Monthly Message from the Director of Missions
April, 2023                                     

I was so pleased to see the churches sending workers to the two Vacation Bible
School training sessions this spring. They were held in Lancaster Baptist Church
and First Baptist Church, La Plata. We thank these two churches for hosting the
VBS conferences Bobbie Bansal and her team do a great job of presenting the
upcoming VBS themes and helping the VBS workers know how to share the Gospel
through VBS ministry with kids and their families in the summertime.

I also appreciate the THBA camp team and how they work so hard all winter to
prepare for the summer camps. You will see the announcements of the dates
for those two camps. Note that the dates that were announced for those
camps in the annual meeting last fall have been reversed. The youth 
camp was moved to July and the children’s camp was moved to August. This was a decision of the camp
team because they felt that many youth will not be able to attend camp in August due to competition for their
attention with school sports activities and the Missouri State Fair. It is believed the August date has less
conflict for the children. At any rate, we look forward to seeing your children and teens in camp this summer.
If a young child would like to experience a taste of the camp experience over a weekend retreat format, there is
an “Intro to Camping” session being offered for small children, grades 1-3.

The Revitalization Team has worked with the THBA Leadership Council and they will have some
recommendations at the April 27th Ministry Celebration (AKA Executive Board Meeting) regarding the plans for
implementing the Revitalization Team report that was presented at the September 2022 Annual Meeting. The
recommendations involve future structure, employment of staff and budget. This will be an important meeting
for executive board members to attend in order to help guide the future of the Thousand Hills Baptist
Association. The meeting is at Rehoboth Baptist, Kirksville. It begins at 6:30 PM.

The association has now received the property and assets of the First Baptist Church, Clarence. The First
Baptist Church of Macon is working with their former pastor, Jacob Geidinghagen, as a church planting intern
with the hope of starting a new church plant in Clarence this summer. At that time the building will be available
to the new group to use. A core group is meeting at First Baptist Macon and occasionally at the Clarence
church as well.

The association office has now completed the move from the facilities of Fellowship Baptist Church to Hamilton
St. Baptist Church. Please send all mail to: THBA, 802 W. Hamilton St., Kirksville, MO 63501. We appreciate
these churches hosting the association office.

The association block party trailer is available to rent for $25, plus a deposit. The summer schedule is filling
quickly. So if your church would like to use it, please contact the THBA office.

Let me give you a little update on our family. Rachel seems to be doing very well following her latest round of
cancer and her follow-up appointments all seem to be coming back with good reports. Her mother and father,
who live in west-central Illinois, are not doing as well. They both had falls in their home in January and had to
be taken to the hospital (within the same week). They are now recovering in a nursing care center and the
family is working with the medical personnel to see if they can return to their home or will need lo

Thousand Hills Baptist Association
802 W. Hamilton Street
Kirksville, MO 63501
Phone: 660-342-7658
Office email:  1000hillsba@gmail.com
Director of Missions email:  rdnations@gmail.com