Dear Pastor and Churches,
“The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.” Psalm 126:3 The Lord truly has done great things for the Mallard family and we are indeed glad. Since our last update things have continued to progress in the planting of Liberty Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff, MO. We kept our official ‘Launch Sunday’ as January 1st, however because the Lord gave us a place to meet and some contacts in the area we started meeting on December 1st. Our first service we had 10 people besides our family. We have started with Sunday AM, PM, and a midweek service. It has been a blessing to have 6 of the 10 people we started with being faithful to all our services. I am happy to report that on Christmas Sunday we had our first person present herself for membership. Ms. Martha has been a faithful member in a Baptist church in Oregon for many years and has recently moved back to this area. We rejoice to see how God will use her as a part of this body. She has already been involved in our outreach efforts here in PB, as we have 2,500 door hangers that we are putting out.
We had our ‘Kick Off’ services on December 29, 30. It was such a blessing to have people from Berean Baptist in Springfield, MO, Bible Baptist in Columbia, MO, Black River Bible Baptist in Williamsville, MO, Calvary Baptist in Campbell, MO, Current River Baptist in Doniphan, MO, as well as our folks attend this service. On Thursday night of the meeting we had 62 people in attendance. May I say the place was packed. I was only able to fit 57 chairs where we meet. Thankfully some of this number was children and my wife took them to the back. The Friday service we still had 41, it was encouraging to see auditorium so full and really gave us the ‘kick off’ that we prayed it would. Both Pastor Ables and Pastor Hastings preached timely messages for our church plant, as well as all in attendance.
As far as our family we are all doing well. We want to thank all those that sent cards and special Christmas offerings this year. We are overwhelmed with your generosity. As I wrote our last update we were expecting our first grandchild any day. I am happy and thankful to report that Miles Richardson Baxter was born and he and his parents are doing well. I am also excited to report that Lord willing they are coming for a visit this week. I appreciate FaceTime and pictures, but I can’t wait to put my hands on that little fellow. (Oh and also Evan and Taylor) Thank you so much for those that pray for us and also for those that support us financially. I look forward to reporting on what God is doing here to you next month. My plan for 2023 is a monthly update.
In Christ, The Mallards