Tere Tulemast from Estonia! Yesterday was a wonderful day of training and new relationships with leaders from Tallinn, Estonia as we began the first of three days of conferences on handbell ministry.

Igor Orekhof [Leader of Russian ministries for the Church Music Academy work in Estonia] and music director of Bethany Baptist Church in Tallinn has been our gracious host.

Our clinician has been solo handbell artist, clinician, and editor of the Southern Baptist Convention magazine “Handbells”, Christine Anderson. She has been amazed at how quickly the participants have grasped the teaching from the first day. Excitement of the participants has been evident from the beginning and is mounting with each session as we share musical and ministry concepts.

All of the handbell equipment and accessories arrived safely in Tallinn. Future Leadership Foundation [FLF] has been blessed to be a part of gathering the resources needed for this new ministry effort in The Baltics and Eastern Europe.Those resources came from individuals, church donations, and companies [ie. Malmark Handbells & Port-A-Bell] who were willing to invest in the future of ministry among the churches and Baptist unions in this region of the world.

The first photos are arriving from Sunday’s great worship services in Guatemala where the Parkade Baptist Church is beginning their week’s ministry.   The team arrived safely Saturday and all their luggage as they journeyed then to the western area of Guatemala for this week’s work.

The mission team is being led by the Future Leadership Foundation, a new service that will begin to local churches who desire leadership in a global missions endeavor if they do not have staff or trained leaders in their church.  Watch for more information.

For complete photos of the Guatemalan ministry, go to the Future Leadership Foundation’s Facebook page.

In 2011 the Parkade Baptist Church, Columbia, Missouri, Chris Cook, pastor, invited the Future Leadership Foundation to lead their mission trip over March 2012 spring break, 23 -31 March.  The church felt drawn to Guatemala on their first global mission trip, a place well-known to one of FLF’s partners, Churchnet.

This Saturday morning 14 persons from that church, including FLF’s Team Leader, Verlyn Bergen, secretary of the FLF board, leave Kansas City bound for Guatemala City. 

The mission team designed their two efforts: 1) Health Team - dental & hygiene, and 2) Ministry Team - food distribution & evangelism. These leaders will be in western Guatemala and also at the well-known and respected Tabitha House ministry near Guatemala City.  The Tabitha House helps women and children in the city dump that comprises nearly 40 acres. 10,000 people live in and around the dump in extreme poverty.

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a nonprofit research organization, calls this dump one of the largest in Central America.  Waste, including medical waste, weighing nearly 500 tons, arrives daily. Guatemala has the 4th highest level of child malnutrition in the world. 7 out of 10 children are malnourished.

A full report will be forthcoming in the April eLetter and the FLF website on their return. FLF yearns for your prayers for this team in their preparation and ministry there.

Blessings on each one of you who go in Christ’s name.  You will return different and better Kingdom people because of this focus, and we will receive immeasurable blessings from you as well.

1. Is there a pervasive openness and authenticity about information from the Future Leadership Foundation?

2. Has the ministry more than met the tests related to its tax-exempt status without problems or disputes from any credible source?