Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,
Praising
God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved.
Acts 2:47
I
have much to share with you as it has been a while since our last letter. I want to begin by thanking all of you who
support us faithfully with your prayers, as well as financially! We always ask for your prayers regarding our
church's spiritual and numerical growth. We are happy to report that we are
seeing both happen.
In
the middle of July, our family went on
vacation to California to visit family. I never realize how much I need a vacation
until I am leaving for vacation! We had a wonderful time of rest, relaxation,
and renewal. It was the first time for
some of our family to meet our little Rayanna.
You can believe that the grandparents and grandkids thoroughly enjoyed
one another; but their parents enjoyed having time alone together even more!
Once
we returned home to Newport, we were greatly encouraged by how things went in
the church while we were away. Our
people handled every aspect of the services themselves. We even received reports from people in town
who visited that the service was a
blessing to them. We continue to see the
hand of God in our services in a unique way since our return. The first Thursday evening service we held in
August we had about 15 visitors! Most of
whom have since returned. Several of
them have made professions of faith after our Sunday morning services. We are scheduled to have a baptismal service
next Sunday. What a blessing! PLEASE, keep these new believers lifted up in
prayer! We can really see a hunger and thirst for righteousness in some of
them.
Family news
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of
the womb is his reward.
Psalm 127:3
We
have had an exciting year; but these past few months have been packed with
events - vacation, three birthdays, our
wedding anniversary, stomach viruses, and
the news that we are to expect baby #5 sometime around March 24th! God truly has been good to us.
Prayer requests:
1.
Our church to continue to experience
spiritual and numerical growth.
2.
Favor in our community.
3.
Wisdom and finances to pay off the
churches Mortgage supernaturally.
4. Continued health and safety for our family.
Thanks
again for your faithful prayers and support!
In
His Service,
Pastor
Raymond Beckles
Lighthouse
Baptist church
Newport,
Arkansas
