Dear Blog Followers,

First, let me apologize for such a long time between blogs. Admittedly, the blog thing is still relatively new to me and I am yet trying to catch a rhythm for blogging on a regular basis.

Secondly, let me thank you for your continued prayers and support as continue to follow God's calling in our move to Hilo.

Many things have happened since last I wrote. We continue at BCM to hold our weekly worship times, free lunch and coffee house ministry. All of these are going very well. We have fed over 70 students at free lunch for the last three weeks and are seeing about 25-30 students each week for worship and Bible study. Currently, I am preaching through 1 John. We've been at it for about eight weeks and we're only in chapter 2. This week I am preaching on verses 15-17 of chapter 2, and my time studying God's word for this week has been rich and also convicting. God's word is sharper than any two edged sword and I feel like my soul bears the marks of an encounter with such an instrument. While it sounds as though I have been wounded, the truth of the matter is that I have been operated on by a skillful surgeon, delicately removing latent areas of blindness and disobedience that would otherwise cause great damage down the road.

But beyond this, we have had other great things happening at BCM. Last Tuesday we held our annual BCM Thanksgiving dinner. While I failed to get an exact count, I know we fed at least 70 students with the great help of many local churches. Pastors and church members alike brought turkeys, hams, potatoes, yams and more pies than any of our waistlines deserved.

Then, this past Saturday, we had a work day at the BCM to paint the interior of the building and clear out some overgrown grass in a field we have across from our parking lot. We had six men from local churches and over fifteen students show up to help that day, and what a great difference it has made!

As we near the end of this semester, and our families first semester in this position, I would like to ask for your prayers in the following areas:

1. Wisdom from God in how to move forward in moving our weekly worship service on-campus.
2. Ways for us to begin to more intentionally reach out to international and national exchange students.
3. Better management of time so that Nikkie and I can be with more students in one-on-one discipling relationships.
4. More opportunity to share Christ with non-believers.
5. I will be preaching at a local church this Sunday, December 5th. Pray that God will speak through me and that His Word will challenge the members there in the area of "being on mission".

Thank you all for your love and support. I hope to do a better job of keeping you all in the loop more regularly.

Aloha,

Stephen, Nikkie, and Abigail

Pictorial Indulgence

Aloha friends and family! In the couple of weeks since our last blog we have been rather busy (big surprise right?). Fortunately, we have been busy with some new and exciting things with the BCM and our family.

First, two students on our leadership team started doing Coffee House on campus again. Each Tuesday night from 6 to 8 we load up coffee makers, espresso machines, milk, ice, coffee, cups and a car-full of sound equipment up to one of the dorm lounges. There, our students serve coffee to dorm residents and provide some free live music to set the tone. The BCM has done this in the past, and we were enthusiastically invited back by one of the residence managers to do it again this year. We are really excited about the potential this time has for allowing us an inroad to the personal and spiritual lives of students.

Second, and thanks to a handful of Hilo churches, our Free Lunch Wednesdays have been a huge success! Churches have been faithful to provide food for an average of 50 students each week at the BCM. Free Lunch is another great way to make connections with students who otherwise might not step foot in the BCM or be willing to talk about spiritual things. It also helps that the food is always delicious!

Third, this Thursday, October 21, Dr. Mike Licona of the North American Mission Board is visiting our BCM to give a lecture with Q&A on the topic, "Contradictions in the New Testament Gospels". Dr. Licona directs apologetics for NAMB and visited Hilo last fall as well to hold a similar forum. We are hoping and praying for a good turn out from more than just our students. We have papered the campus with flyers and posters and have been talking it up with students for some time now. Check out our blog next week for an update on this forum.

Finally, Nikkie, Abigail and I have had some time to just be a family together, which is a real blessing! There is a great little beach park not far from our house where the weather is great and the water is perfect. Abigail got a little feel for the ocean and we're thinking she'll be a great little swimmer in no time.

      

Nikkie has also discovered her inner Martha Stewart. Over the weekend she created a handful of personalized burp cloths for Abigail and a name plate to go over her crib. Nikkie has done such a great job of helping our house become a home, and I think there is a budding interior designer/seamstress in the works with her. It is so much fun to be married to someone who is so creative and inspiring. I am so blessed! Here is a look at her handiwork. She is taking orders now for all your burp cloth monogramming needs!

