From your missionarypage 2

About the coverpage 2

Moldova mission trippage 2

Church newspage 3

Men’s Ministriespage 4

Pastors roundtablepage 4

2016 total contributionspage 5

GBC eventspages 5 & 6

Prayer needdspage 7

Calendarpage 7

Reserve Camp Houstonpage 7

Ghana mission trippage 8

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Gary Leutzinger

From Your MissionaryI had the opportunity to attend theGeorgia Baptist EvangelismConference along with someother pastors this week. As Iwrite this article, I can tell youthat I am even more concernedabout the lostness that is allaround us. The theme of theconference was “The Urgency ofthe Gospel”. If there was onething that I could say to sum upwhat God said to me, and I amsure to the other\pastors who

attended, that is we don’t need more information abouthow to share the Gospel but we need to be convinced ofthe importance of sharing the Gospel. I know I am makinga statement that everyone has heard before, but as weconsider that there is more lostness than ever before it isclear evidence that we really aren’t reaching people withthe Gospel.

In Ezekiel 33 there is an illustration that God gives aboutthe watchmen on the wall and that it is his duty to blast thetrumpet if he sees armies approaching so that the peoplecan be prepared to protect themselves. God tells Ezekielthat if the watchmen sees the armies coming and hedoesn’t blow the trumpet to warn the people, the blood ofthose who will be upon his hands. God uses the illustrationto help us understand that if we don’t warn people thatjudgment is coming and they die without Christ, theirblood will be upon our hands.

In this new year that God has given us, may we sense theurgency to share the Gospel and make disciples so that theKingdom will expand and that God will be glorified.

Bro. Gary

Mission team headed toMoldova/Ukraine for 17th timeFor the 17th time, a team including Houston BaptistAssociation church members will be going to share theGospel in Moldova and Ukraine on February 21–March 2.And for team member Fred Jones, it will the 20th time hehas been on mission to those countries. HBA teammembers include Fred Jones, Greg Sims and AubreyWynn. Others include John Early, Pat McGivaren, BrentTaylor and Ken Ward. Beside preaching the Gospel, theteam will also conduct eye glass clinics.

About the coverUnadilla, Wenona and Byronville Churches collected 225backpacks which provided backpacks for every student atTownsend Elementary School, Townsend, TN. Thebackpacks were loaded with food, clothing, schoolsupplies and toys. This was part of the Backpacks forAppalachia organized by the North American MissionBoard’s Appalachian Regional Ministries.

Pictured on the cover are Unadilla Church’s pastor BruceHowland and Wenona Church member Harold Dickersonwho carried the backpacks to Townsend and along withmissionaries Linda & Joe Ledford distributed thebackpacks to the children.

Executive CommitteeMeeting

February 20 @ 7pm

Houston Baptist Center

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Mt. Vernon Church packed 30 shoeboxes filled with allthings children like for Operation Christmas Child back inNovember.

7pm

Oakfield Church is hosting a GospelSing January 28 at6:00 p.m. featuring The Pachita Creek Pickers. A loveoffering will be received. This bluegrass/gospel groupfrom Randolph County plays traditional music with avariety of instruments including banjo, mandolin, dobro,bass, steel guitar, drums, guitar.

Harmony Church hosted the 30-30 Ministries atRedhawk Plantation on January 6-8. 30-30 is a youthfocused Christian ministry with a passion for hunting andfishing, and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 30-30team leader Terry Richardson, four boys and two girls,their chaperones, and other adults stayed at Redhawk overthe weekend and enjoyed hunting in our area. On Sundayeveryone attended the morning service at Harmony withTerry delivering the morning message and lunch followingthe service. As a result of a wonderful weekend, oneyouth received Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Church news

Bakerfield Church’s pastor Tony Workman has resigned.

Ebenezer Church ordained Matthew Ray and JerryWorthy as deacons in January. Ebenezer also is hosting a“Defending Your Faith” conference led by Frank DawsFebruary 5-9. Sunday’s starting times are 11:00 a.m. and6:00 p.m. and Monday thru Thursday 7:00 p.m.

Lake Blackshear Church will host its annual “FamilyAnd Friends Day” January 29. This year’s emphasis willbe “Back the Blue” to honor the men and women whoserve and protect in our local law enforcement and publicservice agencies. The service will be at 11:00 a.m., and afellowship meal will follow.

