Heartland's Blog

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Email from Mike Beasley, HBA Mission Team Leader, currently in El Salvador rebuilding hurricane ravaged houses. Mike and Ruth sent a prayer update from San Vincente, El Salvador over the weekend. As you know they are building homes to replace those that were destroyed by Hurricane Ida in November.

"It is HOT here 90 degrees plus. We started the second house. It is on the side of the hill. We do things the manual labor way- pick and shovel. We moved gravel and sand from the top of the hill half way down to the house site. We used buckets and passed them down using a line of people."

"We dug out the area for the third house. We got it fairly level and ready for the footers to be dug out and poured. Concrete floor was poured today. The El Salvadorans mix the concrete on the ground. We carried the concrete in buckets into the house. No concrete truck."

"Saturday we plan to get the roof supports welded together and the tin on the roof."

"Continue to pray for us as we work. No one has gotten hurt so far. We are working in close quarters and on steep slope."

Meetings, meetings, meetings! Of course, I do not like to have any more meetings than are absolutely necessary! We do have some meetings coming up that I consider very important!

We will be participating in GPS: God's Plan for Sharing. This process is an exciting and easy process for your church to participate in leading up to your Easter Sunday Morning Service. We are having three Pastor/Staff meeting in as many days. These meetings will introduce the Pastor to GPS and orient them in the whole process. This all begins tonight at the First Baptist Church of Richmond. Supper will be provided. The meal begins at 6:30 PM. The second meeeting will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 19 at the First Baptist Church of Braymer. This meeting begins at 11 AM. The final meeting will be at the First Baptist Church of Cameron on Wednesday, Jan. 20th beginning at 11 AM. We do need to know how many are coming so please either call these churches or call the Mission Center ASAP.

The Men & Boy's Banquet will be this Saturday, January 23rd beginning at 6 PM. The cost is $7.00 for the catered meal. Rev. Barry Pfister, an illusionist, will be our guest. It will be a great evening. We do need reservations, call right away.

HAITI is on all of our minds these days. Linda & I have friends who are working in the Dominican Republic with the Haitian people. Last report we had they were doing real well, not much electricity and the phones are mostly down, but doing well. Heartland Baptist Association will be monitoring this situation closely and will be cooperating with the State Convention in any relief projects they put forward. As far as Disaster Relief goes, Rick Seaton, DR Director for Missouri has informed us that no call has gone out for DR participation as of yet but this will be a LONG HAUL! We must be willing to step up when the call comes. Plan on your church participating.

Michael & Ruth Beasley are planning on going to El Salvador to help in building or reconstructing houses destroyed by Hurricane Ida. They will probably be going around the first of February. The cost is approximately $1,400 and everyone who desires to go can contact Mike directly or call the Mission Center for more information.

Many great things are happening in Heartland Baptist Association. We are looking forward to highlighting them through the use of this blog. Please come back often and comment when you can. In days to come we will begin updating our camp blog and our Disaster Relief Blog. You will want to keep up with all the happenings in Heartland!

Jerry Palmer, DOM.

This is the first installment of our journey back to El Salvador! We will be leaving on Friday, November 6th on a mission trip to help the pastors and their spouses in this tiny Latin American country. The team is made up of Pastor Ron Malott, FBC Lathrop; Pastor Robert Shelton and his wife Sandy, FBC Plattsburg; Jerry & Linda Palmer. Please pray for our final preparations and safety in travel.


We are here in Chalchuapa, El Salvador, raining and so we are being Flexibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. We are going to meet up with another Missouri team doing a Medical Clinic and then later we are going to "the Frontier" to hold services tonight. I am speaking tonight (Jerry Palmer). Ron & Robert will be speaking in two differant churches tomorrow. We will have individual members of the team to blog about the trip, during coming days.


Saturday, November 7, 2009 - Robert Shelton writing.........

