Notes From Our
Director of Missions
For those of you who have been to our house, you know that we have two dogs - Scout and Sadie:
Scout is a Labrador Retriever. She weighs about 130 pounds and is almost eight years old. Sadie is a Corgi. She is less than 30 pounds and a little over two years old. Scout is a couch potato. She will come over and nudge you until you pet her, then she will plop down in her bed and go to sleep. Sadie will bark at you for no reason, then bring a toy and throw it at you. She will chew on you while she chews on the toy. Both of our dogs are polar opposites, yet we love them the same and they are both a part of our family.
As I looked around the room at our Pastor's retreat I was amazed at how different our church leaders and their churches are. We have churches both large and small, in small towns and bigger communities. We have pastors that have been in ministry for 30,40 or 50 years. And we have pastors, who are preaching their third, fourth and fifth sermons. We have guys who have a doctorate education and others who are starting or working on their education. We have all kinds of churches and servants in the Tri-Area Baptist Association.
But if I came away from anything from our retreat this past weekend with Richard Blackaby, it is that the Lord loves and wants to use EACH of us no matter where we are in life, community and ministry. There is fruit to be harvested wherever we serve and however we minister. The Lord does not require that we produce the fruit, only that we are FAITHFUL and trust HIM for the harvest. The retreat was an enormous encouragement to me. I hope it was to you as well.
Here are a few scenes from the Pastor Retreat this past Saturday morning:
If you did not get a chance to see the Retreat Video, you may view it here:
Pastor's Retreat Video
It was a wonderful day for ministry and fellowship. I am so grateful to Wayne Boydstun and Roy Martin and the people at Parkland Baptist Church for hosting us. Mario Navarro attended and provided Spanish translation, which was such a blessing. The meal was assembled by my wife, Bonnie, and the kitchen staff at Parkland. We had over 40 people there from Tri-Area Association churches and a few outside our association.
If you attended I would appreciate your feedback. I have created a response form to share your thoughts about the retreat. You may access it here:
Retreat Response Form
We recorded the teaching sessions, and I am working on getting them set to share. We will not post them, but we will be able to email them to people who request them directly, or give people a jump drive with them attached. Let me know if you would be interested.
This past week a great group gathered in Ruidoso for our state Disaster Recovery Celebration and Training. Our Tri-Area Association was well represented both in participants and leadership. Bonnie and I were blessed to be there for a few of the sessions.
Some of the training was done on the skid steer, which was pulled there by the Tri-Area Association ministry truck. Tri-Area took the lead in purchasing the skid steer for the state. We have raised enough funds to purchase the truck and have made great progress to raising the funds to complete the enhancements to the truck to fully equip it for use. For more information about this project, contact me, Rusty Kennon, Jim Peabody or Jim Hogg.
We are just a few weeks away from the BCNM's One Day Mission Trip to Roswell and the East Mountains. This week our state convention staff said that registrations are now into the hundreds, but they are hoping for that number to move into the thousands. Last year this ministry began in Tucumcari, in our Association, and also in Socorro. The impact of that ministry is still being felt. Look at the list of One Day activities and register to join believers from across New Mexico in sharing the Gospel.
One Day Registration
One Day Events and FAQ
This Saturday Bonnie and I are excited to be hosting pastors and wives from our Hispanic churches in our home. We will meet at 5 pm at 1212 Rosewood. I will be making hamburgers, and our fellowship members are bringing side dishes and desserts. You know we are going to have good food and good fellowship together. Our Clovis area fellowship will be tonight, September 17 at 6 pm at Juanito's. Monday night, September 21, the Tucumcari area group will meet at 6 pm at LaCita's.
Our next Kingdom Conversations Zoom meeting for Pastors will be Tuesday, October 4. We will be focusing on our Honduras Mission Project in that meeting, and we will be joined by our BCNM Missionary Mario Navarro, who is from Honduras. The deadline to join the group for our April Vision Trip to Honduras in the Annual Meeting, October 24. NOW is the time to be praying about how the Lord is leading you to participate in this project. We will have a great time sharing about how the Lord is leading in this project.
Speaking of the Annual Meeting, make certain you have the date on your calendar: Saturday, October 24. We will be meeting at First Baptist Church Melrose. The Executive Board is meeting on Monday, October 4 to review plans for the budget and meeting, and more details will be available soon. Don't miss our annual business session, celebration and fellowship.
I preached this past Sunday at Causey Baptist Church. Bonnie and I were blessed to worship with the church family there. Thank you Pastor John Combs for the invitation. My schedule is open in the coming weeks except for October 11 when I will be preaching at FBC Portales. Please give me a call if I can help you in any way.
It's a joy to serve with you!
Damon
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