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BCMS Monthly Prayer Letter

 

Greetings friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

 

Earlier this month we sent out an end of year report on how we finished 2022 in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Venezuela. You can read that update at the link below. 

 

https://salgadodrmission.com/2022/12/b-c-m-s-prayer-letter-end-of-year-update/

 

Forgive the tardiness of this update. We have been having some technical issues uploading photos to the website. Hopefully it will soon be resolved. We are set for our focus here in the Dominican Republic for 2023. We understand that the results depend on the LORD, but we are very aware of the responsibility we have of being diligent as well. We pray and depend on the LORD, but we also plan accordingly to not be in the air or without direction. So for us, it is easy. We plan and work to obey the clear teachings of Scripture for the church, and at the same time we pray about the unknown details, simply trusting the LORD. Having said that, the work plan is pretty detailed and includes general objectives, specific objectives, “smart” indicators to measure progress in each of the five departments, logistics and at the school in at least five aspects of holistic development, physical, intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual development.  I’m feeling motivated, I have a good team and have been noticing a small change for the better in a few things. Others are noticing it too, praise God. But there is still so much to do, so your prayers are very much needed and appreciated.

 

We have been working on the Venezuela and Haiti plan. This week, I have done video calls with the other workers to discuss some of the details, and there is still a lot to talk about. But they are motivated and their faithfulness despite the circumstances they face has been so encouraging. 

 

Here in the DR, a lot of time and effort is dedicated to the orphanage. I simply have a lot of responsibility there. But it is very much ministry, and every day is an opportunity for Gospel conversations and counseling. With 90% of the children we receive having been victims of sexual abuse, you can begin to imagine the trauma and pain we deal with in these children. So very much of the work must include the Gospel and the consoling promises of God. However, we still receive donations of clothes, food and medicine for distributions in the poor areas in and around the city and use the opportunity for evangelism as well. At the orphanage, I do Bible studies, catechism with the kids, verse memorization, devotionals with the staff, apart from the regular operational stuff that comes with my position. Prayers for wisdom in prioritizing and in time management are very much appreciated.

 

I will be in Indiana in February for an intense week of biblical counseling training. So I am very thankful to the orphanage and Faith Church in Lafayette that is making that possible.  I am trying to extend my stay for a couple of days in Florida to take care of some paperwork and possibly see family, Lord willing. But I am looking forward to the teaching, fellowship and the hope of learning more to be better equipped when counseling those that are scarred by trauma. .

 

We experienced a 5.6 earthquake Wednesday morning. On my way to the orphanage, just after 7 in the morning, I began to receive messages from my team. It was a hectic morning, but no damages or injuries, praise God. The experts say we are in for a big one soon, and there are tremors all over the island all the time. So we will be working on our evacuation drills just in case. Plan A, and a plan B. Since there is a dam nearby, the river, the bridge to get here, there are a lot of things against us if a real disaster were to strike. The buildings are built tough, but if the dam were to break, that’s another story. Pray the Lord would protect these children from such a situation. The head of the red cross here says we are best if we stay put, unless the dam breaks. If that were to happen, I don’t even want to think about what the results could be. We hope for the best and try to prepare for the worst and trust the Lord.

 

In Haiti, brother Leonel is staying busy as usual. Between open air preaching in the mornings, evangelism throughout the week, and working with the children and youth of his church. As of most recent, he has been teaching frequent bible studies with 4 new believers. Please pray for these men and women to grow in grace and in knowledge. Or even as Paul prays for the saints in Colossians, 

 

For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully  giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. – Colossians 1:9-12

 

We are now in the process of trying to purchase a motorcycle for Leonel. The one he had is now beyond repairs. And where Leonel lives, there is no electricity, no running water and everything is quite a distance since he lives in a rural area outside of Juana Menthe  called Savange Longe, and even to go get water to cook and bathe can be hard. But Leonel used his motorcycle to take his family to church, visit the brethren at their homes for discipleship, Bible studies at the church building, evangelism, and to work at the border. We are praying now about trying to meet this need for this faithful brother and found a good one for a decent price. Pray that the Lord makes it possible for this to happen. We would love to be able to bless him in this way. Especially since we know it will help Leonel be more effective in his ministry and help his family as well.

 

In Venezuela, brother Rafael is doing quite a bit himself. Apart from the responsibilities within his local church, preaching at another church often, open air preaching, evangelism in different areas of Maracay and Tejerías and where all the flooding happened. He is also preaching the Gospel in another neighborhood near his home now. Just about three months ago, his local church relocated after the blessing of having a property donated for a building. They have quite a bit done on the building already. But what is nice about it is the location. The church building is right in a central part of town and has several apartment complexes surrounding it. There is a potential of reaching so many people that live near there with the Gospel. May the Lord bless the efforts and plans that have been made so far. Please pray for both Leonel and Rafael and the brothers and sisters that serve with them in these difficult places. 


BCMS is growing, and we are still in need of new mission partners for 2023. There is so much we want to accomplish this year, so we are praying for  provisions as we grow, and more needs arise. We hope to be able to support another worker this year, Lord willing. But we still need a few things we would like to accomplish for each present worker and are praying to be able to set up an emergency fund for us, which would be a wise thing to do considering the circumstances in these countries. Things are tough out here and we really could use your help. So pray for us that the Lord would bring new mission partners on board willing to pray for us, those we serve and support the work being done. It’s not easy for me to get back to the States often enough, so we count on the saints back home to pray, share the newsletters, the needs and be willing to help meet these needs. Thank you for your prayers and support and God bless.

In Christ,

Antonio Salgado

I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you,always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

– Philippians 1:3-5

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

If the Lord so lies on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry:

You can  donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below to send support of any amount directly to the ministry. This is the fastest option to get funds to us. Click the link below for that option.

https://www.paypal.me/guerofino22?locale.x=es_US

Also,

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, Texas 77218-9228
1-800-CMC-PRAY (1-800-262-7729)
Office: 281-599-7411
Fax: 281-599-7511

The ministry of (CMC) serves hundreds of missionaries, but they ONLY receive the funds for us and in no way have control over how the funds are to be spent or what we are to do as a ministry, which gives room to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and the liberty in making needed adjustments.

You may begin sending your support to the BCMS (Antonio Salgado) at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.)

You can also now give to the ministry here in the DR online through the new giving solution called “click and give” at the CMC website.

To get started, you just need to click on the link below and register the first time. Just a simple click on the donate button on their page (see link below), and then click the “click and give icon/button”.

https://www.cmcmissions.org/donate

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above. But the Paypal option is the fastest way to get funds directly to the field.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!

Posted on

B.C.M.S. PRAYER LETTER / END OF YEAR UPDATE

My beloved friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Chrst, the peace and grace of our Lord Jesus be with all of you.

End of year updates from the mission fields.

Rafael in Venezuela

Grateful again to the Lord for granting the privilege to be in the Tejerías area again. And to be able to serve these people in this community affected by the disasters that occurred more than a month and a half ago.

We spent the last couple of months taking the Gospel to two affected communities. These were the two communities that received a massive amount of flooding, with disastrous results. Some of the testimonies that we have heard from the victims themselves actually surprised us a lot. They saw how all their efforts of many years was so quickly swept away. In the midst of this disaster, they lost houses, businesses, many material goods and, most unfortunate, they lost even family members. 

We pray to the Lord because we want to continue helping this community (Tejerías) since we identify with their sufferings, and we believe that it’s a good moment to show our love for them by being present and helping them in any way´that we can. Furthermore, we have already done much evangelism since we began visiting the victims here, and they are responding.

Something glorious is that despite the fact that many of them are very affected by the situation, they still want to hear the word of God, Something that we have not neglected at any time, we have spoken to them about their need to seek God and get close to Him through Jesus Christ. We even began to meet with a group who has shown interest in the Gospel and the plan is to continue.

