Burgess Road Baptist Church

September 2021

Greetings,

Building Fund: After a little more than two months we are excited to report that we are a little over $30,000 of our $165,000 goal. We are making progress. We still have four months to try to raise the remaining funds before the price potentially goes up. As I stated in our last letter, if your church would like to participate, feel free to contact me with a pledge. We will then contact those that have pledged to transfer funds once we are ready to purchase.

Bible Institute. Another student is on the home stretch and will be ready to graduate in the spring of 2022. The term which just started includes 11 students who have registered to study with us from around Thailand. We are doing a combination live/on-line class this term. Our graduate from last year, Dtom, has just completed recording an intro to the Bible class that will be used for incoming students.

Ministry: COVID, COVID, COVID. I know everyone is tired of hearing those words. We are as well. We have been closing and doing online services, opening for in person services, and then starting the rotation again. We had to cancel our yearly family camp again and our outreach has been severely impacted. It is getting tiring, but we are so thankful for the faithfulness of our members. To date we haven’t lost anyone and in a certain sense the situation has drawn people closer together. One area of ministry we are working on is using our foundation to facilitate new missionaries coming to Thailand. There are several Filipino families waiting for the COVID situation to ease in order to come to Thailand and begin ministry here. They will obtain visas and work permits through our foundation which will make the costs of moving and living in Thailand more bearable for them. In preparation for this, we have started three new branches around the country.

Health: I (Mike) had my one year checkup after my heart attack last year and am happy to report that the doctor gave me a clean bill of health. My heart function is on the low side of normal, but the doctor was pleased with the results. It is a relief to have a good report.

How to Help: You can pray for us and the ministry here. Please pray specifically for the man who has been coming to church for over 6 years but has yet to be saved. Pray for our two teen girls who faithfully come, but are very lonely (one is 13 the other 18). Because they are Christians, the other kids at school tend to shun them and it is difficult making friends. Please pray that we will be able to restart our outreach ministry soon. Lastly, pray about the building project. Time is moving quickly and we don’t have much time left. If you can help us to secure this great property you can give via PayPal https://paypal.me/thaimissions?locale.x=en_US , directly to our missions clearinghouse Central Missionary Clearinghouse https://cmcmissions.org/donate , or please contact us with what you would like to pledge to the project. I am happy to answer any questions about this project via email or phone at 864-561-5217 (12 hours ahead of Central Daylight Time). My sending pastor, Mike Jones of Grace Baptist Church, Panama City, FL would happily answer any questions as well via email pastor.gbcpc@gmail.com or phone (850) 818-3883.

Sowing the seed together,

Michael & Francisca Frederick
Thailand

August 2021

Praises

• Moved
• Brakes fixed on truck
• Pastor Vargas and wife recover from COVID
• Support steady

Prayer Requests

• Settle in/find way around
• Church projects – construction/remodel
• Improve Spanish
• Relationships/witness opportunities

Isaiah 40:28-31

Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: BUT they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Have you ever heard the saying, “We don’t quit when we’re tired, we quit when we’re done”? I have, and even said it myself many times. We just moved for our 3rd time this year. We are not youth anymore. Although we are still in decent physical shape, major things like this do not get done without the help and strength only God can provide. Pushing through, getting er done, sucking it up, and all those catchy phrases are not reality most of the time. We need God in a double portion. We moved 12 miles and 50 minutes away this time, across 2 mountain ranges of switchbacks. We hired a moving company to handle the appliances and big furniture and then made 6 trips ourselves with our truck and trailer. This move was a lot more than that: Cutting trees so the moving truck could get in the driveway; installing spark plugs and wires on the truck; doing a thorough clean on the house and property; pressure washing all the walks, porches and driveway; closing out our PO box there, and opening another here; buying a 20 foot shipping container to store all the tools and equipment and getting that set up; installing new brakes on the truck after the mountains ate them. I say all that to say missionary life is still life. It rains on us too. We are not immune to the day-to-day grind and ups and downs. We are just people and not in some ivory tower looking and watching everyone else do life. We are in the trenches too. Thanks be to God that He leads and guides and directs and gives strength.

God provided an amazing house with a 180 degree view of the mountains around us. We are in a rural town in the middle of a family coffee plantation. There are all kinds of birds and critters. We are about 3 miles or 10 minutes to church and the grocery store. This town is not Mayberry, it’s a lot bigger than the last one. Here we do have access to about everything almost like the U.S. except parts for our American cars. The quality and quantity of most things here are not the same. Things are much smaller and do not last very long.

We had some heavy rains for a few days last week. With that our septic system filled to overcapacity and sewage came through the shower drains. We did bucket brigade, to empty the showers, until the rain stopped and the sewage went back down. We helped the homeowner install a French drain so hopefully the system does not fill with rainwater again. We continue to unpack and put things in their place. We are finding our way around town and getting to know people and building relationships as we can.

So far we continue to be healthily. Covid here is on the rise again and we know many that have it or are recovering from it. Driving restrictions are still in place as are social distancing, hand wash stations and mask wearing. Most people do not have meaningful conversations, just yes and no, hi and bye. We still had many witnessing opportunities even with people being distant: Three guys with the moving company; the mechanic and his son, where we bought our brake pads for the truck; the guys with the construction company that installed the French drain; the guys that delivered our shipping container. God doesn’t bring these people in our path to just do us a service. They are all souls with an eternity. We can see the harvest and at the very least give them water and snacks and Spanish tracts and tell them why we are here in Costa Rica.

We are grateful for the part each of you plays in the Lord’s ministry here. This is a group effort and will not get done without you. Please continue to pray and give and send us encouragement through messages, emails, and texts. We need to keep as much wind in our sails as possible.

In Christ,
Kevin, Sonya, Bethany, and Jon McCoy

Email: Mccoysincostarica@yahoo.com
Kevin: 850 777-0097
Sonya: 850 698-1694