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This song is about how Fred Potter got saved, written by Danny Minton. |
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It is our privilege to welcome you to the Charity Baptist Mission web page. We hope this will be a testament of what the Lord is doing in America and throughout the world. In 1973 the Lord laid upon my heart to start Charity Baptist Mission Inc., here in Bristol, Tennessee. We started it because we were opening a childrens home in Mexico. From there the Lord continued to bless and increased the areas to other countries by which we could share the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour. It has been truly a blessing to see how the Lord has used missionaries to reach the lost and see them saved. We believe in the Authorized King James 1611 version of the Word of God. It has stood the test of time and we believe this is the only true Bible. To God be the Glory!
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updated 4-17-25 |
2025 Fall Camp Meeting Dates
Monday October 20th - Friday October 24th
Service times
Monday - Friday 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM
Three meals per day, with limited lodging available - service pets only.
For more information call
: (423) 646-1352 or (423) 878-2771
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Watch Brookside Baptist Church services at:
youtube.com/@brooksidebaptistchurchtn1954/streams
https://www.facebook.com/BrooksideBaptistChurchBristolTN
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Missions Updates
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Spring 2025
Halito! Hello!
Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Spring is here! Its a wonderful time of year when the earth is waking up from a winters nap! We rejoice in another time of spring, when all nations will see Him for who He is and every knee will bow to Him; Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The Dayspring that visited us. Luke 1:78.
We are no different than others and have had trials this winter. Our central heat went out on December 28 and was finally repaired on February, the 26th, 2025. Needless to say, with 11 inches of snow and 9 degrees at various times, we were slow moving. We didn't go far because of the danger of leaving electric heaters running if we were gone. Then we had to be back early enough to get the little heaters started and take the chill off before bed time. Above all, we did not want the cold weather to freeze our water pipes! Been there! I can tell you, when the heat came on in February, we were very thankful!
Daniel has been preaching locally at a Choctaw church near us and also, at our home church as the door has opened. We have been getting our schedule lined up for the rest of the year. This scripture comes to mind; Ecc. 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Its planting time, time to start planting the seed of Gods word. He said it would not return void. We just have to be faithful to go and do it. Lord Willing, we will start the spring off with two Mission Conferences; one in KS and one in MS. The one in KS will focus on the Native American work and bring us all up to date on what is taking place on certain reservations. We have VBS lined up on several reservations and meetings throughout the year. That brings to mind our van. It is heading for the shop again this week. We put new spark plugs in it in January. The mechanic asked when was the last time we had replaced them. I told him to my knowledge in 341,000 miles we had not ever replaced them. He proceeded to show me a spark plug he had taken out . he just shook his head and said the Lord had to have kept that van running! Amen to that! God is good and we know HE will show us the vehicle HE wants us to get. In HIS time.
Please pray for our safety and health as we head out. Above all, please pray for souls to come to know Christ; not a little prayer prayed, but a life changed for HIS GLORY. We love you and hope to see you somewhere along the way! Thank you for being faithful.
The Higginbothams, Mrs. Shirley, Elena, and Daniel A printable PDF version is available here
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April 2025
Dear Churches and Praying Friends,
"...follow thou me" (John 21:22)
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. The salvation that our Lord has provided for us is the greatest thing in his life. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm glad, though, that He didn't only love me for one day, but every day. On my worst days he loves me just as well as he does on my best days. One manifestation of his love toward is the calling into his service. April marks the thirtieth year of our service on the mission field. It has been his grace that has kept us here. What a privilege it is to spend our days traveling to the poor villages here and preaching the Bible!
This year we're doing about the same thing we've done for the past several years. Again, we've distributed flour and oil this year, over seventy tons. People here again have testified that in the late winter, just when their old store of flour finished, we brought one hundred pounds of flour. The Lord always does things at the right time.
Each week I go to villages and gather up the believers, most of them elderly, and have church. My dad used to visit a nursing home every Sunday afternoon to gather up the older folks for a church service. There's plenty of older people here who are thankful to have someone care enough to come get them every week for church.
We are always bound to thank God for our national pastors here who have faithfully served the Lord in village house churches for these many years. Recently, Pastor Demir finished his course. Up until the time he died, he was going to eleven villages. I'm sure several of his church members had gone on ahead and were waiting for him on the other shore. For the time being missionary Matt Welch is caring for his churches. Pray that the Lord would call more labourers into his harvest.
Lord willing, we will be returning to the states for a furlough this summer. We look forward to seeing as many of you as we can during our stay. Our son, Isaac, is graduating from Landmark Baptist College in Haines City, Florida. We appreciate his desire to serve the Lord and his dedication to his studies. Please pray for the Lord's direction for his life.
