04 the borrowed tomb

December 21, 2015
Dear Pastor and Church,

Ps 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

It is hard to believe that 2015 is just a few short days away from being over. What a wonderful year we have had in every aspect of our ministry! We are currently home for the holidays. We finished our year the first week of December in Rock Hill, SC, preaching and singing at their annual Christmas banquet. What a wonderful time we had that weekend catching up with friends and spending time with Pastor Walters and his family.

As I look back over the last 11 months, I truly can say, “Glory to God great things He hath done.” In April of this year we celebrated our 10th anniversary in the ministry of evangelism. Truly, God has been so good to us in opening doors and creating opportunities that we could never imagine we would be given. Over the last 10 years we have been afforded the privilege to preach in 27 of the 50 states in our great nation. We have held hundreds of revival meetings and God has, in His great grace, saved hundreds of souls. We continue to maintain our work with the ministry of Camp Hosanna in Hiawassee, Ga. We continue to experience record growth at the camp. Although our numbers were down this summer we had close 1100 campers come through the camp over 7 weeks and we recorded around 125 to 130 salvation decisions. We rejoice in what God is doing at the camp.

Much of what we have been able to do since April of 2005, has been aided by your faithful support for our ministry. I haven’t had the leadership of the Lord to ask any church or organization to support our ministry, “but God who is rich in His mercy” has seen fit to raise up a level of support that helps to keep us on the road. We are not fully supported by any stretch of the imagination, but the amount of support we do receive is exactly what we need at this time. We could not take the months of June and July to run the camp if we did not have your faithful financial support. Although we are in many churches throughout the year, few churches contribute anything to our expense of getting to the meeting. Much of what we receive is in love offering only. The support you send each month helps to make up that short fall in our budget.

As we come to the close of 2015, I want to thank each of you that faithfully give to support our ministry. Not just the faithful financial support but the faithful giving of your time to pray for our family. We are normal people just like each of you. I have my struggles every day with my flesh, the world and the devil. There are times when I can sense that God’s people, somewhere, are praying for us and me personally… “THANK YOU.” I pray that each of you have a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year brings many new opportunities of service for Him. We love all of you and thank God for your friendship and kindness to our family.

For Souls,

Bill Abbott

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

What a blessing it has been to see God working in our ministry over these last several months. Since we pulled out of Camp Hosanna, at the end of Jul,y we have been running non-stop. We are so thankful for the wonderful meetings we have had in TN, VA, NC, TX, IN and Mississippi. We have seen many souls saved and lives changed as a result of God’s word being preached. As we move into the last month of the year we have so much to be thankful for in the year 2015.

Once again, God gave us great meetings in the State of Texas during the month of October. We had great attendance in the services and God’s people were faithful to support the meetings. It is so refreshing to go back to these churches year after year and see people sticking to the stuff and faithfully serving our God. Several of the preachers I am preaching for in Texas are young men with great zeal as well as with fresh ideals. The churches are responding with great excitement and they are seeing good steady growth.

We have had a great November with meetings in Indiana, NC and VA. We were privileged to spend Thanksgiving with friends, Jerry and Stephanie Boyce, in Appomattox, VA. Although it doesn’t always work out for us to be home at all the major holidays God has seen fit to give us a network of friends around the country that makes us to feel like and treats us like family. We had a great couple of days with them before moving on to Covington, VA. Once we are done here we will head to SC for an all day Sunday and then we head home for the remainder of the year.

We are looking forward to being home for the next several weeks to celebrate the Christmas Holiday and New Years Day. All the family will be home together at some point and we are excited about that. We pray each of you have a great Holiday season and that the Lord continues to bless all that you do.

For Souls,
Brother Bill Abbott
Reach Ministries
6795 Goodman Road
Walls, MS 38680
803-517-5960

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

What an incredible summer of ministry and life changing events we have had in 2015. First, let me apologize to all our supporting churches and friends for my lack of communication with you over the last couple of months. This year we have been incredibly busy with both our camp ministry and revival ministry during the months of May through August. The crazy thing for our entire family is this feeling of where did the time go.

