This Sunday, March 21, Vision Baptist Church is celebrating its fourth year as a church family.
We have several things planned for the day and would like for you to be a part of it.
After our morning service we will have dinner on the grounds featuring the chili that the men of Vision have prepared for the “Ultimate Chili Throwdown” competition. The women are also competing in the highly anticipated bakeoff extravaganza.
For the children, we have all sorts of games and prizes to win. David Velke and Robert Canfield have worked hard with the young people and they will be singing a few specials that they put together in the morning service.
A small photo studio will be set up at the church for you and your family to have your picture taken for free.
Our early afternoon service begins at 1:15 P.M. and will feature exciting music with personal testimonies of members’ favorite memories here at Vision Baptist Church.
This past weekend we had our first ever couples retreat. It was one of the most special times that we have had with the families in our church. We had the retreat at a hotel and event center outside of the city in a more rural area. It was a very beatiful place with a more rustic or country feel and the food they provided was excellent.
We started on Friday night with supper and then our first class where pastor Austin Gardner taught about how to recover our lost love. It was a great pleasure and blessing to have him with us to teach on the family. We are very grateful for his time and sacrifice to come and be with us. On Friday we had seven couples and on Saturday we had nine couples for the classes. In all we had five classes that had a great impact on our couples. It was great to see them as they left each class holding hands or arm in arm.
Then on Sunday we celebrated fathers day and on Sunday night finished up our family conference where we learned how to protect our marriages so they will last for the long run. We had 117 for our morning service and a great group that night.
Finally on Monday we had a small cookout at my house where we invited some of the leaders of the church for lunch. We had a great time of fun and fellowship but most importantly Bro. Gardner challenged them to step up and stand strong to see the church move forward during our time of furlough. We just want to give a special thanks to Bro. Gardner for coming and sharing this time with us and our church people. It was truly a blessing to us and our people.
This past month we had our first youth retreat leaving after church on Sunday night we all went outside of the city to a rural area to a lot a man in the church owns. We camped out Sunday night and Monday night. We started out Sunday night with a Christian Film and then lights out. We began every morning with group devotions where the teens would read their Bibles and have prayer and then we had a morning service. We had games, competitions and classes for both the guys and girls. On Monday night we had a service where pastor Christian Ching preached on “What is keeping you from serving God”. At the invitation, almost half of the young people went forward to pray. Afterwards, we had a special bon fire where we encouraged the young people to write on a piece of paper what they were going to get out of their lives and throw it into the fire leaving it to the Lord. We had not only a great time of fun but also a great time of spiritual growth. Many decisions were made, several for salvation and many dedicating themselves wholly the Lord. Then on Tuesday, we had a church get together and cookout. Here the month of February, is when they celebrate “Carnaval” which is the celebration of the flesh. They have festivals and parades the whole month and it is basically a time they loose all inhibitions. On the property, they have a brick oven that looks like a small igloo. The people of the church brought all the ingredients and cooked chicken, potatoes and home made bread in the wood fired oven. We had close to 40 at the youth retreat, including workers and close to 70 for the church cookout. Even though it is rainy season here, the Lord gave us great weather and a wonderful time of great food and fellowships. Please pray for the teenagers that made decisions at the retreat. May God use them in a special way.
Teaching to Preach:
We are now having classes again in our Bible Institute. We have two classes, Pastoral Ethics and Homiletics I. We have ten in our Ethics’ class and nine in Homiletics. Our desire and goal, since we have arrived in Bolivia, has been to train up leaders for the ministry. Knowing that we will be leaving for furlough soon we want to prepare as many as possible to teach and preach the word. Beth has been working with the ladies preparing them to take over the children’s classes and several have started a new young teens class. In addition, to the new class we have a children’s Sunday School, Children’s Church and our Wednesday night kid’s club. She has had her work cut out for her. We have had several of the men preach in the church in the past and they have done a great job but we will also need Sunday School teachers and preachers for the main services. Our goal also upon returning, will be to launch out and start new works around the city. This time is key to begin now preparing those that will be working in these new churches. Please pray that the Lord for these classes and the He will continue to raise up leaders here in Bolivia.
Furlough Time:
As the end of our first term comes to an end, we obviously have mixed emotions about leaving the field. We are excited about being home to see family and friends and of course eat in some of our favorite restaurants, but at the same time it is difficult to leave our home here and all our friends and of course the ministry that God has given us. It will be a challenging time for us and especially the church here. I guess it would be compared to seeing your first child go off to start their own lives. You know there will be challenges and difficulties but you pray that it will be a time of growth. Please pray for our church and leaders that they will continue faithful. If you still have not contacted us or have not heard from us about visiting your church to give a report on the ministry you can call at 336-499-2585 or write at kwhite@mwbm.org.
