As each part does its own special work,
it helps the other parts grow,
so that the whole body is healthy
and growing
and full of love.
~Ephesians 4:16b (NLT)~
Pray for Rev. Walter Mixon, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church (east of Amite), as he has heart concerns.
Continue to pray for Micah Tolleson (22) and his family. He has been sent home while they wait for results of the biopsy to determine the next step. As you pray for him, please pray for his parents and other family members who have continuing health issues of their own.
CaringBridge: Callie Cole (2 posts)
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/calliecole/journal
From Cheryl Hughes Green
Talked to Momma last night and Linda’s surgery to remove her gall bladder is today at 3:30. She should be dischared from the hospital and go to Momma and Daddy’s house tomorrow.
John’s face is still swollen pretty bad from his little surgery of his widsom teeth.
Thanks to everyone who has and are praying for our little family. Please also pray for our parents: Wilton & Sandra Hughes who have been with Linda and taking care of Philip during this time. Thanks again and God bless.
Virginia Goings Blades
(June 24, 1947 – March 11, 2010)
Died at 5:05 p.m. on Thursday, March 11, 2010 at her residence in Walker. She was born June 24, 1947 in Franklinton and was 62 years of age. Visitation at McKneely Funeral Home, Amite, from 9 a.m. on Monday until religious services at 11 a.m. Monday. Interment will follow at Wilmer Cemetery. She is survived by 2 daughters, Sheila Dale Griffin and Michelle Blades Wirtz, 2 sons, Ricky Wayne Dykes and Joseph Scott Blades, 1 sister, Carolyn Ann Spears, 3 brothers, Buddy Joe Goings, Glen Spears, and Lynn Spears, 5 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. Preceded in death by husband, Arthur L. Blades, mother, Vivian C. Spears, and father, Joseph D. Goings.
Annie Armstrong Easter Offering
Expanding God’s work in Puerto Rico
Luis and Lourdes Rodriguez are missionaries for the North American Mission Board, responsible for planting churches in Puerto Rico. With a corps group of 15 they planted a, now thriving church in Coamo.
By John Correa
At the onset of his missionary career, pastor Luis Rodríguez and his wife, Lourdes Santiago, were dismayed at the lack of commitment from church members at the church they’d planted in Coamo, Puerto Rico. However, this apathy did not hamper the efforts of these Southern Baptists. Besides, from God’s divine perspective, this was only the beginning.
Luis remembers the challenges faced during those uncertain days after being sent by the Raham First Baptist Church of Santa Isabel to plant a new church in Coamo.
“When we arrived at Raham-Coamo, we noticed the believers there didn’t really have a commitment to come to the services,” said Rodriguez. “When we were on our way to a prayer service, they started calling to excuse themselves from coming to the service. In that moment I turned and looked at my wife and wondered if our efforts were really worth it. We began doubting if God was really involved.”
When Luis and Lourdes arrived at the small church for the prayer service, only one other couple had come to intercede for God’s work there – but a couple with a very special need.
“With great sorrow in our hearts, we found brother Carlos Santiago and his wife, Andrea, who was kneeling in prayer,” recalls Rodriguez. Andrea’s hair had fallen out due to the chemotherapy she was undergoing to fight her cancer.
“I looked at my wife, she looked at me, and the Lord spoke to my heart, saying, ‘For the love of that solitary life I’m sending you to Coamo. It’s one life, one soul. Don’t worry about the ones who made excuses and didn’t come.’”
Because of Andrea’s commitment, Luis and Lourdes were motivated to press on with God’s challenge of planting a church in Coamo. The result was the creation of the Raham Baptist Church in Coamo.
The name of the church, “Raham,” is the Hebrew word for “God has shown compassion.” This is precisely the spiritual gift that continues to be one of the driving forces behind Rodriguez’s work in Coamo.
Luis and Lourdes Rodriguez are missionaries for the North American Mission Board, responsible for planting churches in Puerto Rico. They are two of the some 5,300 missionaries in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® for North American Missions, and are among the NAMB missionaries featured as part of the annual Week of Prayer, March 7-14, 2010. This year’s theme is “Live with Urgency: Share God’s Transforming Power.” The 2010 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering’s goal is $70 million, 100 percent of which benefits missionaries like Rodriguez.
