September - October Prayer Letter

Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,

 

So much has happened since our last prayer letter.  We are proud to introduce to you the newest member of our family, Raymond DeSean Beckles.  He was born in Labor Day, September 2, 3013 at 6:32 p.m.  I am happy to report that both my wife and son are doing very well.

And I , if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. - John 12: 32

 

The church is doing well also.  We continue to pray for numerical and spiritual growth and we are happy to report that we are seeing both.  Every  week for almost two months we have had visitors!  Three of them have continued to visit regularly, four souls were saved just this past weekend - two on Saturday and two on Sunday; and our people are taking tracts to pass out and asking how they can effectively witness to their loved ones.  What a blessing!  God continues to amaze us as we see Him keep His promises.

Sumday Morning Service

Please continue to pray with us about the following things:

1.  A tractor for the church.  We have five acres of land that the has to be maintained regularly and a tractor would be a great blessing.

2.  Provisions for our nursery.  Four women in our church have had children this year.  We think that is wonderful, but we would like to have provisions for them when they come to our services.

3.  Prayer for wisdom concerning our children's ministry.

 

In His Service,

Pastor Raymond Beckles

Lighthouse Baptist Church

Newport, Arkansas

Dear Pastor and Praying friends,

“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of everyone of you all toward each other aboundeth;” – 2 Thessalonians 1:3

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  As usual, our numbers have dipped for the summer.  We are still praising God.  This is an opportunity for us to get to know the “faithful few” a little better and for them to get to know us.

We have had two workdays since our last letter in which, among other things, the men have repaired our church sign which was damaged by termites and a severe storm; and the ladies finished some much needed cleaning in the church.

We also enjoyed our Mother’s and Father’s Day services.  I took that opportunity to teach and remind our folks about their roles as Christian parents.  Both holiday services brought visitors which we are always delighted to have.

I am excited about witnessing some spiritual growth in our church. One family who recently moved back to Newport has been visiting our services and even came and helped on our workday.  They display a teachable spirit, and have expressed that they enjoy our services.  Another blessing - a young lady (who has been with us for a while) recently gave a testimony about how the Word of God helped her overcome an obstacle in her life. A young man who was saved here at Lighthouse Baptist Church last summer has recently decided to trust the Lord with a tithe!

On a Personal Note - My wife is expecting our third child in about nine weeks!  Everything thus far looks good.  Also, the girls celebrated their fourth and second birthdays on the 17^th and 18^th of June.  Aaliyah is really taking the fact that she is four and is now a “big girl” to heart. Thank you all for your prayers and much needed financial support!  God Bless!!!

 

In His Service,

 

Pastor Raymond Beckles

Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,                                                         May 1, 2013

We continue to praise God for his goodness to us here in Newport, Arkansas and thank Him that Spring is finally here. Along with the beauty and growth we see around us outside, we are seeing growth in our church numerically and spiritually.  Our members have increased their giving and have begun to enthusiastically invite friends and family to church. 

This past Sunday we celebrated our church’s sixth anniversary.  For months we have been praying and preparing for this event and the Lord truly did bless.  We were praying for fifty souls to attend and forty-seven showed up. One of the forty-seven walked the aisle and trusted Christ as his Savior!  This gentleman is a mechanic and is the man responsible for keeping this preacher’s vehicle on the road.  I had invited him several times and am glad that he chose to attend our anniversary service. 

After the service we enjoyed a time of food, fellowship, and a slide presentation to remind us of what God has done over the years.  Everyone must have been enjoying themselves because about two hours later I had to usher some people out the door- in Christian love of course!

On Resurrection Sunday we truly had a blessed time!  I would like to say it was due to the power of God being manifested during my wonderful message; but I am afraid that would not be the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  The youth of our church sang and put on a little skit about the resurrection of Jesus.  I am proud to say they did a wonderful job; I am also proud to tell you that many friends and family members came to see their performance. These visitors were present to see the children perform, to hear the whole and true Gospel message, and to experience the blessing of being at Lighthouse Baptist Church on Sunday morning.  Several of them have returned since and others promise to do so soon.

On a personal note :  Our family is doing well.  My two girls continue to grow like sunflowers and we continue to anticipate the coming of a new little one in September.  Last week my wife had an ultrasound and the doctor said everything looks great, when she ask if we wanted to know the sex of the baby I said no; but my wife said yes!  She found out; but  promised to keep it a secret until the baby comes.  Two of us (myself and Cassidy) are hoping for a boy; but two of us (my wife and Aaliyah) are hoping for a girl. Half of us will be disappointed; but I trust the disappointed half will get over it quickly.

I would now like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued prayers and financial support.  Without which we would not be able to carry out the Great Commission in Newport, Arkansas.  

                                                                                    In Christ,

Pastor Raymond Beckles

 

January-February Prayer Letter

Dear Pastors and Praying Friends,

 
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
 – Psalm 107:8

We once again feel compelled to praise God for His goodness to us!  We have experienced several ice and snow storms here in Newport; but have not had any trees down or any power outages.  We also continue to see growth (numerically  and spiritually) here at Lighthouse Baptist Church.  As I type this statement, two families come to mind.

