Good Morning AFBM Family,
It is my prayer this note finds you well. Daily, we pray for your ministries, marriages, families, and your relationship with the Lord. Thank you for your prayers for my family and for AFBM. The Lord has been faithful to answer your prayers and guide our shared ministry.
I would like to take a minute to update you about AFBM and formally announce and provide scheduling information for our Annual Board Meeting and Family Week.
Let me start by saying that as we continue to experience the Lord’s richest blessings, we do recognize that this is the outcome of your prayers, sacrifices, and hard work – and we are very grateful. For instance, just last week we welcomed our fortieth missionary family and sent away a truckload of Bibles to our heroes – on His behalf, and with your support. So as we continue to survey our blessings, we cannot help but see that only the Lord has our reins. My ultimate prayer for our future is that we will stay out of His way and allow Him to use us as worthy vessels. He alone deserves all the honor and glory.
Also, we have adopted a new permanent logo and the mission statement: “Completing the Mission.” But at the same time, we have affirmed our solid ministry verse; Act 16:9, which still stands tall. Additionally, we have added a new division called Military Veterans Planting Churches (MVPC) that I believe better defines what we have always done — providing a way for veterans to plant churches worldwide. Currently, three families are under MVPC.
The Lord has provided us with a Graphics Illustrator/Photographer who holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in her field. She was raised in the foreign missionary field and has a true missionary heart. I have challenged her to complete new prayer cards/displays/letterheads, etc., for every family. She is paid on an hourly basis. If you have work done and can afford it, please contact me and I will tell you how much it costs us to complete your graphics (it will be a small fraction of what we have been paying). Beginning Missionaries on deputation or furlough will have the priority. Currently, we have four template packages for missionaries. We will post them for download along with the new logos during the week of March 13th. We will send you the address of a secure site to view them. Of course, if needed, we can develop a new package from scratch. Beginning June 1st, we will only use the new logo on all correspondence. Old pre-printed prayer cards and letterhead may be exhausted before switching over.
Our biggest challenge remains home office support. If you support the home office, we cannot thank you enough for help with our ministry expenses as we serve the finest missionaries in the world. We thank the Lord for what He allows us to do for so many with so little. As always, He provides. However, if you do not support us, we want to allow you the opportunity for you or your church to prayerfully consider adding us to your annual mission’s budget? Any amount will help.
This year, for the first time in three years, we are having a full family week at Good News. Our focus is training for the whole team; everyone is requested to attend. Next year, we will return to a Board Meeting and Candidate School format, for board members and those missionaries on deputation or furlough. Please mark your calendars for next year’s meeting now August 6-9, 2012.
The meeting this year, however, is scheduled for August 8-11, 2011 and held at Good News Baptist Church, 3252 Taylor Road, Chesapeake, VA 23321. The meeting will kick off on August 8th at 6:00 PM with our annual banquet, and will conclude on August 11th. As always, for those who arrive early, Sunday will be a special day with guest speakers. As in the past throughout the week, we will enjoy a week of profitable training, filled with special activities, speakers, field trips, and opportunities to fellowship.
The board meeting will run from 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM on Monday. Missionary training will begin at 9:00 AM on Tuesday and commence at 12:00 PM on Thursday. Monday and Tuesday is a requirement for all. Wednesday and Thursday will be used to continue to work with our missionaries on deputation and those on or preparing for furlough. Everyone is invited to attend all training. Also, our Graphics Illustrator/Photographer will be available throughout the week. A complete schedule will be mailed after registration is completed.
I have attached a Conference Registration Form (both in MS Word and PDF) and instructions for requesting help with lodging and transportation. The sooner you reply, the easier it will be to place guests with church families. For board members, the registration form includes hotel recommendations and contact information to assist you in making reservations. Please return the attached form to Mrs. Denise Darden no later than March 30th at admin@afbmissions.com. Call Mrs. Darden at (757) 488-1799 with any questions or concerns you may have.
We are very thankful for all of you and look forward to seeing you in August. Please join us in praying for this year’s training. The verse for this year’s conference is Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Our theme is “Completing the mission”.
Your Servant for Christ to the Armed Forces,
May the Lord Richly Bless You,
Brother Doug Carragher
General Director, Armed Forces Baptist Missions
Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Retired
director@afbmissions.com
(757) 615-0174
