 |
Scott
& Gloria Brown's Prayer Letter |
|
BBFI Missionaries to |
Ministering in Chalco, Mex. | |
|
Other prayer letters you can read: WE DID IT!!!
We finally broke our record high attendance in Acapulco. Much
prayer, fasting, TV interviews, public concerts in Malls, HUNDREDS of
private invitations, etc. are just some of the many things we did to make
our Evangelistic Sunday event that we call “Gift Day” a historic
service. It’s our annual Christmas outreach program. We had Another amazing piece of news is the fact that, after closing the books at the end of the year, the Acapulco Baptist Church gave a total of $56,500 U.S. Dollars in all of the year 2000. Is that not AMAZING for 120 middle-lower class Mexicans? $15,000 U.S. Dollars were designated for specific Missions projects we support. That’s not counting all the love offerings and special gifts we’ve given to Missions. We are the second largest Missions giving church within our Network (RIBBI) in Mexico! It’s great to be used of God to give so much to His work around the world. CAUTION:
Remember, everything we did in the year 2000 will be added on to YOUR
account in Heaven! Our gain is YOUR gain; our fruits are YOUR
fruits. Now, aren’t you glad you’re supporting us? It was a joy to be in Acapulco as we entered into the New Year. An added blessing was the wedding of Pablo, one of our Deacons and the leader of our Teens, and Karina, a young lady that was kicked out of her house 3.5 years ago for attending a non-Catholic church (ours). They are two of the most faithful young people we have and they already know that God has called them to be missionaries. Please pray for them as they start their preparation to be sent out of our church as our third missionary couple to go to a foreign field.
It’s been a great year on the Deputation Trail. God has been VERY good to us. We thank you for your prayers, because we know we couldn’t have made it without you. I think only in Heaven will we find out how many times a single prayer saved us from crashing, kept us from falling asleep at the wheel, etc. We appreciate all the prayer warriors we have out there and thank God for you! Keep praying that this year will end our Deputation as safely and prosperous as we began it. We trust you had a GREAT time with your loved ones during the Holidays and we want to wish you the very best in this new year of 2001. God bless you! Your Fellow Soldiers, Scott & Gloria Brown Go back to topFamily & Praise
This new year has been tough on our health. We battled the first 3 months with some kind of illness (flu, cold, etc). Scott and Erik seemed to be the most affected. This put Scott behind in his work, but he’s feeling better now and getting caught up. Erik possibly has Asthma and he’s had some bad infections in his ears, throat, and chest. He’s doing a lot better now, thank God, but he could still use your prayers. Also, pray that we are able to pay our Medical bills. They have really put us in debt. On the bright side, we praise God that William got saved on February 25th, 2001!!! HISTORY: Erik was born the day after we arrived in Monterrey, Mexico, after having driven four days from Prospect, CT.
Once again we are pumped up for Missions and inspired to win the World for Christ. This is the purpose for CIMA (America’s Celebration for the Advancement of Missions). CIMA is the combined Missions Conference our network of churches holds every year the week before Easter. This year we approved and raised the support for the 2nd of 5 teams we are sending to the foreign field. Our churches have sent and are fully supporting 6 of our own Mexican missionaries. Before CIMA, each church has a local Missions Conference. Rev. Allen S. Owens was the speaker for ours in Acapulco. Our Faith Promise had a 37% increase. It went from $20,500 to $28,000 US Dollars this year.
FACT: Mexico is not the real name of the country. The official name is "Mexican United States".
Satan gave our church in Acapulco the hardest blow yet when he provoked our right hand man to fall into sin. We were forced to remove him and if that didn’t hurt enough, he is now suing our church for a large sum of money. Please pray that God will give us the final victory. All this took place just a couple of weeks before our Missions Conference and a month before CIMA. So, you can see how the spirit of our church is still strong in the Lord. We praise God for our church! Also, please pray that God will provide the funds for our plane tickets to the Caribbean (May 7). We will teach a Bible conference. FUN:
New Axiom's of the 00's: Your Fellow Soldiers, Scott & Gloria Brown Go back to topFirst of all, let me encourage you to visit our homepage on the internet for weekly up-dates. Just punch in ribbi.org/en/sbrown/index.htm and read all about our adventures on Deputation and ministry in Acapulco. Now, let me just praise the Lord and encourage you with this latest news from our church in Acapulco. We just launched "Plan 7x7", which consists of 7 stages of 7 weeks each, where 7 leaders head up 7 teams. Each team member knocks on just 7 doors within the week and presents the Gospel (using a "poll" disguise for the introductory questions). Every Sunday there are 7 testimonies presented and the entire congregation sets apart 7 minutes for intercessory prayer. The following are the results of just the first 2 weeks from the first stage: WEEK
1: WEEK
2: That’s a total of 663 Mexicans in Acapulco that heard the Gospel in the last 14 days. I teach my people that they are not commanded to win souls, but preach the Gospel. So the amount that I’m mostly interested in is how many heard the Gospel message, because it’s between them and God if they receive or reject. But it’s always a great blessing to see how many do receive! A total of 318 new souls will be in Heaven, thanks to the efforts of the members of the Acapulco Baptist Church. And this is just the beginning of the first stage! There are still six more stages after this one!!! And this is the icing on the cake…242 potential new members for the church!