Do not stop praying for the inhabitants of Tejerías, so that they can find hope, consolation and encouragement in Christ to continue forward in the midst of this unfortunate situation, and that the Lord can use us to proclaim the truth of the Gospel so that many of them can know the Lord.

To do this well, we will need the continued support and prayers of the saints back home. Funds for fuel, basic needs are still essential for those who lost everything, bibles, printed material for studies, and support for those doing the work is necessary. Please pray that the Lord will provide the funds in the coming year for the work being done in Maracay and Tejerías, Venezuela. Pray that the work continues, that more people of Tejerías and Maracay would trust in Christ, and even for a new church to be planted if the Lord so wills. Thank you and God bless you for the continues prayers and support.

In Christ,

Rafael Rodriguez

Leonel in Haiti

Grace and peace to all of you. May the lord bless you and your families during this special time of the year.

This year has not ben easy, but it has a blessed year. I thank God for the opportunity to serve him in and out of my church, the privilege to teach new believers, to do evangelism in Savange Longe and in Juana Mendez, and for the opportunity to serve with BCMS which has been a blessing to me and my family.

Through the prayers of the saints in the United States and the support we receive through BCMS, I would like to express my gratitude first to God, but also to each of you. Because through this, know that God has heard my prayers.

The work here in Haiti is difficult. Many people are not working and hungry, my country continues in turmoil, but I can rest knowing God is on the throne and Christ has promised to be with us until the end. Because of this, I am comforted and understand and continue to preach the Gospel and make disciples of Jesus Christ. Apart from seeking work at the border when work can be found, I spend much time visiting new believers and doing Bible studies in their homes and in the church.  Many people generally receive me to listen when I go out to do evangelism, but it is very sad for me at times. Many people have nothing, they seek help and there is little that I can offer them. But we simply face the challenges put before us and we trust the Lord. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.

When we do the distributions, it is a great help for the people I visit, and for the suffering members of the church. Even a bag of rice and some oil is a help for many here in these difficult times, but something so simple can be very helpful, and their gratitude is obvious. There seems to be a better response when they can see that I genuinely care for them. Not only moving from one person I evangelize to the next, but taking the time to get to know them as I  give them hope and ask them about their life, a small bag of food and frequent visits has been a good approach. To me, it is important to show the love of Christ and not only preach about it.

If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?

– James 2:16

In my culture, the church can be legalistic about clothing, and many of the people are poor. So there is difficulty sometimes in getting them to attend church at first since they are embarrassed that they have nothing to wear and how others may look at them.

But praise God, that even with these challenges, people are repenting and turning to Christ.  Please continue to pray for me and for my people. Even as creation groans under the curse of sin, God is doing a beautiful work in Haiti, and He will be glorified. Pray for the many needs of the ministry that we have. I trust that the Lord will provide through His church. Pray for my mother who is suffering from a heart condition, pray that my children will grow up to follow Christ, pray that the Lord would continue to provide for us and that the Lord would continue to use me as He sees fit. May God be glorified in Haiti in 2023!

In Christ Jesus,

Leonel Riviere

 Antonio in the Dominican Republic

Dear friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

As we close another year, I can’t help but reflect on the fact that this has been year number ten on the mission field! Over the years, the Lord has answered countless prayers, provided for me and many others, and to the glory of God, eternity for many has been changed.

This year was a bit of a roller coaster ride. But as we approached the end of the year, God began answering many prayers. This year we took on another BCMS worker (Rafael in Venezuela) which was a leap of faith. But God has been providing for him and for the many victims of the flooding for a few months now. Thank God for our mission partners.

Here in the DR, I spend much time and energy as the Director of Operations of the orphanage Red de Misericordia (Mercy Network.) During any given day there are countless evangelism opportunities here, moments of counseling troubled youth, and dealing with some cases that would absolutely break your heart. Vulnerable boys, girls and teens that come from the streets, every kind of abuse you could imagine (and sadly some you probably can’t), drugs, prostitution, neglect and extreme poverty. These kids need hope, these kids need Christ.

One thing I really enjoy is the context of the orphanage. It is connected to a solid church here and there are people who work here from several different countries. Italy, Japan, Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti, United Staes and Argentina. The Lord has brought the nations at our very  doorstep! I definitely feel as if the Lord brought me here for this. Even when I pastored the church in Hato Mayor, we would come to the orphanage with a group of volunteers from our church to pull lice out of the kid’s hair, help move beds and do maintenance, teach Bible to the little ones and mentor the teens ones whenever possible.

I am very thankful for the liberty I have here to evangelize and make changes as to what the children learn in their devotionals, and that I can choose resources and teaching topics that I know are edifying and are good for the them. There are times I have the opportunity to teach the employees on various topics, other times I translate for visitors from foreign countries, other times I am supervising activities and developing protocols, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each department to make improvements in the care of the children, plan the strategies and make rules that keep the children safe, healthy and learning. It is a 24-hour on call kind of job. It is not your average business that can simply close the doors on at a specific time. The children can get sick, have an emergency, or we can receive a child at any time of the night that comes to us through the police. Please keep me in your prayers for strength and wisdom.

As the director of BCMS, I must do the fundraising for the work we do in three countries, which is not a very easy task since I am overseas too. But this has been the best way to be a better administrator of the Lord´s resources. No one in the states is receiving a salary, so every donation can go directly to the mission field to working missionaries where it is needed.  One of the goals in 2023 is to find someone trustworthy who lives stateside who can help us with this important aspect of the ministry. I cannot make it back home often and the trips are short so help with fundraising would be a huge help and allow me to dedicate that time and energy into something else.

Apart from the work at the orphanage, we still make the time to do food, clothes and medicine distributions whenever we receive the donations. Those are mostly carried out in the barrios and bateys where the people who need them the most live. Please pray that the Lord would continue to provide for this as well.

One of the goals for 2023 is to increase activity, especially in the areas of evangelism and discipleship in all three countries. There are needs like transportation for Leonel in Haiti. The chinese motorcycles are the most economic and efficient modes of transportation in these countries. Leonel´s motorcycle is old and in very bad shape. He lives in a rural area where there isn’t even running water or electricity. And it’s crucial to his effectiveness that he is able to get around. It will need to be replaced soon, and he will need our help for that to happen. A decent one that will last can cost less than 3,000 dollars. One in the Dominican Republic would also help cut costs on fuel. The motorcycle can be filled with 12 dollars. In comparison it costs over one hundred dollars to fill up the van beacuse gas is so expensive here.  Pray about helping with this need.

We will need a supply of Bibles in Spanish and Haitian Creole for the new believers in the coming year. We will need new mission partners for 2023 to help cover the costs of travel, fuel, food and an emergency fund for each coutry. It is important that we reach this goal. In these developing countries, becoming ill without insurance or an emergency fund can be a death sentence. Since i am not able to get to the States very often, it is important to at least have the means to do so in case of an emergency. Please pray about helping with these needs.

Those who pray and give to missions, play a role just as important as those on the mission field.

This is a phrase I often use, and never get tired of repeating. Because if Christians could only grasp this concept and “own” the responsibility of involving themselves in missions, it would change everything! Then, the following fundraising effort would be much easier. Trust me, most missionaries actually don’t like asking for money. Most of us hate it. But, it is necessary to accomplish the task, and there is a very good biblical premise for a missionary making his needs known to fellow believers back home. So here it is.

We are in need of an extra $3000 a month to for the new year. With only 30 new mission partners that could easily happen. That is,  30 new donors for $100 a month, or 60 new mission partners at $50 dollars a month. These amounts will be generally distributed the following way, except in the case of an emergency or if another urgent need should arise. (There must remain some flexibility in the budget when needs are greater in one area than another.)

