Matt, Debbie and Daniel serve as church planters in New York City, New York. Matt’s ministry involves a radio broadcast and the Heritage Discipleship Institute. He Pastors a hearing church, Heritage Baptist Church started in 1996, and oversees a deaf church. In December 2009 about forty of the faithful leaders of the church, met to share and talk about their church vision. It was a unifying and encouraging time with much vibrant discussion. They divided into six tables with a facilitator at each table. Everyone contributed in the discussion about: What is our vision? Are we fulfilling our vision? What are our concerns? What will Heritage look like in ten years?
God is leading them to purchase NYC real estate [they call it Project Rehoboth] and the best possibility is in “office condominium” space. They are looking at a space of about 3000 sq ft which would cost approximately $1.6 million. They already have almost $300,000 in hand, so are not far away! An additional $60-100,000 is needed as they seek to move ahead on this. Please pray for God to touch hearts to give.
Birthday:
Matt - 10 February, Debbie - 2 April, Daniel - 28 December
Anniversary:
19 December
Ministry:
Church Planting in New York City, NY
Home Church:
Heritage Baptist Church, PO Box 7925, New York, NY 11842
Field Address:
249-16 Caney Road, Rosedale, NY 11842
To Field:
November 1984
E-mail:
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I was encouraged that Pastor Chris Anderson wrote about my book, Behold the City in his blog, "Mission Books that Will Mess With Your Mind." If you have not read either Behold the City or Living on the Edge of Eternity, I pray you will buy, read, and enjoy them!
The Book of Psalms presents happiness or blessedness in its highest degree and purest form. The Hebrew hymnbook begins with an exceedingly expressive word: BLESSED, or HAPPY! This implies a plurality of blessedness, for the word, "blessed" is a PLURAL, and so it emphasizes, "OH, What blessednesses are heaped up one upon the other upon the man who delights in God's Word!"
With a broken heart for his broken nation, Daniel asks God to shine on the ASHES of the desolate temple, that HE would revive the ruins and the rubble and restore it as a place of praise!
God's Provision, Pastor Vaughn, Russian Orphans, and More!
November 1, 2011
Dear Keystone Baptist Church,
God has provided a new place for us to meet on Sunday, beginning on November 6th! We will have a better meeting place at 127 E. 22nd Street & Lexington Avenue, with more room to grow, so on NOVEMBER 6, let's pray for a great service, filled with God's presence and power! Our last service at 55 E. 25th Street, where we have met since 2007, was on October 30.
We praise God for this specific answer to prayer as truly God heard the prayers of many!
Sunday November 6th will be our VICTORY SERVICE, so please PRAY for many to come, invite others, and that we have over 200 attend!! That is what I am praying for! Join me and pray for God to revive us and use us to reach many souls for Christ.
Pray also for our Heritage Discipleship Institute, as this semester we have classes in The Book of Revelation (7:00 pm) and Personal Evangelism (8:00 pm). We have a record attendance for our Revelation class, about 22 students, and a number of these are new attendees of our church, too. After the class, I often go to a diner to fellowship with some of the men, and this way we get to know one another and see God's working in our lives. Pray for some of these new students: Raul, Henry, Alberto and Berris. Each has particular challenges in their lives and although you do not know them, you can be assured that God does and He will hear your prayers on their behalf, that they stand strong in the grace of Jesus Christ and become mighty disciples for Him!
Sincerely in Christ,
Matthew Recker
Pastor John Vaughn Visits HBC
Pastor John Vaughn was our guest to our Prayer Fellowship on October 19 and to the Heritage of Faith program Sunday October 23. Chris Maltman and Jeff Profet were our "Barnabas and Epaphroditus" as they provided encouragement and excellent labor in call screening and speaking with callers. Listeners asked great questions and it was a joy having Pastor Vaughn's experience and wisdom to answer each question Biblically. Afterwards Bro. Vaughn treated us to White Castle and he was happy as it brought back childhood memories for him!
It is so incredibly satisfying to see tangible result from our giving, and here is such an example, as our Russian missionary, Vitaly bought 56 pairs of winter boots for the Russian orphans. Our church gave a special offering over $1,000.00 and we are so grateful for Vitaly being an incredible channel of our gifts! Continue to pray for God's grace, salvation and strength to these precious young people!
Some of the precious children sporting their new footwear!
2 Samuel 7:10 ; Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime.
Homeless Outreach Ministry Team: Coretta, HElen, Rita, Bruce, Bill, Josephine, and James: PRAY FOR THEM!
