A PUBLICATION OF THE MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

February 20, 2009 Volume III, Issue 2

North Star Update

"We certainly are out of our ‘Comfort Zone’ this year. What a blessing to have Grace Baptist open their arms and welcome us in. I am confident that this will be a great meeting that your ladies will really en-joy. The speakers and fellow-ship are certain to be a blessing to them." (from Letter to Pas-tor's Wives, by Deb Boldt)

The information is now on t h e M B A w e b s i t e (www.mbaoc.org). There is a separate heading for the Ladies Fellowship on the Home Page as well as a link to the Ladies Fellowship from the Coming Events Category. The schedule for the weekend and a list of motels can be found on the MBA website. Also, check the information that is on the MBA Facebook page.

Registration begins at 6 p.m., Friday. Retreat ends at 3:45p.m., Saturday.

The workshops for this year are:

Comfort - Care for the Caregiver, by Bev Snow.

Opportunist - Opportunities for Soul Winning & How to Do It, by Mary Campbell.

Mentor - How to Start and Lead a Bible Study, by Heather Brower.

Fellowshipper - How to Get to Know Someone Beyond Their Sunday Face, by Vera Smetak.

Optimist - The Best is Yet to Come (Bible study in Philip-pians), by Allyson Burggraff.

Reality Check - I’m a Woman, Now What? by Nicole Boldt.

Thoughtfulness - How Do I Reach Out of My Own Little World, by Carol Goetz.

Spring Ladies Retreat, March 20-21, Grace Baptist, Owatonna

Calendar

March 20-21: State Ladies Retreat at Grace Bap-

tist, Owatonna

May 18: Next scheduled meeting of the PBBC

Board of Trustees

June 22: Annual Meeting of the Minnesota Bap-

tist Association

Inside This Issue:

Fellowship Foundations 2

Coon Rapids Anniversary 2

Grace Baptist Virginia 2

1st Person: State Men’s Meeting

3

Agape International Dinner at FBC, New Ulm

3

MBA Family Camp 3

Notes Of Interest:

• Here is a correction for the MBA directory. Under the listing for First Baptist of St. Francis, Rev. Jim Snow’s cell phone number should be (763) 516-5924.

• If you are registered on Facebook, the MBA has a page there that has some interesting options. Among them, the audio from the State Men’s Meeting is accessible there. It is also accessible from the MBA website (http://www.mbaoc.org), and in the audio archives on the website of Prior Lake Baptist Church (http://www.priorlakebaptist.org).

• We regret that there will be no Spring Pastors & Wives fellowship this year. Prepara-tions are in progress for next year’s event.

It should be sufficient that God's Word tells us to love one another continually, but we have entered into the month that reminds us that cards, candies, and corsages will help us to convey our love to certain re-cipients. That's all right -- I need reminding quite often.

Speaking of love, my wife, Rhoda, and I do love visiting. On January 3 we were privi-leged to attend the Commis-sioning Service for missionaries David and Kristi Flinck held by Berean Baptist Church, Brook-lyn Park. Dr. Cary Flinck

(Nancy) is the church’s pastor.

On January 11, we visited Cornerstone Baptist Church, Elk River. Pastor Gordon Lang-don (Joyce) and the congrega-tion were once again very gra-cious to us, and I was allowed some time to present the MBA emphasis on Church planting and financial help.

As an ex-officio member, I attended the MBA Executive Committee and Full Board meetings held at Coon Rapids Baptist on January 12. Pastor Will Peterson (Sharon) hosted

the meeting, which was chaired by MBA President, Julian Suarez.

Again as ex-officio, I at-tended the meeting of the Pills-bury Board of Trustees on cam-pus on January 19. Important topics were considered and difficult decisions were made.

On January 25, we were privileged to visit two churches. In the morning we were blessed by the Sunday school teaching and the preaching of Pastor Matthew Fennell (Tonya) at

Fellowship Foundations By: Rev. Robert J. Fuller, Sr., Interim State Missionary

News from Grace Baptist, Virginia By: Pastor Todd Williamson

activity for the neighborhood teens. Since that time we have had 24 different teens come to these activities. Each month we have had one new teen come to these activities. The last two months one of the teens has been bringing his parents. We are excited that God has opened this ministry for us to have with these kids. In November we served a Thanksgiving meal for these kids and their families. We also invited the church family so they could get to know these kids. We had 15 at this activity and two of the kids

brought their families. This year we are focusing

on the theme of “20/20 Vision.” We are encouraging our church to go through this year with our eyes open as Adam and Eve had there eyes opened (Genesis 3:7). Also to have our eyes open to the opportunities around us to spread the world to those around us (John 4:35)

Prayer Requests: Shepherd Family, Kathy and Judy (visitors needing salvation), Children’s Ministry, Continued Outreach in the town of Vir-ginia.

Greetings from Grace Bap t i s t Church! The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to minister the Word of God here on the Iron Range for the past three years. This past Sunday, January 25, was

three years since the first time I had the privileged to begin ministering the Word of God hear in Virginia.

Since March 2008 we have been having a monthly youth

Page 2 North Star Update

Coon Rapids Baptist Celebrates 45th Anniversary By: Brian Veth

M e m b e r s , former members, and friends came together February 1 to commemorate the beginning of Coon Rapids Bap-tist Church forty-five years ago. The

day was observed in the morn-ing service in a message from Pastor Will Peterson, a pot-luck noon dinner, and a special after-noon service with a message from Rev. Robert Fuller, Sr. who served us as pastor for twenty-five years. In that ser-vice he reviewed the history of

the church, the blessings and accomplishments, and reminded us from Philippians 3:12-14 that the best advantage of the past is to direct us in a greater measure to look forward.

