Missionaries Fernandez

 

2023: A Year To Remember!   December 27, 2023     Our Mission is the Commission! Matt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,  and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Matt 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:  and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.    Going!Go ye therefore As you can see from the (below pictures), we continue to take the Lord’s command literally.  The Florida Church plant is known in Brooksville and the greater the Hernando County  area as a GOING Church.  Our goal is to make one thousand visits per year.  While I am not sure of the actual number I know that we made hundreds of visits  last year which gave us the opportunity to build relationships and to preach the gospel.   Sis.Terry and I made the commit to go out in the highways and hedges each and every week.  We are joined by a faithful visitation and outreach team that is bringing them in from the fields of sin.   Visitation and door knocking takes great effort and persistence, however we know God is with us  and He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above that which we are able to do in  our flesh.  We have seen twenty seven professions of faith this past year as a result our evangelism efforts.  We go because we are commanded to go but we also go out of a love for the our  Savior and the Souls of Men.     Instead of waiting for people to come to Church we take the Church to them by putting feet to  our prayers. Jesus personal ministry was a going ministry in which He engaged the lost, the lame  and the blind where they were. Going opens many opportunities to care for people which in turns  opens the door to preaching the gospel. The (above) and (below) pictures are of some having  compassion for the lost at a homeless camp we called "Tent City" as well as praying for  a homeless family in 2023.I       Hero's Of Faith One of the many highlights of 2023 is that we were joined by Men of God  from other ABA Churches as well as Missionaries to participate in  "village outreach". Our most recent esteemed and honored guest would  visit us in the last two weeks was veteran Kenya/Ugandan/Sudan   Missionary Ernie Hopper (Above). It was a blessing to fellowship with  Ernie and Cissy Hopper as we went door to door.  It speaks volumes of their heart while home on Furlough.     Teaching and teach all nations,   One of the many lessons our years in Kenya  taught  us was the need to preach the gospel and to ground new converts in the  word of God as soon as possible.  We first and foremost teach the lost  what the Bible says about their need of salvation and what the Bible says about how to be saved.  After salvation, we teach them about the need  to follow Christ in Baptism and then how to observe all things Christ commands. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. We make every effort and afford many opportunities for these new Converts  to be grounded in their faith through one on one Bible teaching as well  as weekly Bible studies.    We are also in the process of teaching and training preachers of the gospel.   (Below)     2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. The (above) picture is of a young man named Sean Harold. He is currently starting His fourth year of Bible College at Emmaus BC in Brandon. He is a tremendous blessing to the Church plant working with the youth, running van routes as well as giving our weekly doctrinal devotion. We are teaching Him the practical side of New Testament Church planting.         Baptizing baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: In obedience to the commands of Christ, we baptized twenty three precious souls in 2023. Most were new converts but a few were folks who had been saved but never scripturaly baptized.  As of the time of this report we had four more accept Christ over the last three weeks of December and will be scheduling them for baptism in the next two weeks. One of the highlights this last year was a river baptism in which ten followed Christ in scriptural Baptism (Below). Young and Old alike were baptized in the Withlacoochee River.        Building Improvements     On a no less spiritual note, Since purchasing the building last year we have begun to make it our own. To that end we received an offering that allowed us to put in a pavilion in the form of a pole barn. We invested significant sweet equity in this project and it turned out to be a real asset to the Church plant ministries. It doubled our seating capacity for fellowships.   (Below) Finished Pavilion     Steeple Update     The Steeple is now engineered, permitted, painted and ready to place into the installed bracket (Right). We are only waiting for the crane company to set it into its final resting place on top of the roof. We will be excited to see it pointing toward heaven soon.     Prayers for Health     As You can see from the above pictures, 2023 brought health concerns for both Terry and I. Sis. Terry's were very serious as her years in Africa still affect her health. She is making significant health and strength progress since this picture was taken with our daughter Carla about two months ago. Please pray for us as we press towards the mark of the high calling.   As the Apostle Paul said, I spend and I am gladly spent for you. That could characterize my depleted health condition upon return from Kenya in March 2023. We work hard for the Lord and we need our health to continue to improve and remain Strong so that others may hear the good news of the gospel. Thank you for your prayers.     Thank you for Holding the Rope!    Php. 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Once again we want to take this opportunity to thank God for Pastor Tim Myers and His wife Sheila and our sending Church family at 1st Baptist Church East Bay. Additionally we thank God for the Churches of the American Baptist Association as well as individual friends, family and brethren who partner with Sis. Terry and I in East African and Florida. Please keep us and the Lord's Churches Prayer as we push towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus in 2024.   In His Service,   Bro. Chuck & Sis. Terry Fernandez AKA: Missionary Loboduk & Mama Terry Your Missionaries   Sending Church: 1st Baptist Church East Bay 10102 Old Big Bend Rd. Riverview, Florida 33578   Co-Sponsoring Church Dean Springs MBC 2106 Dean Springs Rd. Alma, Ark.