News from FBC Carthage August 25, 2008

E-News for FBC Carthage
August 25, 2008

Good Morning,

The cabinets, countertops, and appliances are in! We are cooking real food. This has been a very productive week in the house renovation. The upstairs’ rooms are painted and ready for trim work. The bathroom tile is cut and ready for installation. We may even be able to move furniture into the upstairs this week. It is wonderful when a plan comes together. Stop by and see the progress.

The first 5th Quarter was a great success with 140 students signed in and almost all of the t-shirts distributed. Check out the pictures on the home page of our web site www.fbccarthage.com. Kent Shingleton, Youth Specialist in Evangelism for the Tennessee Baptist Convention was the special guest speaker. At the ballgame he was shocked at the turn-out from the community. He was equally amazed at the number we had at the 5th Quarter. We have a window of opportunity to minister and witness for the Lord to a large group of people in our community each week at the game and the 5th Quarter. The next home game is this Friday with Gordonsville. I am looking forward to the game and also the 5th Quarter. Be praying for the Lord to use this ministry for His glory.

This Sunday is the last Sunday in this Sunday School year. It would be a great day to say “Thank You” to your Sunday School teacher. We have a great group of teachers who work hard each week in preparation for Sunday and in ministry throughout the week. A word or note of appreciation would mean a lot to them.

Speaking of Sunday School, September 7 begins a month-long emphasis of every member being in a Sunday School class. If you do not normally attend I ask you to make the commitment and be in Sunday School for at least this one month. One of our main goals at FBC Carthage is to establish connections with people and the Sunday School is the best way we have to do this. Sunday School begins at 9:30 AM.

College classes have begun for most of our students. Be praying for the college students for courage and boldness to stand for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of the universities challenge a young person’s faith and bring question on Jesus Christ. These are important years for we as a church to be supportive of our students and pray for them. If you know a student personally write them a note from time to time to let them know of your prayers.

Have a blessed week as you live for the glory of God.

Your Pastor,
Bro. Tim

Here is the news for the week:
1. The Nominating Committee and the Committee on Committees are busy providing opportunities for members of FBC Carthage to serve the Lord. I look forward to a new year of service and plan to meet with the committees and encourage their service. One of my roles as your Pastor is to equip you to do the work that God has for you to do (Ephesians 4:11). I ask each person to continuing serving this year as we establish the direction for the church and the individual ministries.

2. Awana, our Sunday night Bible club for children, meets each week from 5:30-7:30 PM. All children ages 3 through 6th grade are urged to attend. Parents, Awana will help you in your mandate to bring your children up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” It is not a substitute for Christian teaching in the home but it, along with Sunday School, Missions, and choirs, adds to and undergirds the spiritual work you are doing at home. Your children will come if you will bring them. They will have a fun time learning the Bible if they will come.

3. Sunday nights for adults and youth continue to explore the four things every member of FBC Carthage needs to know. We have discussed our purpose, direction and mission. Last night we covered the importance and relationship between salvation and baptism. Next Sunday we will explore what it means to be a member of FBC Carthage. There are both benefits and responsibilities in being a member. The service begins at 5:30 PM in the sanctuary. All members and prospective members are urged to attend.

4. September 7-14 will be a week long emphasis on missions in Tennessee through the work of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. We will be receiving the Golden State Missions Offering, a special offering toward that work. David Acres, the Director of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief, will be our special guest on Wednesday night, September 10 at 6:30 PM.

5. Closing out this week’s news I have copied an update from Joey and Lauren Pratt, missionaries with New Tribes Mission in Papua, New Guinea.

Hey Everyone,

This last week has been absolutely amazing for me (Joey). I had the opportunity to go on an adventure into the mountains of Papua New Guinea. Mason, a fellow missionary here at the base, has been praying (along with his team) about a certain people group tucked deep in the Adelbert mountain range. I was able to follow along with him as we investigated the logistics for a possible survey trip into this area.

The town of Madang acts as a PMV (Public Motor Vehicle) hub taking folks all over the countryside. So, with day-packs strapped on our backs we asked around town to find the PMV that would take us to our destination. We found the right PMV named Lasmoni, then jumped in the back along with some men who were from the foothills of the Adelbert mountain range. They packed a considerable amount of supplies for their village in the truck since it would be some time before they would come back to town.

We finally got moving around 5:30 that evening, and after getting a bit of fuel and some snacks for the road, we were off. The road hugged the coast for a better part of 2 1/2 hours, and though this PNG "interstate" looks about like a Tennessee country road, that didn't stop our driver from moving along at about 100 kilometers per hour (or around 65 mph).

Around 8 that night, we turned off the main road onto what barely qualified (in my mind) as a trail and started our ascent into the foothills. The road was rough and mostly uphill, and by 8:30 the PMV had gone as far as it could possibly go. The people loaded most of the supplies into bilums (jungle-material bags) and placed the larger items on their head. With a light rain on our backs, Mason and I joined them in the dark trek up the mountain. After 30 minutes of an unrelenting uphill climb, we reached our base village called Savon. We all cooled down with some water and conversation, then Mason and I bedded down into the humble house of the local aid-post worker named Ugi and prepared for an early morning probe of the trail which curled deeper into the mountains.

The next morning came too abruptly, but with water in hand and the sun just peeking over the mountains, Mason and I headed up the ascent in order to inspect the condition of the trail. The climb was considerably harder than the night before, and I was only able to hike for about an hour until my legs and lungs cried "mercy"! (Fast food makes one slow!) And unless Mason was up for carrying me back, I figured it was best to quit while I still had some energy. So we strolled back down the mountain, stopping to talk to more locals to learn about what lay ahead for any would-be survey team equipped for a trek deeper into the bush. From what Mason learned, he estimated the walk to be about a 2-3 day journey for any team wanting to get into the survey area!

Unknown to us, the last part of our journey would be the best! It was quite dark as we rolled up our mats around 5 the next morning, said our thanks-yous and good-byes, and headed down the mountain to where the PMV would take us home. We arrived early and were quite surprised to see nearly 100 people in temporary leaf shelters with cooking fires around the PMV stop. We climbed up a small rise to sit down with them, and Mason asked what village they were from. Would you believe that they were all from the very language group we had been wanting to survey!! I couldn't believe it. I could only sit there awestruck as Mason talked with these people for nearly an hour as we waited for the PMV. He learned that they were sending some of their people to town to, among other things, buy and sell at the local markets. Mason was able to confirm much of what he had learned from others, and talked to them about the possibility of coming. They were quite excited at the prospect of that! Please pray for Mason, the rest of his team, and regional leadership as they pray through making formal contact with the people.

It was good to get back to my comfortable bed and see Lauren and Ellia again. And the girls did great for their first time alone in PNG. But you know... I couldn't shake the fact that we were able to make contact with folks from this people group who may someday soon hear the Gospel preached for the first time in their own language. The Lord is good!

In Christ,
Joey

This ministry is facilitated through people's monthly financial contributions. If you would like to partner with us financially, please read/print this support information:
http://www.joeyandlauren.org/supportinformation/Support_Information.pdf
-- Joey and Lauren PrattNTM Private Mail BagMadang, MP 511Papua New Guinea
www.joeyandlauren.org