Dakota Happenings
DBC Monthly Newsletter | August 2023
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Passage: 1 Kings 18-19; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Focus: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also, our comfort is abundant through Christ.”—2 Corinthians 1:3-5
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Focus: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also, our comfort is abundant through Christ.”—2 Corinthians 1:3-5
How many of you are old enough to remember singing these words around a campfire as a teenager:
"It only takes a spark, to get a fire going;
And soon all those around, can warm up in its glowing.
That’s how it is with God’s love, once you’ve experienced it,
You spread His love to everyone, you want to pass it on."
God’s comfort is an amazing thing. When we experience trials and travails, He comes to us with His peace and provision; like he did with Elijah.
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Baker Offering Resources Coming Soon |
Resources for the 2024 Baker State Missions Offering will be coming to Dakota churches in the first two weeks of August. Each church will receive a supply of offering envelopes and posters.
This year’s theme is “The Heart of Christ.” The theme text is Matthew 11:28-30.
The 2024 Baker goal is $45,000. Named for John Baker, the first executive director to serve in the Northern Plains and his wife Clide, the Baker offering touches everything DBC churches do together.
Churches can request additional resources online or by contacting the DBC office.
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What is RISE?
Part 4
By: Everett Hornbostel
There are many moving parts to an active intruder scenario. Because of the variables in every situation, there is no way to absolutely guarantee survivability in an intruder situation. If we consider the elements of RISE, we can have an increased rate of survivability as opposed to doing nothing.
This month we will consider the “Evacuate” element of the RISE program. Generally speaking, to comply with fire codes, fire exits must be clearly marked. In some areas, compliance also means having maps showing exit routes. While these can be useful in an emergency situation, they can also be used by intruders to know routes. It is helpful to be creative with evacuation routes to find a safe avenue to a predesignated rally point.
Evacuation should take place only when it is safe to do so. When evacuating, leaving the property completely increases survivability. If the creative route includes breaking a window, one should remember the glass breaks best at a corner. Rather than throwing a chair at the center of a pane of a window, risking the potential of the chair simply bouncing back off of the glass, use the hard point of the leg of the chair to “punch” the corner of the window. The chair can then be used to clear glass from the window to allow escape with minimal glass cuts.
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WILLISTON VBS TOUCHES THE WORLD;
EXPRESSES APPRECIATION TO DBC
By Bobbi Wicorek, Cornerstone Children’s Director
Dakota Baptist Convention, thank you so much for the grant you so generously gifted us (Williston, ND: Cornerstone Church) for our VBS program this year! With the funds we were able to "go big". We were able to promote VBS by building a float for our local Band Day Parade (which took first place in the decoration contest!). That exposure made a huge impact on the number of kids we were able to reach! One hundred kids registered, and we had an average of 75 attend each night. This is almost double the attendance we had last year!
We were able to buy the student booklets, something we have never been able to provide before. The books not only helped the lessons stick, but also took the message home to their families.
READ MORE
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HURON BAPTIST REPORTS SUCCESSFUL VBS
By Melissa Coolbaugh, Huron Baptist VBS Director
Huron Baptist Church (Huron, SD) had a total enrollment of 54; 31 children and 23 adults in our recent VBS. We had one child make a decision to accept Christ. We had six children attend who are not affiliated with a church. Our total missions offering was $141.88. We had a wonderful week! The children really enjoyed the Twists and Turns theme and we had a contest between the boys and girls for the missions offering. The girls won, so Dave Coolbaugh had to take a pie in the face for his team losing. It was all in good fun and Clara Crater even agreed to take a pie in the face for the girls team, just to make it fair!
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EXCITING THINGS AT RESTORE CHURCH
Restore Church in Yankton hosted its first service at its new location in Yankton's formal mall, now renamed the Event Center. The first Sunday in the newly remodeled space saw 281 people, 25% of which were kids 5th grade and under. Later in the month, Restore welcomed guest speaker Josh Brewer, president of LifeLight. The same week, Restore partnered with another church to host VBS and other Yankton churches to host "Love Our City" which is a day to help eliminate need within the city. To end the month, Restore hosted a baptism service.
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CHRIST CHURCH HOSTS SUMMER CHILDREN'S EVENTS; BAPTIZES YOUNG ADULTS
Christ Church in Rapid City hosted two Child Evangelism Fellowship ‘5 Day Clubs’ last June. Christ Church has partnered with CEF for the past three summers. This year they touched a total of 40 children, with three children making professions of faith. The Bible clubs were held at Christ Church and at the Pastor’s home. The church has also recently baptized three young adults.
Garvon Golden is the pastor at Christ Church.
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DBC PASTOR RECEIVES STUDENT OF THE YEAR AWARD
By Everett Hornbostel
In February Pastor Billy Keeble (Bethany Baptist Church: Enemy Swim, SD) received notification that he would receive the Student of the Year Award for the 2022-2023 Academic Year from Sisseton Wahpeton College.
An email notification of the award stated, “The American Indian College Fund is excited to let you know that the Leadership and Financial Aid Team at Sisseton Wahpeton College selected you to receive our Student of the Year award for the 2022-2023 academic year. Congratulations!”
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BLACK HILLS PASTORS AND WIVES MEET FOR DINNER AND FELLOWSHIP
A large group of pastors and wives from the churches of the Black Hills area met at a Rapid City restaurant last month for dinner and fellowship. Hills of Grace Fellowship pastor said that the dinner “was a huge success.” He said that a few even left and went to a nearby ice cream shop to continue the fellowship.
The group is planning to do this again, hopefully in mid-September. Their goal is to do meet once a quarter.
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Support pours in after death of NAMB Next Gen leader's son | Baptist Press | ROCKWALL, Texas (BP) - Messages of condolences and prayer support came forward for Shane Pruitt and his family July 25 following the death of his son. | | | |
Pastors report feeling more loneliness, less support, Barna finds | Baptist Press | NASHVILLE (BP) - A growing percentage of Protestant pastors report experiencing increased feelings of loneliness and isolation, while simultaneously feeling a decreased sense of support from people close to them, according to research by Barna. According to the 2022 survey of more than 500 pastors done by the Barna Group,... | | | |
*Click the image above to access full CP article | |
DBC Monthly Newsletter
August 2023
Dr. Fred MacDonald, Editor
Marissa Shimer, Print Editor
Dakota Baptist Convention
P.O. Box 549, Rapid City, SD 57709
605-716-0130
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