I want to invite you to Living Oaks Baptist Church this Sunday as our choir presents, “Searching for the King.” Our worship service starts at 10:45 a.m. and we would love to have you as our special guest.
I hope to see you Sunday!
In our Week of Prayer for International Missions, we are looking into the life situation of missionaries serving around the globe—today we are going to Karachi, Pakistan. We will read the story of a man who came to Christ and set his heart to win his homeland for Jesus.
Aadam Channar* was only a boy when Baptist missionary Hu Addleton first brought the Gospel to his province in Pakistan. Today he is an evangelist trying to reach Pakistan’s largest city.
“Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan. When we arrived there [in 1956], it was 1 million population. Now it’s 17 to 18 million,” said Addleton, who retired after serving 34 years in Pakistan with his wife, Bettie. “It is a picture of the whole country, because you have every ethnic group living in Karachi.”
About 97 percent of Karachi follows Islam. Christians make up only about 2 percent of the city’s population, according to the US State Department.
Channar grew up in a tiny Hindu village very different from the bustling hub of Karachi, but that did not keep him from approaching the city with the intention of sharing the good news of Jesus among its many people groups.
“God gave me this vision: ‘Go [to] Karachi. Leave your home, area, village.’ So God sent me here,” Channar said. “That’s why I am in Karachi.”
Addleton, who discipled Channar, encourages Southern Baptists to continue giving through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.
“We ought to continue to pray for [Pakistani Christians] and to challenge people to go,” Addleton said.
Please pray for Channar as he represents the Lord as His heart, His hands, His voice in the city of Karachi, and ask that more Pakistani Christians would respond to God’s call to do the same.
*Name changed
If you would like to follow all of the testimonies from the International Mission Board you can click here.
If you would like to contribute to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering to help support missionaries all around the world, please send a check to: Living Oaks Baptist Church, 8855 East 91st Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74133. Please write “Lottie Moon” on the memo line. One hundred percent of all the gifts we receive will go to help missionaries share the good news of Jesus.
In our Week of Prayer for International Missions, we are looking into the life situation of missionaries serving around the globe—today we are going to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Eric Reese is a missionary who serves in the slums of Rio. In 1992 I personally spent two months serving in one of the slums just outside Rio. The Favelas (slums) in Brazil are unlike anything you have ever seen in the United States, so any missionary who lives and serves in these areas is in need of our prayers. Here is Eric’s story from the IMB website:
It’s late at night and missionary Eric Reese can hear gunshots in the streets behind him. He’s heading home to his wife, Ramona, and two daughters, thanking God that he’s able to. Eric’s mission field, the urban poor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is often a dangerous one. “In these communities, it’s an ugly evil you’ve got to deal with,” Eric says, “but you’ve just got to deal with it. We can’t stand here and just let these people shoot and kill each other without the Gospel being preached.”
A police officer from a church in Texas gave Eric a gift he still uses today—a bullet-proof vest. This isn’t a common tool for missionaries, but Eric and his family are thankful that someone cared enough to offer an extra measure of protection, especially during night ministry. “It’s important to note that I cannot use a bullet-proof jacket when ministering in slums run by drug dealers because they would see me as a snitch. In these settings, Jesus has been my covering,” Eric says.
When we give to Lottie Moon, we provide for expected needs of our missionaries, like homes, cars and medical needs. But Southern Baptists are also dedicated to providing extra measures of protection for those who are willing to risk it all for the sake of Christ.
If you would like to follow all of the testimonies from the International Mission Board you can click here.
If you would like to contribute to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering to help support missionaries all around the world, please send a check to: Living Oaks Baptist Church, 8855 East 91st Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74133. Please write “Lottie Moon” on the memo line. One hundred percent of all the gifts we receive will go to help missionaries share the good news of Jesus.
“Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God has done…” Every Thanksgiving I think about this wonderful old hymn and try to think specifically about the blessings from God. With that in mind let me share a few of the blessings that have meant the most to me this year.
First off, I am so thankful for my church family. On more than one occasion this year I have watched as they demonstrated the love of Christ to others in need. They have taken meals to someone who was recovering from surgery or to a family who had just lost a loved one. They have helped some of the senior adults by mowing their lawns, cutting wood, and repairing things around the house. We’ve even had a couple of members give a car to someone in need.
They also reached out to our community to make a difference. For example, they adopted an elementary school here in town and provided school supplies for all the teachers; cooked hot dogs for the parents, students, and teachers during the “Meet the Teacher” night; as well as giving each child a back-pack. When the movie “Courageous” came out, they raised money to rent out two theaters and gave away over 400 tickets so people could enjoy the movie for free.
They also focused on people outside our community. They collected items for newborns and donated them to the Hope Pregnancy Center. They blessed the Owasso Home for Children with money to buy back-to-school clothing. They sent money to Samaritan’s Purse to provide goats, chickens, and even dig a well in a poor community overseas.
There are way too many things this loving family has done this year for me to mention them all; however, let me tell about my favorite. Each year, we have a church Thanksgiving meal the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We invite the community to come and celebrate the holiday with us. Afterward, we give needy families a basket with everything they will need for a decent Thanksgiving meal. It is always heart warming to see our church family sitting with and getting to know the many visitors we have in attendance. It is equally special to see the gratitude on the faces of those who bless us by receiving a basket.
Living Oaks Baptist Church is filled with kind people who just want to make a difference. They want people to experience first-hand the love of Christ Jesus. They want them to know that once you enter into a relationship with Him your life will never be the same. They love because Jesus first loved them!
In just a few weeks I will be celebrating seven years as the pastor of this wonderful church. It is privilege to be a part of such a wonderful family. I can not begin to tell you of all the ways they have blessed me. They have been there during terrible losses, great pain and suffering, discouragement, as well as the times of celebration. They have shown over and over again that they are Jesus’ disciples by the way they love one another and by the way they love me!
So, the first blessing for which I am thankful that I want to share with you is the people who make up Living Oaks Baptist Church. Thank you LOBC! I love you and I am eternally grateful that you allow me to be your pastor, brother in Christ, and your friend!
Hope to see you at Living Oaks Baptist Church this Sunday as we continue our study through the book of Acts. This week we will examine Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2.14-36). It is going to be a wonderful day of worship through song and the study of God’s Word. I hope to see you Sunday at 10:45 a.m.
Bob Pittenger 