This is my second trip to El Salvador and Sandy's first. She went to Nicaragua the same year I went to El Salvador (2002). I shared a devotion this morning from John 4. Verse 4 says that Jesus "had to go through Samaria" - Jesus lived every moment "on purpose." He looked for divine appointments that His Heavenly Father set up for Him. On our trip from Houston to San Salvador last night, God gave Sandy and I a "divine appointment." We sat next to a man returning to El Salvador for his father's death. In our conversation, he mentioned that he is a Christian and has believed in Jesus since 1979. He lives and works in Los Angeles. We were encouraged by our conversation with him. In John 4:13, Jesus offers living water - people are trying to quench their soul thirst in so many ways. We are here in El Salvador to offer "living water." We know only Jesus satisfies. The disciples didn't understand Jesus' words in verse 32 that He had food to eat that they didn't know about. My prayer is that we don't miss what Jesus is saying and doing around us.


Sunday, November 8, 2009 - Linda Palmer writing...............


¡Buenos tardes, hermanos y hermanas! (Good afternoon, brothers and sisters!)
¿Como esta usted? (How are you?)


Other than asking for coffee, tea or water, a few food items, plus a hand full more phrases, you have before you the Spanish speaking vocabulary of most of us when we arrived here in El Salvador. We are remembering that facial expressions and a few words like gracious (thank you) and por favor (please) express most of the things we would like to say when one of the interpreters is not near. We are hearing and understanding more than we can speak much like a very young child. Please pray that our ears, facial expressions and body language help convey the love of God to all whom we come in contact.

The fellowship with the Salvadorian brothers and sisters is great. We went to La Frontiera last night where Brother Jerry spoke, with Maya to interpret. The mission team was singing around the piano so to speak before the people arrived. We were asked during the singing part of the service if we would sing. So-o-o, we all went up on the high platform and sang “Oh How He Loves You and Me.” I don’t know how God did it, but we had four part harmony and all the words, but with no music.

The team split into two groups of three each this morning for morning worship. Brother Robert was scheduled to preach in First Baptist, Chalchuapa The interpreter, Otto, was late due to a mud slide, so he will get to preach tonight, with Joseph to interpret. The team will again be split into two groups this evening. I think Brother David, our facilitator, will also preach tonight with Otto to interpret. This will give all four men a chance to speak before we begin the teaching/discussion days with the pastors and their spouses from this beautiful country. Please, please pray for these times of teaching/discussing with these church leaders. Please ask God to draw these leaders to Himself in a powerful way as only He can. And pray that our notes and plans will not prevent God from doing what He wants done here this week. Thank you, thank you, for holding the ropes in prayer for us. - Linda

Monday, November 9, 2009 - Ron Malott writing........
During the flight Friday between Houston and El Salvador there was a divine appointment with one of the passengers. He was raised in Boston but is a national of El Salvador. He was wanting to know why we are going to his country. In explaining to him that we were going to teach, he wanted to know what we would be teaching. It was of the Lord to be able to share with him the gospel. He has the head knowledge but I think it has missed his heart.

Since we have been here we have continued to see such appointments. Today, in meeting with Pastors and Church Leaders, we find them hungry to hear and to learn. The questions they asked were quite revealing of the situations they face each day. Pray for these men & women as they face challenges particular to their own culture. I understand that people are open to us as Americans as we share the gospel, but for the Salvadorians instead of open doors, doors are closed in their face. Pray for the Pastors and Church Leaders to be encouraged as they stay committed to Christ and to sharing the gospel.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - David Groves writing........

After a very busy day of ministry and while unwinding this evening, it occurred to me that every mission trip is different and every mission team is unique. This is a great team and I am blessed to be a part of it. We had only a few people in the seminar today but they seemed to receive much from the teaching. The one-on-one discussions were interesting and I'm sure were helpful to the pastors and their wives. This project is going to bless the churches of El Salvador over the next few years.

We were blessed in the afternoon session by a visit from Dr. David Tolliver, Executive Director of the MBC, and Mauricio Vargas, Partnership Missions Specialist in El Salvador for the Missouri Baptist Convention. Their presence certainly excited the team and those in attendance as well.