10 at $100 (or 20 new mission partners at $50) to be designated for the work in the Dominican Republic.

10 at $100 (or 20 new mission partners at $50) to be designated for the work in Haiti.

10 at $100  (or 20 new mission partners at $50) to be designated for work in Venezuela.

These amounts will allow us to financially support workers and meet the needs that arise in each place of ministry from month to month. Literally, to find only 30 people who are willing to be generous towards the mission is VERY possible in just A FEW churches.

This is actually not much at all for the believers back home. And you become a part of what God is doing among the nations! So bear with me for a second..

If only 30 individuals or families could commit to give ONLY $100 each month, it would allow us to do so much more and would give us the ability to work year round without having to  pause or wait to do mini fundraisers for each need or project  planned. That would be glorious!

All we need is the help of brothers and sisters like you, willing to pray and support, and willing to share these needs with friends, fellow believers and their local churches.

It’s not easy for me to get back to the States often enough, so we count on the saints back home to pray, share the newsletters, the needs and be willing to help meet these needs. Please consider helping if and where you are able to. Thank you and God bless.

In Christ,

Antonio Salgado

I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you,always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

– Philippians 1:3-5

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

If the Lord so lies on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry:

You can  donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below to send support of any amount directly to the ministry. This is the fastest option to get funds to us. Click the link below for that option.

https://www.paypal.me/guerofino22?locale.x=es_US

Also,

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, Texas 77218-9228
1-800-CMC-PRAY (1-800-262-7729)
Office: 281-599-7411
Fax: 281-599-7511

The ministry of (CMC) serves hundreds of missionaries, but they ONLY receive the funds for us and in no way have control over how the funds are to be spent or what we are to do as a ministry, which gives room to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and the liberty in making needed adjustments.

You may begin sending your support to the BCMS (Antonio Salgado) at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.)

You can also now give to the ministry here in the DR online through the new giving solution called “click and give” at the CMC website.

To get started, you just need to click on the link below and register the first time. Just a simple click on the donate button on their page (see link below), and then click the “click and give icon/button”.

https://www.cmcmissions.org/donate

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above. But the Paypal option is the fastest way to get funds directly to the field.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!

Posted on

BCMS Update: Maracay, Venezuela devastated by the immense amount of rain and flooding. Leaves many survivors suicidal.

Relief urgently needed in Maracay. Survivors lost everything, leaving many desperate and suicidal.

Following report given by Rafael Rodriguez,  BCMS worker on the ground in Maracay, Venezuela. This another town that has been devastated in this last week. It began to rain heavy yesterday and the streets were flooding again. He is pleading for help and for prayers. Please pray about helping.

 

Good morning my brothers and sisters, may the peace of Christ be with you all.

Beloved, on Wednesday 10/19/2022 some brothers from the congregation brought some arepas and water to Castaño, as you know this place was strongly affected by the flood that occurred on Monday.

By the grace of the Lord we managed to reach the highest and most affected part, since they told us that there was no way in anymore and in reality there was not. They only would let government cars pass to Palmarito, which is the most affected place.

But the Lord made our trip to this place prosper, in the same way that when we went to Tejerías, and providentially we managed to reach Palmarito just like the Lord opened the door for us in Tijerías when others were not allowed.

My dear ones, this city was really devastated by the passage of the river, the people of this community need help, water, food, candles and shovels because many houses as you see in the photos are full of mud.

By the grace of the Lord we were able to talk to some people and deliver gospel tracts, deliver water and food to houses where the water did not come from the river and they did not suffer from floods, but people cannot leave their houses because they cannot leave their cars because all the streets are covered with large stones and mud, they are without electricity and without water.

This Saturday, if the Lord allows it, we want to bring water, candles and shovels (the shovels are to help someone for a while to remove the mud from their house, not to give it away), we also want to continue preaching and bringing the gospel to these people  because although many people are collaborating in terms of food and water, we understand that these people also need to hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and it is a good opportunity to do so.

Pray for them that they may seek the Lord and for us that the Lord may prosper our path and give us words of wisdom to speak with grace and truth to these suffering people.

God bless you,

BCMS worker in Maracay, Venezuela

Rafael Rodriguez

Translated by Antonio Salgado

Posted on

Plea for help in Maracay, Venezuela. Heavy rains have caused disastrous flooding.

Plea for help after heavy flooding and landslides in Tijerías, Maracay. Heavy rains bring death and destruction to an already fragile and suffering Venezuela.
Maracay, Venezuela has received a record amount of rain falling in just a few days. The floodwaters and death toll continue to rise. Rafael Rodriguez, our BCMS worker in Venezuela has begun collecting toiletries, non-perishables and other items to help those suffering who have been impacted by the heavy flooding. Rafael lives in Maracay, just 30 minutes away from the worst damage in Tijerías. As of today there are at least 36 dead and almost 800 homes destroyed. 
Rafael and his family are ok, praise God, but he desires to help others as much as he can. He is already attempting to collect help for the victims. Yet within Venezuela the needs are already great. Please pray about helping us send relief through our worker on the ground for those suffering tremendous loss. See below for info about giving. Thank you and God bless. Pray.
In Christ,

Antonio Salgado

I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you,always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

– Philippians 1:3-5

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

If the Lord so lies on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry:

You can  donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below to send support of any amount directly to the ministry. This is the fastest option to get funds to us. Click the link below for that option.

https://www.paypal.me/guerofino22?locale.x=es_US

Also,

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, Texas 77218-9228

You may begin sending your support to the BCMS (Antonio Salgado) at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.)

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above. But the Paypal option is the fastest way to get funds directly to the field.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!

Posted on

BCMS UPDATE / PRAYER LETTER

Greetings friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

Thank you for your faithfulness. For praying, for giving, for remembering.

I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. – Philippians 1:3-5

URGENT NEEDS

Please pray and consider joining us by becoming a mission partner. To avoid an unnecessarily long newsletter, some of the more urgent needs shared in the update are being shared here. Official newsletter coming soon.

Those who pray and give to missions, play a role just as important as those on the mission field.

This is a phrase I often use, and never get tired of repeating. Because if Christians could only grasp this concept and “own” the responsibility of involving themselves in missions, it would change everything! Then, the following fundraising effort would be much easier. Trust me, most missionaries actually don’t like asking for money. Most of us hate it. But, it is necessary to accomplish the task, and there is a very good biblical premise for a missionary making his needs home to fellow believers back home. So here it is.

We are in great need of 30 new mission partners to solve the dilemma we are having. That is, for $100 a month, or 60 new mission partners at $50 dollars a month. These amounts will be generally distributed the following way, except in the case of an emergency or if another urgent need should arise. (There must remain some flexibility in the budget when needs are greater in one area than another.)

10 at $100 (or 20 new mission partners at $50) will be designated for workers and needs in the Dominican Republic.

10 at $100 (or 20 new mission partners at $50) will be designated for workers and needs in Haiti.

10 at $100  (or 20 new mission partners at $50) will be designated for workers and needs in Venezuela.

These amounts will allow us to financially support workers and meet the needs that arise in each place of ministry from month to month. Literally, to find only 30 people who are willing to be generous towards the mission is VERY possible in just A FEW churches.

This is actually not much at all for the believers back home. Bear with me for a second..

If only 30 individuals or families could commit to give ONLY $100 each month, it would allow us to do so much more and would give us the ability to work year round without having to constantly pause or wait to do mini fundraisers for each project or activity planned. That would be glorious!

All we need is the help of brothers and sisters like you, willing to pray and support, and willing to share these needs with friends, fellow believers and their local churches.

It’s not always easy for me to get back to the States often enough, so we count on the saints back home to pray, share the newsletters, the needs and be willing to help meet these needs. Please consider helping if and where you are able to. Thank you and God bless.

