Burgess Road Baptist Church

 THE PAST…

Retired! Now What?

by Dian Enfinger – 2008

When my husband, Lamar, retired from the Air Force after 22 years, he wanted to travel. He had the experience of living on a sailboat, flying through the hurricanes as a hurricane hunter and while waiting for me, his wife Dian, to retire, he was an over the road truck driver. As a military wife I had stayed home and took care of our three children, helped take care of my mom and worked. It was not always easy to be apart, but we both believed his job was important and this is a part of military life. We are proud to be a part of the Air Force and after 20 years, we are so thankful for the health benefits and good prices at the Commissary and Exchange. We also enjoy camping on the bases when we take a little time for ourselves to travel.

Lamar had, for years, promised me that he would take me traveling to see the places he had visited, and more, when he retired. Our first big trip was traveling to Alaska with a military caravan. That was a beautiful trip beyond words. We made many friends and began to travel here and there, but something was missing.

Lamar defended our country for over 20 years and still had the desire to help in some way to show how much our country means to us. We started praying and searching different areas that might need some help and came across an article in a travel magazine, MMAPers Needed: Mobile Missionaries Assistance Projects needs retired Christian couples to travel around the United States and help build camps, orphanages, churches, docks, and dormitories. Now, that sounded interesting to us. We contacted MMAP.org and learned that to be a part of this Christian organization you had to be a Christian, have your own RV, have health insurance and be able to support yourself. We qualified for all of this and decided to try it.

MMAP is a Christian organization that has four or five couples meet for the first three weeks of the month and join together to work on a project to improve the area or construct what is needed. There are churches, camps, ranches for teens and many more projects. The tasks are endless. We wanted to serve, build, and make a difference in the lives of others. Giving our time to serve the Lord in this capacity is what makes our lives blessed beyond words. Each time we go to a project we do not know exactly what we will be doing. We have an idea but, like in the military, you go and are ready to help in the best way you possibly know how.

Our first project with MMAP was with four other couples. We stayed at Vancleve, Kentucky at a Bible college. The men worked about 30 minutes away on dormitory and staff housing. The women worked on campus in the kitchen helping with meals, stained some boards, helped an elderly lady pack her belongings to move to another area and just enjoyed the college students. We loved hearing their laughter and listening to why they came to this college and what their plans were for the future. The ladies also got together and shared crafts that we had learned.

We enjoy our traveling and continuing to help others certainly makes a difference in our lives. We are now heading to our seventh project. We are going to Texas where there will be some logging for a new camp.

Our lives are full.

… THE FUTURE

August 2, 2015

Dear Burgess Road Baptist Church,

Lamar and I, Dian, are writing this letter to let you know that our missionary organization, MMAP, is closing down. MMAP, Mobile Missionary Assistant Program, started 37 years ago. Lamar and I felt led to be a part of this program in 2006. We have traveled many places, met many people and made lifetime friends. Even though lately we had not been able to participate because of my illness of Hemophilia, we were still waiting for the day we could travel again with them. In the month of June we were able to leave for three weeks and take a needed R&R and we went to Raccoon Mountain and there relaxed and met up with a friend we had not seen for around 20 years. We left there and went to the newest CBM (Children’s Bible Ministry) in Ozone, Tennessee. There Lamar worked outside with some of the cabins and did some tree work. I helped get some crafts prepared for campers coming in the next two weeks. We left there and then went to Elizabethton, Tennessee where the second CBM had started. Lamar did some repair work on some cabins. I worked in the office and helped with some paper work.

We completed 42 projects while in MMAP. 0ur prayer is to be able to work in Camp Grace in November which will be the last Project MMAP will have. It is sad to hear the news of MMAP’s closing, but headquarters has done all they could to keep MMAP open as long as possible.

We now plan to go as independent missionaries. We know of many camps that need volunteers and this is what is on our hearts now. We want to thank all of you for your support and most of all for your prayers during our journeys while in MMAP. Now we believe our Lord will have us continue the same kind of volunteering. There are camps that have offered to have us come back and help. I, Dian, am still on chemo once a month so in between, Lord willing, we plan to volunteer where our Lord leads us.

Proverbs3:5,6

July 2015

Dear praying partners,

The Lord is always good, always. I am reminded of this truth as I reflect on the ministry that God has given us in Thailand and the wonderful partners that have joined with us to reach the Thai people with the Gospel. My wife and I are truly thankful for each financial partner and prayer supporter that has a part in this ministry.

