Category: Newsletters

“How is a mission church different from other churches?”

“Why do missionaries still need support once the church building phase has been completed?”

These questions have made Christy and me aware that there may be others who do not fully understand that there are many stages of following the Lord’s leadership in building a missionary church. Therefore, we would like to take the opportunity to share with you where we are in this process of walking by faith and trusting God for our personal support as well as the building fund for Beacon Church. These two accounts are completely separate from each other.

Although we have completed the building phase, we, as a church, had to take out a mortgage to accomplish this. It was not possible to get a mortgage with the low rates that are available to homeowners through conventional banks. However, we praise the Lord that through Church Extension Loan Fund, we were able to get a loan of $787,000.00, with an interest rate of 7.5% percent.

Because so many of you volunteered and donated money, and because so many of our church members sacrificed their spare time and days off, what should have cost $1,560,000.00 to build only cost $787,000.00. We can only praise our great God for this providence!

We serve a God Who not only knows, but can and daily does meet needs. For example, Christy and I are now refinancing our home mortgage with a substantial monthly savings. What a blessing from God! We, like each of you, have normal living expenses and are also planning for the future college needs of our children and our retirement years.

Church growth is steady but extremely slow. Christy and I are willing to stay and work, but we need continued support. Our small but growing congregation cannot yet support the mortgage payment, utilities, and outreach ministries plus a pastor’s salary. Without the support of individual Free Will Baptists and Free Will Baptist Churches, this ministry will not be able to become self-supporting. As a church, we are trusting God to help us meet these needs by:

-the prayers of His people
-continuing to build attendance as more people hear and respond to God’s offer of salvation
-the gifts of people who are informed and willing to continue to give sacrificially to see this work accomplished

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank each of you for the sacrificial giving that has made this walk of faith possible, and we know that our LORD will reward each of you richly. It is a blessing for us to be your representatives here in RI. We have done our best to be faithful stewards, and we thank you for giving us this opportunity to be used of God to reach people here in RI.

To give to the Beacon Church Building Fund, you can send your donation to the Home Missions address at the bottom of page 1 marked Beacon Building Fund. To continue to support our salary account, simply mark your gift “Bill Reynolds” and send to the Home Missions address at the bottom of page 1. For your convenience, we also have a PayPal option if you click the \”Donate\” tab on the Home Page.

Pictured are our seven baptisms from September, plus pictures of our Ladies’ Luncheon, and a church service. There are many more pictures of other events you can see by clicking on \”Events\” and \”Event Book.\” Thanks for praying!!!

Grand Opening Service
August 19, 2012
Thank you so much for all your prayers!! Once again we find ourselves with not nearly enough room for all the pictures we want to share with you. By our best estimates, at least 200 people were in attendance to hear about the hope we have in Jesus Christ. At least 20 people indicated that they asked the Lord to forgive their sins and be their Savior! To God be the glory!! He has indeed done great things!!! Thank you again for your continued prayers and support!! Our joy could not be greater!

So much to tell, so little space! Special thanks to Dave & Gaye Nobles from Bethel Free Will Baptist Church in Woodbridge, VA, who came & installed the sound system. Special thanks to Tommy & Sue Goodfellow from Gateway Free Will Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, VA, who have been helping us all along.  Special thanks to First Free Will Baptist Church from Glasgow, Kentucky who sent Joel & Melanie Franks with a group of teenagers to help put on our great Fun Fair and amazing Vacation Bible School. They also helped us with finishing touches on the building and moving!  THANK YOU!!!!  What a blessing!!!!

We had a great Fun Fair!  Over 25 new families came to our Fun Fair and received info on the church and an invitation to our Grand Opening Service while their kids played games, bounced on the giant slides and slipped through the giant slip & slide, ate popcorn, popsicles, & cotton candy, got their faces painted, and more!

VBS was great this year. 32 children in all attended, and 6 of them prayed to ask Jesus to forgive their sins and be their Savior! We are so grateful to the group from KY who came to help! See more pictures at www.BeaconFreeWillBaptist.com under “All News” and/or “Recent and Past Events!!!

To each person who gave, prayed, and/or came and helped,

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PART IN THIS BUILDING!!!!

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Praise the Lord–our first service at the new building was August 5. That day was also special because another person prayed to ask Jesus Christ to forgive his sins and be his Savior! What a great first day! Praise God!

Please pray for our Grand Opening Aug. 19!!! Mailings and personal invitations are going out!

Thank you so much for your prayers! Thank you for your continued support! We need it now more than ever! Without your prayers and financial support, this ministry would not be possible! Thank you!

We had a Striped Bass Fellowship on May 20. On Wednesday night before Bro. Tommy Goodfellow led us in a Bible study, the Gedeon family sang for us.  Luke & Matt’s parents and sister came for a visit and sang 2 a capella songs for us.  What a treat!
We are working diligently to complete the building.  The costs of a building like this are extremely high.  Without your continued support, there is no way we could have a quality facility like this.  Thank you so much for continuing to keep us in your prayers and giving.