In Christ,

Antonio Salgado

I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you,always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

– Philippians 1:3-5

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

If the Lord so lies on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry:

You can  donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below to send support of any amount directly to the ministry. This is the fastest option to get funds to us. Click the link below for that option.

https://www.paypal.me/guerofino22?locale.x=es_US

Also,

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, Texas 77218-9228
1-800-CMC-PRAY (1-800-262-7729)
Office: 281-599-7411
Fax: 281-599-7511

The ministry of (CMC) serves hundreds of missionaries, but they ONLY receive the funds for us and in no way have control over how the funds are to be spent or what we are to do as a ministry, which gives room to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and the liberty in making needed adjustments.

You may begin sending your support to the BCMS (Antonio Salgado) at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.)

You can also now give to the ministry here in the DR online through the new giving solution called “click and give” at the CMC website.

To get started, you just need to click on the link below and register the first time. Just a simple click on the donate button on their page (see link below), and then click the “click and give icon/button”.

https://www.cmcmissions.org/donate

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above. But the Paypal option is the fastest way to get funds directly to the field.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!

Posted on

Why Do Missionaries Seem To Always Need Money?

 A Glance At Both Sides Of The Same Coin

For every person who has ever prayed for me, or donated any amount over the years. Thank you, I appreciate your love for the Lord and the desire to be involved His mission.

Anyone who has followed the work here for any length of time has probably read in a newsletter, or a post on social media somewhere that,

“Those who pray for and give to missions play a role just as important as the missionary on the field.” 

I say it often, especially when doing some speaking back home or talking missions with anyone. I say it a lot because I really believe that. The church or person who gives any amout faithfully over time, or the grandmother who wakes up early every morning to pray for the missionaries that she has pictures of or names of on her fridge. Both play a crucial role in this long term partnership in the Gospel we call mission work.

When it comes to funding a missionary, some would say very simply that if it’s God’s will He will provide, and they take the position of not seeking to share needs or raise money. They firmly believe that in this way they are truly trusting the Lord. That’s fine, if it is their conviction, and I believe that if it’s God’s will then He will provide too. But to leave it so simplistic would really be to miss something important on the other side of the same coin. Something clearly revealed in the Scriptures that should not be avoided.

We understand and believe that God has ordained all things, absolutely. But He has also ordained the means by which to reach those ends. One confession puts it well when speaking on the decree of God. It says that:

“God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree.”

And it wouldn’t take long reading through the epistles before you would start to notice a couple of things:

First, Paul absolutely depended on God and prayed expecting God to answer, and God often did.

At the same time we see other examples of Paul making his needs known to the churches. He also expected the brethren to help him with his needs and the needs of others.

Both are true and they go together.

Yes, at times he worked with his hands out of a conviction and even necessity. In Philippians he writes that at one time

“in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.” (Philippians 4:15)

This is incredibly astounding! Consider the great Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the gentiles, the great missionary. Now consider churches that he himself and perhaps others had planted, unwilling to give or help Paul so that the Gospel may go forth in other places? If we lost all of our support, and only one (fairly young) church supported us, we would have to do the same. I too have had to do quite a bit of tent making  as of late, at least until we acquire some new mission partners to help ease the burden of new needs and to prepare for future plans we have. But that hasn´t always been the case.

One realistic downside of bivocational missionaries to consider, is that it is easy to become overloaded and overwhelmed, and hence comes the possibility of becoming less effective and their longevity on the field may then soon be in play. Unless somehow, they had established in the past a business, or a high paying career before they moved to a foreign mission field, and they were able to somehow keep it going and make money for their family and ministry without sacrificing all of their time. But those are exceptions, and often bivocational missionaries usually end up spending less time working for the Lord (of course everything we do is unto the Lord, but I mean specifically mission work and ministry here) and more time working just to survive and make ends meet.

And as the Lord opens more doors, it also comes with more expenses and needs. In the past, I taught English at another school free of charge for almost two years. We still even recently have helped that school. But there are seasons of life and ministry when you just do what you gotta do. So I  was teaching at another school, but now I am working at the orphanage to make ends meet. I am willing to do it and even enjoy it in many ways. Sure it is a blessing and the opportunities to share the Gospel are many. But, family in that mix of a very demanding work load, both in ministry and another full time job, and you will eventually have a recipe for burnout. Especially on the field where the needs are often much greater when working with the poor, and people aren´t so individualistic and private, but need and desire much more attention and time spent together with them. Often needing more time and resources than you have available, and need more than most Americans do.

It is this way with ministry in many other cultures, it’s just different. And if we are honest, most people culturally as Americans just like thier privacy and in general are better off financially. And that’s ok. I say this to mean that just because something is common and or easily done in the States, it doesn’t mean it will be so in a different setting. And though bivocational ministry is always difficult, it proves to be even moreso where the people are poor, often sick and less educated. In those situations, things usually take much more time, energy and money.

But why do some missionaries seem to always need money?

Well, first we would certainly agree that the most loving thing we can do for a person is to share the Gospel with them and point them to Christ. To this we say yes and amen. Yet at the same time, it would very unloving to preach the Gospel and ignore someones obvious urgent, basic needs, especially if we were in any position to help them. Of course we cannot help everyone, and the “poor will always be with us.” But this is no excuse for not being as generous as possible and we must remember that we were saved not just from something, but also for somethings,

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

Time and time again we see in Scripture the duty of the believer to compassionate, merciful and generous as we saw exemplified in the life of our Lord and the Apostles and the early church. When the other Apsotles extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas as they were getting ready to go off to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples of the gentiles, they reminded Paul of something that was important to them beacuse it was important to God..

“Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”  Galatians 2:10

In the book “Controversies in Missions,” a compilation of essays written on various controversial topics in missions, a chapter on Carl F. H. Henry’s regenerational model puts it this way:

“The particular eloquence of Henry’s position is this: one need not deny the important biblical commands regarding social justice in order to arrive at prioritism (the Gospel proclamation is the priority), and the way one does this is by understanding the full weight of the doctrine of revelation within Christian theology. When this is done, it becomes clear that there is a direct correlation between the doctrine of revelation and the priority of proclamation. However, such a prioritist position by no means renders what the Bible says about social justice as irrelevant or unimportant. In fact, the opposite is true. A high view of the doctrine of revelation, especially concerning Scripture, also gives rise to a robust social concern because the moral imperatives for God’s people are divinely revealed.”

This is in no way a “social gospel” as some understand it. But rather biblical ministry centered on God’s revelation and the ethical demmands put on those who are transformed by the very same Gospel proclamation. The latter (compassionate generosity) actually gives evidence to and establishes that the first and main thing, (Gospel proclamation and salvation) actually took place to begin with. One is a priority, yet both are necessary and biblical. The author offers a very helpful illustration from every day life to help us understand how both are necessary, while rightly keeping the main thing, namely Gospel proclamation, the main thing.

“I might say that I am going to go to the bank to make a deposit and then to the post office to mail some bills. I furthermore declare that the bank is my top priority because if I do not deposit my paycheck, then the bills cannot be paid. Clearly, one has here a case of priority in which both things remain necessary. I still must deposit my check and I still must pay my bills. Yet one of these takes priority because the second thing depends on the first thing having taken place. It is the same with evangelism and social concern. The gospel must first be preached before converts can be discipled and, indeed, the content of Christian discipleship remains mired in obscurity apart from the proclamational foundations of the apostles and prophets, which is divine revelation. Thus, the logical priority of evangelism does not render compassion as optional. It simply affirms the ultimate place of Scripture and the unequivocal role given to proclamation in the life of the church.”

