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Free Will Baptist International Missions serves churches, pastors, and people by helping them fulfill their role in establishing churches beyond North America so unreached peoples can know the joy of a relationship with the living God. To find out more about the ministry of Free Will Baptist International Missions, visit www.fwbgo.com.

IM Board Meets

Antioch, TN—The Board of Free Will Baptist International Missions met in its annual session April 24-25, 2017, in Antioch, Tennessee. “It is a privilege to work with a staff and board that invites and participates in open, respectful discussions about Kingdom work,” reflected General Director Clint Morgan.

The board approved North Carolina native Victoria Little as a two-year, short-term intern to the Samburu. Victoria will work with Eddy and Amanda Simmons, filling the role of community health worker among a people group with little to no medical access or preventative health education. The 24-year-old graduated from Pensacola Christian College with a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) in 2015. She is a member of Cramerton FWB Church in Cramerton, North Carolina.

The board approved Allison, a 31-year-old Kentuckian, for a two-year internship in southern France with Shane and Joy (last names withheld) under The Hanna Project. Allison is a 2010 graduate of Welch College with a major in secondary education. Allison expects to complete her master’s in teaching English as a second language in May 2018. She plans to work with Shane and Joy, teaching English to North African immigrants.

Lázaro and Ariadna Riesgo received appointment as career missionaries. Appointed as two-year interns in April 2014, the Cuban couple arrived in the States in July 2015 to serve as missionaries specializing in leadership training for Hispanic peoples. Teaching in overseas Bible institutes and communicating with Hispanic churches in the States, the Riesgos are based in the greater Nashville, Tennessee, area.

An unmodified approval of the audit was received from Blankenship CPA Group. The board approved a $7 million framework budget for 2018 to be presented at the July 2017 convention of the National Association of Free Will Baptists. This number increases the budget slightly from the $6.9 million budget approved for 2017 by 2016 NAFWB delegates. The operational budget for 2018 will be approved at the December 2017 board meeting.

All board members were in attendance. Read more: fwbgo.com/news.

Foundation Grants Expand IM Ministry

Antioch, TN—In a letter dated April 19, 2017, David Brown, director of the Free Will Baptist Foundation, announced the Foundation’s grant committee awarded $95,000 to International Missions for several projects.

The Mission submitted grant requests totaling $317,500 for a variety of projects unfunded by the budget. The following projects received grant funding:

• Living Water Project (Kenya), $30,000—Outside of the Samburu’s need for the gospel, water continues to be one of their most pressing needs. The area receives only three to eight inches of rain annually. Not only is water scarce, it is often contaminated and unsafe. These funds will allow at least two wells to be drilled in Barsalinga, Kenya.
  

• Renovation of the Miley House (Côte d’Ivoire), $20,000—The house that served as home for pioneer missionaries Dr. Laverne and Lorene Miley will soon serve as a guesthouse for families of patients. Also, short-term medical teams will lodge there. It has been 35 years since the Mileys occupied the property.
  

• Renovation of the Lee House (Côte d’Ivoire), $20,000—Also located on the Doropo Hospital compound, the former home of Sherwood and Vada Lee will be renovated to house medical missionaries from Cuba. Extensive renovations will provide the Cuban doctor and her family a safe place to live near the Doropo Hospital.
  

• Cedros del Libano Dormitory Remodel (Cuba), $15,000—A legacy of pioneer missionaries Pop and Mom Willey, the Cedars of Lebanon seminary property was purchased in the 1940s. Funds will be used to remodel the women’s dormitory, including rewiring to remedy currently exposed electrical wires, properly plumbing restrooms so all facilities are usable, and completing unfinished space to allow safe housing of 172 women and children.
  

• House Churches (Cuba), $10,000—While constructing new church buildings in Cuba is not allowed, the government does permit the Cuban FWB Association to purchase houses. These funds will provide at least two new places of worship for the growing Cuban church.
  

“We cannot measure the eternal impact these funds will have,” Clint Morgan, general director of International Missions, gratefully expressed. “As the Simmons share the Living Water with the Samburu, the provision of clean water will serve as an object lesson. Though we no longer have IM personnel on the ground in Côte d’Ivoire, working with the national church and BERACA (their NGO), we can continue the legacy of the Mileys, the Lees, and so many others who served the Lobi in Doropo.

"Evangelists share the message of the Great Physician as medical personnel minister to physical needs. In Cuba, missionaries have been unwelcome since the 1960s. Yet, we continue to assist Cuban Free Will Baptists to serve one another and to reach those both within and without their island nation. What a blessing the Foundation is to people in Cuba, Côte d’Ivoire, and Kenya.”
Read more: fwbgo.com/news.

Snapshots Around the World

Japan—Good News Chapel in Tokyo hosted a charity concert (pictured, above) on April 8.  The event, featuring Amy McDonald’s original songs that express the value God places on each individual, raised $200 for ongoing relief work in the tsunami-stricken Tohoku area. For several attendees, it was the first time inside a Christian church. 

Uruguay—Pastor Julio Figueroa and the Renacer (Rebirth) FWB Church in Melo, Uruguay, rejoiced over the salvation of Joaquin (pictured above, right) on April 2. The church also celebrated the Lord’s Supper during the service.