Wright Family Update – April 2018

Thank you for praying for your missionaries! Below is an email that we received from Bro. JR Wright this afternoon.

I just wanted to send out a thank you and brief update as many of you have been praying that we would have a quick answer from Greenland concerning our residence permit.  We received an email from the Denmark embassy Tuesday that Greenland has approved my family and I for a one year residence permit.  We now will be able to work on setting up a date for our container and air line tickets for our move.  We are simply moving and focusing on one step at time, as the Lord continues to open the door, till very soon we will be in Greenland!  Thank you to all that are and have been praying for us!  May the Lord bless you!

Bro. Wright
Missionary to Greenland

 

 

Please continue to pray for our missionaries as they endeavor to do the Lord’s will in their lives!

Online Donations now available

 All Points Baptist Mission is happy to announce that we now have the opportunity to receive online donations, via PayPal. Please visit our “Give” page for more details. Donations can be made directly to the ministry of All Points Baptist Mission, or to assist a specific APBM Missionary, using two different ways to give.

  • Donations to APBM may use this link:Help Support APBM
  • Donations to APBM Missionaries may use this link, with the requirement that the designation be specified in the space provided. Specific Fund Designations must be only for Funds approved by APBM leadership. Please keep in mind that PayPal will deduct a small percentage for their services.


 

New Missionary – Brian Hollis

We are pleased to welcome the Brian Hollis Family as a missionary with APBM. Brother Hollis is called to minister to the people of Bolivia, and we greatly look forward to working with him as he and his family begin deputation.

Bauman Family is OK!

Puerto Rico Relief Fund

We have just heard from APBM Missionary Andy Sharpeta on Viesques Island, Puerto Rico.  He was able to borrow the Mayor’s satellite phone to make the call, the only one on the island.  Andy, his wife and four children are all safe.  Anything built of wood on the island is pretty much gone.  They have enough food and water for the time being; most folks do not.  Andy has been given a line of credit to get food for distribution to people who are without.  He has a small generator that helps for some things, but I imagine that gasoline will be a problem shortly.

We have yet to hear from Missionary Ed Bauman.  They are on the big island of Puerto Rico.

We are setting up a relief fund for victims of hurricane

Maria on Puerto Rica.  This will be administered by All Points Baptist Mission through our missionaries, the Sharpetas and the Baumans (assuming the Baumans are OK) and will be an important part of their ministry now for a while.  Anyone wishing to give to this effort may do so by contacting the APBM office.

Thank you for your consideration,

 

Gary E. Forney – Executive Director
All Points Baptist Mission
A ministry of Calvary Baptist Church, New Philadelphia, Ohio

 

Make all checks payable to the address below. You may also send a payment from your online banking, with our payee information below. Please be sure to include “Puerto Rico Relief Fund” to assist with support designation.

As always, 100% of all designated money is sent on directly to the missionary. We do not charge anything to handle money for our missionaries, however PayPal does deduct 2.2% from each gift, plus $0.30 per transaction. A tax deductible receipt is returned for each gift, by mail or email.

 

All Points Baptist Mission
PO Box 977
New Philadelphia, OH 44663-0977

If you wish to donate online, please use this Paypal Button. Once you are logged in to PayPal, please specify whether the donation is to be specifically for the Bauman Family, the Sharpeta Family, or as a whole, the Puerto Rico Relief Fund. (i.e.. “E. Bauman”, “A. Sharpeta”, or “Relief Fund”). The Missionaries will receive all that is donated, except for what PayPal deducts for their service.

To receive a donation receipt, please share your mailing address through PayPal, or contact the Mission Office with your email address.

New Missionary

We are pleased to announce that we have agreed to work with a new missionary with APBM. This missionary has been called to go to the Syrian people, and we greatly look forward to working with him as he begins Deputation.

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd;

When David was used of God to write this Psalm, he was himself a shepherd.  This was a care and understanding he knew intimately.  It was a relationship he was quite familiar with and was what he was found doing when God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint him king of Israel.

David would be known as the Shepherd King.

But who is “The LORD” that David refers to as his shepherd?

He was referring to Jehovah, the LORD God of Israel.

God incarnate, Jesus Christ, made it clear in John 10:11-14, he was the Good Shepherd.

Jesus was speaking to a great crowd to include the Pharisees not long after he had healed a blind man.  He tells them in verse 9 that He is the door and then in verse 11 says, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”  Jesus then goes on to say in verse 14, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.”

David says, The LORD is MY Shepherd.  This makes it personal.

And that is really the starting point to having a relationship with God is that he must be YOUR shepherd.

Of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, it says in John 1:3, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”  So, when you say, “The LORD is my shepherd,” you are saying there is a profound and close relationship between me and my MAKER.

OH, what divine joy this ought to shine upon the field of our heart.  As Psalm 144:3 says, “LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!”

The more we think of Jesus, the greater His esteem, the deeper the well of our love, the more vital becomes the relationship of our spirit as we commune the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.

David knew far too well, the quality of the life of the sheep was dependent upon the character of their shepherd.  Was he gentle, kind, intelligent, brave, and selfless in his devotion to the fold?  Or was he negligent, harsh, and uncaring?  One will cause the sheep to flourish and find contentment, while the other will find them starving, struggling, with endless hardship.

