The Baran Family

The majority of our meetings this month has been in the large state of Ohio.  Towards the end of the month we were in a missions conference with the First Freedom Baptist Church in Kent, Ohio.  We have known Pastor Alexoff and his church through attending summer camp for many years together.   Throughout our time with them, the people were very kind and personable.  We also enjoyed the other missionary couples we were with.  Brother Matthew Siekbert and his family have been serving in Ghana, Africa for ten years now.  It’s an encouragement for me and I’m sure for other missionaries on deputation, to see the fruit of someone who has been on the field for ten years.  The second missionary family we were with was the Carter’s, heading for Northern Africa.  We met this family previously in our travels and enjoyed spending this missions conference with them!

My wife and I went to Penfield, New York to be a  part of a missions conference at the Southeast Bible Baptist Church.  This church has been a friend and supporter of our ministry from the beginning.  In fact, as a result of the camp ministry Southeast runs each summer I surrendered my life to the Lord as a young teenager.  It was also at this camp that my life changed forever when I met my wife. This ministry and the church people have come to mean a lot to us!  It was exciting to see them again in the midst of their missions conference.  We are so thankful for the people God has used to prepare us for the work He has called us to.

We traveled to Ohio to be a part of another joint missions conference.  First, we went to the beautiful countryside of Fallsburg, Ohio where we met the Fallsburg Baptist Church.  This is where my wife lived for the first ten years of her life as her father pastored.  It was during her time in Fallsburg that she accepted the Lord as her savior and started to pray about missions!  It was exciting for her to go back and see this special place.  Pastor Dahlke has been faithfully pastoring there now for many years and has seen many wonderful changes take place at the church.  The second church we visited was the Utica Baptist Temple in Utica, Ohio.  Pastor Boubary has pastored the church there for twenty-eight years and has continued to be a light in his community.  It was a blessing to see these two pastors laboring in their towns for such a significant amount of time.  We may never physically see all the results of their work but the Lord will bless those who faithally serve Him. 

We were able to join Pastor Madonna and Covenant Baptist Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan for one night of their missions conference.  It was a blessing to meet another church with a heart for missions!  Though we had never met the church before, many of them came to us already knowing our names and ministry. They kept referring to our prayer letters and were excited about our coming baby!  We thoroughly enjoyed the short time we were able to spend with them!  This dear church also provided a “missionary bag” full of things we will need as we travel down the road.  I know I have said it again and again but it is so true, God has greatly blessed us in our travels! And this is not because we are special.  The Lord will bless those who are willing to follow His plan.  Hard times will come, we haven’t been promised a life free of pain but also realize that God will bless His children.