Let me remind you that this is after the major crisis that took place just 4 months ago, when this church lost their Pastor because of a moral issue. They’ve had to rally behind a Pastor that’s leading them after only having been there 3 months! That is what you call trust. That is what you call setting your eyes on Jesus and not man! That is what you call faith in their Senior Pastor, who when asked to follow the new Pastor, they do so with all their hearts. That is what you call God performing a 21st Century miracle and the power of His Spirit working in Believers. I am SO proud of our people and just PRAISE THE LORD for all He’s doing! (Ephesians 3:20-21)
The church hasn’t been this excited since we left in August of 1999. It’s more united and stronger than ever. We know this excitement comes from simply being obedient to God’s command of... (1) preaching the Gospel to
the lost, Their joy is expressed even in the midst of great afflictions that they are presently enduring, because they know it’s just the Devil that is angry for losing so many of his followers and is trying to discourage them. These evangelistic efforts might even result in another church in the city of Acapulco. Pray for these teams and for this church! This is the church you are helping to support. These are the ministers that you are helping to win more and more crowns for you. Thank you for your faithful support and for letting us have the privilege of being part of your team! Your Fellow Soldiers, Scott & Gloria Brown Go back to topYou have GOT to read this! Antelmo is working full time on staff as part of his training, because he and his wife feel called to be the second missionary couple sent out of our church to the foreign field. This is part of his testimony to the Acapulco church in regards to "Plan 7x7":
I’m
happy and worried at the same time. My son has rubella and has stayed home
with his Mother for the past 2 weeks. While recovering, he was playing in
his Grandma’s house the other day and fell down and ripped open a little
bit of his chin. It’s been one thing after another like that. If that doesn’t excite you, NOTHING will! You can see why God would call Antelmo to take the Gospel to the foreign field. We are proud to have him working for us and we can’t wait to see his family represent us (and you, as our supporting church) as our missionaries. Let me tell you what the Devil is so mad about. These are the results God has blessed us with during Stage I of "Plan 7x7". A total of 2,306 Mexicans in Acapulco heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. During those 7 weeks, a total of 1,187 received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Until we start the second stage, we will be spending a few months working on the 881 that said they wanted a follow-up visit. We praise the Lord for all He’s doing and just count it a blessing to have a small part in His GREAT work! Please keep praying for these soldiers that are being faithful in doing God’s work, even in the midst of strong, continuous and direct attacks from Satan. We’re raging a war here and need all the help we can get! Thank you for investing in our ministry! I hope this letter makes you feel that every penny has been worth it. Your Fellow Soldiers, Scott & Gloria Brown Go back to topI trust the past letters concerning "Plan 7x7" have been encouraging to you. Presently, Acapulco is in the middle of Stage II, making follow-up visits to those 881 that desired it. Please keep the church in prayer as they strive to start another church on the other side of the city by the end of Stage VII.
The Acapulco church just celebrated their 9th Anniversary. My parents, Phil & Lori, were the special guests for that event. It was a great week of preaching, deep-sea fishing, and outreach. On Saturday, they held an evangelistic concert and 10 souls got saved. The great part is they were 3 whole families!
Well, during that week of celebration, my father informed me that all of their A/Cs are totally out and they are really suffering in the heat. Imagine preaching and holding service in all that humidity and heat! Plus, the damage the computers and machines are suffering in the office is tremendous. But my greatest concern is for the babies in the nursery and the danger of them dehydrating.
I’ve never made a specific request before, but I find it absolutely essential this time to beg you to help us get some A/Cs for this church. This church has obviously proven itself to have a heart for the lost and works hard to reach them with the Gospel. They are worth the investment! The returns and rewards will be out of this World. I guarantee it!!! Right now they really need 5 three-ton A/Cs that cost $1,800 dollars each. They have already made the effort in buying one on their own, but desperately need four more. If you could help us out with this special need, please send a check to our account designated "Acapulco A/C" and we will make sure it gets to them. This is an urgent request and I really do appreciate your help in any way you can. If you can’t PAY for the petition…then please PRAY for the provision! I know I can count on you guys.
I want to end this letter with a "Praise". God saved our family from a great tragedy. On Saturday, September 8, my brother Brian (also BBF missionary on Deputation) was visiting NYC and went up in the WTC just 3 days before the great terrorist attacks. He even flew American Airlines on Monday, the day before, from the very airport that the terrorists hijacked and crashed 2 airplanes. God saved Brian from being a part of the great tragedy that has shocked us all and for that we are very grateful to the Lord! Our prayers go out to all those who were not as fortunate. GOD BLESS AMERICA! Your Fellow Soldiers, Scott & Gloria Brown Go back to top |
(Ha, ha…) If you’re not supporting us yet, don’t
worry…there’s always 2001 and you know we’re only going to do
MORE! So, don’t wait…JUMP ON BOARD! Let us win a
bunch of crowns for you, too.