In Christ,
Zachary LeFevre
A printable PDF version is available here-----------------------------------------------------------
March 2025
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry Psalm 146:5-7
To family, friends, and fellow saints,
Thank you, is a good way to start out any letter; Thanks be to God, is even better; both are appropriate. Thank you all for your obedience to the Lord; for your love and liberality; for your faithfulness and willingness to help. Because of your subjection to the Spirit and obedience to His will, multitudes here in Bulgaria have been blessed.
Throughout the month of February and into the first weeks of March, we were able to distribute over seventy tons of flour and seven thousand liters of oil to over fourteen hundred families. We had additional help this year in unloading and carrying, making things quicker and easier. Ben Miller, from our home church in Bristol, might look like a beanpole, but he can sling fifty-pound bags of flour like tossing feather pillows. James Chavis, from Murphy, NC, and his son Jack helped immensely. Jack is only eleven years old but worked non-stop all day in the back of the flour truck carrying bags. The LeFevre trio, Carrick, Levi, and Christian provided comic relief in addition to strong muscles and a willingness to work. Praise the Lord for the strength He provided all of us, and the joy that made the work easy.
I recall to mind the founder of our mission board, Preacher Fred Potters testimony of the first time he ever heard of the Lord, when as a little boy in the early thirties, someone brought his struggling family some groceries. The Lord sent this to you all through the Siam Baptist Church. It made an impression he never forgot or got over: that whomever the Lord was, He knew of him and his need and had sent to his relief. Who knows how many souls have come to the same realization through a bag of flour and bottle of oil? That the God of heaven had them on His mind, and knowing their plight, had already orchestrated their help. How many of you, in simple faith and obedience, gave, trusting that the gift would be blessed, never fathoming the extent of the blessing? If you think about it, that little sack of groceries given in the name of the Lord started a chain reaction that continues to this day. And the flour and oil your charity provided will have consequences that echo through eternity. I wonder even now, if God hasnt planted a seed in the heart of a future gypsy Fred Potter, all because a little band of believers ten thousand miles away gave what they could to the Lord.
Pray for the work, please. We said goodbye to a dear brother and a faithful pastor on the 16th of March. Brother Demir was only 57 years old but had spent most of his life in service to the Savior. He said he learned to read the Turkish bible in church. As a new Christian, hed take the morning bus out to some village and read the scripture, sounding out the letters to form the words, to anyone who had the patience to listen. He read all the way until the evening bus came and hed take it home. At the time of his departure, he was pastoring eleven churches. Brother Matt Welch, Demirs closest friend and fellow laborer in the gospel, is continuing in Demirs place. Please keep him and the churches in your prayers. Pray seriously, earnestly, that the Lord would call young men from among our meetings to the ministry.
We love and miss yall. Pray for us. Pray God would work mightily in us and through us, and that in every meeting of ours wed see His power on full display and His glory on every countenance. Pray for my little family.
Because of a living Savior,
The William LeFevre Family (A printable PDF version is available here) www.facebook.com/bulgarianlefevres
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January February 2025
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
I hope this letter finds you well in the Lord and that He uses it to encourage you to pray for the Lords harvest. Im very glad to see winter come to an end knowing that we will soon be able to begin the process of submitting our paperwork for our residency permits in Ukraine. The Lord was very good to us, having given me many opportunities to preach in Bible Conferences, special Missions Meetings, and fill in for pastors while they were out of their pulpits. We had one response to the invitation for salvation.
We are very relieved to report that Pastor Alexeis exemption from military service in Ukraine has been extended for another three months. He has been a tremendous help preparing our home for our return. Pastors Rick Drummond and Ron Ralph generously gave to our need for an inverter for our home for a backup power supply. We are so glad that it has been successfully installed. Pastor Alexei is currently working through a few other nuances with the local power company for us before we return. He was also able to find us another dog, a German Shepherd of course (!), since our last one appears to have been stolen.
Pastor John Niehaus was a big help giving us a needed document for my son, Christopher. The government now requires that invited missionaries have proof of religious instruction in the form of a certificate or diploma. This was a good move on their part. Ive met some real weirdo's posing as missionaries! This document is one of many that are required before we can begin the application process for the letter of invitation from a registered religious organization in Ukraine. Pastor Alexei is preparing all the documents which we plan to submit in April after Christopher turns eighteen. We cannot submit them sooner which has been a real pain. I have to constantly remind myself that the timing of our return to the field is in the Lords hands, which is the best place for it to be! The disastrous Trump/Zelenski meeting in the oval office has no sway on our decision to return to Ukraine.
Please continue to pray for our church in Ukraine along with Pastor Alexei who are holding up under a tremendous amount of stress. Please pray for his wife, Vika, who is now expecting and the doctors are saying that there are complications.