Bible Institute is finishing our first term. Unfortunately we had our first drop-out. Our only man studying will be opening a business in another part of the city and will not study further. I am disappointed, for sure, but the ladies that are studying are enthusiastic students and eager to learn more about the Bible. Thai men are in very short supply in Thai churches, and men willing to sacrifice to preach the Word of God are even fewer. Please continue to pray for men who will get saved and have a desire to be used of the Lord.

Outreach.
We have been passing out tracts in markets several times a month. We have not had any responses but know that the Word of God is going forth. It can sometimes be frustrating, but many of our current members were reached through tracts, so we continue to make the effort.

In June our church members went to a local market and set-up a blood pressure booth. We were able to directly witness to at least 20 people, giving them a very clear presentation of the Gospel. Blood pressure checks seem to be our best method for engaging people with the Gospel. Many were eager to listen and none rejected the opportunity to hear about how they can be free from their sins.

Please pray for Nuey, Niran, Pom, No, Aom, Ying, Dtuy, Saeng-Tong, Jan, Ohy, and Mike’s students for salvation. Pray for the men of the church to be faithful. Please pray for other locations to show movies in various neighborhoods. Also please pray for our daughter Hannah, as she finishes her second semester at Christian College, that she will continue to make the transition to the USA and college life and for her tuition (for which we are falling further and further behind).

We pray God’s blessing as you serve.

For Christ in Thailand,
Mike & Francis Frederick
www.thaimissions.org

May 2015 

 
Dear Ministry Partners,

I truly agree with the statement by Kevin Bauder that “Planting a Baptist church does not require genius, but it does take dedication and hard work. The labors of planting a church are far more difficult than pastoring an established church…. Every step is a first step as the members realize that they are shaping a work that may endure for generations.” But I also add the fact that “planting a church is different from planting a Baptistic church in accord with the New Testament Scriptures.”

It’s our prayer that evangelism and visitation programs this year would be effective and productive as we reach out to our neighborhood children, youth, adults, etc. We have continued to receive new faces on a  weekly basis due to this, as well as our radio program “The Bible in Your Hand.” Pray for musically talented people, teachers in the area of music, expansion of our study groups, committed study leaders and Sunday School teachers. We praise the Lord for the RBP materials which are being used in all our Sunday School classes and the study groups.

Church growth, both in numbers and spiritual maturity, is our desire for Elgon View Baptist Church and the Kenyan ministry at large. We have had so much to do with family counseling, particularly for a very dear family in the church that is on the verge of either separation or divorce. This is one of those moments that pastors do not desire. Please pray for us as we do our very best to assist biblically.

In March we had engagement negotiation for dowry between the family of David Ouma and the family of Lucy Nandasaba, followed by pre-marital counseling and finally the wedding on April 25, 2015. Janet Koech was also engaged in February and the wedding is to be announced sometime this year. Please pray for spiritual wisdom when dealing with family counseling, youth ministry counseling, pre-marital and family life counseling.

Besides our praise to have all our legal documents, the government has an ongoing debate with intent to regulate religious groups by asking churches to form and register associations or organizations to oversee their institutions. The cultural challenges and government policies could hinder ministry progress, i.e. church registrations using the name “Baptist” have been denied. Catholicism, Pentecostalism, New Evangelicals, and the endless list of liberals seem to be vocal and on the forefront of this. Missionary ministry in Kenya could be limited or hindered as they limit work permits to 2 years that can only be renewed once, and that with American Embassy recommendation. We might be demanded to find other Baptist groups to form an association and this brings in other challenges in regard to doctrinal beliefs and practice. Pray for wisdom in this process which has been tiresome, time consuming, traveling to Nairobi many times, financially costly and very engaging.

Pray that the Lord would provide us with about $2,000 for new tires for our vehicles. Tires on our pick-up truck have been in use since 2007 without change. We will truly appreciate any help in regard to this need. As a family we sincerely need some time away to get enough rest. We have truly spent ourselves with limited time, if any, to take days off. The church building project is very demanding, training of others requires sufficient time with closeness, pastoral ministry is a daily call with many demands toward our own family, church family, and the community outreach. Please pray for us to approve ourselves as ministers of God and to give our very best to the ministry here.

In His Care,

Stephen & Edna Muindi
Ian, Regina, Rena
2 Corinthians 6:3-4