Dear Friends,
Greetings from hot and humid Central Florida! The snowbirds have left and the lovebugs have invaded. It is my privilege, once again, to update you on the news of Faith Baptist Mission.
First, I want to say thank you for praying for me. Last month I wrote and asked you to pray for an ‘upspoken request.’ God answered your prayers. My meetings went well and I believe God was honored. Many of you contacted us to let us know that you were praying for us. Thank you so much for praying.
Since my last update, I have visited two different churches. On April 14th, I had the privilege of speaking in the AM service at Cornerstone Baptist in Lakeland, FL. This is the sending church of Ken & BJ Armstrong. It was such a joy to be with them. Pastor Larry Lindow and his church were so welcoming to me. Yesterday, (May 5th) my family worshipped at Southside Baptist in Sebring, FL. Southside is the sending church for Chris & Diane Marine and also Doug & Karen Phillips. We were blessed by Pastor David Altman’s message and were encouraged by the folks there.
The next few months will be extremely busy. Next week, I will be traveling to Arizona to spend some time with David & Comfort Jacobs. I will be speaking at their sending church, North Mountain Church, in Phoenix, on May 19th, in their morning service. If you are in the area, come by and say hello! On May 26th, our family is planning to worship at Open Bible Baptist in Orange City, FL. We are looking forward to sitting under the preaching of Pastor Paul Youmans.
In June, my family will embark on the Simpson Family Road Trip. We are planning to drive from FL to Chicago to spend some time with David Totman. From Chicago, we will drive to Littleton, IL to visit Koku & Akpene Akakpo and their sending church, First Baptist of Littleton. I will be speaking at First Baptist all day on June 23rd. Then, we will drive to Des Moines, IA for the GARBC National Conference, June 25-28. Look for us at the FBM table! After the GARBC conference, we will have some family vacation in St. Louis before driving home to FL. Pray for our family as we travel.
The busy-ness continues into July as I have a trip to Mexico scheduled. We are also looking forward to hosting Kathy Miller in Florida for a visit. Finally, there is a work team from Pleasant Hill Baptist in Sterling, Ohio going to Benin in July to help and encourage Joe & Amy Marshall.
We are praising God for his provision. For several months, I have written to you about our 2019 Niger/Benin Renovation Project. God has gloriously been providing for this project. Our goal is to raise $35,000 to fully fund all three phases of this project. As I write this letter, over $22,000 is in the account for this project. There are even additional funds that have been promised. To God be the Glory! Please continue to pray with us that all of the remaining funds will come in. Pray also that we will be able to schedule a trip to Niger to work on these renovations.
Please pray for FBM. Thank you for your faithful support of FBM and its missionaries. May God richly bless you!
Stephen B. Simpson
President