Greetings Saints and Fellow-laborers in Christ.
“For I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). We count it joy to partner with you and with IGM in reaching the lost and edifying the saints.
Thank you for reaching out to me and the First Baptist Church of Grenada. It is a joy and a wonderful privilege to partner with you in the ministering work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I pray God’s blessing upon you, your family, and your ministry. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
A Little About Myself and the Ministry Here in Grenada:
I have accepted the Lord as my personal Savior and followed Him in believer’s baptism about thirty-one years ago. One of my passions is evangelism, with Romans 10:13 being one of my life/ministry verses. Since my conversion, I have served in my local church in various areas such as youth leader, Sunday school superintendent, deacon, driver, camp ministry, cleaner/church maintenance, and any area that the Lord has need of me. My most recent calling from the Lord is as pastor of the First Baptist Church. At present, we are a small congregation, but desirous of growing in truth. The main ministries of the church at the moment include:
Sunday School Department
Youth Ministry
Ladies’ Fellowship
Men’s Fellowship (recently being organized)
Evangelism
Camp ministry
Father Mahligan Home Outreach (this is a state institution for disadvantaged boys which we try to assist from time to time)
Outreach to elderly and vulnerable members of the community (through donations of food hampers, financial assistance, etc. as necessary)
Some of our prayer requests include:
Continued spiritual and numerical growth
New converts
Renovation of present church facilities
Purchase of a plot of land (long-term projects include but are not limited to a camp/retreat facilities and conference center, pre-school, and office for SEM print shop).
Re-structuring of the SEM print shop – a specific need is modern printing equipment
Bus/transportation ministry
My aim and desire are to continue serving the Lord in His vineyard and to do whatever I can to edify the saints and to bring the Gospel to the lost.
Current Ministry News:
Over the past period, we have been blessed in the following areas:
Church Services and Ministries
God has been good to us. We are grateful to God that we can resume our face-to-face services with relaxed COVID-19 protocols. Indeed, this pandemic period has reminded us that we have so much to be thankful for. Our basic service schedules include:
- Sunday School
- Sunday Morning Worship
- Men’s Fellowship (newly organized)
- Wednesday Bible Study and Prayer
- Ladies’ Fellowship (Thursday)
- Youth Ministry (Friday)
- Other outreach programs as planned
All of our services continue to focus on dispensing the truth of the Word of God.
Sunday School Ministry
Brother Leoth Franklyn leads the Sunday School Department as Superintendent. There are three main classes due to limited teachers. However, we are grateful that we can resume that arm of the ministry. We have so far focused on two main themes, namely, forgiveness and thankfulness.
We were unable to host our annual Vacation Bible School which has been coordinated by the Psinases for over eighteen years. We miss them dearly and are forever grateful for their contribution to the building up of God’s kingdom. Many children kept asking if they will be coming back. We are praying that God will raise up missionaries to fill that void, or to provide us with the necessary resources to continue that much-anticipated outreach.
Summer Camp
This year, amidst some apprehensions due to the recent risk of covid, we were able to collaborate with another church (Happy Hill Independent Baptist) to host two summer camps (sleepovers). Children’s camp was held during the last week in July while the Youth camp was held during the second week of August. It was an act of faith since we had no financial resources to begin. However, our God, Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, made a way. We lacked nothing. Both camps were successful, and eight persons came to know Christ as their Lord and personal Savior.
Church Building Renovation Drive
We have started gathering pledges from among our members to generate funds towards much-needed repairs to our church building. We continue to trust God as we begin that maintenance work. Members have been very supportive, and we can begin at least one repair project at this time.
Transportation
We continue to use our limited transportation capacity to get persons to and from church. Since we do not have an official church bus, members with private transportation assist when they can.
Some Other Activities This Quarter
- One wedding
- Appreciation gifts by the church membership on our birthdays and anniversary
- Visit to other churches to support their outreach programs
- Visit to families within the community
- School supplies distribution
- Prayer walk (Ladies)
- Social and Craft evenings (Youth)
Prayer Requests and Future Plans
- Families of the church
- Sunday School department, youth, ladies, and outreach ministries
(Some ladies will be participating in a ladies’ retreat in October. Pray for God’s provision.)
- Newly formed Men’s Fellowship
- The pastor and church leadership
- Street meeting
- End-of-year community outreach (providing Christmas gifts to the children, youths, elderly, and vulnerable families within our church and wider community)
- Bus/Transportation
- Re-establishment of SEM print shop
- Purchasing of land (The main purpose is to seek to alleviate the challenges faced by a neighboring garage. Our future plans for the property will be to construct a camp site/retreat/conference center, pre-school, and home office for SEM print shop. The process is very slow. I spoke to the loan officer yesterday and he said the survey of the property was done but the valuation was not yet submitted to the bank. He told me he will speak to the gentleman today to find out about the report. I will provide you an update later based on what he says.)
Continue to pray and support us as we continue to do the same for you.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
Your Humble Servant in Christ,
Pastor Anderson Gibson