Continued on page 4

Page 3 Volume III, Issue 2

tric, Camp Cabin, Half Dorm, and RV hook-ups.

Motels in Longville are giving us a good deal on reser-vations there.

You can register now. Flyers are coming soon. Send your registrations to Pastor Lenard Huebscher, 12525 75th Street North, Stillwater MN 55082, or call (651) 439-0231. E -mai l l ena rdhueb -scher@aol.com

See the camp fee structure

on page 4.

Miracle Bible Camp on Woman Lake, Longville Min-nesota Speaker: Evangelist Paul Crow

Workshops – Recreation - Nursery - Children's Sessions Fun - Fellowship - Inspiration for the family

Good News! Prices are the same as last year. Make your reservation for $50.00, which will apply to your lodging and meals. Include your lodging choice with your reservation: Camp Site with or without elec-

MBA Family Camp, August 3-7

know God’s word better since I didn’t really know where to go for all the answers.

This fellowship was helpful for me to get to know other brothers in Christ as well as grow in my walk with the Lord. The weekend helped me to have more confidence in God’s word and it is something I have taken with me in my daily walk with the Lord. If you didn’t go this year maybe you should attend next year because you missed out on a great event! I’m glad I went!

This was my first time ever attending the MBA Men’s Fel-lowship. I was pleased with the structure and content of the two days. The time with the men was refreshing and the topic was very relevant. We are in a time when the truth needs to be pro-claimed. How we understand God’s truth and apply it to our lives and ministry is very impor-tant? Before this two day confer-ence I had an exhausting week in ministry.

In a way I felt as if my going to this event would not be worth the time as I felt I had

other pressing issues to address. I came away from the two days refreshed and refocused. Dr. Bauder set the stage on Friday night for the topic and this gen-erated healthy discussion that I believe all of the participants appreciated.

I enjoyed the pastors that participated in the panel discus-sions. Many times conferences and events are structured around one special speaker. I thought it was very helpful to hear from several men regarding the man-ner in which we apply God’s word. It also challenged me to

1st Person: The 2009 MBA Men’s Fellowship By: Pastor Daniel Lowe

Agape International Dinner at First Baptist, New Ulm

Saturday, February 14, the fellowship of First Baptist Church enjoyed an evening of good food and challenge from around the world. The director of the event contacted mission-aries, asking for recipes for spe-cific parts of the dinner, as well as information on their minis-tries. The first course was repre-sented by an appetizer from Mexico. This part of the evening focused on Shawn and Penny Clapp, working with Mexican-

Continued on page 4

Per meal costs: 4-12yrs 13yrs & up Breakfast $3.00 $4.50 Lunch $4.00 $5.50 Dinner $4.50 $6.50

Half dorm: $25/night Cabin: $25/night Campsite w/o Electricity: $10/night Campsite w/Electricity: $15/night

Family Camp Fee Structure, from page 3

A PUBLICATION OF THE MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

PO Box 527

Willmar, MN 56201-0527

We’re on the web! http:www.mbaoc.org

MBA Contacts

Minnesota Baptist Association

Dr. Julian Suarez, President

Faith Baptist Church

1365 Westminster St.

St. Paul, MN 55130

(651) 771-5567

pastors@fbcstpaul.org

Interim State Missionary

Rev. Robert Fuller, St.

1549 118th Lane NW

Coon Rapids, MN 55448

(763) 568-4078

rjfsr4@juno.com

MBA Office

contact@mbaoc.org

Minnesota Baptist Association

PO Box 527

Willmar, MN 56201-0527

Send Contributions to:

Mr. Brian Veth, MBA Treasurer

c/o Coon Rapids Baptist Church

11164 Hanson Blvd.

Coon Rapids, MN 55433

Send Update Articles and Pictures to:

drjfjr@comcast.net

North Star Update Editor

315 S. Payne St.

New Ulm, MN 56073

(507) 354-3323

First Baptist, Blooming Prairie. We rejoiced in noting folks who had been in one of our ministries 35-40 years ago now active in that church. In the evening we attended First Bap-tist Church, Spring Valley, led by Pastor Joe Haynes (Cathy). We have many friends there. In both churches I was given time to review some directions by

our State Association regarding church planting, and its church financial aid program.

We closed the month on January 31 participating in the ordination council for Pastor Doug Roman (Julie), Bible Baptist Church, Elk River. It was a great experience, and I was pleased to meet Pastor Roman's father who came from

California for the occasion. The council recommended that the church proceed with the ordina-tion process.

If I can be of assistance to you or your church, please con-tact me.

Fellowship Foundations, continued from page 2

Americans in Utah. The second course was from South Africa and Kevin and Sarah Za-kariasen. The main course was from Spain, featuring Larry and Jane Parks. Finally, the dessert

prayer. By the end of the eve-ning, we had enjoyed a good dinner and good fellowship, and had learned and prayed about some of the concerns and needs of our missionaries.

FBC New Ulm Agape Dinner, continued from page 3 was from Sweden, highlighting Jake and Elizabeth Delich.

The requests from each missionary were presented by one of the men from the church who then led the group in