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Faith’ helps restore area assembly
Monday, August 25, 2008 5:40 PM MDT
MILAN - Faith Baptist Church on Old Highway 66 west of Milan has had
visiting relatives from out of state for about two weeks. Fellow
Baptists from Grace Baptist Tabernacle in Kansas spent their summer
vacation helping the new pastor, Bradley Hastings, make some long needed
repairs to the church. After 25 years in New Zealand, Hastings and his
wife are serving at the church built by the late Pastor Jimmy Winters.
“I'm with an organization that plants churches around the world, The
World Baptist Fellowship, that's why I was in New Zealand for 25
years,” said Hastings. “We are reaching out to the Native American
community to let them know there is someone here to help them with their
needs, spiritually,” said Hastings.
“We are looking specifically for indigenous people because Matthew 28
said, 'Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations…'
Native Americans, Hawaii, Alaska, we work in areas where we perceive the
need is the greatest,” the pastor added. “Our ministry is not just a
job, it comes to us as a divine call.”
The late Pastor Winters and his wife, Bonnie, came to New Mexico in
1985 to work with Native Americans and started the church in 1998. He
had bought the 12-by-60 feet office trailer and two doublewide
classrooms at the Sanders, Ariz., school district auction. Pulling
one-half of a trailer along I-40 near Prewitt, Winters was caught in a
heavy wind that ripped the mobile home off of its frame and threw the
pastor through the windshield. His wife was following in their Suburban
and thought her husband was in the truck, but found him lying on the
windshield, on the ground, in an embankment along I-40.
“I can laugh now, but I was pretty scared at the time,” Winters
shared. “I told my husband, 'We can't take care of this, the Lord has
to do it.' ”
Thankfully, the pastor hadn't been hurt, but one year later he was
diagnosed with cancer.
He had built his congregation with people he met under all sorts of
circumstances in the Haystack, Baca and Prewitt areas. When he became
too ill to preach, Brother Warren Bell stepped in on occasion to help
Winters. Bells also helped after Winters' passing in 2003. The
congregation dwindled because of a lack of fulltime leadership and the
church fell into disrepair but it has never been closed.
“My husband wanted the work to go on even after his passing,” his
wife said. “I don't regret anything. I'm glad we had our time together
and we served the Lord together.”
The members of the Kansas congregation heard about the needs of their
fellow Baptists in Grants and were the second group this summer that
visited to lend their help. The first group, from Kimball, Neb., came in
June for four days to paint walls and stain the railings of the porch.
“These are some very gracious people. Churches from other parts of the
country have prayed for us.”
The Kansas volunteers completely rebuilt the porch, repainted the
building, repaired the leaking roof, attached the seats to the floor
inside of the building and left two pianos for the congregation.
Before the Kansas group left the members took an afternoon to see some
sights. The group was most interested to visit the Haystack Reservation,
where new members for the congregation will be sought. They also drove
out to the Sandstone Bluffs on Highway 117 and to Baca to see where the
Navajo live.
By Kathryn Marmon
Beacon staff writer
Cibola County Beacon
Milan, New Mexico
Permission to post on WBF website given by:
Donald Jaramillo
Cibola County Beacon
Ph: 505-287-4411
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