 By HEITH MITCHELL Executive Director of Missions It is a big transition season for some of your missionaries right now. Five of your missionaries are taking their first scary steps into financial independence. The mission works prepare for this and never feel prepared when the time arrives. You generously provide funds to them through your cooperation with Texas Missions for five years. We have never seen so many at this moment at once.  Lighthouse of Hope Church is now an organized BMA church in Katy that is made up entirely of Nigerian immigrants. They are a healthy congregation that is well-formed. Their pastor, Aderemi Badru, is a missionary by calling and is burdened to plant another church. Pray for him as he committedly stays and prepares the church to stand and call a pastor when it is time for him to depart. This church is made up of low-income members, yet they are sacrificially giving both to salary and to their new church facility.  Iglesia Bautista Gracia Soberana (Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, translated) is an organized BMA church in Kyle. This church has endured some rough seasons, and its pastor, Luis Perez, has endured hardship over the last few months. He buried his mother and father back-to-back. The church takes the gospel and discipleship very seriously. They have grown and strengthened steadily.  Harmony Baptist Church in Normangee reached out to us with a burden to see their community reached. They needed help and were willing to face their reality and make sacrifices to engage the Great Commission. Robert Lee and his family felt led to engage with them. This family and church are a great fit for one another, and they are impacting the community with the gospel.  Iglesia Bautista Hispana Conroe (Conroe Hispanic Baptist Church, translated) is an organized BMA church in Conroe that has met at Northside Baptist Church. Their pastor Isaias Martinez is a Cuban American and has faithfully served this body. Brother Isaias needs your prayers because he was recently laid off as the company he worked for entered foreclosure. This young church is producing leaders effectively. They are saving for their own building.  Anchor Austin Church is an organized BMA church in Georgetown/North Austin made up entirely of immigrants from India. They are a healthy congregation pastored by Chris Mindi. Their call is to make disciples among Hindu people. This is obviously difficult and a God sized challenge. God is bringing glory to Himself because migrants from India are walking together in this new church. Unique to this congregation, they take a several- day retreat together annually with near-perfect attendance. One thing each of these churches have in common is that they all began during COVID. You can imagine how hard that has been. Baptist Progress: I am glad to report that the Baptist Progress transition to agency status within your BMA Texas Missions is going well. The team led by Chris Driver is doing a good job with the paper. This is the third paper they have produced. They are working hard on improvements and expansion of your news outlet. You are seeing more news from our churches and interest articles. Last month, they launched a podcast, which will give you the option to watch or listen to BMA news. This month, you are seeing the eNews Update show up in a new phone-friendly format. Good job, Progress team! Finances are looking good. We are operating on budget with one small challenge. The Anniversary offering has dropped by over half from last year. We anticipated a drop but didn’t plan for it to be this severe. Thirty less churches have participated in the special offering. It isn’t too late to participate. The Progress still needs your help. A WORD FROM YOUR MISSIONARIES CHRIS MINDI—ANCHOR AUSTIN, MISSION IN LEANDER [email protected] We have reached a good milestone. We have a worship leader at Anchor Austin. He is a gifted individual and passionate for the Lord. While he is growing in his faith, he still struggles but as his pastor, I am embracing the duty to mentor this individual. I am glad in my heart that God has sent him to Anchor Austin. Prayer Needs: Pray that God would bless us with more new families to be a part of this mission that God Himself is leading at Anchor Austin. God is doing amazing things here at Anchor Austin, we are excited to see new milestones reached. We are looking forward to serving God in a mighty way in Georgetown and it's surrounding areas.
 ERIC JORDAN—BREATH OF PRAISE—BROWNWOOD [email protected] We had two people join the church, a young lady gave her life to Christ and was baptized, and had a great VBS. Prayer Needs: Pray that the Lord will send an associate pastor.  HAITAO HE—FREE SALVATION BIBLE MISSION— CORPUS CHRISTI [email protected] We’ve been walking through the book of James in our weekly Bible study, and it’s been both challenging and refreshing. This series has sparked great discussion about faith in action. One participant shared how the teachings helped her get out of a period of depression. We praise God for the power of the Word! Prayer Needs: We met some new friends and we are praying for a good relationship with them. Please pray with us that we will have those new friends join our prayer meeting.  ISAIAS MARTINEZ—CONROE MISSION [email protected] The mission is progressing well. We celebrated all our accomplishments. The wedding event was significant for its attendance and the topic discussed. Prayer Needs: Please pray for our future meeting place.