Prayer Requests:
Pray for our upcoming furlough starting in June.
Pray for our upcoming youth conference in April.
Pray for our Bible Institute and the men that we are training.
Pray that the Lord will work in the lives of those in the government here in Bolivia.
Sunday before last we started our first youth retreat leaving after church on Sunday night we all went outside of the city to a rural area to a lot a man in the church owns. We camped out Sunday night and Monday night. We started out Sunday night with a Christian Film and then lights out. We began every morning with group devotions and then a morning service. We had games and competitions and classes for the guys and girls. On Monday night we had a service and afterwards a special bon fire and encouraged to young people to write what they were going to get out of their lives on a piece of paper and throw it into the fire leaving it for the Lord. We had not only a great time of fun but also a great time of spiritual growth. Many decisions were made, several for salvation and many dedicating themselves wholly the the Lord.
Then on Tuesday because it is a holiday here where they normally celebrate carnival and offer incense to the earth god we had a church get together and cookout. On the property they have a brick oven that looks like a small igloo. The people of the church brought all the ingredients and cooked chicken, potatoes and home made bread in the wood fired oven. We had close to 40 at the youth retreat including workers and close to 70 for the church cookout. We praise the Lord for the great weather that He gave and all the great food a fellowships. Please pray for the teenagers that made decisions at the retreat. May God use them in a special way.
For the past few months we have been working relentlessly to prepare the people of the church for the time we will be on furlough. In June we will be coming to the end of our first term here in Bolivia. It is amazing to think that almost four years have passed since we arrived here and started our ministry. During those four years the Lord has worked greatly in our lives and church. We have seen many come to know Christ as their Savior and have been working to train and prepare them for the ministry. We have been forming groups of leaders and workers that will be taking responsibility for many of the different ministries in the church like teaching the children’s classes and our Kid’s Club on Wednesday night, visitation, our ushers and many others. On a regular basis, we are meeting with them planning and preparing them for the time that we will be away. We also have started the first of a series of classes called “Christian Growth Classes”. Every Sunday night after church, there is a group of 20 to 25 people that stay an hour for the class. The first class is to prepare people to be members of the church and is actually required for anyone that is interested in being a member. We cover the basic doctrines and practices of the church along with what is expected of someone that wants to be a member. Since this is the first time we have offered the class we have some participating that are already members even though close to ten are not. The following class, after they have completed the first one, will touch on areas like service in the church. Before completing the class those participating will be expected to be involved in at least one ministry. Although this time has been a challenge for both them and us, it has been amazing to see the excitement and enthusiasm to have a part in God’s work. In light of the fact that we will soon be back in the states for our furlough, we are officially announcing it and would like to let you know that if you are interested in us visiting the church to give an update on what God is doing in Bolivia please contact us by phone at 336-499-2585 or by Email at kwhite@mwbm.org.
Fixing Teeth:
There are many children in our church that come from very difficult home lives. Some are very poor and many of their parents are almost not involved in their lives. The times we go to visit them, their parents are either not home or too drunk to talk to us. Many of them have even been affected greatly in their social and physical development. There are two, brother and sister, three and five that can barley be understood when they talk. One supposedly fell on his head as a baby, and his sister was given corn whisky from the time she was an infant. One of the ladies of our church has taken it upon herself to try and do something special for these children. There is a dentist school here that offers free or reduced rate treatment for the children that go. Around 15 children have had everything from their teeth cleaned to reconstructive surgery with one winning a scholarship to have his teeth fixed and braces put on. Our goal though is not only to help them have better teeth, but also to reach them and their families with the gospel. Please pray for these children that we can share the love of God with them. To see pictures go to kevinwhite.wordpress.com.
Mending Homes:
This past month we started once again our meeting for married couples. It has been a while since we have met but kind of happened naturally. Several of the couples in the church started getting together once every couple of weeks and many times ending up talking about marriage issues. We decided that this would be a great opportunity to begin meeting together again on a formal basis. We meet on Friday every two weeks in one of their homes. We have some snacks and good fellowship followed up with a game or two to break the ice. Afterwards, we have an informal lesson about how to have a better marriage. In the first class we looked what is the real purpose of marriage. They were surprised to learn that it was something that most of their marriages were lacking, companionship and communion. Please pray for these families.
Prayer Requests:
Pray for our upcoming furlough starting in June.
Pray for those taking leadership positions in the church.
Pray for our upcoming couples retreat in March.
Pray that the Lord will work in the lives of those in the government here in Bolivia.
