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Mylinda Bates October 2024

The Great Spirit walks with us through times of trouble, giving us courage and well-being so that we can give to others the same comfort given to us. We need your prayers, for as you send your voice to the Great Spirit, many will see in our lives the answers to your many prayers and give God thanks. -1 Corinthians 1:4 and 11 First Nations Version 

On my rainy walk this morning, many of my global partners came to mind and I was compelled to not only pray for them but to invite you to join me in those prayers. After all, you make it possible for me to work alongside these folks as I’ve served in my role as Global Consultant for Training with the Restorative Arts with International Ministries. Cuba, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ecuador, the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, Kenya, Lebanon, Ukraine and more places and faces come to mind, making me both smile and sigh.

I smile when Ernesto shares that he’s getting close to finishing his Doctor of Ministry dissertation focused on how he implemented what he learned from our Expressive Arts in Transition training in Cuba to support community youth during the Covid 19 crisis. I smile when my Costa Rican friend Ruth invites me to collaborate with her to offer creative conflict transformation training to women and young girls in Costa Rica.  When Idaliana shares a poem, Eloy sends photos, Leslia and Marybexy write notes of thanks, or Oseth asks me how I need prayer, I smile. Their greetings remind me that together we are God’s answer to our prayers. I’m deeply grateful to them and all of you for the witness, commitment and encouragement that prod me to deeper faith and action.

I sigh as well, because along with everyday graces and gifts, grief and heartache touch us too. I sigh as I listen to Aida, Gabriela, and Elizabeth’s stories of the littles, the elders, the students and professors, the healthcare workers and those who’ve stayed in their home countries when others have left.  I sigh in sacred trust that God sees and strengthens the hundreds of internally displaced folk now staying at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) in Beirut, Lebanon in seminary housing where I stayed when visiting there. I remember the hummus and hospitality I enjoyed, and pray that the abundance of God’s love will bring comfort, courage and well-being to them as it did for me. These are just a few of the many challenges held alongside of the courage I witness.

The resilience and creativity of my friends in the midst of difficulty inspires and motivates me to do all that I can to stand with them. Here’s how I need your prayers and support for the doors God has opened to partner with these wonderful colleagues–

  1. In order to continue offering training and in person support to my colleagues around the world, I need to enlarge my team of monthly supporters who are called to a ministry of financial giving to make this possible. For those of you who like specifics, this would mean 15 new givers at $200 per month or 30 at $100 per month or 60 at $50 per month. Acknowledging that as we enter the Fall and begin to wrap up the year, you will be receiving a number of worthy requests for your solidarity and support; World Mission Offering, charities and political campaigns, and GoFundMe’s galore. It can get overwhelming, and yet, I want you to know that I need your prayers and your support. You can easily sign up to be on my team as a monthly supporter at this link:

https://internationalministries.org/author/m-baits/. If you need help setting this up please reach out to me at mylindabaits.gmail.com

2. We have been invited to expand the reach of our Expressive Arts in Transition pilot project in Cuba. After successfully graduating 8 certified EXIT facilitators, both the University of Holguin and a group in Santiago want to offer our arts-based psychosocial training program in their communities. We thank God for the $4000 already donated towards the $25,000 we need to complete these two new cohorts in 2025. If being a part of making the first ever Expressive Arts in Transition training in all of Latin America possible, will you consider giving a year-end gift? Any gift you can make will be helpful. By giving to this pilot project fund, you will make training and supervision available to those who are closest to the situation at hand. They hear the stories of struggle, they see the lonely elders and comfort the grieving children, sharing love by being the tangible expression of compassionate justice. You can donate directly at this link: https://internationalministries.org/expressive-arts-in-transition-exit/

3. At the end of this month I will be joining a small group of Global Consultants to accompany our colleague Kristy Engle and meet with ministry partners of the Hungarian Baptist Aid Society. We will visit ministry sites and encourage those involved in vital and life transforming ministries of care and comfort to those impacted by the war in Ukraine. I will facilitate an artful healing gathering with some key leaders there. Please pray that this time will be what is needed for the soul care of those gathered.

For those of you who are already part of my team, I can’t thank you enough. Thank you for your ongoing and faithful support. For those of you who, like me, smile and sigh at the beauty and brutality, gifts and griefs, resilience and raw realities of our world and want to DO something to make a difference, you are.

Praying that you will see in our lives the answers to your many prayers and give God thanks.

Mylinda

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Scott and Tan September 2024

I had been planning for some time to write a newsletter.  But, as you probably know me well, by now I could always find just one more thing to do before getting started on it,  so it gets delayed and delayed.  No I have to send you at least a short update as life has just turned upside down. 

Many of you may have seen or heard by now,  possibly through International Ministries,  that Northern parts of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand and Eastern Burma all got hit by the tail of a typhoon last week which has caused heavy flooding in all four countries.  Vietnam is reporting over 240 dead,  over half of that number from a landslide that took out one village.  Accurate information on Burma and Laos is not so easy to get,  but we are seeing reports of severe damage in Burma with at least 160 dead and counting.  Even the capital of Burma,  NayPyiTaw,  was flooded badly.  

Our home province of Chiang Rai was also severely damaged.  The flood came into the city and damaged most of the downtown.  Almost all the communities near the river were hit hard. Upstream,  in the hills,  many villages near the river have seen complete destruction.  Our home,  near the river,  was also flooded.  But thanking the Lord that it is just a lot of mud that we have to deal with and no significant damage.  We got most everything up in time before we rushed out at 10 pm on Wednesday night – just as the water rushed in.   At least a dozen other missionary families were flooded out.  Some lost absolutely everything. 