Lakeshore Church’s pastor Jeff Gibson has resigned.

Northern Heights Church will have their annualValentine Banquet for Senior Adults February 11 from5:00–7:30 p.m.

Unadilla Church will have Love Of God revival servicesFebruary 12-15. Sunday’s services are at 11:00 a.m. and6:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday service time is6:30 p.m. Guest preacher will be Ray Sullivan, and guestmusician will be Jeff Cleghorn.

Cordele First Church has moved their offices out to the new church building on 137 Kelly Road.

Penia Church

A vision of the future transforms what you do today.–Derwin Gray at the 2017 Georgia Baptist Evangelism Conference

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PastorsRoundtableFeb. 15 @ 10amHouston Baptist Center

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Church FinancialCompliance

& Giving SeminarSeminars are 6-9pm at seven locations in Georgia withthe nearest being on February 23 at Byne MemorialBaptist Church, Albany.

Learn the keys to best practices in church complianceand giving in the church. These seminars are forpastors, staff, treasurers, finance and stewardshipcommittees, personnel committees, constitution/bylawcommittees, deacons and elders. Registration fee is $10per person. To register and for more info go towww.gabaptist.org/churchadministration.

Undesignated churchcontributions 2016 Your gifts to help reach people for Christ in Crisp, Dooly,and Worth Counties are appreciated.

Acorn Pond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Agape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00

Antioch.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,325.00

Arabi.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,426.76

Bakerfield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Bethel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862.00

Byromville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,742.37

Dooling.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00

Drayton.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,650.00

Ebenezer.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,784.52

Filadelphia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,184.77

First Cordele.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,864.38

First Unadilla. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,000.00

First Vienna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,367.62

First Warwick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,271.08

Harmony.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,094.55

Hatley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,350.00

Lake Blackshear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,277.60

Lakeshore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Liberty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,981.44

Lilly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Mars Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Morningside. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,253.58

Mt. Pleasant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Mt. Vernon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300.00

New Harvest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649.12

Northern Heights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,381.00

Oakfield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418.00

Omar Heights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00

Penia.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,044.57

Pinecrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,935.20

Pinehurst.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000.00

Pleasant Grove. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,209.57

Riverview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,200.00

Rock Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00

Sharon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,338.77

Smyrna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,668.26

Thrive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00

Tippettville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00

Victory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300.00

Wenona. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00

Zion Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,435.10

TOTAL.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138,575.86

Children’s Ministry

Extravaganza Feb 25 @ 9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Children in grades 1-6

Three locations available:

First Baptist Church, 108 N Main Street; Statesboro

Roopville Road Baptist Church; 835 N Hwy 27, Roopville

Hazel Creek Baptist Church,243 Hazel Creek Church Rd;Mt. Airy

Cost is $20 per person which includes lunch. For morei n f o r a t i o n a n d t o r e g i s t e r v i s i thttp://gabaptist.org/womensministry/ .

Go to www.georgiawmu.org/selah for more info.

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Visit www.gabaptist.org for more information about these two events.

Visit www.wmu.com for more information about this event.

Birthdays and AnniversariesFeb. 8 Teresa WardFeb. 17 Virginia EvansFeb. 19 Betty SmithFeb. 22 Lisa & Richard ChalkFeb. 24 Noah DuncanFeb. 27 Tim Price

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Please pray for:#Asssociational Missionary Gary Leutzinger

#Church planters Drew and Shannon Cunningham, SantaCruz Area, California#Church planters Adam and Ashley Sewell, PittsburghArea, Pennsylvania#Mary Linda and Warren Hall

#Janet and John Pate

#Merle Sheffield; Lauralyn & Troy Drew

#Faye Vaughan

#Moldova/Ukraine Mission Trip Feb. 21-Mar. 2 (JohnEarly, Fred Jones, Pat McGivaren, Greg Sims, BrentTaylor, Ken Ward, Aubrey Wynn)

#Crisp Area Pregnancy Care Center

#Lost and unchurched people

#Revival in HBA churches

#Unity in our churches and unity among our churches

#Churches without pastors: Bakerfield, Cordele First,Dooling,, Lakeshore, Mars Hill, Northern Heights,Pleasant Grove

#TV ministries of Cordele First, Omar Heights, andPinecrest churches #All the events and activities mentioned in this newsletter

Church positions availableArabi Church is seeking a bi-vocational youth pastor. Send resume to John Evans, 3910 First Avenue, Arabi, GA31712.

