October 22, 2012
Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,
Praise the Lord that the three digit temperatures of our Arkansas Summer have ended and Autumn has brought with it some beautiful, cool weather. We also praise God for His goodness to us and our church and this season of blessing. Since our last letter we have seen many souls saved and baptized.
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and , lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” - Matthew 28: 19,20
Two of the people who were baptized I met one Saturday while on visitation. The girlfriend and her sixteen year old “step-daughter” called us for a ride to church about a month later. We continued to visit them on Saturdays and eventually the man joined his family in church.
I often preach about God’s desire for our homes. By that I mean God desires for there to be a saved and surrendered husband and wife first and then children to follow. You can’t unscramble eggs, but you can make them better. After attending several services and hearing this type of preaching; this couple approached me about getting married. During the process of marital counseling I asked them their salvation testimonies and found out they had a Church of Christ background. The lady thought she had lost her salvation and the husband couldn’t give me a clear and sure testimony of having been previously saved either. To make a long story shorter, they both received the Lord that day and were scripturally baptized the next. Two weeks later we had a beautiful wedding at our church.
Another one of the people who were baptized is a young lady in her twenties. (Her brother and niece were saved and baptized here in July.) She came for a visit and raised her hand for salvation during the invitation. My wife took her out and talked with her. She prayed to be saved that Sunday! The next day she called us about her twelve year old son. He had asked why she left at the end of the service and what the papers we gave her about baptism meant. I told her to read the papers to him and that we would talk with him later to make sure he understood about salvation and baptism. The next Sunday we showed him from scripture how he could know he was saved and he prayed and received the Lord as well. Afterward he said he wanted to be baptized because now he was saved just like his Mama. So, that day we had two baptisms instead of one. This young lady’s zeal and trust in the Lord has been a real blessing to all of our church family.
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundatly.” - John 10:10
These families represent the burden of our ministry here. There are so many people in Newport shacking up – some in their forties and fifties who just never thought it important to be married. There are even more religious people here who are on their way to Hell. Thank you for your prayers and financial support which enables us to show them God’s desire for their souls as well as their lives.
Prayer Requests
· We are asking God to double our number by next Fall. This would give us about fifty souls on Sunday mornings.
· Wisdom and provision as our family moves from the church into the parsonage.
· That God would bless us with good health. Recently our whole family was down with some type of sickness. On top of the sickness I had an allergic reaction to something and it turned my eyes fiery red. After I preached Sunday morning one of our members (who is a nurse) came to me and said, “You look awful!”.
In His Service,
Pastor Raymond Beckles