It is really amazing how so much can happen so fast in life. Please continue to pray for us as we move forward with Coffee House, reach out through Free Lunch, and venture into "Contradictions..." with Mike Licona. It is bound to be an eventful week for us. God continues to be so good. Thank you for your support and prayers.

In Christ,

Stephen, Nikkie and Abigail

A Week of Meetings

September 27-29 took us to Honolulu and a Missions Leadership Conference for church planters and missionaries in Hawaii. The conference turned out to be a really good time for our family and for us individually. We had a chance to meet with our good friends, Jason and Emily Hew, and take a trip to a nice beach with our families. Jason and I intended to surf and against our better judgement, made a nearly half mile paddle out to the surf break. We caught one wave each, Jason got stung by a jellyfish, and we paddled back in. It was EPIC!

The conference itself focused primarily on strategy development for ministry. Sitting through seminars with other pastors and missionaries as we shared our strategies with one another was a great encouragement for me. Hearing about the many church plants and missions on the Big Island alone burdened our hearts for the work that still needs to be done, the people who still need to be reached with the Gospel. We left the conference excited about the progress of ministry on the Big Island and encouraged in our own situation at the BCM in Hilo.

We ended last week with the periodic Big Island Baptist Association Executive Board meeting in Waimea (central part of the Big Island). This was our first meeting with the executive board, and by and large the meeting went well. We had a chance to discuss the progress of the BCM and plans for the future. Of particular excitement to us is the startup of a new discipleship group that will be led by two of our students. The intent of the group is to grow in their individual walks with Christ, knowledge of Scripture, and to put that growth into action by serving and sharing the gospel to their campus community.

Finally, we have one more meeting tomorrow night with the BCM Support Team. The support team consists of church members and pastors from Hilo and other parts of the Big Island. This team is critical to the ongoing success of the ministry of the BCM. This will also be our first meeting with the support team. As we discuss in detail the current and future states of the BCM we will be dealing with some challenging issues that will weigh heavily upon the future direction of the BCM. Please pray that our team will exercise wisdom during this important meeting.

Needless to say, we're a bit tired, but there is still much work to be done! 

Until next time, aloha and mahalo,

Stephen, Nikkie and Abigail 

Aloha from Hawai'i

Dear Family and Friends,

First off, let me welcome you to our blog! We're a little late getting things up and running but hopefully this can be your one-stop-shop for updates on our family.

I hope word has reached all of you who visit, either by Nikkie or myself, or others of our family and friends, that we have moved to the Big Island of Hawai'i. We are living in Hilo, working as the directors for Baptist Collegiate Ministries at University of Hawaii, Hilo. Hilo is a small, slow town, with a great love for families. The University has about 5000 students and we are so blessed to be in a position to help spread the Gospel on campus.

We initially got to Hilo from the San Francisco Bay Area on August 25, and have been settling and unpacking pretty much the whole time. We are so blessed to have an apartment to live in that is attached to the BCM building (it really cuts down on our commuting). Our daughter, Abigail, is doing very well and adjusting just fine to the climate.

The first few weeks here at the ministry have been spent in jam-packed days in the office. Mostly, we have been working to find our footing and get moving forward with a few things, but for now we have had time to communicate our priorities for the ministry to the students and have conducted interviews and formed a student leadership team of eight students. Each of these students has a passion and desire to reach the campus in very specific ways and we are excited to see what God does through their willingness to serve him.

I will be more diligent to update on a weekly, or semi-weekly basis. I would like to invite you all to be in prayer for us over the next few years as we serve in Hilo. For now, we have a few things that need prayer specifically:

1. Pray for God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be always at the center of everything we do here.
2. Pray for our student leaders as they seek to serve and minister to their campus.
3. Our building is in need of some general repairs, and we have a very limited budget with which to do this. Pray that we will be wise with our spending and that we can prioritize accordingly.
4. Nikkie is in the process of looking for a part-time job to supplement our income. Pray that the process will go smoothly and that she can find a place to work where she can also be of ministry to her co-workers.
5. Pray for me (Stephen) that I will clearly and effectively communicate the truth of Scripture as we meet with students for worship each Thursday night.

If you would like to receive more frequent prayer updates and requests, please comment with your email address or email me at sbaum12@gmail.com.

Thanks for following us in our adventures in Hawaii!

Aloha and Mahalo,
Stephen, Nikkie and Abigail