September 13, 2011
Greetings, dear friends, in the Name of our Lord!
It’s hard to believe that another month has gone by. The last four weeks have been busy, as usual. On August 20th, I joined Dan Fredman and Phil Sanders and spoke on the Holding to the Traditions program at the Inola church of Christ in Inola, Oklahoma. It was a great day with brethren from many congregations in Northeast Oklahoma in attendance. On August 28th, I was blessed to speak to and worship with the brethren of the Odessa church of Christ in Odessa, Missouri. I appreciated very much the opportunity to share with those good brethren the work of the Bear Valley extension program.
On September 1, I traveled to Denver for the annual staff retreat of the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. We met (about 40 people all together) at the Eternal Purpose Retreat Center, near Sedalia, Colorado in the foothills of the beautiful Rocky Mountains. It was a tremendous and exciting recharging of our batteries, as we heard reports from every school in the Bear Valley program from all over the world. We broke camp on Sunday afternoon and returned to Denver and I spoke to the Bear Valley congregation that evening. I appreciate so much the invitation to give that lesson.
I will be traveling to Honduras this week. I leave Thursday, September 15 for Houston where I will spend the night and then head on down Friday morning. I am scheduled to return on Tuesday night, September 20. I will then leave on Thursday, September 22 for Denver again, this time for the Bear Valley Homecoming Lectures. It is always good to return for Homecoming, but this year is especially good for me because I will be speaking on Sunday morning, September 25. The lectures this year are covering the book of Mark and I will be speaking on chapter 13.
School Reports
Guatemala - You can find new reports from ITL (the school in Guatemala at: Donnie Bates Reports
Honduras - As we reported in our last newsletter, the Beta Class has begun at IBH. I would like to share with you a need that we currently have. We were blessed to start classes with nine (9) new students. Three of those new students enrolled in the last month before classes began and that has thrown our budget into a near crisis. We are currently approximately $1,300/month under budget. Because of some surplus that was built up in the months between graduation and the new class beginning, we are able to function, but that will not last long. Our need is to find those additional funds. We are looking for individuals and/or congregations who can help us continue this great work. Of course, any amount anyone can give will help; however, we are looking for 50 individuals and/or congregations who can contribute $25/month. This will get us very close to being fully funded for the next two years. If you can help in this way, please let me know using the contact information below, or you can send your check directly to the Hillcrest church of Christ in Neosho, Missouri. Their address is:
1037 West South Street
Neosho, MO 64850
(Please indicate on your check that the money is for the Bible Institute of Honduras)
Thank you again for your interest in this work. Without good brethren like you it would be very difficult to do and I appreciate you more than I can express in a newsletter like this. May God richly bless each of you. If you would like to contact me, you may reach me at:
2013 Rushing Meadows
Edmond, OK 73013
Cell Phone: (580) 326-1914
Email: dnbates1@gmail.com*
*Please note the change of email address!
Thank you again and God bless you all!!
Donnie Bates