Monthly Ministry Letter

BETHEL CHURCH
204 AIRPORT ROAD VIDALIA, LA 71373
WEBSITE: www.troythomass.org Email address: bethelchurch5@bellsouth.net
OFFICE (318)336-HOPE(4673) OR CELL (318)421-1450
PASTOR TROY N. THOMAS SR.
GIVING TO GOD’S VISION

February 3, 2023

Greetings to my Fellow Soldier of the Cross,

Praise God for another day. | trust that you full of health in every part of your being. | am in great health spiritually, mentally and physically. | praise God for health and strength!! We are trully soldiers of the cross and light. That was a great song that came out in the 80’s. It stated that LOVE iS OUR WEAPON AND THE HOLY GHOST IS OUR MIGHT. This being a new year, PLEASE let me know if you desire to continue to receive my spiritual emails.

Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Romans 15:26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are Jerusalem. 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work… These are powerful scriptures. Allow me to tell you how we give, how God provides and the vision of giving to the need in Kenya, Africa. As you know, for approximately 30 years | have preached in other countries. | have seen all types of miracles signs and wonders. People ask me, how is this done with a congregation of less than a 150 people? | and our church are givers. Personally, | give 20% of my salary to God’s work. Bethel Church gives approximately 25% of the tithe to missions and helping the needy. Through our giving, wise stewardship and blessing of the Lord, we have always had more than enough for our needs and to help others. We have NO debt, our buildings and vans are paid for. We runa discipleship shelter and preach on radio, television around the world. WE CAN’T BEAT GOD GIVING, NO MATTER HOW YOU TRY!! If we wait until we have millions of dollars, we will not change our world for God’s glory.

For the last 15 years, | have been traveling to Kenya regularly sharing the gospel, feeding the hungry, training pastors and establishing churches. | have sleep in many of the pastors’ homes of Kenya, Africa. Many of the pastors | am referring to have interpreted for me as | taughted their congregations. Over the past 3-4 years, Kenya and some of the surrounding countries have experience swarms of locusts that destroyed vast amounts of their crops. Kenyans have experience a drought during this time also. The death rate from hunger has increase substantially due to the locusts and the drought. Bethel Church gives bi-monthly to some of the pastors in Kenya to help them survive while they preach the gospel. Most of these Kenyan pastors never ask me for money. They ask me for prayer to be effective pastors to their community. | WILL NOT ONLY PRAY, | WILL HELP TO SUPPLY THEIR NEED!!! | John 3:3:17-18 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him: My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. These Kenyan pastors do what they can by faith and not beg. A Kenyan bishop we support received an offering from us in January. | have known him for approximately 15 years. He began to weep on the phone in gratitude for the offering we sent to him. | have never heard him weep. | began to weep with him. He wept about the on time supply our offering gave to him and his family. The Kenyans need water wells with irrigation systems to get the water to the crops. They need seeds to plant in the fields. The Kenyan pastors with help will be a hub for the communities to get spiritual and physical food. If you were to put in the internet search bar KENYA LOCUST or KENYA DROUGHT you would see and understand the devastation of this country!! | realize that no one man can meet the needs of the entire world. | also realize that you are not called to give to every need in the world. However, you are called to pray to God and yield to His promptings. We at Bethel Church sacrifice to help meet the spiritual and physical needs of the Kenyan pastors. As we help them, they WILL meet the spiritual and physical needs of their community. | plan to travel to Kenya this year to be a blessing to Kenya. | want to raise $50,000.00 to help the pastors minister to the SPIRITUAL & PHYSICAL of their community. WILL YOU GIVE TO THIS KINGDOM ENDEAVOR? NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL OR TOO LARGE. You may not be able to give the entire amount, do whatever God prompts you to do. | plan to provide pictures and videos of the projects these pastors do to accomplish to save their communities. Also, you are welcome to go to Kenya with me and bless this country. You may give through cashapp Sbethelchurch204 VENMO bethel-church-204 our website: www.bethelchurchla.org or check made out to Bethel Church. Make sure you designate it for KENYA VISION. PLEASE RESPOND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, LIVES WILL BE FEED, SAVED AND DELIVER THROUGH YOUR GIVING. IN JESUS NAME!!!

MINISTERS FELLOWSHIP: Place: Bethel Church Vidalia, LA Day, Date & Time: 4 Thur. Feb. 23, 2023 liam SPEAKER: Pastor Roelie Etsebeth of South Africa

Please invite other ministers and their spouse to our fellowship. Free lunch, CD, DVD or flashdrive will be provided. | know that it will be worth you sacrificing to come. It is my honor to strengthen and challenge ministers and leaders in the kingdom of God.

P.S. Mark your calendar for our annual ministers/leaders seminar Sat. Sept. 9, 2023. Women & men are challenged to be the minister/leader God has called them to be. Early registration by Aug. 27. 2023: $25.00 for couples and $15.00 for singles. After Aug. 27: $35.00 for couples and $25.00 for singles. Registration covers: Snacks, lunch, notes of 6 speakers and DVD, flashdrive or a CD of each speaker. Free overnight accommodations are available upon request. If the registration is a problem, sponsors

February 12, 2020

KNOWING WHO YOU ARE AFFECTS MINISTRY SUCCESS

To: My Fellow Laborer in Christ,

I greet you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is a privilege and an honor to send you this letter. I am doing great in the Lord. I pray that you are doing great in your spirit, soul and body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, if you would like me to stop sending you these ministry letters, let me know. I never desire my spiritual letters to be considered junk mail to those I send them to. I love to encourage and challenge ministers that desire to obey God. I realize that if I can encourage and strengthen you, you will help others. We are all in this God work together. Do you agree?

As I began to meditate on what I would write to you on, knowing who you are in ministry came to my mind. It is very important to know our place in the body of Christ. Ecclesiastes 8:9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt. 1 Timothy 3:6 A bishop (overseer, elder, pastor) should not be a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. If a person acquires an office that they are not mature enough for, they may hurt themselves and the people they are endeavoring to help. What is a stumbling block? It is any stone that is out of place. Some ministers are out of place. Listen to this thought. In the traditional religious community, everyone who receives the call to preach should eventually pastor a church. As you know, everyone that is called to ministry is not called to pastor a local body of believers. In the religious world that I grew up in, after one accepted the call to preach, people ask, when will you get a church? People will ask the young minister, have you started pastoring a church yet? There is what we call the five-fold ministry. Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-12 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some apostles and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: We know that God can use anyone He desires to, do His will. God used a donkey to speak to a covetous prophet. God used a rooster to crow at the right time to bring conviction on Peter. God can speak through whomever He wants to, to accomplish His mission. The main thing is, yielding to the grace God has given to us to. We cannot accomplish His mission without His grace.

Before I go on with this letter, we need to define grace. First of all, grace has at least two definitions. Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is undeserved mercy. However, grace is more than unmerited favor. It is God’s strength. It is divine enablement. Ephesians 3:7-8 Where of I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 Paul stated that he was called to be an apostle. He said, by the grace of God I am what I am: and God’s grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Well, I am running out of space in this letter. I must cover more on this topic next month. Let me conclude this by asking a question. HOW CAN WE DO THE WORK OF MINISTRY, BEING A PROPHET, EVANGELIST, TEACHER, PASTOR OR AN APOSTLE, WITHOUT GOD’S GRACE (STRENGTH, ENABLEMENT) IN AND UPON OUR LIVES???? GOD ONLY GIVES GRACE TO DO WHAT HE HAS CALLED US TO DO.