Luis, 46, was ordained as a Southern Baptist pastor in 2001 by his local church at the time, Raham Baptist Church of Santa Isabel. He came from a background in business, with a concentration in accounting – working up to a vice president’s job at the company where he worked for over 20 years.
Since becoming a missionary three years ago, he has completed coursework at Luther Rice Seminary in Puerto Rico, and is planning to continue his studies at the Baptist Seminary of Puerto Rico, through Liberty University.
“My decision to become a missionary wasn’t an easy decision. I faced all sorts of difficulties,” Luis says. “I quit a job with great benefits. Temptations came, uncertainty, good advice and bad advice. But God, who is rich in mercy, sustained me. My wife’s support was unconditional and awesome. I simply couldn’t resist what God wanted to do with me.
“One day in a prayer meeting I began asking God, ‘Lord, what do you want to do with me?’ After several months went by without the slightest involvement in the ministry, without a desire to continue pastoring, God sent us to Raham in Coamo, where, with a group of 15 people, we planted a church.”
Although the most predominant religious group in Puerto Rico is Roman Catholicism – about 85 percent of the population – the remaining 15 percent is made up various groups like Southern Baptists, who impact the culture through schools and universities, among other means.
Coamo is a city of approximately 39,500, located in the southern region of Puerto Rico. Three years ago, Luis Rodríguez and his church planting team also started a bilingual, Christian school – Coamo Christian Academy — to minister to local children and their parents.
Coamo Christian Academy has met with great approval in the community. Beginning with only four students in 2006, the school now has more than 40 enrolled.
Luis admits he couldn’t do the work without the support of Southern Baptists.
“Contributions given to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® support me as a missionary in the work we are doing, and help us support the church to reach children and the parents who participate in this ministry. To God be the glory!”
Adalberto Muñoz, a member of Luis’ ministry team, spoke of Luis’ commitment and passion for the lost.
“When you talk to Luis and see him carry out his duties, when you see the fruit this ministry is bearing, there is no doubt that God really called Luis to serve in this capacity.
“Pastor Luis and members of Raham Baptist Church in Coamo have a genuine calling from God to the ministry, a sincere love for the Word, integrity, and commitment towards the community,” said Munoz. “It’s a church that inspires a lot of love. You feel you are in a wholesome environment full of love for God and for people.”
Commitment to prayer and keeping God’s Word have also inspired door-to-door evangelism, prayer walks, interactive team sports with non-Christians, radio talk shows, Bible studies in neighboring towns and the capital, and other activities such as “One Night with Christ,” during which sister churches interact to impact the Coamo community.
Rodriguez said his ministry’s most pressing need is adequate facilities and more space.
“The current facilities aren’t sufficient,” he says. “We have limited space, and if we don’t do something about it soon, the growth of our ministry will be adversely affected.”
Luis and wife Lourdes are the parents of three children, Victor, Luis and Lyanne Rodriguez Santiago.
John J. Correa is a writer living in Dacula, Georgia.
God is providing another beautiful day. Give Him back some of your day.
Anna Lee
Expanding God’s work in Puerto Rico
Luis and Lourdes Rodriguez are missionaries for the North American Mission Board, responsible for planting churches in Puerto Rico. With a corps group of 15 they planted a, now thriving church in Coamo.
By John Correa
At the onset of his missionary career, pastor Luis Rodríguez and his wife, Lourdes Santiago, were dismayed at the lack of commitment from church members at the church they’d planted in Coamo, Puerto Rico. However, this apathy did not hamper the efforts of these Southern Baptists. Besides, from God’s divine perspective, this was only the beginning.
Luis remembers the challenges faced during those uncertain days after being sent by the Raham First Baptist Church of Santa Isabel to plant a new church in Coamo.
“When we arrived at Raham-Coamo, we noticed the believers there didn’t really have a commitment to come to the services,” said Rodriguez. “When we were on our way to a prayer service, they started calling to excuse themselves from coming to the service. In that moment I turned and looked at my wife and wondered if our efforts were really worth it. We began doubting if God was really involved.”
When Luis and Lourdes arrived at the small church for the prayer service, only one other couple had come to intercede for God’s work there – but a couple with a very special need.