Please continue to check our website as we hope to have our grand opening roughly in late July.
So many people have helped us with the building! For pictures and details on what is being done, visit www.BeaconFreeWillBaptist.com and click on “Construction Progress.”  There are many galleries of photos with captions by date.  We try to update at least weekly. 🙂

The Miller Family–Pastor Terry, Tammy, Brian, Devan, & Brannon–have moved up to Rhode Island to minister with us. Pastor Terry will serve as our associate pastor, and Tammy will serve in various ministries including music, discipleship, and teaching. Together they will work with our teens. Their sons Brannon & Devan will help with music and audio, as well. They will be a tremendous blessing to this ministry!! (Brian and Jonathan are headed to work at Trinity Camp in AL for the summer and then to Southeastern FWB College this fall.)

At our church outing to Wilson Park, we played volleyball, flag football, whiffle ball, and other games as the little kids played at the playground. Some of the folks just enjoyed sitting and talking togher. A picnic lunch of charcoal-girlled hot dogs, pasta salad, chips, cookies, and salad & fruit made the day perfect!

Tommy & Sue Goodfellow from Gateway FWB Church are here to help again! We are VERY thankful! What a blessing!

Stone work is almost complete. Tile is all laid, awaiting the return of Gary Wilson from Lynchburg, VA for grout and carpet completion. Ceiling tiles are hung and trim is getting put up. We are so thankful for your continued prayers for safety for our volunteers and professional workers and for warm, dry weather!

Special Thanks To Gary Wilson for coming to help with flooring!

Praise God for His faithfulness to provide for every need! Prayer Requests:

Excavation

Plumbing

Electrical Work

Finish carpentry

Flooring

Paving

Church Furniture

Fence & playground

In our March fellowship youth cupcake baking contest, Anna Gedeon took first with her filled-with-sprinkles-on-top cupcakes.  Peter Gedeon took second with his frosted brownie cupcakes, and Billy Reynolds took 3rd with his chocolate-with-a-cherrry-on-top cupcakes.

Happy Easter!  After a fun Easter Egg Hunt, Christy sat the kids down and used 2 sticks to represent a cross and read & explained Luke 23:33-34.  Next in the bag was a bottle of cinnamon (pictured) with some ace bandage for the wrapping of Jesus’ body, with which she used John 19:38-41. Then she pulled out a rock for the tombstone, reading Mark 15:46.  Last of all, there was an empty Easter egg to represent Jesus’ empty tomb. Matthew 28:1-7 summed up the VERY happy ending to the story, but we finished with John 14:1-3–Jesus is preparing a place for us in Heaven, too, so we can be with Him one day if we ask Him to forgive us for our sins!  Yay!!!

Our Easter Communion Service was a wonderful celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection.  A family of six visited that day–they had seen our sign at the building site, so they decided to come worship with us on Easter!  Praise the Lord!

God has been so good!  The sheetrock got completed and painted!  Special thanks to John Buschmann  & Ed Verra from Good News FWBC in Chesterfield, VA, for coming to paint and hang acoustic ceiling. Terry Miller, Matt Gedeon, Pastor Bill, & Ray Warner rolled paint behind John. Cullen Crain, Ernie McCollum, Frank Brazee, & Matt Gedeon came for Men’s workday cleanup. Dave Vallee hung doors with Pastor Bill.  Matt Gedeon, Frank Brazee, Christy, Michaela, & Hannah Reynolds, Ed Verra, & Gordon Johnston laid stonework with Chris Kairnes.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!!!  The stone continues to be put on.  Praise the Lord for the answered prayers for safety and a mild winter–this week is especially warm!

Thank you so much to the staff of the Home Missions Office and all who were involved in the recent Home Missions Summit.  We learned so much from the seminars and were refreshed by your fellowship and that of other missionaries!

Thank you for your prayers and support–
We thank God for your faithfulness to partner with us in building this church!

Thank you so much for praying!
Thank you so much to Pastor Tommy Franks and Hamilton FWB in AL, and Pastor Randy Wright and Piney Grove FWB in AL for having me to present our ministry in person.  Thank you for your hospitality and generosity!
Thanks for your continued prayers and support!  Work inside and outside continues. Here you can see the baptistry being installed and some furring strips put on the trusses.  We are waiting on the electrical to be done so that the insulation and sheetrock can be put in.  Please continue to pray for mild weather and safety for our workers!  Thank you so much!

December 11 was our Living Nativity Service.
On December 25 we had our Christmas Communion & Brunch.
The youth did a wonderful job presenting our Living Nativity this year. The older youth narrated with some dramatic flair, and then the Youth Chorus sang for us. On Christmas Day we gathered for a yummy brunch and a beautiful time of worship together. What a great day!
Special thanks to John Buschmann, Ed Verra, & Joe Fahed who came from Good News Free Will Baptist Church in Chesterfield, VA. They came to help put up siding and the steeple. They also built the sound booth! Special thanks to Dr. Dave Nobles from Bethel Free Will Baptist in Woodbridge, VA, who came and laid the wiring for our sound system!
After the Men\’s Prayer Breakfast, the men came and worked at the church on January 14.