One is a single father and his two daughters.  My daughter, Aaliyah and I went visiting one Friday afternoon and we knocked on this young man's door.  We both are in our thirties and have two daughters, one three years old and the other one year old.  He thought that was pretty neat and said they were looking for a church and would check us out.  ( If I had  nickle for every time I heard that statement!)
The following Sunday he was the first person to show up! Two weeks later he was saved and the next week he followed the Lord in believer's baptism.  We are always encouraged when we see this young man and his family walk through the church doors.

The other family I have mentioned in previous letters.  Their story began with one young lady, a single mom, who trusted the Lord and became a faithful member in our church.  She brings others to church with her often.  Last summer the father of her two children came to church and was saved.  He later was baptised and began bringing his family and his friend to church with him.  Now this family fills (literally) two whole pews every Sunday!   God is doing a work in these young people's lives. 

Prayer requests:

1.)  Our family is expecting to hear the pitter patter of little feet again sometime in August.  We would like to ask you to pray for the health of my wife and this little one and his/her safe delivery.

2.) This year our church's campaign is Fifty by Fall.  We are asking God to give us fifty people in our Sunday morning services by this Fall.  We are diligently praying and inviting others to our services, including those in neighboring towns.  Please pray with us about this.

3.)  Our church is responsible for the care and upkeep of about five acres of land.  A tractor would REALLY be a blessing and a huge time saver for us this Spring and Summer.  We are asking God if He would be so gracious to provide one that would meet this need.

4.)  Several families in our church really need to learn to trust God in every aspect of their lives.  We see them struggling with different things that would resolve themselves if they would just trust God. We have been praying for them; but we would like to ask you to join us in prayer.

Christmas Morning

Thank you for your prayers and financial support,


In His Service,

Pastor Raymond Beckles

November-December Prayer Letter

 

Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6

 We are praising and thanking God for this Christmas season.  My family and our church family  both have seen many blessing this year and are looking forward to what next year will bring.  In the last month and a half we have seen eleven souls saved and one gentleman baptized!  The gentleman who was saved and baptized is a friend and former co-worker of one of the young men who was saved and baptized at Lighthouse Baptist Church this past summer.  Both men have been attending faithfully since June.  Two weeks before this particular gentleman was saved he lingered after the church service (which is very unusual for him); but I was attending to the needs of another family and wasn’t able to speak with him.  I went by his home, but he wasn’t there.  I sensed that he was under great conviction so I prayed all week for an opportunity to meet with him the next Sunday .  Sure enough he came back the next week and I made a point to meet with him directly after the service.  He prayed to receive the Lord that very day and was baptized two weeks later.

We have one family who seems to have a gift for bringing others to church with them.  The young man I mentioned above and several of the people who have received the Lord recently are folks whom they have invited; but we covet your prayers for them because it seems that the devil has targeted them.  I have counseled them both to increase their Bible reading and prayer time because several situations have recently occurred in their lives and they really need the Lord to intervene on their behalf.

In fact, we truly do covet your prayers for this coming year because we have seen the devil show his ugly face in several of our members’ lives recently. We believe this is because we have been praying for growth both numerically and spiritually and we have seen it start to happen.  We trust God that growth will continue in spite of our adversary as we are faithful to Him.  Thank you again for your faithful prayers and financial support!

 In His Service,

Pastor Raymond Beckles

 Special prayer requests and needs:

1.    Numerical and Spiritual growth in our church.  We are asking God to double our number by next Fall.

2.    Wisdom and provision as we continue to adjust to living in the Parsonage.  We praise God for His provision thus far and thank all of you who have had a part!

       3.    Good health for myself and my family.

September-October Prayer Letter

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

July and August Prayer Letter

August 17, 2012

Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,

Newport News

In recent weeks some shocking things have been happening in our small town.  Three young people died (on different days from different causes; but each the same age- 27!) and three infants died – one of SIDS, and two were left unattended in hot vehicles.  This has caused a few in our number to request special prayer for the city of Newport in general.  We are praying that the Lord would use these events to cause people to turn to Him.

Lighthouse Baptist Church News

We are happy to report to you that in our services the blessings continue to come.  We continue to see visitors almost every Sunday.  We have had two youth activities averaging 30 in attendance.  In the month of July alone six souls were saved, two people were  baptized, and one couple joined our church by transfer of letter. 

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.  He that goeth forth and weapeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him.  Psalm 126:5,6

Seeing new faces, souls saved, and baptisms has encouraged our people tremendously.  You can sense a spirit of excitement among them.  We also have been counting our blessings on Thursday evenings during Bible Study and prayer time.  God has been so good to us in the matter of answering so many prayer requests in such a short time.  This past week alone we were able to mark off six items on our prayer list as matters of answered prayer.  One item we marked off was a negative test result on a MRI.  One of our charter members who has been struggling with her health was thought to have had a brain tumor.  Praise God the test came back negative!

Family News

Recently my wife and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary!  We also went to visit family and friends in California and Oklahoma as sort of a mini vacation.  We praise the Lord for safety and a time of refreshment.

In His Service,

Pastor Raymond Beckles