Hi Friends,
Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers.
I wanted to send you a brief but informative update on what is going on here in San Angelo!
Housing: God has blessed me with a sweet lady and her 7th grade daughter to live with. A family member of theirs is on leadership here at the BSM and they were gracious enough to house me. They are a sweet reminder of how much family is important. I love slowly and passively teaching lessons to this silly junior higher. They bring more joy to my life than they know.
Church: God has brought me to a church not far from the BSM called College Hills Baptist Church. I am involved with the college group there and am challenged and blessed very much by the worship and teaching. The pastor is a very amazing man who preaches the gospel unapologetically, which I find refreshing! We are going through the gospel of Luke. It’s funny; I visited and really enjoyed it only to realize some old friends go there too!
BSM: God is moving in such amazing ways here! We have students who have come back from the Christmas break with such fervor for the gospel and spreading its blessings to others. Our small group ministry at the BSM is changing this year. They are happening outside the BSM building, right where the ministry is going to take place. I’m so pumped! My small group is on Thursday nights and we will be meeting at a local coffee shop and going through 1 John. I’m super excited to see who God brings to the group. Our Friday lunch got started up last week and our director spoke about starting out the semester right. Then Tuesday at our large group gathering the visiting speaker hit the nail right on the head for so many of the students and me when he spoke about spending more time in the Word. So many of the students are so excited about this semester and their ministries that I can’t help but be more and more excited everyday! We have a freshman who is so pumped that she is planning on reading the whole bible by the end of the semester! Please be praying for us all as we working getting God’s Word written on our hearts.
Future Plans: I am still in the prayer, searching, and discernment stage as far as after May goes. My job will be over and I don’t know what God has for me yet. Please prayer for wisdom in that and listening to God’s voice.
Personal Life: The fall semester blew by and I could hardly believe that I hadn’t had the chance to breathe and update on all God has been doing! I have been learning so much about the face of God, the practicality of His love and needs and where they meet, about myself and how I act out of my comfort zone and away from the familiar, my ministry challenges and where God has blessed me immensely (discipleship) and where He needs to really show Himself and train specific muscles (evangelism), and how much prayer is so much a part of everyday life!
I have realized that I have been slacking allot in areas that should never be forgotten! I get so much joy and filling up spiritually from fellowship with believers and talking about God with folks who love Him that it’s so easy for me to slack on time with Jesus alone and reading His Word. I felt very dry a lot of the fall but not in the way that you would think. God is good, God is perfect and beautiful. He does everything for a purpose. I knew and acknowledged that all last year knowing that He is unchanging and good no matter what my life or those around me’s lives looked like. God wasn’t absent, but He was silent for a period.
God did a lot of work on me over the Christmas break. I learned many lessons that will come with large changes in how my life is lived. I have a renewed passion for His Word and knowing it intimately. I have specific girls on the leadership team that I meet one-on-one with and we will be writing God’s Word on our heart together this semester and I’m really thrilled to see how God will use our new heart knowledge!
Prayer Requests:
My Roommates (The Brickens) - That God will continue to use me as an example and to be a not too annoying blessing.
Church - For my pastor, Lakan, as he goes through the book of Luke, that all the leaders of the church will look to God for guidance in everything, and for continual growth in the community and family there.
BSM students and visitors - that God will show them new parts of His glory and grace.
Future - That I would constantly be on my face seeking wisdom for whatever God has planned!
Personal Life - that God would surround me with accountability to continue reading and knowing God’s Word, that prayer would be a constant need, for encouragement for me in my position, to be given Christ’s love for everyone around me.
Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement! I hope you are having a wonderful new year thus far.
In Christ,
Deborah Baker