This evening all of us were very tired and were looking for excuses not to attend the worship service at First Baptist Chalchuapa where Pastor Robert Shelton was to bring the message. I am so glad we went and heard the message on the necessity of having the mind of Christ. I don't know about the rest, but I really needed it.

Well, it's to bed and up early to do it again! Too bad tomorrow is the last day of the teaching......it's been great!!!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - Sandy Shelton Writing.............
We had another great day here in El Salvador! We went and toured a coffee plant here in Chalchuapa. We saw the whole process from beginning to end. The coffee is wonderful here so of course we had to buy some to bring home. From there we went to First Baptist of Chalchuapa to see the Medical team from Missouri then to have lunch. We moved on from there to travel an hour to La Frontera where we we're teaching our last session to the Pastors and their wives. We arrived an hour early which for here is more like two hours. Life here moves at a much different pace than back home. No one seems to be in a hurry. We have had to adjust to their schedule rather than expecting them to adjust to ours. We went down the road about a mile to another Baptist church to visit the pastor there. An added bonus was behind the church! We stepped behind the church into Guatemala. We saw a goat and some chickens. Anyway we had a nice trip! We went back to the church for the teaching session. It went well. We had four pastors and one pastor's wife so we all stayed together. There are so many needs of the pastors and the churches. They have a heart for the Lord and are willing to give all. God is blessing our team and we have many prayers to be offered up for El Salvador!

Thursday, November 12, 2009 - Joseph Iraheta.........

Well this is the first time you get the Salvadorean perspective about the trip well first of all, I'm Joseph the interpreter and I want to give my opinion on the trip. It has been really productive trip. We worked a lot sometimes to be so tired that we got back to the hotel and to rest, but I think it has been really helpful to all of the pastors that have been a part of the teaching. It has been a blessing for El Salvador to have this mission group coming here and I am glad that I was a part of something so special and helpful to my country. I thank the team for all the advise they have given to me. I learned a lot this past week. Well, today was our last day together. We went to get the coffee that the team had bought but they made a mistake at the time of packaging so we had to go to the Mayan Ruins called Tazumal and then come back to get the coffee again to Cuscachapa. Then we came back to San Salvador and checked in to the hotel. We went to the Market Place to buy presents for the team to take back to Missouri. After that we went to pick up my girlfriend at the university since the team wanted to meet her. We then drove down to the beach and took some pictures there and then came back to San Salvador. We had a wonderful dinner of pupusas. We are ready to get some rest so I am leaving the team at the Hotel Grecia Real and taking off to my house. I just want to thank the team for these wonderful days and everything they have done for us and especially for me. Thank you guys and may God bless you. Don't forget your Salvadorean friend............... Joseph

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 - Jerry Palmer writing.........


Well, it has been 12 days since our return and what a hectic 12 days it has been. Linda and I were privileged to be with the good folks at FBC Plattsburg when Robert & Sandy gave their presentation. The people seemed very interested in their pastor & wife's trip! Enjoyed making a video for Robert & Sandy. Next comes Ron Malott's trip presentation on next Sunday. Working on his video and yes, Linda and I will be there for that. The only complaint (if I ever complained) is their 8:00 AM First Service. I usually am not conherent until at least 9:00 AM. But I will do it for the Lord. The one hold over is not jet lag (same time zone) it is a temperature "lag". I am already use to 85 degrees and tomorrow morning they say it will be 28. Oh if that was a centigrade reading!!!!!

Wednesday, December 8, 2009 - Jerry Palmer writing.........


Continue to pray for efforts that follow this remarkable trip! We are now in the planning stage for developing the audio/video teachings that will be sent to the pastors we worked with in El Salvador. Pray that everything will go smoothly, the pastors will get the teachings in a reasonable time and that it will impact their lives and the lives of their congregations.

HBA has three blogs for your "Blogging" Pleasure:

• HBA Blog: You are currently looking at it. It contains general reading about Heartland Baptist Association.
• Camp Blog: Information and stories about Heartland's Summer Camps at Grand Oaks.
• Disaster Relief Blog: Linking people regarding our Disaster Relief Effort especially having to do with our Command/Communications Trailer.

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