Dear Friends,
Once again, it is time for me to pause and reflect on the goodness of our God.
In March, the Lord blessed tremendously as I traveled to New York. I had great visits with Bethel Baptist in Vestal and Grace Baptist in Dansville. I also was privileged to spend time with the pastors of First Baptist in Avoca and West Endicott Baptist in Endicott. Spending some time with the Beckley family was another blessing. One unexpected highlight was meeting Ken Beckley’s mother, Jean Beckley. Jean and her husband served God faithfully in Mali for decades. It was a delight to meet her for the first time. Thank you for praying for this trip. God worked in some unique ways. To God be the glory for what He has done and continues to do.
March also saw the return of the Ovenell family to the US for a time of rest and reporting to their supporters. They spent a few days with us in Winter Haven. It was so encouraging to see them and to worship with them. Pray for them as they settle into life in the US.
In April, I travel again. This time I am off to Seattle, WA. Please pray fervently for this trip. Pray specifically for Friday, April 12th as I will be in some important meetings that day. Whenever I speak in churches, I often ask Christians to pray for our ‘unspoken requests.’ Missionaries have many ‘unspoken requests’ that they cannot put in their prayer letters or share publicly from pulpits. This meeting on April 12th fits squarely in this category of an ‘unspoken request.’ However, as you probably know, ‘unspoken requests’ are often the most important prayer requests that we have. Please pray for Friday, April 12th.
On Sunday morning, April 14th, I have the privilege of speaking at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Lakeland, FL. Cornerstone is the sending church for Ken & BJ Armstrong, our missionaries to Indonesia. I am looking forward to this time with them of sharing the ministry of FBM and expressing my deep gratitude for their faithful support of the Armstrongs.
Continue to pray for our 2019 Niger/Benin Renovation Project. This project is about encouraging our missionaries by renovating some buildings in Niger. These renovations will result in a much needed guest house in Niger. We are praising God for a recent $2,000 gift that came in from one of our supporting churches. Would you or your church be willing to partner with us financially on this project? Please let me know if you have any questions about this.
Sadly, we have made the difficult decision to postpone our July mission trip to Niger. Some ‘continent-wide’ governmental meetings will be occurring in Niger in July and the US government has advised against all travel to Niger during this time L. Lord willing, we will reschedule this trip for later in 2019. Stay tuned for more details.
Please pray for FBM. Pray specifically for my meetings on Friday, April 12th. Pray that God will be glorified in all that is said.
Thank you for your faithful support of FBM and its missionaries. May God richly bless you!
Stephen B. Simpson
President