My family and I would like to thank you all for your friendship, fellowship, prayers, and support of us in this work that God has given us. May the Lord Jesus bless you as you continue to serve Him.
That Ukraine May Know Him,
Christopher Rue Phil. 3:10 - A printable PDF version is available here
https://www.facebook.com/p/Rue-Family-Missionaries-to-Ukraine-100068352738533
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February/March 2025
Dear Friends in Christ,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All is well here in Romania. The children at the Home are well and the Lord continues to bless in the meetings I go to each week.
I want to share the recent testimony of Cocosh, one of the believers who comes to our Turkish meeting in Constanta. You should know, he grew up in a family that was just about as bad as you could imagine. His father, Amet, was a terribly mean and abusive alcoholic. If Cocosh and his four brothers werent stealing, they were usually drinking and fighting. All of the brothers landed in jail at one time or another and a couple of them have spent most of their adult life in and out of prison.
If ever there was a family who had wasted their lives with riotous living, this was the one. Praise the Lord, quite a few years ago, the father, Bro. Amet and his wife, Atiye, got saved in one of the Turkish churches Bro. Ralph Cheatwood started. They became pillars of our Turkish church Bro. Amet often preaching and Sister Atiye testifying on every occasion possible.
Even though Amet and Atiye, with the Lords help, turned their lives around, their sons never seemed to be able to. Sometimes they would seem to get in, testify about how the Lord had helped them, but after a few months had dropped out and returned to their old lives.
Cocosh even preached some and it seemed he had great promise. But unfortunately, when he was doing well, Satan would always trip him up and drag him back down.
Because of his lifestyle, Cocoshs body, now over 50 years old, is in ruin. His lungs, liver, kidneys and probably most other organs are failing. For the last 6 months, he has been in the hospital more than he has been out. In recent weeks, he was in bed and needing oxygen constantly.
A few weeks ago, during a particularly serious crisis, he went into a coma. The family was told he probably would not leave the hospital alive.
This past week, I was stunned when I walked into the meeting and Cocosh was there. I expected the next time I saw him would be at his funeral. He stood no help, no oxygen and gave a powerful testimony.
He said that during the five days he was in a coma, although he couldnt move or respond, he could hear everything going on around him. He heard the doctors talking among themselves at his bedside saying that he was not going to make it no chance.
He said he remembered one of the hymns in our Turkish hymnbook and, for 5 days, sang it over and over in his head. It translates roughly:
My God, I have been
wandering on my own. I ask myself why.
Dont leave me to wander alone. In this world, I cant make it without You.
I have a great burden that nobody knows. You know, my God. I will not forget
You.
I am calling out to You and telling You. Wash me with Your blood and open my
heart.
Dont leave me to wander alone.
Glory to You, You didnt leave me.
With Your Blood, my God, You washed me.
Everyone was crying as he told how, even though he had forsaken God, his God had not forsaken him, but had given him another chance. Im so glad that is the God I serve. Worthy is the Lamb!
Thank you all for your faithfulness in prayer and support. God Bless you.
In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids (A printable PDF version is available here)-----------------------------------------------------------------
November - December 2024
Dear Pastors, Churches, and Friends,
Well, it was a disheartening Fall for our people in Western North Carolina. However, the Appalachian people are renowned for their resilience. I am grateful that God is aware of our situation, and we are confident that good will emerge from it all for the children of God! Hurricanes also impacted my travels. One that struck Florida forced a group accompanying me to cancel. The water got into one of their churches and the pastors house. Consequently, I embarked on a solo trip to a Hispanic country, but I had to make a second trip a week later to complete my task. Ironically, each time I left that country, hurricanes hit the island causing damage to some of our pastors places.
Little has changed in this country. The situation remains dire for the people struggling simply to survive. As I was departing on one of those trips, there was a nationwide blackout! While at the airport the power was cut off! You could see long gas lines as people waited for hours to get gas. Consequently, I missed my flight and had to spend a night in Miami.
We were able to assist some of the individuals affected by the hurricanes on one island, while providing aid to those whose houses and churches were damaged. One pastor even had to spend a night in a tree due to the flooding! We visited a house church on the outskirts of a big city that we had previously helped and donated money to help them finish the floor, as they only had a dirt floor.
As the year draws to a close, I reflect on the events that have transpired. It has certainly been an eventful year, but God has been faithful and good.
Joyfully Yours,
Farren Caeble 1 Sam 12:24
A printable PDF version is available herePS: Debbie has decided to suspend her medication due to the adverse side effects. However, her annual MRI scan came back positive. Please continue to pray for her.
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November/December 2024