Consider this text in James:

“If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.” James 2:15-17

But now back to my first point on the funding necessary in order to do both of these things:

So we have the Apostle Paul, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write and explain the mysteries of God being revealed, praying to the Sovereign Lord, and at the same time He makes his needs known to the churches and seemingly expected them to meet those needs. We see true dependence on God through prayer, AND communicating to the churches his own needs and the needs of others. Why? Because He understood that the means to reach the goal of the church, IS the church. Specifically, the emphasis in the NT is overwhelmingly on the local churches.

God´s people have a mission, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptize and to teach all that Christ has commanded. God´s people also have the real responsibility to be intentional in going, sending, praying for and providing for that mission and showing mercy and compassion to others in the process. There are ethical demmands that are put upon the beliver through the commands in the NT.

It´s not rocket science, but for some at least, its hard to stay balanced. Many people error and fall off of one side of the horse or the other. It just isn’t as black and white as some would like. We live in a tension in this area. Consider the beautiful mystery of God’s Sovereignty and the will and responsibility that man has. His decrees and His means to reach His intended purpose.

Who´s mission is it?   God´s.

Who has He commanded to fulfill the mission?   God´s people.

Who´s doing the calling?   God.

Who´s Word are we preaching and teaching?   God´s.

Who did He choose and inspire to write and preserve it? God´s people.

Who is the one preaching and teaching?   God´s pèople.

Who is forgiving sins and doing the saving?   God.

Who is being saved and who is He using to proclaim the Gospel?   God´s people.

Who is opening the minds of people, illuminating them to understand the Scriptures? God is.

Who does He use to do this?   God´s people.

To Whom belongs the cattle on a thousand hills (and everything else in the universe)?   To God.

Who is doing the praying and who is doing the providing?   God´s people.

Who has He entrusted precious resources to, to be used for His glory?   God´s people.

At the same time, who is really doing the providing and Sovereignly answering specific individual prayers of provision for His people who are doing His will on His mission? God is.

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point by now. His plans will be accomplished and cannot be thwarted, no doubt about that. But He has revealed and commanded how it is to be done as well. And we are very much responsible for being about the will of God in the work of the church. He will do it, and He will do it through His people. Paul knew this. But many who lean too much in either direction fall into error and become unbalanced, inconsistent or worse, unbiblical.

To deny the real responsibility we have before Him would be somewhat foolish and would require the systematic focusing on some particular texts of Scripture, while at the same time ignoring of a lot of other texts. Or putting Scripture against Scripture versus putting the two things together. It would be akin to an error as in saying, God will provide for me but I refuse to work. Or that God will cause me to grow in knowledge but I refuse to read or study.

For the above mentioned reasons, we have come to the understanding that it is ok to ask for help and make needs known for us and for others. We simply say “these are the needs, pray about helping.” If the Lord puts in someone the desire to help, then praise the Lord! We have examples of it in the Scriptures and we simply accept it and live in the tension between the Sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. There is no need to even try to reconcile the two, we see both in the Bible and they do not oppose eachother in any way.

Why even address this? I feel the need to expalian this mainly because of critics, who themselves are of an extreme position and choose not to communicate or share needs out of their conviction.

Unfortunately, the same often suffer need more frequently and unnecessarily. God has blessed and given the specific gift of helping/giving to some. (1 Cor. 12:28)  People who desire to see the Gospel taken forth and to help the poor and others. There are people and churches somwhere, right now praying about which mission to give to.

I could testify time and time again about how the Lord in His providence would bring such people across our path through their own prayers in seeking who to help, while at the same time answering our specific prayers for provision. Many of who we have never even met or had any prior contact or a relationship with! The Lord really has provided and answered an innumerable amount of prayers like these. And He always did so through His people, whether a church as a whole or through individual brothers and sisters.

Having said all of that, I am extremely grateful to God and to our mission partners who pray and support. Especially those who have done so faithfully over the years. Without your prayers and donations we just wouldn’t be able to do what we do for as long as we have done it. That’s a fact. Thank you and God bless you.

In Christ,

Antonio Salgado Jr.

Please pray for our BCMS workers serving faithfully in hard places. May the Gospel continue to go forth, to God be the glory.

 

If the Lord so lies on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry, you can easily donate online through PayPal. Click the donate button below to send support of any amount directly to the ministry. This is the fastest option to get funds to the mission field.

 

You can  donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below and you can send support of any amount directly to the ministry. You can choose the option of doing a one-time donation and this is the fastest option to get funds to us. Click the link below for that option.

 

 

Also,

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, Texas 77218-9228
1-800-CMC-PRAY (1-800-262-7729)
Office: 281-599-7411
Fax: 281-599-7511

The ministry of (CMC) serves hundreds of missionaries, but they ONLY receive the funds for us and in no way have control over how the funds are to be spent or what we are to do as a ministry, which gives room to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and the liberty in making needed adjustments.

You may begin sending your support to the BCMS (Antonio Salgado) at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.)

You can also now give to the ministry here in the DR online through the new giving solution called “click and give” at the CMC website.

To get started you just need to click on the link below and register the first time. Just a simple click on the donate button on their page (see link below), and then click the “click and give icon/button”.

https://www.cmcmissions.org/donate

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above. But the Paypal option is the fastest way to get funds directly to the field.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!

Posted on

Update / prayer letter from Antonio in The DR

Greetings mission partners, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. I am eternally grateful for the grace and provision the Lord has shown us through generous people like you. Here are this month’s updates, prayer requests and needs. 

Mercy ministry:

We have three boxes of donations, mostly foods and clothes that have been delayed in getting to us. They were shipped weeks ago, so I am sure they are in the country by now, but I am in touch with the brother who sent them to locate them and get those donations distributed to those who need them as soon as possible. Pray that there won’t be any more setbacks there.

 

Family:

Yeison struggled in school. He needed a lot of help and he did better with a tutor studying virtually to reduce distractions, but it looks like he is passing to the third grade. Unfortunately, this year his scholarship runs out, so I must make a tough decision soon. Unless we receive help with his enrollment and tuition for the next school year, I don’t have many more options than to put him in a public school. I pray we won’t have to do that. Yeison is a special kid that needs lots of help, and I’m sure he won’t do well in that environment.  The public school system here is very poor and education has been a priority for me, with him and our other children. Apart from the poor education, Yeison’s attention deficit and learning disability, there are several other reasons I don’t think he would do well at all in a public school at all, and it really concerns me for him. Please pray about helping with this need.

Giving:

Donations have dwindled significantly right before things opened up here without all the restrictions after the pandemic. I find myself struggling to keep things going at times and working full time at the orphanage just to make ends meet. Even though my job is very much ministry, I work more due to necessity. In the past I have worked with the orphanage and schools for free teaching English and ministering to and evangelizing the kids and employees, apart from all the work I did in the church plant and in the barrios, doing Bible, clothes, food and medicine distribution, in Haiti where I also worked. Even in the pandemic, I worked A LOT. I am praying to get back to that without abandoning the orphanage. The Lord is doing a good work there and I hope to stay involved in the future. But there is a great need for new mission partners in order for us to continue working with those we are committed to and more. It is difficult for me to get back to the states to speak and share what the Lord is doing here. That certainly doesn’t help. As the saying goes and is unfortunately true, it’s out of sight, out of mind. Thank God that social media has helped me stay somewhat connected to friends and donors. But the need is still great. Pray about sharing the work this ministry does with others and about becoming a mission partner.

Please pray that the Lord would bring more mission partners on board to help the financial strain we are experiencing or pray about joining our efforts by sharing the needs, praying and/or financially supporting this ministry. 