“With great sorrow in our hearts, we found brother Carlos Santiago and his wife, Andrea, who was kneeling in prayer,” recalls Rodriguez. Andrea’s hair had fallen out due to the chemotherapy she was undergoing to fight her cancer.
“I looked at my wife, she looked at me, and the Lord spoke to my heart, saying, ‘For the love of that solitary life I’m sending you to Coamo. It’s one life, one soul. Don’t worry about the ones who made excuses and didn’t come.’”
Because of Andrea’s commitment, Luis and Lourdes were motivated to press on with God’s challenge of planting a church in Coamo. The result was the creation of the Raham Baptist Church in Coamo.
The name of the church, “Raham,” is the Hebrew word for “God has shown compassion.” This is precisely the spiritual gift that continues to be one of the driving forces behind Rodriguez’s work in Coamo.
Luis and Lourdes Rodriguez are missionaries for the North American Mission Board, responsible for planting churches in Puerto Rico. They are two of the some 5,300 missionaries in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® for North American Missions, and are among the NAMB missionaries featured as part of the annual Week of Prayer, March 7-14, 2010. This year’s theme is “Live with Urgency: Share God’s Transforming Power.” The 2010 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering’s goal is $70 million, 100 percent of which benefits missionaries like Rodriguez.
Luis, 46, was ordained as a Southern Baptist pastor in 2001 by his local church at the time, Raham Baptist Church of Santa Isabel. He came from a background in business, with a concentration in accounting – working up to a vice president’s job at the company where he worked for over 20 years.
Since becoming a missionary three years ago, he has completed coursework at Luther Rice Seminary in Puerto Rico, and is planning to continue his studies at the Baptist Seminary of Puerto Rico, through Liberty University.
“My decision to become a missionary wasn’t an easy decision. I faced all sorts of difficulties,” Luis says. “I quit a job with great benefits. Temptations came, uncertainty, good advice and bad advice. But God, who is rich in mercy, sustained me. My wife’s support was unconditional and awesome. I simply couldn’t resist what God wanted to do with me.
“One day in a prayer meeting I began asking God, ‘Lord, what do you want to do with me?’ After several months went by without the slightest involvement in the ministry, without a desire to continue pastoring, God sent us to Raham in Coamo, where, with a group of 15 people, we planted a church.”
Although the most predominant religious group in Puerto Rico is Roman Catholicism – about 85 percent of the population – the remaining 15 percent is made up various groups like Southern Baptists, who impact the culture through schools and universities, among other means.
Coamo is a city of approximately 39,500, located in the southern region of Puerto Rico. Three years ago, Luis Rodríguez and his church planting team also started a bilingual, Christian school – Coamo Christian Academy — to minister to local children and their parents.
Coamo Christian Academy has met with great approval in the community. Beginning with only four students in 2006, the school now has more than 40 enrolled.
Luis admits he couldn’t do the work without the support of Southern Baptists.
“Contributions given to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® support me as a missionary in the work we are doing, and help us support the church to reach children and the parents who participate in this ministry. To God be the glory!”
Adalberto Muñoz, a member of Luis’ ministry team, spoke of Luis’ commitment and passion for the lost.
“When you talk to Luis and see him carry out his duties, when you see the fruit this ministry is bearing, there is no doubt that God really called Luis to serve in this capacity.
“Pastor Luis and members of Raham Baptist Church in Coamo have a genuine calling from God to the ministry, a sincere love for the Word, integrity, and commitment towards the community,” said Munoz. “It’s a church that inspires a lot of love. You feel you are in a wholesome environment full of love for God and for people.”
Commitment to prayer and keeping God’s Word have also inspired door-to-door evangelism, prayer walks, interactive team sports with non-Christians, radio talk shows, Bible studies in neighboring towns and the capital, and other activities such as “One Night with Christ,” during which sister churches interact to impact the Coamo community.
Rodriguez said his ministry’s most pressing need is adequate facilities and more space.
“The current facilities aren’t sufficient,” he says. “We have limited space, and if we don’t do something about it soon, the growth of our ministry will be adversely affected.”
Luis and wife Lourdes are the parents of three children, Victor, Luis and Lyanne Rodriguez Santiago.
John J. Correa is a writer living in Dacula, Georgia.
God is providing another beautiful day. Give Him back some of your day.
Anna Lee
The Prayer Link 