Urgent message from the Director of Missions
Dear Friends Of Thousand Hills Baptist Association:
We are are all in a state of confusion as we process from day to day the latest news of the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
Years ago I was a fire department chaplain in a suburb of Des Moines. I remember my fire chief went to a pandemic planning session with other emergency management agencies in Polk County. I thought to myself, "Well that’s probably overkill.” I just didn’t think we would ever see a virus crippling our country like this one has in the last few weeks. Not only are people dying and many more are quite sick, the economy has been wrecked in just a few short weeks. Many people are out of work now and daily living is a real challenge. This is a crisis.
Psalm 46:1 says "God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble."
God cares for us. I just read a news report about a family in New Jersy who has lost 4 extended family members and 3 more are hospitalized. 19 in this large family are under quarantine. They were at a dinner and were exposed to the virus. So this is a serious health pandemic.
Some have expressed that we are over-reacting to this pandemic and the need for churches and large groups not to assemble. I am afraid we are not even as prepared as we need to be. It is not a good thing to continue to meet for worship and potentially expose a member of the congregation to the virus and they could die. So let’s be cautious.
Do you need help getting set up to broadcast a worship service on the Internet, on Facebook or YouTube? We can help you make those arrangements? I have people offering to record those services and upload them for you.
Do you have families who are out of work now because of the pandemic? We have been provided funds from the Missouri Baptist Convention to assist with those kind of needs. Contact me and we can share some of those benevolence funds with your church to assist families in need. That offer would extend to pastors and their families if they are struggling financially because of the upset to our economy. Contact me and we will help.
Let’s all pray. Pray for the pandemic to be back under control again. It may seem bleak at the moment but it will get better.
Richard Nations, Director of Missions
660-342-7658
rdnations@gmail.com or 1000hillsba@gmail.com
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Thousand Hills Baptist Association serves 35 Baptist churches and two church plants in five counties in Northeast Missouri (Adair, Macon, Putnam, Schuyler, and Sullivan). Our mission is to assist churches in church development, missions, evangelism and discipleship in order to advance the kingdom of Christ.
We are here to serve. Please contact us if we can help you begin or develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. If your church needs assistance with any area of ministry, or if you are looking for an opportunity to serve in a church, please let us help you.
OUR VISION - We exist to:
Encourage churches
Equip leaders
Inspire cooperation
There is a nice retired pastor and his wife who are members of the Rehoboth Baptist Church. I learned recently that the wife was in the hospital and I visited them. Read more
