully functional.

Here is the good news. Many new churches are being started in the northwestern waterways of Brazil. A new era of ministry is now being realized, and soon the Brazilian Association will have a ministry begun by Bolivian missionaries. God is exciting many people with his vision for the villagers along the Intenis River in Brazil.

Here is our dilemma! The funds which were available for the ministry of the Arrington have been depleted! The necessary repairs cost almost $12,000.00. As the ministry continues along the rivers of Brazil, we desperately need to replace these funds and spend our time and efforts evangelizing the river people in Brazil. Our plans are to invite the leaders of BMA Brazil to help with this ministry as funds become available. As you read this article and view these photos, will you pray for the future of this worthy ministry? Will you consider a gracious one-time or monthly offering to help us reach this new area with the gospel? May God receive all the glory and may we rejoice in his blessings.

Roof for Multi-Use Facility Started

As you can see in the photo, work has begun!  Thanks to the generous offerings of one church in Texas, five columns will be built.  Two columns have been poured and work on the other three progresses. That just leaves seven (7) left to raise funds for. In case you are wondering how much the remaining seven columns will cost, at the present it will be $4,750 dollars for the seven. I say at the present because the price of steel rebar, cement, and other materials increases each month.

The Plan

The plan for roofing the basketball court is to not only have a covered area for basketball, but also a multi-use facility for camps as well as our own BMA of Mexico meetings. Although five columns have been poured, we still lack seven at a cost of about $500 dollars each.  The price of steel and concrete increases each month.

The Roof

The contractor has drawn this preliminary sketch of the roof structure. The cost of the material and labor is $16,718 dollars.  Just as I mentioned above, the material may very well increase each month. Some  brothers from churches both here and in Mexico have expressed interest in donating their labor as welders.

PLANS FOR THE SUMMER

I was in Jacksonville, TX June 13-17 for a DiscipleWay training course at BMATS.  This was in Spanish.  In July I will be coordinating a Systematic Theology 2 course for Latin American virtual sites.  Dr. Erickson will be the teacher. In August I will be traveling to Bolivia to speak at the Bible Institute´s alumni retreat and then from there I will go to Peru to join Dr. Charley Holmes for a Homiletics course that will be taught live there and in other Latin American sites virtually.  Please pray for my travel and funds for the ministry

Where to Give

Funds for either my ministry or the Basketball Roof Construction can be sent to BMA Missions, P.O. Box 878, Conway, AR 72033. Please mark funds for my ministry as Ricky Williams Work Fund.  If they are for the roof construction, mark them Williams Special Projects-Roof fund.