Stones Cry Out (SCO) and Dearborn Bible Fellowship (DBF) 2017 Annual Report

Posted by admin on Feb 3, 2017 in Articles | 0 comments

The Past

Over a decade ago, individual members of Grace Evangelical Fellowship were sent to evangelize in east and south Dearborn (heavily populated with Muslims) and plant a church. As one of those individuals, Tom Bear began a ministry called Stones Cry Out Ministries which had a heavy evangelism focus. Its main goal was to make disciples and it mainly used door to door evangelism as the means to preach the gospel. Regular meetings were eventually established and comprised mainly of people contacted through the door to door ministry. We eventually began to identify ourselves as an independent local assembly of believers that meet on Wednesday and Sunday evenings called Dearborn Bible Fellowship (DBF). (We are no longer tied to Grace Evangelical Fellowship.) Though most of the people who hear the gospel through the door to door ministry are Muslims, only non-Muslims have attached themselves to this assembly so far. Muslims sometime visit and some of those who attend our meetings are related to Muslims.

The Stones Cry Out Ministry is run by Tom Bear. It has some global influence through the SCO web site. Also, over the years, many people throughout the world have signed up as prayer partners and they receive the weekly evangelism reports so they can pray for specific needs and people we meet. We also help other Christians from distant cities who come here to minister to the Muslims by facilitating door to door ministry and evangelism training.

Over time, the church plant (DBF) has required an increased focus as more people were added to the church. While the amount of evangelism has remained steady, more of Tom Bear’s time has been shifting away from his home remodel work to pastoring the DBF assembly. He is able to spend more time ministering because he began receiving Social Security retirement in 2016. As of January 2017, the Stones Cry Out ministry and Dearborn Bible Fellowship operate together for the most part.

The Present

Tom and Linda Bear: Linda spends several hours each week preparing for and cleaning up after the meetings. She also goes door to door and does follow up visits with Tom. She might assume responsibility for data entry for the DBF financial bookkeeping.

Tom’s weekly ministry activities include things such as:

Door to door evangelism

Follow up visits

Transporting people to and from the meetings

Preparing for and directing the DBF meetings

Writing articles on occasion

Seminars (mainly for evangelism training)

Counseling

Other people involved in the ministry:

Pat McMahon and Rubin Orr who currently attend our meetings normally go door to door with us.

Marilyn Delpaz helps to facilitate the meetings, helps with the acquisition of food and supplies, helps to proof read Tom’s writings, among many other things.

Other DBF members sometimes spontaneously help each other and also provide meals.

With God being the One who directs and empowers all of this, the ministry of SCO and DBF continues to be sustained with gradual growth. Here are some of the ways this ministry is currently being used by God:

The gospel is being proclaimed to and understood by the citizens of East and South Dearborn which is comprised mainly of Muslims. This is being accomplished through the spoken word and also through the gospel literature we provide through the door to door ministry.

Those who seem interested receive follow up visits and those who respond to the message visit the weekly meetings. Some of these people now attend consistently. The meetings include both believers and unbelievers.

The Stones Cry Out web site continues to provide Christians throughout the world with free downloads of the many tracts and gospel study materials.

Tom Bear’s books are now available in both eBook and paperback format. They provide help to Christians throughout the world. And one of the books, The Way to Heaven, is sometimes obtained by Muslim people either on line or through the door to door ministry.

The Future

We pray that God will continue to sustain this ministry and increase its influence both here in Dearborn and throughout the world. In addition, we seek God’s help and direction for the following possible expansion of influence in the world.

More church planting activity: Rubin and Sheba (and Abraham their son): They have been attending our Sunday evening meetings for a few years and Rubin normally goes door to door with us. They have anticipated a return to either northern India or Pakistan teamed up with at least one other couple to spread the gospel and plant a church. We have been praying to this end and for God’s direction while they remain here in the U.S. Recently, God has been directing them to become more committed to church planting efforts while they still reside here in the U.S. since this is what they will be doing overseas. We are encouraged that God has been answering our prayers concerning direction and continued equipping of Rubin and Sheba for the work of the ministry. They plan to partner with at least one other couple for this work. They will utilize their own house on Sunday evenings to disciple the people that God brings, and has been bringing, into their lives.

Helping orphans in Liberia: Patience is the Liberian mother of 4 who attends our meetings and has strong faith. She still has very strong connections with her relatives in Liberia. Even though she makes only a little money as a health care worker, she continues to provide monthly support for one Liberian orphan from her home town in Liberia. (She has never met this girl who is about 10 years old.) In Liberia, when the parents both die, there is no government assistance programs for the surviving children. They are left to fend for themselves. Patience’s mother has taken in orphans at various times and continues to house and care for them. Now Patience is sensing that as God continues to establish her and her family here in the U.S., she will be able to provide a little more money each month to take financial responsibility for other orphans as God so provides. She recently shared her vision with DBF and asked us to pray for continued direction and help from God. We can envision helping as a church moving forward in some measure. Patience would not have to dwell in Liberia for this endeavor because she knows Christians there and her mother, who also lives there, can facilitate things at the local level. Patience sees herself as someone who can administrate it from this end. She did not share this with us so that we (DBF) would share in the financial support. She asked only for prayer. But I can envision the possibility that other Christians who hear about this opportunity might want to contribute. But all of that is in the hands of God. We only pray that God will indeed superintend and care for the orphans of Liberia and use Patience and DBF to that end by establishing willing, giving hearts.

The two things mentioned above are real down to earth opportunities for increased influence of God’s Kingdom in the world. We plan to pursue or assist in them by God’s grace. In addition, we ask that God continues to increase our vision and influence for His Kingdom, especially to the people of East and South Dearborn.

There is an appendix to this annual report which discusses the finances of this ministry. It is called the 2017 Stones Cry Out/ Dearborn Bible Fellowship Financial Update. This financial report has already been provided to people who have contributed to this ministry during the past year. If any Christian on our weekly email list would like a copy of the financial report, we will be happy to email it to you if you request it. We wish to maintain transparency in all we do.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Tom Bear

Stones Cry Out Ministries and Dearborn Bible Fellowship

Tom Bear’s books on Amazon in paperback and Kindle eBook formats:

How to Evangelize: Bringing Back the Gospel

The Way to Heaven: The Difference Between Islam and Christianity

Evangelism Fuel: Motivation to Evangelize

Overcoming the Powers of Darkness- Using God’s Spiritual Armor

The Christian and Habitual Sin

Bring My Sheep Back, Church Discipline the Loving Way

Christian Marriage, Instruction for Marital Harmony

Birth Control: A Spiritual Shackle