Tag Archives: Saipan

Saipan Community Church Celebrates 70 Years
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 17, 2018

Posted under

Ed Stevens, International Missions, Saipan

Saipan Community Church Celebrates Seventy Years

by General Baptist International Missions

Saipan Community Church and SchoolSeventy years ago, the year 1948, marked an important milestone in the history of General Baptists. Just a few short years after the end of World War II, which had seen the almost total devastation of the small island of Saipan, Missionary Ed Stevens finished construction of a mission church and launched a mission congregation on this little island in the middle of the ocean. General Baptist missions had served Guam since 1911, but the work there was inherited from another denomination. The work of Ed Stevens on Saipan effectively makes Saipan Community Church the first mission started by General Baptists and the first and oldest Protestant Church on Saipan.

This was not an easy road for Rev. Stevens. He faced many trials to acquire the right property, get the right supplies, and find the right help. The plan was to have the first service at the mission on Easter Sunday in 1948. However, the church building wasn’t finished, so on the 4th of April, 1948, Saipan Community Church officially launched. That first service was mostly attended by U.S. military personnel and their families.

This was also the week the first small group met and a man named Vincente Silencino, a Filipino contract worker, accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Vince, as he was called, later accepted his call into ministry and eventually attended Oakland City College. After seminary, Vince became the first General Baptist missionary to the Philippines. This part of the story reminds us how important Saipan can be for sharing the Gospel to the rest of the Asian world.

Ed Stevens Student Ministry CenterSeventy years later, the Saipan Community Church is still a strong and vibrant ministry. With over fourteen different small groups and four services including a morning service with a variety of nationalities, a Filipino vesper service, and two other worship services targeting residents from nearby Pacific Islands on Sunday, the church is still strong and spreading the gospel.

While the first service was primarily U.S. military families, currently at least 17 different people groups participate in the morning services. This demonstrates the awesome capacity this unique church possesses to reach out to all of Asia. It has also inspired the church’s motto of “reaching an island to reach the world”.

In 1988 the first missionary from the Philippines, Ben Porcadillia and family, arrived on the island to minister to Filipino residents. The Porcadillias were also instrumental in starting the Saipan Community School which is the first and oldest Protestant school on Saipan.

This spring Saipan Community Church will celebrate its 70th anniversary on Easter Sunday. We will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of both our Filipino worship service and our K-8 School. This will be a great year of celebration as we look to our past with joy and to our future with hope and excitement. The congregation is currently served by Pastor Josh and Rachael Slater and family.

Celebration Update!

Saipan Community Church celebrated its 70th anniversary on Easter Sunday with 450 in attendance and two baptisms according to Pastor Josh Slater. Rev. David Stevens (son of founding pastor and missionaries Ed and Gertie Stevens) and wife Lois were in attendance. Ed Stevens established ministry outreaches on Guam, Saipan, Tinian (a leper colony after WWII), and Chi Chi Jima. According to Pastor Josh, “David looked like a kid in a candy store, we were even able to go to Tinian.” This was the first time that David has returned to Saipan since his father’s passing in 1953. GBIM was honored to partner with Saipan Church and Yigo Church (pastored by Bob Murphy), Guam to facilitate this trip for the Stevens.

The Impact of One Life - Ed Stevens
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

March 31, 2017

Posted under

Guam, International Missions, Philippines, Saipan

One Life Matters – Ed Stevens

by Mark Powell, Director of General Baptist International Missions

For many years, General Baptists have celebrated the life of Rev. Ed Stevens. Ed Stevens was a missionary who served on Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Chi Chi Jima. He died at an early age while en route to Guam to receive medical treatment. As is often stated, we honor his sacrifice each year through an annual international missions’ offering on the Sunday closest to September 22 in honor of his passing. But is that the only reason we honor this singular life? Not at all.

Ed Stevens accomplished an unbelievable amount of good in a few very short years. In doing so his life reminds all of us how one single life, consecrated to God, can have an eternal impact on thousands.

The length of Ed Stevens’ ministry as a missionary was from 1946-1952. Following his ordination in 1945, Ed was on his way to Guam less than one year later. He served briefly on Guam from 1946 – 1947 where General Baptists are the oldest Protestant denomination. He then pioneered a new work on Saipan when General Baptists became the first protestant denomination on that island – making him not only a missionary but a church planter. The next two years were miraculous as Ed Stevens began a new outreach on the nearby island of Tinian to a leper colony, led Vincente Silencino to the Lord and baptized him, and laid the foundation for a new work on the island of Chi Chi Jima as the result of a hospital visit to a man from that island.

Ed Stevens in two short years accomplished more than many would in a lifetime! As a missionary, he pioneered Saipan, Tinian, and Chi Chi Jima. As a church planter, he started the Saipan Community Church which has literally touched thousands of lives. As a pastor/missionary, he ministered to the hurting in the leper colony on Tinian. As a personal evangelist, he led many to the Lord, among whom was a “Filipino boy” who would later become our first General Baptist missionary to the Philippines impacting thousands of lives and producing over 300 churches to date! As a pastor/evangelist he would make a hospital visit to a man from Chi Chi Jima resulting in a new work for General Baptists on that island.

The product of these two years has made an eternal impact on so many that only heaven knows the singular value of this one man’s life! The ministries on Guam, Saipan, and the Philippines continue to change lives to the present day.

Ed Stevens spent two years back in the States from 1949 – 1951 where he finished his degree program at Oakland City University, served as pastor, and tragically lost a son in an accident. Despite the pain of that loss, Ed, his wife Gertie, and son David would return to Chi Chi Jima in the fall of 1951 to continue the work he had pioneered three years earlier. In September 1952 Ed Stevens would fall ill and seek medical attention on Guam. His ship was in sight of Guam and ready to enter the harbor when God called this faithful servant home.

Continue reading →

Launch
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

March 30, 2017

Posted under

International Missions, Launch

What is LAUNCH?

By Mark Powell, Director of General Baptist International Ministries

For many years, General Baptist International Ministries has received a VBS offering from churches across the denomination. Launch is an extension of that offering with a new program called General Baptist Day of Poverty with General Baptist youth especially in mind.

This year GBIM will produce both VBS and Day of Poverty material with one central goal: to launch General Baptist children and youth in missions’ awareness and involvement. The VBS and Day of Poverty will invite your kids to get involved locally and globally through education and giving. Mission One will be inviting these same youths to join GBIM as interns when they approach college and career age. We pray God will raise up a generation of missional General Baptists ready to change our world.

In the latest issue of the Messenger you will find articles from Christina Massey, Director of Faith Home, detailing the LAUNCH (VBS) offering and its purpose; GBIM Director, Mark Powell, shares information about the Day of Poverty; and recent intern Kaebra LaGrange shares about her recent internship on Saipan.

For more information about LAUNCH, please contact the GBIM office. For specific information about internship please contact Dr. Jim Pratt, Mission One Coordinator, 100 Stinson Drive, Poplar Bluff, MO 63901 or 573-785-7746.