Ministry - Annual Report for
2009
Association of Baptists for
World Evangelism,
Inc.
Name: BILL AND SUE SPOELHOF
Field:
Give a one or two sentence summary of your ministry assignment.
We are involved
in a church
planting ministry in the city of
What special
blessings and highlights did you experience in ministry during the past
year?
This past year
has been an
exciting year as the two church families meld into one. Let us
summarize:
January – New
members’ classes
held for founding members of New Life Baptist Community church
February –
Baptism service;
Organizational meeting for the new church; Carnaval retreat
March – Prayer
Vigil for
God’s direction in church ministries; begin to support our 1st
missionary.
April – Easter
sunrise
service; Men’s fishing outing; 3 ladies begin Child Evangelism training
May – Mothers
Day tea; 1st
annual business meeting with all paperwork in order; Ministry team
started with
Brazilians heading up different church ministries.
June – 1st
Anniversary celebration and outreach campaign; Valentines banquet with
25
couples
July – Pastoral
home visits
with over half the members; 20 life dedications resulting from sermon
series
August – Focus
on the Family
month with messages, activities and seminars centered on family.
September – 6
week Signs of Life
series begins
October – Signs
of Life series
ends with service projects of small groups; Good Soil training seminar
in
evangelism and discipleship had immediate results.
November – The
youth continue to
grow and be a great example. Two have led friends to the Lord; one is
planning
a short term missions trip in 2010.
December –
Weddings; Christmas
cantata; end of the year church family dinner/talent night.
People were
saved almost
every month with many of them now involved in discipleships.
What difficulties did you encounter in the ministry during the past year?
1. Purchasing a property/building of our
own hit
some more snags between paperwork being held up for months with
Brazilian
government and stringent, expensive requirements of the mission. Any
purchase
has been temporarily put on hold.
2. Commitment of folks to church
involvement; desire
to see more church growth.
List at least 5 key
short range ministry goals for the past year and rate your progress for
each
(A=accomplished, S=some progress, N=no progress, D=dropped). Comment
about
factors that contributed to progress for each goal, or identify reasons
why no
progress was made or the goal was dropped.
1.
Continue to raise funds for buying a building/land
- S
Comments:
Presently we are nearing US$100,000.
As stated
above, the money cannot be transferred into the new church’s name until
the
gov’t approves final closing of the previous church in whose name the
funds
continue. Frustration with requirements of the mission land evaluation
projects
committee became very intense. I can see reasons for some of this, but
it was
discouraging with all that was expected.
2. Continue to
search for
someone to lead the teen program. - S
Comments: A
young man with
a desire to serve has started working with us. He still needs a lot of
guidance, but has led several lessons and has good rapport with the
kids.
Begin using
Word of Life
materials in Portuguese for teens. – A
Comments: We
are very
pleased with the Word of Life materials and training for the teens. We
have
also included Sharing Your Faith Without Fear that they are putting
into
practice as well.
3. Continue to
work at
finding balance in ministries with the new church coming from the
merger. - S
Comments: We
are very
pleased with the present progress and cooperation with the merger. The
groups
have become one family now and are taking ownership.
4. Complete the
legalization and registration of new church. – A
Comments: All
paperwork is
completed and registered for the new church. Organizational meeting was
held in
February and first annual business meeting in May as in accordance with
the
constitution.
Comments: Closing
the two
former churches has become a more complicated process then expected,
but I am
trusting that our former church will be “dissolved” by year’s end.
5. Organize the
church
Discipleship programs at all levels, and train Brazilians to take over
programs. - S
Comments: The
discipleship
programs are working at many levels now, and we are seeing growth among
the
majority of our people. The Good Soil training was also a big help in
giving
direction. A Brazilian is heading up
discipleship ministries now. We would like to see more Brazilians
leading small
groups and doing discipleships rather than the missionaries doing all
this.
List four or five
short range goals for the coming year:
1. Deacon
training and
election of first deacons for the church at the next annual meeting.
2. Supporting
more
missionaries by the church.
3. Become
involved in
training interns from seminaries in the country, and begin the search
process
for Brazilian pastor.
4. Continue the
search and
purchase of land or building for the church.
5. See more
Brazilians
leading small groups and discipleships. Implementation
of the books The Story of Hope and The
Way to Joy (from Good Soil
ministries) more within the church and in our outreach.
Signature: Bill & Sue Spoelhof Date: December 30, 2009
Website: http://spoelhof.dutchgirl.net/