New projects and opportunities:

About six years ago there were thousands of Venezuelans seeking refuge here in the DR fleeing from poverty, violence, and lack of resources because of the dictator Maduro and his regime. A one time rich and prosperous country became poorer than Haiti. The poverty in Venezuela has tripled (over 75%) since Maduro took charge. Since then, I have shared the Gospel with, and helped many who came here with little more than the clothes on their backs. Some who are still close friends and brothers or sisters until this day. I have stayed well aware of the situation there and it isn’t getting much better. Professionals with degrees make about 5-7 dollars a month! Imagine that for a minute.

 


(A home that some friends of mine in Venezuela live in.)

 

Having said that, we are doing a fundraiser for Venezuela. We need to raise 3,000 dollars within this next month to cover travel and supplies costs. There are risks and lots of planning going into this, but we still need lots of help meeting our goal. Please pray about joining us in this effort through prayer and giving.

At the orphanage a new young man recently began working in the boy’s department. He seems to be a solid and trustworthy brother and I’m pretty excited about working with him and teaching him to see what the Lord will do through him. Pray for Wilfren.

Pray that the boxes that were shipped will show up soon. I have already identified the area and people who will receive the donations. 

Pray for the Bible studies and devotionals I am preparing and sharing with the personnel of the orphanage, especially the evangelistic aspect of the job. Pray that the Lord would use me in the orphanage, out of the orphanage and in the other places we are working. Pray.

In service to Him,

Antonio Salgado Jr.

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,- Philippians 1:3-5

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

If the Lord so lies on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry:

You can  donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below and you can send support of any amount directly to the ministry. You can choose the option of doing a one-time donation and this is the fastest option to get funds to us. Click the link below for that option.

https://www.paypal.me/SalgadoDRMission

Also,

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE

P.O. Box 219228

Houston, Texas 77218-9228

1-800-CMC-PRAY (1-800-262-7729)

Office: 281-599-7411

Fax: 281-599-7511

The ministry of (CMC) serves hundreds of missionaries, but they ONLY receive the funds for us and in no way have control over how the funds are to be spent or what we are to do as a ministry, which gives room to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and the liberty in making needed adjustments.

You may begin sending your support to the BCMS (Antonio Salgado) at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.)

You can also now give to the ministry here in the DR online through the new giving solution called “click and give” at the CMC website.

To get started you just need to click on the link below and register the first time. Just a simple click on the donate button on their page (see link below), and then click the “click and give icon/button”.

https://www.cmcmissions.org/donate

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above. But the Paypal option is the fastest way to get funds directly to the field.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!

 

 

Posted on

Update from Antonio in the DR

Greetings dear mission partners, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. We are extremely grateful to those who pray for, donate and even visit at times. I would not be able to do what I do if it weren’t for brothers and sisters back home to pray for and support this mission.

 

At the orphanage, I am working A LOT. Right now I am working on an evangelism teaching and how to study the Bible workshop that I do in my meetings with the supervisors for the purpose of evangelizing the personel, and teaching them how to prepare a devotional/Bible study. I am training the supervisors under me, so they  then can train the caretakers who work directly with the kids, who then can eventually prepare their own devotionals to teach the children. Apart from that I’m working on some leadership resources with the team as well. It’s going well and the boss wants me to be in charge of ethics now too. So the workload is pretty heavy. Apart from book and important article translations, we are working on a manual for the institution with protocols for each department and every situation we can possibly think of. It’s a monster of a job that needs to be very extensive with lots of prevention rules and processes to protect the vulnerable children we work with the best that we can.

A good brother recently donated a very good study Bible which I then  gifted to Dr. Ignacio from the orphanage, he’s a great brother who loves the Lord and I’m sure he’ll put it to good use.

At home, Yeison has struggled in school. I´ve had to pay a tutor 200 bucks every two weeks for him since the school wanted me to pay for another teacher to help him and work one on one. The school was charging more but thankfully we found a tutor who would do it cheaper and Yeison is finally progressing, thank God.

That’s quite a bill here. And I don´t make much here working, so I very much depend on and need the support from brothers and sisters back home, to not only help my family, but also to provide the resources needed to do the ministry and activities we plan. Thankfuly there is a sister back home helping with Yeison’s need for now.

We have a eldery lady (Lourdes) who still needs help who lives in horrible conditions. Her granddaughter is a friend of ours. We still need donations for that. Please pray about helping us help her (see last months newsletter). But there is another need we have that will help many, God willing.

I am working on trying to get into Venezuela and so far so good.. It isn’t possible right now from the U.S., BUT…IT IS very possible from Santo Domingo or Mexico. I almost have all  the paperwork I need to request the visa now from here and a friend who is a lawyer is helping me with that.

We have many friends and family in the faith over there. We have helped in the past, sending funds to faithful brothers and sisters who helped us get the resources to where they needed to go, back when we first started receiving Venezuelans at the church years ago. There are thousands of them here now and all over Latin America after Maduro and his regime ruined a beautiful and one time prosperous country. The truth is, it’s bad over there right now. Really bad. 

My stay there would be short of course. I have many responsibilities here and I can’t stay apart from Yeison for too long either. However, apart from the funds I need to get there, I cannot go to such a place empty handed. Apart from my personal traveling expenses, I need at least  3000 dollars above and beyond that to buy what we need to to help others. Please pray about helping towards that need. There are some good churches in Caracas and we can work through our other trustworthy contacts there as well.

On another note, there are things we´ve done in the past that unfortunately we have not been able to resume since the pandemic. The medical clinics out in the communities, conferences and workshops that have been edifying for many in the past are something that I would love to resume again as soon as possible. More evangelism, medical clinics, distributions, workshops and discipleship. I have a few good and trusted brothers who have helped us in the past, who desperately would love to get back to work as we used to. Here in the DR, in Haiti and now in Venezuela too. But we desperatley need your help to make this happen. The Lord has opened these doors, we see the needs, but we need your help. Please pray about joining us in prayer and support in order to get the job done. Feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions about the needs or how you can join us in this worthy labor for the Lord. Thank you and God bless.

In service to Him,

Antonio Salgado Jr.

 

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,- Philippians 1:3-5

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

If the Lord so lies on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry:

You can  donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below and you can send support of any amount directly to the ministry. You can choose the option of doing a one-time donation and this is the fastest option to get funds to us. Click the link below for that option.

https://www.paypal.me/SalgadoDRMission

Also,

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE

P.O. Box 219228

Houston, Texas 77218-9228

1-800-CMC-PRAY (1-800-262-7729)

Office: 281-599-7411

Fax: 281-599-7511

The ministry of (CMC) serves hundreds of missionaries, but they ONLY receive the funds for us and in no way have control over how the funds are to be spent or what we are to do as a ministry, which gives room to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and the liberty in making needed adjustments.

You may begin sending your support to the BCMS (Antonio Salgado) at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.)

You can also now give to the ministry here in the DR online through the new giving solution called “click and give” at the CMC website.

To get started you just need to click on the link below and register the first time. Just a simple click on the donate button on their page (see link below), and then click the “click and give icon/button”.

https://www.cmcmissions.org/donate

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above. But the Paypal option is the fastest way to get funds directly to the field.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!

 

Posted on

BCMS: Update from Antonio in the DR

Dear friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

 We are extremely grateful for each and every person who has taken time out to pray for this ministry, our family and those we serve. Especially those who take the time to personally reach out to us on occasion for much-needed encouragement.  For every person who has donated any amount throughout the years. Thank you, we love and appreciate your love for the Lord and the desire to be involved His work.

Yeison just turned eight years old this past Sunday. He is going through a growth spurt and  is getting very tall all of a sudden.  And even though he is struggling in school, he is becoming very responsible for his age. Right now he is doing school virtually and I have a tutor working with him one on one during his school hours. That alone is an expense, but thank God  there is a sister helping with half of that cost. But we’re still short about 100 US dollars a month to cover that. If the Lord lies on your heart to want to help with that, it would be appreciated.

