“For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5)
I must say that God was good to us once again at the 3rd Annual B.E.S.T. Missions Conference. Let me give you a brief summary of two powerful days of preaching and fellowship. There were nearly 40 preachers from several states in attendance. Our keynote speaker, Pastor John Wilkerson, was a blessing to so many men of God. What a great testimony of Faith Promise he gave on Tuesday morning!
During the conference, B.E.S.T. Missions received over $13,000 in offerings for the printing of the Word of God that will endure forever. Pastors who attended are still sending offerings to B.E.S.T. for Scriptures to be printed and distributed. “For the LORD is good . . . .”
Next year’s conference will once again be held on Labor Day, September 6-7, 2021. Would you please mark your calendar for this special meeting? The Lord has been so good to us in providing special rates on motel rooms, wonderful meals prepared by the good folks at Colonial Baptist Church, and the opportunity to meet and fellowship with other like-minded men of God.
Our goal at B.E.S.T. Missions is to provide Scriptures for the millions of Bible-less people of Southeast Asia and around the world. Sam Martin of World Missions Bearing Precious Seed attended the conference again. On Tuesday morning, he reported that they have printed over a million John & Romans in the Thai language and several thousand New Testaments, which are all ready for shipment.
The last week of October, the Second Baptist Church of Festus, Missouri, conducts their annual Missions Conference. Pastor James Waymire has already agreed to pay for the shipping of the first container of Scriptures to Thailand. They will load the first of many containers bound for Southeast Asia. “For the LORD is good . . . .”
B.E.S.T. Missions could possibly ship three or four containers of Scriptures in 2021, but we still have to come up with the cost of shipping and expanding our Distribution Center in Bangkok. I guess that having to expand to meet the demand is a good thing. Please pray for B.E.S.T. Missions to meet the financial need of getting Scripture into the hands of believers who have never seen a copy of God’s Word.
We still have several coin banks available that are used to save towards printing the Bibles. If you would like to have some of the banks, please contact me. One penny can print three pages of the Bible. We also are supplying, free of charge, Bible- reading schedules for English Bibles. Please let me know how many you need.
I am happy to report that the Laotian Bible has been translated for the first time. Because of the labor of several national pastors and Missionary Philip Pope, the Laotian people will have the Word of God in their language. Praise the Lord! The men who have been working on this translation are still in the process of proofreading it. They have completed the first three chapters of Genesis and the books of John and Romans (about 40 chapters). We have already sent the completed Scriptures to our printer in Northern Thailand to be put into booklet form. Each copy will cost about $0.50 to produce.
This is 2020, and it will be the first time the Word of God has been produced for the Laotian people in their language. The Scriptures will be printed in Thailand, delivered to a pastor of a local Baptist church, and then distributed by national pastors. These Scriptures will have to be smuggled in to Laos, as it is against the law to distribute Christian material. Many of the countries of Southeast Asia are still Communist, and it is against the law to own a Bible.
Men will hazard their lives to make sure the people of Laos can have the Gospel in their hands. The least we can do is supply them with the Word. “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.” (Mark 13:10) This will be the second nation that B.E.S.T. has had a part in providing them with the Gospel in the written Word.
It truly is wonderful to be able to provide the Word of God to Bible-less people. Would you pray that we could meet the demand for Scriptures? We can only print what the Lord’s people provide for. If you would like to have a part in this project, please send an offering to: B.E.S.T. Missions, 1599 West Olive Street, Rogers, Arkansas 72756. Please include a note telling us it is a gift for the Laotian Bible.
As a special request, please pray for our good friend, Dr. Ed Tutton. He has spent most of his life educating the next generation of preachers. His influence has reached worldwide by starting and administrating Bible colleges in many nations. In less than a year, Dr. & Mrs. Tutton lost two adult daughters to cancer. Recently, Dr. Tutton was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. This family stands in need of our prayers and support.
As we and the world draw nearer to an end, our burden is to be ever mindful of those who have never heard the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for every prayer you offer up for B.E.S.T. Missions. We love you and thank God for your faithfulness to the Lord and His work.
Into all the world,
Bob Bowen
Philippians 4:13