August 2011 Newsletter

It has been a few months since I sent out a email newsletter. The Lord convicted us that we should trust HIM and not our marketing ability. Some send out info so frequent it seems they are using the worlds tactics of marketing and not trusting the Lord to put them where they should be. We want to trust the Lord with all we have and do.

We have been extremely refreshed and blessed at how the Lord has blessed our ministry this year and our confidence in Him has been vindicated by His power and His love. In March of this year, our Board of Directors and myself agreed that we would pray and seek the Lord to open the doors for us through this year. He has done just that. We have been extremely busy and will be through the end of 2011.

The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16) and the preaching of the Gospel is the what I am called to do. The Gospel is, first and foremost, God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). Our mission is for Christ alone. It is Jesus Who will save His people and not any man. We are called to proclaim the Gospel to all people. The special calling upon my life is to not only proclaim that Gospel but to resource others to do the same. It may be a father, a mother, a group of believers, or Nicaraguan pastors.

I realize that we are only a small part of God’s plan to reach the world with the Gospel. While it is small, we are honored to be allowed to serve God in this capacity. Our ministry influence is expanding, and we can only trust God with this and obey Him as He leads us. We are not on our mission but His.

One missionary has said that missions is simply a call to die. We die to self and to our desires and to the world. This fallen world is at enmity with God and stands against His truth. With that suffering go hand in hand. Any advancement of the Gospel into the dominion of the devil will be met with warfare. Some of our brothers will be martyred, and it cannot be avoided. The calling on my life is to be obedient and go and make disciples. That is why we exist and why my family and I need your prayers! Rebekah and the children are standing beside me and encouraging me all the way. Please pray for all of us as we serve the Lord together!

The more time I spend in God’s Word, the more I become obsessed with it. The only thing that I can say is stronger than that is the love I have for God. As a Child of God, I have been called, commissioned, and commanded to lay down my life that the Gospel might be proclaimed to every creature under heaven.

I fully recognize that every man’s needs are different and that the sufferings each person experiences are unique, but I also know that they come from the same origin – SIN. I know that the greatest benefit to the world that I can offer is to preach the Gospel and to help establish local churches that proclaim the whole counsel of God’s Word. This task cannot be accomplished by mere ability, but only through the supernatural providence of God and by His means. The way God accomplishes His mission is through biblical preaching, intercessory prayer, sacrificial service, and true Christlikeness.

The way that M.U.D. Ministries functions is by being partnered with local churches and individual donors from the United States. Our goal is that the Gospel be preached to every person we can possibly reach. One thing that is important to understand in this is that there is no such thing as American money. It’s all God’s money. If God has blessed you financially, as He has most in the West, it is all for the sake of the advancement of the Gospel.

God has called me to go into the world and proclaim the Gospel. God has allowed us to meet both spiritual and physical needs of thousands of people. This work is expanding, and we are seeking the Lord to help us in this humanly overwhelming task. The work God has called me to is vitally important and the role of supporting this work is just as vitally important. God uses His people to accomplish His task by praying, giving, and going.

I am asking you to first labor for us in prayer. We need God’s wisdom and discernment. Secondly, I am asking you to pray about a special love gift for our ministry to help us meet our needs in the supporting of indigenous pastors and missionaries. I realize that many of you are already partners in this, but if you are helping us each month, please pray about a special love gift. Thirdly, I am asking you to pray about going with us to serve. There will be more information on those opportunities in this newsletter. God bless!! I am praying for you!!

For Christ Alone,
Eric Hixon

Nicaragua  2011 Update

Our passion is to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ and lift up the Holy Character of God to as many people as possible. I pray that God uses us to flood the places we go with Truth so that people from all walks of life will know the One true God and His Son, Jesus Christ! God used us for this while in Nicaragua in August!!!

Earlier in the month, I spent a couple of days with Farmdale Baptist out of Louisville, Kentucky, FBC Holly Pond, Joey Boyd, and Renae/Michael Dorrough. This team was amazing! They served the Lord with all thier strength and for many of them it was their first international mission trip. Joey Boyd and Benjamin Smothers are men who love God and His Word. I felt very confident with them leading this trip while I was unable to be their the entire time. The Lord used them to open many doors for further ministry opportunities!

This past month our ministry hosted a Pastors Conference with 50 Pastors signed up to attend. Each was given a John MacArthur Study Bible and over 12 hours of teaching. The subjects we covered were Suffering and the Sovereignty of God and The Doctrine of the Church. These brothers devoured it and asked some of the best questions we have ever been asked. I was blessed to have Pastor Mike Allums of Bethel Baptist Church in Snead with me to teach this conference.

