The MARBC Annual Meeting will be held at Grace Baptist Church in Mankato on September 17-19. Our featured speaker is Clare Jewel (GARBC Church Planting, pictured). Workshops for the men will be led by Brad Hoff (Continental Baptist Mission). Our theme for the week will be "Step Up to the Plate: Energizing Saints for Service."

Information packets and brochures will be sent to churches soon.

Editor's Note: The following letter is an email which I received from Pastor Nathan Lobb (Lakeland Baptist, Gilbert). He has given permission for its reproduction in the MBM.

Donna and I met with an oncologist on Thursday last week. He shared the results of the MRI and PET scan: no cancer showed in my brain, so the main concentrations are a tumor in my left lung and a nearby lymph node. We already knew that there are cancer cells in the fluid around the lung. He said that I have a year to live without treatment, and 3-5 with immunotherapy and chemo, but no hope of a cure.

Berean Baptist Church of Winnebago hosted a recognition council on April 30 to review their documents and practices concerning their desire to join with the MARBC. Ten men were present. Pastor Tim Newton led the group through the church's documents and answered many questions. The council recommended to the church to proceed with their application plans for both the MARBC and the MBA (Minnesota Baptist Association). Lord willing, the MARBC will be voting at the annual meeting in September to add Winnebago to our fellowship.

NORTHERN LADIES'  SPRING RETREAT

The Spring Retreat of the Northern Ladies Fellowship of the MARBC was held on April 6-7 in Moorhead, MN. Our Speaker was Mrs. Colleen Tronson, Director of the Metro Women’s Center, and the theme was “Bloom Where You are Planted.” Ephesians 2:10 was the theme verse. There were 89 ladies registered.

Because the Lord blessed the ladies with a surplus of funds, they were able to give special gifts to missionaries Jason and Tami Hughes (Papua, New Guinea), Ron and Joy Hemsworth (Missionary Acres), Bass Lake Camp and Metro Women's Center.

SOUTHERN LADIES' SPRING RALLY

Grace Baptist Church of Mankato hosted the Southern Ladies' Spring Rally on Saturday, April 21. Mrs. Christa Mielke (Austin, pictured) was the the featured speaker. The ladies were encouraged by the good number who turned out and by the terrific fellowship throughout the day. Make plans to join the Ladies' Retreat at Bass Lake Camp on August 24-25. Mrs. Terri Jenkin will be the speaker.

You can still sign up for camp. We have openings for each week of our summer camps. What could be better than gathering with your friends, playing exciting games, eating some amazing food and learning from God's Word? Come join us!

Family Camp (June 25-30): You can have a cabin with your name on it. Plans include some great activities, a pork roast, ministry by Tom Meyer (Wordsower Ministries, pictured) and missionary Rick Fessel (Germany). A special program will be held for the children. Ladies get to enjoy a week with no cooking and no dishes. This is guaranteed to be an inexpensive vacation which your family will remember for years to come.

Developer's Banquet: First Baptist Church of Brownsdale hosted our banquet this year. This year's projects for the camp include Aqua-Glide (a large flotation device for the waterfront), two more picnic tables, corn hole game (bean bag toss), buffet table, mattresses and a human foosball game. Over $3,300 was raised at this event! Thank you to all who had a part in this great day.

Building Progress: We should have our Canteen finished by the time camp starts. This air conditioned facility will have a "garage" theme to it with appropriate signage, replica cars, gas pump and more. The stools from the old canteen have been repainted and cushioned for an even better experience. Hand-dipped ice cream, slushies, snow cones, candy and more will all be available.

Men's Retreat: September 7-8 will feature Dr. Ernie Schmidt (pictured) as our speaker. We will also have our annual steak feed and skeet shoot. Bring your guns, your appetite and a desire to learn from the Bible.

Memorial Day Review: We had 67 present for a time of remembrance and fellowship. Pastor Mike Forsberg did a wonderful job reminding us of the sacrifice paid by so many for the freedoms which we enjoy in our country today.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook. The camp's page is listed as Bass Lake Camp Members. The Facebook feed allows you to be informed of camp events on a weekly basis. You will see pictures of building progress, our needs, deadline alerts and other useful information.

The dates for our 2018 camps are at the end of this newsletter.

JOIN US ON A BUS TRIP TO WASHINGTON D.C.

October 3-11 are the dates for our trip to the Washington D.C. area. Registrations are already coming in. Sites scheduled include The White House, The National Bible Museum, The Washington Mall and Smithsonians, Mt. Vernon (pictured), Monticello and more. It's a trip you will not want to miss.

Click HERE for more information and a brochure.

Two Rivers Baptist Church (TRBC) is a church plant in Rice.  It was conceived by the burden of Grace Baptist Fellowship in Sartell to see the gospel proclaimed and Bible believing churches planted.  They saw the need of more churches to be created and decided to more forward to plant a church even though they were only a church of 50-60 people on a Sunday themselves.  Three families from Grace responded to the call of spear heading the efforts and TRBC had its first service March 20, 2016.  Since then we have seen the Lord give an increase.   We have seen souls saved, discipled and had four baptisms.  We are averaging between 20-25 on a Sunday and continue to focus on outreach.  We strive to make an impact by being a blessing in the community. For example, we have provided free meals to teachers at the Elementary School in March and in June for the community during city wide garage sales.  This past Christmas we team with Grace to put on a Christmas play where we had 90 in attendance.  TWRC also was represented in the Rice Parade each year.

The vision that started at Grace to see churches planted is shared by TRBC and Lord willing will be the first of many church planted in central MN.