Joe Ragan

Well, after almost 2 years I finally got to play some basketball. I won’t call what we played a “game” since they had their own rules. There were no fouls called, double dribble (what’s that!).
We got to the gym, dressed and within the first five minutes of playing I stepped on another [...]

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PRIORITY: PRAYER
Week of March 14, 2005
Thank you for taking time to pray for these requests.
PRAISES: We have rented an apartment in Temirtau which will serve as a ministry base for the new church plant. The apartment is located near the center of the city. There are thousands of people living in the [...]

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Sandy Patti (who remembers her?) sang a song about 15 years ago called Love In Any Language. I thought about that song today as I went to a church service in Karaganda.
Some Korean friends invited me to go with them. A Korean family here has started a Baptist church. It was very [...]

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Kazakhstan has numerous nationalities living here. Some people work and own businesses, others are planting indigenous churches, etc.
I have met some Koreans in Karaganda. They actually took care of the apartment I live in while no one connected with our mission was here. They paid the bills, etc.
They wanted to come over [...]

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As I was studying recently for a Baptist History class I taught at the Bible Institute, my memory was refreshed on the Half-Way Covenant. This was the idea that if a child was baptized in infancy, they were regarded as members of the church to which their parents belonged. This was the practice [...]

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something happens to change that opinion. I am not a novice at living in the former Soviet Union. I have seen much, much more than I should probably talk about. Yet, this week I saw something that shocked me.
I was walking down a sidewalk that I have been on many times since [...]

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Well, INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY was yesterday, March 8. I was invited to go to a church service so since I had never been to a Women’s Day service I decided to check it out.
The choir had prepared several numbers, but the best part was the children’s choir and the short program they provided. [...]

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This afternoon I went for a walk. While I was out I decided to go look for a coat to wear over my suit for spring as the other coat I have is for heavy duty cold weather.
After looking, I began the trek home. I noticed a young man walking near me and [...]

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Thank you for taking time to pray for these requests.
PRAISES: I had a wonderful trip to Almaty. It was an honor to meet all of the students studying for the pastorate and missionary work. I hope they learned some things concerning Baptist History in America.
IN FOCUS:
Please pray for Vitaliy from Kyrgyzstan. He is [...]

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Never heard of this celebration? Why not? It says that it is International.
Well, this celebration takes place on March 8 every year in parts of Europe and Asia. It honors women, whether married or not.
Today, I was in the local shopping center and it was packed with shoppers. Many of the [...]

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