The flood of the century, I would say.  In the nearly 40 years I have been here,  I have never seen this level of flooding. 

International Ministries has put out an appeal, if you would like to donate.  Some of the local ministries I am related to here will be managing those relief funds. 

The Thai people have been amazing.  Volunteers from the entire country have poured in. It is a time of working together and helping each other.  

We are monitoring the news from our neighboring countries, trying to find ways we can help as we know that the needs there will be greater than ours. 

Blessings,

Scott and Tan

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Thailand Flooding September 2024

International Ministries has sent an initial grant of $20,000 in One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) emergency relief to partners that will provide humanitarian relief to the victims of the severe flooding devastating northern Thailand.

Catastrophic flooding has struck Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand, affecting more than 10,000 homes, according to news reports from the Bangkok Post. Some are calling it the worst flooding in 80 years, with the Kok River overflowing to submerge the entire business district of Chiang Rai city. Across Thailand, 48 provinces remain under flash flood warnings through September 18th, with the potential for further devastation.

International Ministries (IM) is deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of its global servants, partners in the region, and the communities they serve. The Williams and Coats families, IM global servants stationed in Chiang Rai, have been forced to flee their homes due to rising floodwaters.

IM Area Director for Southeast Asia and Japan Rev. Kyle Witmer describes the dire situation: “Our partners among the hill tribe peoples here have seen some devastating realities as rivers have overrun their banks on numerous occasions. Please prayerfully consider how God might use you to respond with love and care for those affected. Pray that in the midst of this difficult time, people will see the difference that a relationship with Jesus Christ makes in the lives of God’s children.”

With ongoing flood warnings, immediate needs for displaced families include food, clean water, and shelter, while longer-term efforts will focus on restoration and rebuilding. Kyle and Katrina Williams, IM global servants in Chiang Rai, have been providing updates on the situation as it unfolds. They are urgently asking for prayer and support. “Our community is overwhelmed. Many families are now living like refugees, uncertain of when they’ll be able to return to their homes and begin the daunting task of clean-up,” shared Kyle Williams.

IM calls for urgent prayer and support for all affected by the floods, especially for the families of its global servants and local partners. Financial gifts can be made in two ways:

  • To support community relief efforts, donations can be made through your American Baptist church, through giving online, or by sending checks directly to International Ministries. Please designate your contributions “OGHS–Thailand Floods” in the memo line of your check.
  • To support the IM global servants who have experienced personal losses, donations can be made online or by sending checks directly to International Ministries, designating your contributions “Global Servant Emergency Care” in the memo line of your check.

Checks sent directly to International Ministries should be made payable to “International Ministries” and mailed to:

International Ministries
Attn: Gifts Processing
1003 W 9th Avenue, Ste A
King of Prussia, PA 19406

All funds will directly assist those in need as they navigate this unprecedented disaster. Your prayers and financial support will make a significant difference in helping those affected by the devastating floods in Chiang Rai and across the country.

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Heart for Harvest

September 22, 2024

Right after second service come and share a complementary meal and learn more about the missionaries FBC supports.

Please sign up at the table in the vestibule starting Sunday September 8, 2024.

If you have any questions contact Candy Waite 815-222-5740.

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Kihomi Ngwemi andNzunga Mabudiga July 2024

Greeting from our rainy Altagracia.

Many of you have been wondering about the whereabout of Nzunga & Kihomi. We are in Altagracia, a small village/town about 30-45 minutes’ drive from Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic. Our house is about 5 minutes’ drive from the FINCA, the mission land where we will be building the church and eventually develop a youth camp.

We are in the full swing of activities. Meetings that go beyond 9, 10 PM. Visits of sick & shuts in. Yesterday, in our nightly meeting we put in place a new structure that will help develop the new church. The young pastor Benny was named Senior pastor seconded by his wife, a Palmer Seminary Master of Theology student, and 2 Haitian leaders.

Nzunga & Kihomi will be teaching every Tuesday and Friday while sharing the duties on Sundays. Also Kihomi will help develop some development projects to help members strengthen their financial economy.

The big challenge in this society is how to help people with no legal status in Dominican Republic. Here is the case that has been keeping us awake since we arrived. A young Haitian lady member of our New Creation Baptist Church has been shut in.

Why? She has a mass preventing her to urinate normally. She uses a Catheter but needs a surgical operation, but no hospital will take her in because she is illegal in the country and because of lack of funds.

Yesterday in our meeting we decided to call The Good Samaritan Hospital in La Romana about 4 hours away if they can take her in and we will volunteer to drive her over.

Thank you for praying for our emotional strength.

Yours in DR

Nzunga & Kihomi

Dear Supporters,

When this was written they had been back in the DR for 8 days. The Energizer Bunny has nothing on them. What passion of the Lord and his people.

The building of the New Creation Baptist church has been delayed due to the torrential rain and the lack of an engineer. Evidently there is a building boom going on and finding an engineer is difficult. The DR has building codes just like here. Please pray for the rains to stop and for an engineer to become available.

As always, thank you for your support.

Yours,

Dennis Shewell and the MPT team

deshewell@gmail.com

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Meet the Goods

A reception will be held for Global Servants, Rev. Jon and Amanda Good on Tuesday, April 30 at 7PM in the Common Grounds. They will be speaking about their former ministry in Hungary and their transition into Rome, Italy. They have been staying at Judson Univesity for their home deputation and will be leaving in July for Italy. All are welcome to come visit with them and hear their story. Light refreshments will be served.

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2024 MLK, Jr Food Drive

Thanks to all who contributed to the 2024 Martin Luther King, Jr. Food Drive. We were able to drop off a large amount of food and other household items to benefit those in need.