Nebraska

  For the first 30 years of my ministry I was blessed to pastor churches in Arkansas and Oklahoma. In 2009, God began to move my heart out of the fa- miliar. As my family and I began praying for God’s will, Pastor Jeff Haney and Pinecrest Baptist Church in Corinth, MS, reached out to me about becoming their missionary. It soon became apparent to us that Omaha, Nebraska, was where God was leading. We were concerned that in the heartland of our coun- try there was a great need for an ABA church.

Penny, Samantha and I moved to Omaha, Nebraska, in December of 2010. Through making personal contacts and radio ministry, we began to gather peo- ple into Bible Studies. God blessed and we were soon able to rent a school cafe- teria for Sunday worship. We quickly learned the art of what we called “church in a box.” We only had the school for 2 hours each Sunday and had to load, set

up, tear down and take everything home we used for the service. It’s amazing what will fit into the back of a sport utility vehicle. It’s also amazing how quickly you can pack said vehicle with a windchill of -20 degrees.

As we grew, the congregation wanted more gathering time and teaching opportunities. We then rented a storefront, which gave us a sense of home, and our ministry expanded. People began taking on responsibility and ownership of the ministry. God continued to bless, and we reached the point that our storefront location was becoming too small for our needs. With rent of $2,400.00 per month we were not sure how we could afford a larger meeting place. Our amazing God had an amazing solution for us.

There was a church in Bellevue that had been without a pastor for a couple of years and the attendance had dropped to about 12 active members. They contacted me about what they could do. After much prayer and discussion, we began gathering together. That group disbanded, deeded the property and assets to our spon- soring church and joined with us. God gave us a building! The building has a sanctuary which seats 250, 15 classrooms, a kitchen and fellowship hall. There was no debt on the property. We moved into the building 5 years ago and have seen God continue to bless the ministry here. Having the Bellevue group join with us has

 been a wonderful blessing.

Immanuel has occupied three different locations and the Fudg- es have lived in five different houses, following the church until we gained a permanent meeting place. It is such a blessing to have permanent roots. One of the surprising things that I have observed here (and maybe everywhere) is that with each move, we lost people. God has been faithful and has rebuilt each time. We have people that drive a distance to worship with us, but con- venience still rules the day with many people. We have lost sever- al members who have moved out of state and have lost too many in death. For those who have gone on, we take comfort that they have made a profession of faith and we will meet again

Omaha is a beautiful place with friendly people, however, the ability to reach them moves at a slower pace that what I experi- enced in the South. I knew but, I didn’t fully appreciate, the lack

 of genuine spiritual understanding of so many of the people. Many people here don’t own a Bible and seldom think of spiritual things. Although it takes much longer to gain a hearing, God is still convicting and saving those who will call on His Name.

We are doing many things to make disciples and reach peo- ple with the gospel. We have seen about 25 professions of faith and have baptized 15 people. Pre-Covid our attendance was in the upper 40’s and most Sundays we are now back to that attendance.

One of the most beneficial avenues we pursue is radio ministry. I share one-minute modern parables with a gospel message as well as an invitation to visit or contact us. Our outreach events include College World Series outreach, Eas- ter egg hunts, Vacation Bible School, Christmas caroling in neighborhoods, sports camps and lots of door-to-door out- reach. We have an active children’s ministry, in-home Bible studies and the regular Sunday schedule.

We are so thankful for our sponsoring church. Brother Jeff and Pinecrest have always been extremely supportive and have given us everything we have needed for our ministry, along with the freedom to go about doing what God has called us to do. We have also experienced the loving care and gener- ous support from so many pastors and churches from all over the States. Many youth groups, City Reach and City Reach Plus have also been an incredible blessing as they have minis- tered with us here in Nebraska.

God is good and I can say He has been especially good to me and my family. Both our daughters met and married their husbands in Omaha. All three of our grandchildren were born here. We are so thankful to have both daughters and their families here with us. They have worked alongside us doing the work of the ministry.

People often ask what they can do to help. Our greatest need is prayer. We are the only ABA church in the State of Nebraska. There is a great need for the gospel here and your prayers sustain us and encourage us. While we are so very blessed to have a building it, is older and in need of repair. Our current financial need is to replace the old, damaged sid- ing on the church building. The Macedonian Missionary Ser- vice is making plans to come July 16-30. The estimate for these materials is about $20,000. If you would like to send an offering to our sponsoring church for this work, it would be greatly appreciated. If you want to come and help with the work, we will welcome you and put you to work.

Our hearts’ desire is that God will send us people from our community that we can help and people to help us carry on His ministry here in Nebraska. Our prayer is that God will richly bless each of you as you continue to support missions and missionaries.

Danny Fudge

For more information about our missions or to make a donation please click the link below.

https://www.abaptist.org/missions