It has been over a month since Bro. Christian Ching arrived to help out in the work here in Bolivia. He has been a great blessing to us and the church here. He has especially been doing a great job with the teenagers in the church. The last two weeks we have had almost 30 in our youth meeting with several new visitors each night. Also this past week they went and had t-shirts made for themselves with their name “youth with a vision”. We ask that you pray for Bro. Christian and the youth of our church. We are praying that from this group the Lord will raise up pastors, missionaries and leaders in the church.
We have many children in our church that come from very difficult home lives. Some are very poor and their parents are almost not involved in their lives. The times we go to visit them, their parents are either not home or too drunk to talk to us. One of the ladies of our church has taken it upon herself to try and do somethings special for these children. There is a dentist school here that offers free or reduced rate treatment for the children that go. Around 15 children have had everything from their teeth cleaned to reconstructive surgery. Our goal though is not only to help them have better teeth but also to reach them and their families with the gospel. Please pray for these children that we can share the love of God with them.
Coming down to the end of another year we had several special activities in the church. First we had the church’s first ever Christmas banquet the Saturday before. It was truly a wonderful time of fellowship and fun. We had some games like two couples wrapping a gift using only one hand each but having to work together. They actually did better than me with two hands. Along with the games, we had singing and Bro. Christian Ching preached about the importance of union and fellowship in the church. Afterwards, the competition started. Here in Bolivia, there is a dish that is very common during Christmas time. It is called Picana. It is kind of like a soup, but has three types of meat including chicken, pork, and lamb along with vegetables and seasonings. We had a Picana cook off with the ladies in the church, and let me tell you they were all really delicious. This was the first time that I had tried it and I can say I can’t wait for Christmas next year. At the end, we did have to pick the winners but in all everyone had a great time. Also, we had a New Years activity to give the people of the church an alternative to the activities that they might normally participate in. We had a great time playing games, like tying a balloon to everyone’s ankle and then see who could be the last one standing with their balloon in tact. We divided into two groups, women and men. One reason that we did this was to try and keep the ladies from getting hurt. After the two groups faced off, I think it might have actually been to keep the men from getting hurt. The last activity that we did was a year-end testimony service. This is an activity that we have always done at my home church and is always a great blessing. We start with the room completely dark with only one candle lit at the pulpit. Then one by one each person comes to the front, lights their candle, and gives a testimony of what the Lord has done in their lives the previous year. It is always moving to hear the people give thanks for their salvation and families and many other things that the Lord has done.
Missionary Children:
From time to time I like to write about our family and especially our children because what we do here in Bolivia is not just ministry. We do have a family and we are raising children. The part of raising children can have its extra interesting aspects living in another country. Everything from different customs, to learning two languages, at the same time makes you sometimes want to laugh and sometimes almost cry. The humorous part comes mostly from the language. It is hard to comprehend that they in reality are not learning two different languages but one language just with more ways to say the same thing. Many times they can use both Spanish and English in the same phrase switching back and forth several times before completing their thought. They might say something like this “Mommy that persona (person) was mirandome (looking at me) and that makes me enojada (mad)”. You can see how sometimes it takes a few minutes to interpret what they are trying to say. Grace is now 6 , Taylor is 4 and Titus is 9 months and almost walking. As each day passes and I recognize how quickly they grow up I realize the importance of giving them the necessary foundation to be the Christians that God wants. If you would like to see a family picture go to kevinwhite.wordpress.com.
Special Thanks:
Each year at this time we are always overwhelmed with the love and sacrificial giving of so many. As missionaries, it can be difficult being away from family, friends and even the Christmas traditions that are not so common here. The people here and in many Spanish cultures celebrate more on Christmas Evethan on Christmas day. They get together at night with family and have a special meal as it gets close to 12:00 midnight. Then they sometimes exchange gifts and set off fireworks. Then on Christmas day there really isn’t much activity and some even go back to working like normal. While we were able to celebrate Christmas as a family, it makes a big difference with all the cards and even presents that are sent. Many churches sent extra support and one church (Bible Baptist in Brusnwick Ga) sent almost 20 packages of gifts for our children and us. We are greatly thankful for each special offering, card and gift.
Prayer Requests:
Pray that this upcoming year the Lord will do even a greater work than the last.
Pray for a new class that we are starting called “Christian Growth”.
Pray for all the preparations that we are making before our furlough in June.
Pray for continued protection for our family and especially our children.
The other day TItus was playing but it was really quiet. When there is a long period of silence it usually means that something is wrong. Well that is what happened with Titus and this is how we found him. The funny thing is that the look on his face says it all. He knew he was doing something he was not supposed to but enjoying every minute of it. I guess he takes after his daddy when it comes to chocolate.