After a having a great spring season of meetings we headed to camp the last week of May. For a short stint, Diana and Olivia went home to take care of some family business while Priscilla and I headed down to Hiawassee, GA to get set up for our summer camp staff’s arrival. God gave us a wonderful group of young people to work with this summer. Over the last several years I have been able to create a system of training our future cabin staff (counselors) by using them as part of our operation staff. Many of the young people that are now working at the camp first came to the camp as campers. It was also during their time as campers that many of them realized their need to be saved. This year we had workers from PA, RI, MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS and TN. I am amazed how God continues to use this little camp in the middle of the GA mountains to reach children and teenagers with the Gospel. This year we had just over 1000 campers come through the camp. That number is actually down from the last several summers but God blessed in a mighty way. After four junior weeks and four teenage weeks (one being a Spanish week) we recorded 126 professions of faith; To God be the Glory.

This summer was especially taxing on our family because there was only two weekends this summer where I wasn’t preaching somewhere in between the camp session weeks. What that means is when the campers leave on Friday we clean the camp and see to it the staff are all taken care of for the weekend then we head to the house and start packing to leave. We usually would travel on Saturday to preach all day Sunday then drive back to the camp Sunday night to have a late night meeting with the staff; Not much down time for the family. Please don’t misunderstand we had a great time seeing God bless but it was very tiring and Diana and I are realizing we aren’t in our 20’s anymore. As a matter of fact we aren’t in our 30’s anymore and don’t have a lot of 40’s left to go. lol

We are so thankful for your continued support in our ministry. We, honestly, could not do what we do without your support. Even as God continues to grow our revival ministry the cost of being on the road can sometimes be overwhelming. The recent decline in fuel prices have been a source of special blessing and we pray that decline will continue throughout the remainder of the year. Each year we spend around $20,000.00 just for fuel. However, our truck is getting older and we are babying it to keep it on the road. Please pray with us that we will not have any other major breakdowns this year and that God will continue to keep us safe as we travel.

Finally, this year we made the decision to change our sending church. After 25 years as the Pastor of our home church our Pastor has retired. Over the years he and his wife have been spiritual parents to both Diana and me. Ten years ago, when we launched out to begin our revival ministry we felt we needed to go back home and base out of our home church. During that time, we had the opportunity to stay at Southside Baptist Church where I had served on staff for seven years and base from there, but I felt that we needed to move out of the way so the new youth pastor could begin to work at winning the hearts of the people without the old guy always hanging around. I believe that was the right decision for us to make and now we are making a new transition. After a great deal of prayer, meditation and counsel we have decided to move our ministry back to Southside Baptist Church in Rock Hill, SC and base from there. Over the last 10 years we have continued to maintain a good relationship with Pastor Walters and the church and are excited about partnering with them in ministry once again. We love Goodman Road Baptist Church and pray that God continues to bless the church and ministry for His glory. As it was 10 years ago, I feel the same today, that it is best for us to get out of the way and let the new Pastor and his family begin to take the church in the direction he believes it needs to go.

We look forward to seeing those of you we have yet to be with this year and look forward to seeing each of you very soon. Until then, may God bless you all “REAL GOOD!”

For Souls,
Brother Abbott

Evangelist Bill Abbott
Reach Ministries
6795 Goodman Road
Walls, MS 38680
803-517-5960
803-493-5853

Thism onth has been a great month but not without its challenges. Back in September we upgraded our trailer. Over the last few weeks we have blown two tires on our the new trailer. I was really getting discouraged because with each blowout we were sustaining damage to the body of the trailer. I had been in contact with the dealership, manufacturer and tire distributor with to no avail. Sunday night I decided to try one more time. So I sat down and wrote an email to the mfg and shared with them that we had blow anoter tire. On Tuesday, I received a phone call from the mfg that they were going to send me 4 new tires, but a different brand. We were on our way to the dealership for some scheduled warranty work so I told the mfg to send the new tires to the dealership. Well we are here and there are no tires. So the dealership got involved and contacted the mfg. The dealership recommended to the mfg that they send us to a local tire store to get the tires replaced and that the mfg could reimburse me for my expense. They agreed, so we were able to get 4 really good tires rather than accept what the mfg was sending us. Praise the Lord for His provisions!

