September 30th Report

What is happening in the ministry of Dr. Rick Flanders

I appreciate your role in my life as one of those who pray for my work to promote revival among Bible-believing people.  Here is where I have been in the past month.

• Sycamore Baptist Church.  On the first of September I got to preach in the Sunday services of a church Toni and I love in her home town of Jackson, Michigan.  They are between pastors right now, and really in need of a revival emphasis.  Every church looking for a new pastor needs to have a revival.  We tried to preach the truth in such a way as to move them in this direction.  I began the day teaching in Sunday school the doctrine in Acts 20:28 about how the church is supposed to be run.
• Believers’ Baptist Church.  We love the ministry in Winona Lake, Indiana, of Believers’ Baptist Church and Hephzibah House, under the leadership of Pastor Don Williams and founder Dr. Ron Williams.  Do you know them and their wonderful ministry, both to the saints and sinners of their religiously-famous community and to girls who need help?  I got to preach in a revival campaign there, September 8-12, and we saw really good results.  A man they know in the area was led to Christ in his home, where he stays most days because of sickness.  Visitors and members were helped with revival truth and many came to decisions they needed to make, including some of the girls in the program (one of whom got saved).
• Tri-City Baptist Church.  September 14 I drove down to North Carolina for revival meetings at the Tri-City Baptist Church of Forest City (Toni stayed home this month and continued to work on recovering from her surgery).  My friend Pastor Jim Hollandsworth (who plays an important role in Revival Focus Ministries—visit their website), leads the church, which has an excellent spirit.  And we had excellent meetings September 15-19, seeing God answer prayers offered in prayer meetings, and watching Him meet the needs of many hearts.  I went soul winning a few times (sometimes solo and sometimes with a church brother) and found the area to be a ripe harvest field.  Pastor took me up to the town of Valdese, North Carolina, to visit a fantastic display depicting the story of the Waldenses, an ancient revival movement and spiritual forerunner of the Baptists, whose descendants settled in this mountain area a century ago.  I also got to minister at the Ambassador Baptist College of Lattimore, one of the best Christian training institutions in the country.  I hope I did them good with messages and lessons on the evangelist, revival prayer meetings, and selfless service.
• Calvary Baptist Church.  From western North Carolina I drove on September 21 to McMinnville, Tennessee, where my friend Tom Fittis now pastors the Calvary Baptist Church.  In these meetings, from the 22nd to the 27th, we saw people saved, Christians step up to higher ground, and attendance reach surprising levels.  We also saw God answer prayers offered in prayer meetings and a revival spirit prevail in the congregation.  Do pray for Pastor Fittis and this good church.  They are on the revival road, and in Christ have a great potential to impact their community and the world in a powerful way.
• Manitou Road Baptist Church.  Currently I am at this church in Manitou Beach (near Devil’s Lake), Michigan.  We began a revival campaign here on Sunday the 29^th and will go through Thursday night.  Like all of our home state, this area is depressed, and the church is down some.  We really need a revival, and God is beginning to give us one!  The pastor is Mark Kruchkow, and we are asking you to pray for us.

Would you pray for the meetings we have planned in October and also for several needs that are at the top of our prayer list?  This coming month I am to preach at Fundamental Baptist Church of Kinross, Michigan (in the morning) and Northern Michigan Baptist Bible Church of Burt Lake (in the evening) on Sunday, October 6; at the Old School Gathering in Kinross on October 7; at Rockford Baptist Church in Rockford, Minnesota October 13-18; and in an eight-day revival campaign at the Straitgate Church in Minneapolis October 20-27.  Our main prayer requests beyond the enabling of God in the work and the revival of the churches are these:

• Continuing good health and safety.  Toni is getting better.  I am driving to all of my appointed places in October.
• The supply of our needs as we attend to the Cause of Christ.
• Wisdom and guidance about our schedule.
• Wisdom and supply for the Nairobi Mission planned for January.  Some of you have read my recent messages about this, and are already praying with us.  Concerns include Toni’s physical fitness for such a trip, finances to buy the plane tickets and cover other expenses, the need for our help at the Independent Baptist College of ministry along with my desire to give them that help, and the present unrest in the country of Kenya.  I will keep you posted, but I would really like you to read (again?) my description of the mission and its cost.

Our desire for your prayers today and in the days ahead is really great, as was Paul’s for the prayers of his friends (Ephesians 6:17-20, First Thessalonians 5:25, and Hebrews 13:18-19).  We appreciate you and your partnership with us in seeking the Lord for the revival we need!

RICK FLANDERS

Acts 1:8