Another personal need is that my vehicle needs many repairs. We were in an accident a couple of months ago, then and got ripped off by a shady painter and lost about 300 dollars in that incident. Apart from that,  there are other things that still need other things fixed with the steering, tires and front end. Any help with that would certainly be a blessing. Those are a couple of personal needs and there are others. But there are those we serve and who are in need as well.

Over the years, the Lord has used this ministry as a means to reach  and to bless others. As of recently, there are many needs that we presently have and have identified to help others and wish to continue doing so.

 

Yeison´s biological mother and her caretaker are in need. Brunilda, who cares for Yera (Yeison´s biological mother), has had some serious health issues. And although we sent her relief recently when her son passed away, we haven’t been able to help much more until we have more resources to do so.  Please pray about helping us help them.

 

This past Sunday, we took a good friend and sister to visit her grandmother, who she hadn’t seen in four years. It was a sweet reunion, but also very sad at the same time. We met Lourdes for the first time, an elderly woman who lives in a house by herself and has almost nothing. The holes in the wall where the windows should be, and are covered with old tin nailed into the blocks. She has a son who she can barely care for. He is about 40 years old, who suffered a severe head trauma when he was young and now cannot live a normal life or care for himself.

Lourdes, who can barely walk herself, actually uses a walker to scuffle uphill on a dirt trail to the small wooden house where her son lives to take him food and water. After spending some time there and getting to know her story, I felt moved to try to help. I am asking around in that area for a worker who can get me an estimate to install the aluminum shutters for her house and  do what we can to help at least with food and clothes for her and her son. Hopefully more than that. I f the Lord lies on your heart to help towards this need, it would be a tremendous blessing for them. I am waiting on an estimate to see what everything will cost to help her. Please pray about helping.

A couple of weeks ago we also did a food, medicine and clothes distribution. And apart from all that, I am still working at the orphanage. It takes a lot of my time, but they have given me great responsibility and freedom to create programs, evangelize and invest in the  children and adolescents there. It’s not just a job, it’s very much ministry, and I am thankful that the Lord opened this door. Especially since we already had a relationship with them since we used to come with groups  from the church in Hato Mayor to serve as volunteers. As the head of operations I do devotionals with the staff and my supervisors, give leadership training and create the tools and protocols that help us collect data on our progress and how to better serve the children.  We’ve seen a lot of progress in the last six months by the grace of God. Please pray for wisdom for me and to continue serving well with the many responsibilities and commitments I have at the present time.

In Christ,

Antonio Salgado Jr.

 

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,- Philippians 1:3-5

 

 

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

If the Lord so lies on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry:

You can  donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below and you can send support of any amount directly to the ministry. You can choose the option of doing a one-time donation and this is the fastest option to get funds to us. Click the link below for that option.

https://www.paypal.me/SalgadoDRMission

Also,

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, Texas 77218-9228
1-800-CMC-PRAY (1-800-262-7729)
Office: 281-599-7411
Fax: 281-599-7511

The ministry of (CMC) serves hundreds of missionaries, but they ONLY receive the funds for us and in no way have control over how the funds are to be spent or what we are to do as a ministry, which gives room to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and the liberty in making needed adjustments.

You may begin sending your support to the BCMS (Antonio Salgado) at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.)

You can also now give to the ministry here in the DR online through the new giving solution called “click and give” at the CMC website.

To get started you just need to click on the link below and register the first time. Just a simple click on the donate button on their page (see link below), and then click the “click and give icon/button”.

https://www.cmcmissions.org/donate

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above. But the Paypal option is the fastest way to get funds directly to the field.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!

 

 

 

 

Posted on

BCMS: Update from Antonio in the DR

Dear friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

Forgive the lengthiness of this update. As we draw to the end of one year and enter another, we reflect on everything that we have experienced, the good and the bad and we feel compelled to take the time to express our gratitude to those who the Lord has used to provide for our family and every ministry need met. We are extremely grateful for each and every person who has taken time out to pray for this ministry, for the church, for our family. Especially those who take the time to personally reach out to us on occasion for much needed encouragement.  For every person who has donated any amount throughout the year. Thank you, we love and appreciate your love for the Lord and the desire to be involved in mission work.

Anyone who has followed us for any length of time has probably read in a newsletter, or a post on social media, or maybe has heard me in person speaking somewhere say that, “Those who pray for and give to missions play a role just as important as the missionary on the field.”  I say it often, especially when doing some speaking back home or talking missions with anyone. I say it a lot because we really believe that. The church or person who gives any amout faithfully over time, or the grandmother who wakes up early every morning to pray for the missionaries that she has pictures of or names of on her fridge. Both play a crucial role in this long term partnership in the Gospel we call mission work.

When it comes to funding a missionary, some would say very simply that if it’s God’s will He will provide, and they take the position of not seeking to share needs or raise money. They firmly believe that in this way they are truly trusting the Lord. That’s fine, if it is their conviction, and I believe that if it’s God’s will then He will provide too. But to leave it so simplistic would really be to miss something important on the other side of the same coin. Something clearly revealed in the Scriptures that should not be avoided. We understand and believe that God has ordained all things, absolutely. But He has also ordained the means by which to reach those ends. One confession puts it well when speaking on the decree of God. It says that:

“God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree.”

And it wouldn’t take long reading through the epistles before you would start to notice a couple of things:

First, Paul absolutely depended on God and prayed expecting God to answer, and God often did.

At the same time we see other examples of Paul making his needs known to the churches. He also expected the brethren to help him with his needs and the needs of others. Both are true and they go together.

Yes, at times he worked with his hands out of a conviction and even necessity. In Philippians he writes that at one time “in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.” (Philippians 4:15) This is incredibly astounding. Consider the great Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the gentiles, the great missionary. Now consider churches that he himself and perhaps others had planted, unwilling to give or help Paul so that the Gospel may go forth in other places?! If we lost all of our support, and only one (fairly young) church supported us, we would have to do the same. We too have had to do a little tent making  as of late until we acquire some new mission partners to help ease the burden of new needs and to prepare for future plans we have. But that hasn´t always been the case.

One realistic downside of bivocational missionaries to consider, is that it is easy to become overloaded and overwhelmed, and hence comes the possibility of becoming less effective and their longevity on the field may then soon be in play. Unless somehow, they had established in the past a business, or a high paying career before they moved to a foreign mission field, and they were able to somehow keep it going and make money for their family and ministry without sacrificing all of their time. But those are exceptions, and often bivocational missionaries usually end up spending less time working for the Lord (of course everything we do is unto the Lord, but I mean specifically mission work and ministry here) and more time working just to survive and make ends meet.

And as the Lord opens more doors, it also comes with more expenses and needs. In the past, I taught English at another school free of charge for almost two years. We still even recently have helped that school. But there are seasons of life and ministry when you just do what you gotta do. So I  was teaching at another school, but now I am working at the orphanage to make ends meet. I am willing to do it and even enjoy it in many ways. Sure it is a blessing and the opportunities to share the Gospel are many. But, family in that mix of a very demanding work load, both in ministry and secular work, and you will eventually have a recipe for burnout. Especially on the field where the needs are often much greater when working with the poor, and people aren´t so individualistic and private, but need and desire much more attention and time spent together with them. Often needing more time and resources than you have available, and need more than most Americans do. It is this way with ministry in many other cultures, it’s just different. And if we are honest, most people culturally as Americans just like thier privacy and in general are better off financially. And that’s ok. I say this to mean that just because something is common and or easily done in the States, it doesn’t mean it will be so in a different setting. And though bivocational ministry is always difficult, it proves to be even moreso where the people are poor, often sick and less educated. In those situations, things usually take much more time, energy and money.