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40
Dear KBC Friends,
This week is a busy one at Heritage. Please pray for us! On Monday our Heritage Discipleship Institute began with classes on Revelation and Personal Evangelism and we have a record number of students!
On Wednesday, September 14 will be our Prayer Fellowship at 7:15 pm (519 8th Avenue, Suite 807).
On Thursday (September 15) we will go to 14th Street and 8th Avenue to distribute God's powerful Word in the form of Gospel tracts. We will be there by 7:15 pm. (Leader, Deacon Leon Lyons.)
On Friday (September 16) will be our ministry at the NY Rescue Mission at 90 Lafayette Street at 7:00 pm. (Leader, Phil Marco)
And on Saturday (Saturday 17) our Homeless outreach will go out with Bibles, food and clothing in the Penn Station area. Meet at the HBC office at 11 am (Leader, Bill Bendelow)
Please pray for God's blessing upon each of these ministries, that those serving will be filled with God's Spirit and trusting in the risen Christ! Pray God will "rend the heavens" and tear apart the work of demonic principalities and powers in those heavenly places, come down, and make the mountains move and melt at HIS presence (Isaiah 64:1-5 ).
Thank you for your support and the abundance of your prayers!
Rescue Mission Ministry Team: Jeff, Andy, Suresh, Helen, Howard, and Phil (in front)
FRIDAY: RESCUE MISSION MINISTRY
Pray God will use us as we sing, share testimonies, and preach Christ to those in the NY Rescue Mission. This is our nation's oldest rescue mission!
Jeremiah 32:17: Ah, Lord GOD! behold thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.
Coretta Thomas in faith Passes out Tracts!
Thursday TRACT Ministry
Pray for much fruit for the glory of God in our weekly Tract ministry. We distribute tracts that can circulate anywhere in the world! We give tracts to people from all nations in either the Times Square or 14th Street and 8th Avenue subway stations. Pray for Deacon Leon Lyons who leads this ministry, and for Helen, Coretta, Howard, Ramon, David, Guiselle, Rebekah, Nigel, and others who come as they are able. YOu are welcome to join us!
Acts 1:8 ; But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Rita, Bruce and Helen prepare sandwiches for outreach
Saturday Homeless Outreach
Pray for God to lead us to spiritually hungry souls this Saturday, and for the Lord's miraculous saving power to work through us as His servants. Pray for the food and for the Gospel to feed the homeless in our community!
Pray for our team led by Bill Bendelow: Coretta, Helen, Josephine, Rita, Bruce, and James.
Prayer Fellowship Tonight at 7:15 pm
"The ministry of prayer is the most important service in which the Church of Christ can engage" (D. Edmond Hiebert). Pray that our people will be faithful in this vital ministry! This evening we will see a glimpse of the miracle working power of the Gospel in the Book of Acts that continues to the present day. We will distribute a prayer letter from Forrest and Jennifer McPhail, our missionaries in Cambodia. And we will PRAY! To introduce his prayer letter which I received yesterday, Forrest wrote:
Dear Family & Friends,
We introduce our prayer letter this month with an excerpt from a book that has been a great blessing to us:
J.O. Frasier had a great burden for a circle of believers who would earnestly pray for him. In Geraldine Taylor's biography of Fraser called "Behind the Ranges," she speaks of Fraser's burden:
"Now the first thing was to strengthen the spiritual base of the work. Called to a forward movement, Fraser realized not only his dependence upon the Divine Leader but also upon the support of fellow believers, one with him in Christ. He might be the hand reaching out into the darkness, but not a hand cut off and thrown ahead of the body. The vital union must be maintained...Fraser-'I really believe that if every particle of prayer put up by the home churches on behalf of the infant churches on the mission field were removed, the latter would be swamped by an incoming flood of the powers of darkness...God is able to do this and much more, but He will not do it, if all we out here and you at home sit in easy chairs with our arms folded. Why prayer is so indispensable we cannot just say, but we had better recognize the fact even if we cannot explain it.'"
--Forrest McPhail
God Is Good!
God richly blesses our church family with His presence and fellowship. Recently we saw Elaine Artman and Raul Cordero baptized, and had a wonderful time at our Heritage Church picnic, led by Mesha Betancourt and Suresh Balkaran. See pictures below!
NYC Recker Report: Office Dedication, Visits, and Fellowship!
New Office Dedication Service!