We are at Southside Baptist Church in Joplin, MO this week. You may remember the F-5 tornado that tore through here five years ago and devastated the place. Southside took a direct hit from the tornado. There are so many incredible stories and testimonies of God’s protection on that fateful Sunday night. However, the church buildings may have been destroyed  but the church is alive and well. We are excited to be back here and to see all that God is doing. Last year I preached the opening services in their new building. God is at work in this place. Pastor Phil Owens is doing a dynamite job leading this growing local church. How are they doing it? Recently, I was told, “People don’t want strong preaching today.” My reply, “If you love them they will let you preach to them.” That is exactly what Pastor Owens is doing. They have decided we are going to love these people and the ones God sends our way love them right where they are. He and his family are committed to the fight. He was an electrician by trade and very successful at his trade. When God called him to preach he left the trade of electrical work and prepared for ministry. With a wife and two children he spent several years in a builders ministry helping churches remodel and build new buildings. Five years ago God called him to leave the builders ministry and to take on the title Pastor. He has never looked back and God is blessing. We have grown to love these people and are excited about the future of Southside Baptist Church in Joplin, MO. God honors faithfulness and commitment.

“Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure. (1 Timothy 5:22)”

I’m often amazed by the thought process of some men when they place a man into the ministry. The Apostle Paul gives Timothy a clear admonition to the severity and importance of the “laying on of hands.” This was an endorsement of this persons evident calling and gifts. Yet I find, that today, it is somewhat relative as to how or when we will lay hands on a man. It seems to be that the basic qualifications of a man are no longer important. For example: Is is necessary in the age in which we live that a man have a Bible education? Some would say, “No!” Others would say, “Yes!” One may ask, “should a man demonstrate that he is willing to forsake all earthly pursuits to obtain God’s will for his life?” While another may say, “If the two can co-exist why should a man suffer?” The truth of the matter is found in scripture. We know from the OT that there was a group know as the “Sons of the Prophets” that dwelt with Elisha (2 Kings 6:1-4) and needed a larger living space. We know that the Apostles sat at the feet of Jesus and after his death were trained in the “true” school of hard knocks. These men also demonstrated the willingness to go to great lengths to serve the Lord. Many died at the hands of the Roman and Jewish leaders. Many lost all that they had worked and labored for their entire lives. It wasn’t a soft, wimpy type of training but difficult and gut wrenching. They learned what the walk of faith was all about. It wasn’t a walk of convenience. It was a walk of sacrifice, heartache and denying the flesh and taking up their cross daily. I’m amazed at how quickly Pastors are willing to lay hands on an unprepared man and place him in the ministry. I’m even more amazed that they would recommend that man for the office of Pastor. Then we wonder why much of the foolishness that goes on in our churches goes on today. What can you expect when a “man” called preacher is leading the flock of God. What can we expect when the Pastor isn’t equipped with the tools to lead the flock, unless he has a computer, the internet and a printer. I believe many are going to be stunned at the Judgement seat of Christ but even more so there are going to be many Pastors, Evangelist and Deacons that laid hands on a man that wasn’t ready or qualified to be in the ministry, “lest being a novice he be lifted up with pride (1 Timothy 3:6)”, that are going to be ashamed. What is the standard? Is it the ability to alliterate an outline, to speak in an enthusiastic and eloquent tone, tell a heart warming story or to smile and make everyone feel “good about themselves?” Being a Pastor of  a local New Testament Baptist church is none of these things. If a man is going to Pastor/Shepherd he must be willing to go backwards before going forward. Yes, backwards before forwards. What is he willing to sacrifice for the sheep? Sleep? Family time? Wealth? Houses and lands? Insurance? No, not many are willing to sacrifice this way. Why? Because we are weak. Our families are weak. Our nation is weak. We live in a characterless society compounded by the lack of character in our pulpits. Would to God we would see a return to men of Biblical character and qualifications to lead our churches and that we would move away from men of “Personality, fake smiles, cheap suits and NO TRAINING.” If I could cry from the highest peaks in the world and be heard I would cry, “TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF THAT MAN!”

Prayer: God help us to be lead of the Spirit not by the flesh in every decision we make. Let it not be for our convenience but for you will. We trust you with our souls. Help us to trust you with you Church. Amen!

Hard to believe but this past Sunday marked 10 years since we left Southside Baptist Church to begin our revival ministry. Over the last 10 years we have been afforded the privilege of preaching in 28 of the 50 states and holding several hundred revival services. I don’t keep stats on souls saved but with our camp ministry, revival ministry and outreach we have seen many come to the Lord. We are so thankful for those that have faithfully supported us over these last ten years. As time changes so do churches. We have made many wonderful friends through the years and we pray that we can continue to serve the churches that we have served with these last 10 years. We look forward to seeing God give us many more years in His harvest field. Our Goal is to continue to carry the Armour of Light to a dark and lost world.