Smyrna Church is seeking a part-time minister of music. Contact Linda White at 229-268-6792.

Unadilla First Church is looking for a pianist and a parttime secretary. Call 478-627-3615.

Vienna First Church is seeking a pianist for Sunday AMworship and weekly choir practice. Contact Jim Bolton at229-268-4386.

Opportunities coming upHouston Baptist Association events are printed in bold type. HBC is an abbreviation for Houston Baptist Center.

Tuesdays Men’s Prayer Breakfast, 8am, HBC

Jan. 26-28 Ministers Wives Retreat, GA BaptistConference Center, Toccoa

Feb. 2 Pastors Day at the Capitol, 10am–2pm

Feb. 2-3 Kids Ministry Summit, Jekyll Island

Feb. 6 Men’s Ministries Meeting, 6:30pm,Northern Heights Church

Feb. 9 Pastors Day at the Capitol, 10am-2pm

Feb. 12 Racial Reconciliation Sunday

Feb. 13-19 Focus On WMUWeek

Feb. 15 Pastors Roundtable, 10am, HBC

Feb. 18 Children’s Ministry Day3

Feb. 20 Executive Committee Meeting, 7pm,HBC

Feb. 21 Mission Team leaves for Moldova &Ukraine. Returning Mar. 2

Feb. 23 Church Financial Compliance & GivingSeminar, Byne Memorial Baptist Church,Albany

Feb. 25 Children’s Missions Extravaganza, 3locations–see page 5

Mar. 5-12 Week of Prayer for North AmericanMissions and Annie Armstrong EasterOffering

Mar. 9-11 SELAH 2017–A retreat for Georgia BaptistWomen’s Ministry Leaders, PinnacleRetreat Center, Clayton

Looking aheadPut these important events on your church’s calendar now!

Girls Camp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . June 19-22Boys Camp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . June 26-29Youth Camp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 6-8Day Camp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 10-13Annual Meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sept. 10

Reserve Camp HoustonHouston Baptist Association has a beautiful 10-acre camp12 miles south of Cordele. HBA churches get to use this facility free. Donations are requested for extended stays tocover extra utility costs. Reserve a date for your church togather and fellowship in the beautiful, wooded setting ofCamp Houston. Pool open May 27-Sept. 4.

Pinecrest Church members Vince Culpepper, Kenny Peters, Bob Sangster and Melissa Sangster flew to the Nalerigu, Ghanaarea in West Africa on January 5 to minister along with fellow Pinecrest members and IMB missionaries Heidi and WilliamHaun at the IMB Medical Center which was founded in 1958. The hospital has been under the authority of the Ghana BaptistConvention since 2014. Heidi is a surgeon at the hospital. The team shared Christ with over 800 children, ministered in twochurch services, taught Sunday School for adults, youth and children, preached the Gospel to over 200 patients on clinic dayand prayed with dozens in the wards at Baptist Medical Center. Dr. Culpepper performed surgeries for three days and didtwo days in the clinic. A dozen or more people showed interest in how to accept Christ on clinic day and in the wards, andthere were three professions of faith. A special thanks from the team members to all who helped make the trip possible andto all who prayed for them. Pictured above is Kenny dancing with the children. The team returned home January 14. Pinecrestis planning another trip to Ghana in January 2018 to help train local pastors in and around Nalerigu.

Houston Herald is published monthly by Houston Baptist Association. Send news and/or comments to P O Box 1274,

Cordele, GA 31010, email to secretary@houstonbaptist.org or call 229-273-4127.

NONPROFITORGANIZATIONPOSTAGE PAIDPERMIT NO. 35

VIENNA GA

Hous on Baptist Association2116 Hwy 41 ^ P O Box 1274 ^ Cordele, GA 31010www.houstonbaptist.org229-273-4127 (phone); 229-273-0626 (fax)Associational Missionary: Gary Leutzingera.m@houstonbaptist.org ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

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