But why do some missionaries seem to always need money? Well, first we would certainly agree that the most loving thing we can do for a person is to share the Gospel with them and point them to Christ. To this we say yes and amen. Yet at the same time, it would very unloving to preach the Gospel and ignore someones obvious urgent, basic needs, especially if we were in any position to help them. Of course we cannot help everyone, and the “poor will always be with us.” But this is no excuse for not being as generous as possible and we must remember that we were saved not just from something, but also for somethings,

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

Time and time again we see in Scripture the duty of the believer to compassionate, merciful and generous as we saw exemplified in the life of our Lord and the Apostles and the early church. When the other Apsotles extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas as they were getting ready to go off to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples of the gentiles, they reminded Paul of something that was important to them beacuse it was important to God..

“Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”  Galatians 2:10

In the book “Controversies in Missions,” a compilation of essays written on various controversial topics in missions, a chapter on Carl F. H. Henry’s regenerational model puts it this way:

“The particular eloquence of Henry’s position is this: one need not deny the important biblical commands regarding social justice in order to arrive at prioritism (the Gospel proclamation is the priority), and the way one does this is by understanding the full weight of the doctrine of revelation within Christian theology. When this is done, it becomes clear that there is a direct correlation between the doctrine of revelation and the priority of proclamation. However, such a prioritist position by no means renders what the Bible says about social justice as irrelevant or unimportant. In fact, the opposite is true. A high view of the doctrine of revelation, especially concerning Scripture, also gives rise to a robust social concern because the moral imperatives for God’s people are divinely revealed.”

This is in no way a “social gospel” as some understand it. But rather biblical ministry centered on God’s revelation and the ethical demmands put on those who are transformed by the very same Gospel proclamation. The latter (compassionate generosity) actually gives evidence to and establishes that the first and main thing, (Gospel proclamation and salvation) actually took place to begin with. One is a priority, yet both are necessary and biblical. The author offers a very helpful illustration from every day life to help us understand how both are necessary, while rightly keeping the main thing, namely Gospel proclamation, the main thing.

“I might say that I am going to go to the bank to make a deposit and then to the post office to mail some bills. I furthermore declare that the bank is my top priority because if I do not deposit my paycheck, then the bills cannot be paid. Clearly, one has here a case of priority in which both things remain necessary. I still must deposit my check and I still must pay my bills. Yet one of these takes priority because the second thing depends on the first thing having taken place. It is the same with evangelism and social concern. The gospel must first be preached before converts can be discipled and, indeed, the content of Christian discipleship remains mired in obscurity apart from the proclamational foundations of the apostles and prophets, which is divine revelation. Thus, the logical priority of evangelism does not render compassion as optional. It simply affirms the ultimate place of Scripture and the unequivocal role given to proclamation in the life of the church.”

Consider this text in James:

“If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.” James 2:15-17

But now back to my first point on the funding necessary in order to do both of these things:

So we have the Apostle Paul, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write and explain the mysteries of God being revealed, praying to the Sovereign Lord, and at the same time He makes his needs known to the churches and seemingly expected them to meet those needs. We see true dependence on God through prayer, AND communicating to the churches his own needs and the needs of others. Why? Because He understood that the means to reach the goal of the church, IS the church. Specifically, the emphasis in the NT is overwhelmingly on the local churches.

God´s people have a mission, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptize and to teach all that Christ has commanded. God´s people also have the real responsibility to be intentional in going, sending, praying for and providing for that mission and showing mercy and compassion to others in the process. There are ethical demmands that are put upon the beliver through the commands in the NT. It´s not rocket science, but for some at least, its hard to stay balanced. Many people error and fall off of one side of the horse or the other. It just isn’t as black and white as some would like. We live in a tension in this area. Consider the beautiful mystery of God’s Sovereignty and the will and responsibility that man has. His decrees and His means to reach His intended purpose.

Who´s mission is it?   God´s.

Who has He commanded to fulfill the mission?   God´s people.

Who´s doing the calling?   God.

Who´s Word are we preaching and teaching?   God´s.

Who did He choose and inspire to write and preserve it? God´s people.

Who is the one preaching and teaching?   God´s pèople.

Who is forgiving sins and doing the saving?   God.

Who is being saved and who is He using to proclaim the Gospel?   God´s people.

Who is opening the minds of people, illuminating them to understand the Scriptures? God is.

Who does He use to do this?   God´s people.

To Whom belongs the cattle on a thousand hills (and everything else in the universe)?   To God.

Who is doing the praying and who is doing the providing?   God´s people.

Who has He entrusted precious resources to, to be used for His glory?   God´s people.

At the same time, who is really doing the providing and Sovereignly answering specific individual prayers of provision for His people who are doing His will on His mission? God is.

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point by now. His plans will be accomplished and cannot be thwarted, no doubt about that. But He has revealed and commanded how it is to be done as well. And we are very much responsible for being about the will of God in the work of the church. He will do it, and He will do it through His people. Paul knew this. But many who lean too much in either direction fall into error and become unbalanced, inconsistent or worse, unbiblical.

To deny the real responsibility we have before Him would be somewhat foolish and would require the systematic focusing on some particular texts of Scripture, while at the same time ignoring of a lot of other texts. Or putting Scripture against Scripture versus putting the two things together. It would be akin to an error as in saying, God will provide for me but I refuse to work. Or that God will cause me grow in knowledge but I refuse to read or study. For the above mentioned reasons, we have come to the understanding that it is ok to ask for help and make needs known for us and for others. We simply say “these are the needs, pray about helping.” If the Lord puts in someone the desire to help, then praise the Lord! We have examples of it in the Scriptures and we simply accept it and live in the tension between the Sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. There is no need to even try to reconcile the two, we see both in the Bible and they do not oppose eachother in any way.

Why even address this? I feel the need to expalian this mainly because of our critics, who themselves are of an extreme position and choose not to communicate or share needs out of their conviction. Unfortunately, the same often suffer need more frequently and unnecessarily. God has blessed and given the specific gift of helping/giving to some. (1 Cor. 12:28)  People who desire to see the Gospel taken forth and to help the poor and others. There are people and churches somwhere, right now praying about which mission to give to. We could testify time and time again about how the Lord in His providence would bring such people across our path through their own prayers in seeking who to help, while at the same time answering our specific prayers for provision. Many of who we have never even met or had any prior contact or relationship with! The Lord really has provided and answered an innumerable amount of prayers like these. And He always did so through His people, whether a church as a whole or through individual brothers and sisters.

Having said all of that, we are extremely grateful to God and to our mission partners who pray and support. Especially those who have done so faithfully over time. Without your prayers and donations we just wouldn’t be able to do what we do for as long as we have done it. That’s a fact. Thank you and God bless you.

There really is so much more I can say on the topic, but I will leave it there for now.

In Christ,

Antonio Salgado Jr.

 

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

If the Lord so lies on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry:

You can  donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below and you can send support of any amount directly to the ministry. You can choose the option of doing a one-time donation and this is the fastest option to get funds to us. Click the link below for that option.

https://www.paypal.me/SalgadoDRMission

Also,

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, Texas 77218-9228
1-800-CMC-PRAY (1-800-262-7729)
Office: 281-599-7411
Fax: 281-599-7511

The ministry of (CMC) serves hundreds of missionaries, but they ONLY receive the funds for us and in no way have control over how the funds are to be spent or what we are to do as a ministry, which gives room to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and the liberty in making needed adjustments.

You may begin sending your support to the BCMS (Antonio Salgado) at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.)

You can also now give to the ministry here in the DR online through the new giving solution called “click and give” at the CMC website.

To get started you just need to click on the link below and register the first time. Just a simple click on the donate button on their page (see link below), and then click the “click and give icon/button”.

https://www.cmcmissions.org/donate

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above. But the Paypal option is the fastest way to get funds directly to the field.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!