Michael Nolan presents Pastor Frowner and his wife Beverly with a check.

Elyria, Ohio-On Thursday, June 25, at the 2009 GARBC Conference, BBC director Michael Nolan had the privilege of presenting Pastor Webster Frowner and his wife Beverly with a “big” check for their church, First Regular Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo. Feeling blessed and excited, the Frowners could not wait to return home to present the check to the congregation of First Regular Baptist Church.

WAVERLY, Iowa—First Baptist Church of Waverly, Iowa, hosts an open house on Sunday, June 14 to mark the first anniversary of a devastating flood. The program will include tours of the remodeled basement and a narrated slide presentation showing the progress from flood to completed project.

“When this all started, it was devastating, just a mess,” says Pastor Brian Wilkins, describing the flood that filled the basement of First Baptist Church with mud and debris. “I don’t know that the pictures give the full impact of what this looked like-an absolute, atrocious mess.”

A year ago, church members worked around the clock to sandbag the church and move valuables off the floor of the basement, knowing that the Cedar Rapids River would flood. But on June 10, 2008, the flood rose to a crest of nearly 20 feet.

“The water kept rising higher, higher, and higher-considerably higher than predicted-and it ended up filling the basement of our church,” says Pastor Wilkins, who has been pastor of First Baptist for 21 years.

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June 2008-Waverly, Iowa

In June 2008 an abundance of rain fell in the Cedar Rapids area of Iowa, causing major flood damage to thousands. You all came to the aid of those affected by this terrible natural disaster. Some of you prayed; others made monetary donations; and then some took food to the GARBC Annual Conference that was later distributed to those in need. BBC is grateful to God for your heartfelt and generous contributions.

Pastor Brian Wilkins and his congregation are also grateful. Their church, First Baptist Church of Waverly, Iowa, sustained extensive flood damage. The Lord has led and provided in special ways during the nine months since the disaster hit the area. Pastor Wilkins recently told BBC Director Michael Nolan, “We are getting closer and closer to actually seeing a finished project on the horizon!” In the future, look for Pastor Wilkins’s complete update on what God has done and is doing at First Baptist Church.<-->

Cedarburg, Wis.-Years ago, Heritage Christian Center in Cedarburg, Wis., was a healthy fellowship of 140 believers with a Christian school of 120 students. But Satan gained an advantage and started to separate the people. Then the pastor died unexpectedly.

Though his widow tried to hold the work together-even loaning money to pay the mortgage-the church dwindled to seven people who met weekly to listen to taped messages of their former pastor.

Stories like this are not unusual. About 3,700 churches close in the United States every year, according to David T. Olson, author of The American Church in Crisis. But this particular story will have a happier ending!

After the pastor’s wife started teaching at the Christian school at Calvary Baptist Church, Menomonee Falls, Wis., she began to discuss “rescue operations” with Pastor James Maxwell. He immediately thought of Dr. Ed Fuller, state representative for the Wisconsin Association of Regular Baptist Churches. Retired after 43 years of pastoral ministry, Fuller had moved to Racine, Wis., with his wife, Diane, only to be recruited back into full-time ministry.

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