April 5, 2011
Dr. Craig Hartman
Director of Shalom Ministries
Dear Ronald,
This Wednesday, April 6 at 7:15 pm will be a special service to dedicate our church office to the glory of the name of Jesus Christ and the furtherance of God's Kingdom through Heritage Baptist Church. Please pray for God's manifest presence as Dr. Craig Hartman, Director of Shalom Ministries, challenges us from God's Word. We will also have special music, a prayer of dedication, and other special guests as well.
Pray that our church family will invite friends to this service or to an upcoming Sunday service! Pray that we thirst for God as in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is, and "to see thy power and thy glory" (Psalm 63:1 ,2). Pray for the mighty working of God and the salvation and surrender of souls to our Great Savior, Jesus Christ!
(If you could please help to increase the circulation of this email, click that you like it so others can see it on your Facebook profile page, or forward it to a friend!)
Baptisms are Joyous!
We recently had a baptism, and my son Daniel snapped this shot. It's one of my favorites. Hope you enjoy it, too. That's Kerry Tillett being baptized!
Pastors Bill Dierking, Steve Snavely, and Matthew Recker
Pastor's Fellowship at Hudson View Baptist Church in Yonkers
I was honored to attend a Pastor's Fellowship hosted by Hudson View Baptist Church in Yonkers, NY on Tuesday, April 5th. Yonkers is the third largest city in New York State and has a tremendous spiritual need. Evangelist Jim Van Gelderen preached two convicting sermons. Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious meal together. Praise God for the faithful pastors and preachers in our New York City region. Pray that God will give them grace to stand and proclaim Christ in the power of God's Spirit! Pastor Dierking was the host pastor of the fellowship. Pastor Steve Snavely leads a church right beside West Point. These men are pictured above.
Tom, Christine, Debbie (front)
Matthew and Christine Charles (back)
Christine Charles, Debbie and I Visit in the Bronx
Christine Charles, a faithful member of Heritage Baptist Church, has some senior citizen friends in the Bronx, so Debbie met me after the pastor's fellowship (Tuesday, April 5) and we visited with Christine, her daughter Tanya, and their precious friends, Tom and Christine. I was able to briefly share the Gospel with them and we prayed together for the grace of our risen Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ to be our strength. Christine also cooked a delicious beef rib stew which we all enjoyed!
Lighting the Way Ministry Team: Mark, Suzi, Christine, and Heidi
Lighting the Way Apologetic Table This Sunday!
This Sunday after the service Debbie and I plan on going out with Christine Wisniewski and her ministry team in the Times Square Subway Station to distribute Gospel literature to proclaim the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Pray for God to give us power as we witness regularly for the Lord Jesus in our streets and subways of our city!
We just finished an awesome week of evangelistic and revival with the Mike Pelletier Evangelistic Team and Pastor David Tubbs and his visiting youth group from Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, NH. At Friday's concluding service I was honored to baptize eight of the young people who have been saved and also whose parents are members of Heritage. Four of the young people I dedicated to the Lord when they were newborn, so it was a special joy to take the next step with them and baptize them as believers! (the young people and some of their parents are pictured above).
The battle continues in New York City, so thank you for your prayers and encouragement!
If you would like a printable PDF version of this email update along with more pictures, go to:The Recker Report Online.
We were challenged by each message delivered by Bro. Mike Pelletier and we also enjoyed great fellowship with Mike, his family, Greg and Heather Murray, and others from our church!
Pray for Andy Santiago (pictured second from right) who surrendered to preach and is going to leave everything to go to Bible College
to prepare to preach! Pray for the Lord's guidance and provisionfor Andy! See more pictures of Andy on our Heritage Baptist Church Facebook page and see the picture album entitled, "Pray for Andy Santiago."
Trinity Baptist Assisted with Evangelism and Cola War!
We had a great time with Pastor David Tubbs and the Trinity Teens. They evangelized in various parks and had
a Cola War and gave the Gospel to at least 29 teens at Tompkins Square Park!
You can also go to our Heritage Baptist Church Facebook page to see more pictures of our evangelistic meeting.
Great Attendance Each Night
We had an excellent spirit and attendance each night. Our people invited many friends and family members, too! Pray that God will use this meeting to strengthen our church and more people come to Christ for salvation!
New York City, New York. Matt’s ministry involves a radio broadcast and the Heritage Discipleship Institute. He Pastors a hearing church, Heritage Baptist Church started in 1996, and oversees a deaf church. In December 2009 about forty of the faithful leaders of the church, met to share and talk about their church vision. It was a unifying and encouraging time with much vibrant discussion. They divided into six tables with a facilitator at each table. Everyone contributed in the discussion about: What is our vision? Are we fulfilling our vision? What are our concerns? What will Heritage look like in ten years?