 MIGUEL RAMOS—HURST MISSION [email protected] The Mission continues to strengthen itself mainly in the faith and this is reflected in the way we live and how we express ourselves. Prayer Needs: Let us pray for the government and the advisors of this country so that their decisions are correct.  LUIS H. PEREZ--IGELSIA BAUTISTA GRACIA SOBERANA—KYLE [email protected] We have been quite busy in the ministry, which is a joy to work in the business of our God. Time passes and we do not realize. It is a little tiring but very joyful. We need prayer to be able to work with the new converts and for those who get a little jealous because of the attention given to the newcomers while helping the others continue to grow and welcome the those new to the faith. We continue working with others so that they can do and develop their gifts and talents for our God. Prayer Needs: For the spiritual growth of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, Kyle.  JOSE TORRES—IGLESIA NUEVA VIDE EN CRISTO—TYLER [email protected] Iglesia Nueva Vida en Cristo of Tyler began two new groups and restarted a women's Bible study at the home of sister Marisol who is a phenomenal host. One of the new groups is in the home of recently baptized member, Natividad Fino and his wife Carmen. We have been well received in their home as well and they are very excited to learn more about God's Word. The other new group is with sister Graciela, who is widow of a former missionary. We gather for prayer in her home and receive lots of motivation and helpful advice in doing mission work. We have also started to motivate our people to share the gospel by giving out gospel tracts that we provide for each person. Each tract has our church plant name, address and telephone number. We then set aside some time during our Sunday worship service for a few to share their experiences as they give out their tracts. This has been a wonderful experience for all of us. We are very grateful for all the support all the churches of the BMA of Texas provide our church plant. May God continue to bless your ministries! Prayer Needs: Please continue to pray for the formation of a worship band.
 RUDY VILLAREAL—HOMETOWN CHURCH MISSION IN HELOTES [email protected] We are growing. We have had several new families come and they are excited about connecting to our Church. They have enjoyed the preaching, fellowship and our brisket Sundays. Prayer Needs: Pray that this momentum continues in the fall and for our Fall Festival outreach.  ABNER NUNEZ—SAN ANTONIO MISSION [email protected] Generally, the Spanish- speaking church planters of the BMA are associated with immigrants who don't have the immediate possibility of obtaining residency unless something extraordinary happens. While continuing to serve this group, we must pray that God will place people with residency and citizens in our paths, thus balancing our membership. The goal is to have stable and healthy churches. Prayer Needs: For my health. I have a bad knee and cannot put weight on my foot. I'm looking for a location for our Sunday meetings. We currently have one monthly.
 JOSE GIL—PROYECTO MISIONERO "LIDIA" – SPRING [email protected] Lourdes and I are enjoying not an easy but a fruitful ministry, and this month we just want to express gratitude in our prayers. Prayer Needs: That more friends in the cells are born again and baptized.
 KYLE CHEATHAM—GRACE CHURCH JARRELL [email protected] Thanks to the support of our church, I was able to take my annual three-week study leave in order to invest time, energy and focus into our discipleship strategy that will launch soon. While out, three men of our church that are on our teaching team stepped up to bring the Word and each did well. It is so exciting to see God drawing in these men and equipping them to use their gifts in this way. Prayer Needs: Please pray for us as we launch our first few disciple making Groves in September, where disciples will mature alongside one another for ten months before multiplying and each starting their own Grove.  MARVIN MEDINA—PLANO MISSION [email protected] This month has been hard since I had to attend an immigration appointment where they placed a device on me. At first, I felt very distressed. But we are seeing the hand of God in it all. May His will be done in our lives. Thank you for your prayers. I ask that you continue praying so that I can get a job. Prayer Needs: My immigration, economic and family situation. May God strengthen us.
 KEVIN WILLIAMS—PORT ARTHUR MISSION [email protected] It has been a wild summer. We bought a house in Nederland (right next to Port Arthur) and I got hired to be a 7th grade English teacher. We are still doing our Thursday evening discipleship and Sunday evening Bible study. We have had a couple of new people come over the last several weeks as guests of Roberto and Betsy. But we have had no return visits yet. We are excited to get settled in our new area of the Golden Triangle and seek out relationships to share the gospel. Prayer Needs: Pray for protection over our family (both physical and spiritual). Pray for Kevin as he starts his new teaching job and all the pressures that come with that. Pray for a person of peace in our new neighborhood that will be open to hearing the Gospel and can be a connector to others.  CHRIS DRIVER—OASIS CHURCH, LEVELLAND PASTOR CONNECTION/BAPTIST PROGRESS [email protected] Howdy from west Texas! What a busy and exciting month we had out here in Levelland. We really spent a lot of time engaging with the communities out here in west Texas this month. We started out the month with a great Fourth of July celebration in Whitharral at our friends' house where many of our people were able to attend and make new connections with my hometown community. We had a mission team from Antioch, Gilmer, come out and help us with a nursery project at the building and put on a "slammin'" good community outreach here in Levelland with Mike Watt and Trevor Cowan, the pro wrestling preachers from CrossWork, Tahoka. We ended the month by loving on our neighbors and students from the SPC Cosmetology department as they got ready to go back to school this semester. It was definitely busy, but we had a blast. It is so amazing to be able to be part of what God is doing out here in west Texas. Thank you for all you do and all your support. Prayer Needs: Please pray for new contacts and a new ministry work in Sundown and wisdom as it may be necessary to start looking for a bigger building soon.
 TIM ALBA—THE BRIDGE MISSION IN SEAGOVILLE
[email protected] We had many people take the initiative to get baptized. We so far have six people getting baptized this month. We have had about 80 people coming to our services when our members invite, which they have been more aggressive in doing so. Prayer Needs: Please pray for me and Nancy. Our marriage is strong, but we often get overloaded by church duties. Comments are closed.
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