We are blessed to have the Good Shepherd.  But, as it proclaims He is my Shepherd, it is because he has made us first His sheep.  I grew up on a farm in Texas and although I have been around a few sheep, we raised beef cattle.  And, though I helped my grandfather, they were his cows.  He was the one that sweat and bled in the heat of the sun to grow rice and harvest it, to begin saving the money to buy his first cows.  If we were too aggressive with the cows or treated them in a way he didn’t care for, he would fuss at us real quick.  “The LORD is my shepherd” because I was “purchased with his own blood.”  (Acts 20:28)

We are rightly compared to sheep, for they have a mob mentality, are stubborn, prone to wander off, and act quite stupidly at times.  Yet, even still, we have a wonderful master who calls us each by name and longs to be the good shepherd we so greatly need.

LCDR Richard Wiese
Command Chaplain 22nd MEU

The Road Less Traveled

When we think of Pioneering, we think of Adventure. We think of every young boy’s hero, Daniel Boone, the Trailblazer. There is a lot of adventure with being the first one to discover a new world. It is exciting to be the one making inroads into a new territory that has never been chartered before. What an adventure Daniel Boone had as he blazed the trail into that wilderness!

Pioneer missions is similar. What an adventure it has been to be the first Baptist missionaries into this spiritual wilderness! How exciting it has been to bring Good News from a far country! We have seen God do the impossible over and over again. We have seen God open the door to Greenland and give us the authority to invite others to this pioneer mission field. Wouldn’t you like to join the adventure and claim an unreached village for Christ?!

When we think of blazing a trail, we think of Danger. It is not easy being the first ones. There are always t
hings you never expected or planned on happening. On one of Boone’s trips, his son was captured and killed by Indians. This scared the settlers so much that they went back East. In those early years, most settlers traveled in large groups to better protect themselves against the dangers on the trail. Boone gained his fair share of battle scars to prove the dangers of settling a new territory. How we admire those brave men who sacrificed all to cut a road through the wilderness in hopes to find their “American Dream.”

There are dangers and trials lurking ahead of the pioneer missionary that he can never be fully prepared for, because no one has gone before and helped prepare the way. He can take classes, read books and do all he can to ready himself, but the path is an unknown path with unforeseen hardships. It is by God’s grace and by the prayers of His people that the pioneer lives to tell another day. Greenland has had its fair share of unforeseen trials of which I don’t have the space to go into. Missionaries are not involved in Missions in order to pursue the American dream, but to pursue the mind of Christ and fulfill His last commandment on this earth, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature!” Pioneer missions isn’t about staking land, but about claiming souls for Jesus Christ!

Lastly, when we think of cutting that trail into the wilderness, we think of Loneliness. The men with pioneering spirits were no doubt some of the bravest men to ever live, but sometimes even they got lonely. How many brave men have fallen, been wounded, or lost heart on this lonely path. Boone left family and friends behind and found 30 people willing to cut a trail through the wilderness. It was a lonely feeling being alone in that seemingly “God forsaken” wilderness.

The Arctic is by far one of the loneliest and isolated mission fields. There are no malls, no Wal-Marts and, of course, no McDonalds. Sometimes we are blessed just to have food on the shelves in the grocery stores. As bad as that sounds, the most disheartening feeling is the lack of Christian fellowship. There are no other missionaries in Greenland! There is no one to share the work with. There is no one to be encouraged by. On most mission fields, there are several missionaries within driving distance of each other. There is no doing that in Greenland – a place where there are No roads connecting the towns. The only way to get in or out is by plane. One plane ticket to the next town costs around $1,000. Imagine coming from the US. The cost of getting here has discouraged many from even visiting this spiritual wasteland. Our town of 5,000 is small in size and sits on the Disko Bay surrounded by mountains. Winter lasts around 9 months bringing with it 3 months of darkness and lots of snow. Imagine being stuck in such an isolated place with no way out! Yes, it is overwhelming. For years, we have begged God to send someone to help and encourage us on this needy mission field. God has answered that prayer! The Wright Family is currently on deputation & we look forward to their arrival on this Pioneer Mission Field!

The Wilderness Road that Daniel Boone carved through the Cumberland Gap was at first
steep and rough and could only be passed on foot or horseback. As more and more traveled this road, it was widened and made to accommodate wagons. Twenty-five years after Boone’s first attempt at trailblazing a path through this wilderness, over 300,000 men and woman followed the path he had marked.

We are slowly making a path into Greenland. The more folks that trod this path, the easier it will be for others to follow. Wouldn’t you like to be a Pioneer and tread where no Baptist has trod before?!

Trailblazing at the Top of the World,

Christopher Shull

Please Pray for the Northcutt Family in Siberia, Russia!

Many I am sure have now heard about the fire that engulfed the dwelling of the Northcutt family in Siberia, Russia.
All Points Baptist Mission has set up a special fund specifically for them as they continue to go through what they were able to save, and look forward to the future. You may read about the details on their website. If you would like to donate to this fund, please let us know! All donations may be made out to All Points Baptist Mission, with a memo included to specify that the donation is for the “Northcutt Fire Recovery Fund.”

All Points Baptist Mission
PO Box 977
New Philadelphia, OH 44663

100% of all funds donated to All Points Baptist Mission are passed on directly to the missionary, without any fees. You will also receive a receipt for any donation given, as it is tax deductible. Please include your email address if you would like that sent to you electronically.

Please continue to look for new updates on the Northcutt’s page, as we will post them as we receive them. We can not thank you enough for the care you have for your missionaries!

 

Jon Black
Missions Office Manager,
All Points Baptist Mission
A ministry of Calvary Baptist Church