The man on my left in the above picture is Pedro. Pedro is 65 years old and went to school in Russia. He was a devout communist for his entire life until 3 years ago. He met Pastor Michael Bland of El Camino Baptist Church (in the middle top of the picture) who shared the Gospel with him and asked to meet with him again. Pedro was intrigued and said ok, thinking he would never see Pastor Michael again. To his surprise, Pastor Michael came back again and again and shared God’s Word with him. Pedro said that one night he fell under deep conviction and cried out to Jesus Christ to forgive him, trusting Jesus as Savior. Now he studies the Bible and wants to be used by God to reach other older Nicaraguan people. He cried when I gave him a Study Bible. He said it was the only hard back Bible he had ever had and felt that it would last him his lifetime. He left and said, “Sorry I must go so soon, but I must start reading this now!”

We were blessed to have Pastor Dale Parker with us as well. Pastor Dale taught church leaders on Monday and Tuesday and led a evangelism team in the community. Several came to Christ and the Lord used him mightily. I was also blessed to have Rex Harrison and Leaonard Shell with me again in Nicaragua. Both these men are veterans on the mission field and were a tremendous blessing.

It was a special blessing to me to have Robert Bracker and his son Daniel along with my two oldest sons, Benjamin and Joshua with me on this trip. God used them all in a powerful way, and I am very thankful for them all.

The Garcia children were all doing well, as was Maricella. I spent Sunday with them in Juigalpa. The Garcia home was recently broken into in the night while the children were asleep. They came in through the roof and stole Lillieth’s cell phone and purse which had all her money inside. She was very thankful hat they did not wake up while they were being robbed. She is looking into the cost for a fence to go around her home to give them added protection. She is really growing up in her faith, and I am very proud of how well the boys are doing in school. Please pray for them, I am eager to see them again in February.. I cannot thank God enough for how blessed I am to have the Garcia children in my life!

Sign Up for a 2012 International Mission Trip Today!!!

In the past few weeks, I have taken two trips to Nicaragua, and both have been tremendously productive. The Lord has opened a door for me to serve Him in a capacity that we could not have had in years past. Since 2005 I have traveled all across the country of Nicaragua, but I have had to do this through other ministries that were already established. This has taught me much, and I have met many indigenous pastors and church leaders in my time there. The relationships I have built are based on the Gospel and the truth of God’s Word. I have had pastors ask me in all of these areas to come to them on my own and not through these other agencies. This has also been my desire, but in all honesty, I did not even know where to begin.

Over the past year and a half I have met with local pastors and their church leadership, and God has taught me much about working in Nicaragua. The vision is to continue what I have been doing: training pastors, church leaders, and preaching the Gospel without going through a third party. We feel like that this is a much better way for us to be good stewards of the financial assistance given to our ministry. We want to be 100% clear on where all our money goes that we give to missions. This will allow us that ability.

In February 2012, Lord willing, we will take our first trip entirely through M.U.D. Ministries. No third party. The dates are set for Feb. 4th-11th. This will be to Juigalpa, Nicaragua. The pastors there have asked me to return and spend a week training them and working in that community. The trip will include lodging, meals, translators, transportation from time we leave the airport in Managua. M.U.D. Ministries can book the airline tickets or the individual can book the tickets if they get a better airfare. The cost above the airfare is only $600 per participant. This means the trips at this time will be a total cost of $1270.00. The plane tickets as of today were $670.00 each. We would like to purchase the plane tickets by the end of September.

This transition is going to require more of my time, but it will be less costly for the mission trip participant. I will still need help in purchasing major resources for the pastors, but I believe that God’s people love pastors and that He will provide their resources. I am praying that God will allow us to support an indigenous missionary to help us in these efforts.

This is a major step forward for our ministry, and we sense that God is leading us to do this for the advancement of the Kingdom. Please pray for us as we trust God by faith to lead us in all areas of our service for Him!

In February, we will be leading a Pastors COnference, Women’s Conference, Children’s Bible Camp, Street Witnessing, and Crusade. We plan on taking teams in August and October as well. We have been asked to work with Pastors in both Managua and Nueva Guinea. If you are interested in going, please contact us today!

Now is the time to sign up for one of our 2012 International Mission Trips. M.U.D. Ministries will have projects in Nicaragua. These are perfect for adults, students, and even families. Project will include: Orphan Ministry, Pastor’s Conferences, Women’s Conferences, VBS, Evangelism, and Revival Services.

If you have a team that would like to do construction ministry we have that opportunity as well!! The Garcia Family has a need as well as another family we have worked with over the years. Call the M.U.D. Office (256.431.4429) today to register or for more information or visit www.mudministries.com/ministries/international/.

Nicaragua Mission Trip- Feb. 4th – 11th, 2012
Cost: $600 plus airfare

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