MISSIONARY PROFILE
Kevin
& Stacy
Byers
Missionary Information
Name:
Kevin Byers
Age: 47
Spouse:
Stacy Byers
Age: 45
Child: Josiah Byers
Age: 25
Child: Gabriel Byers
Age: 23
Child: Bella Grace Byers
Age: 21
Child: Caleb Byers
Age: 17
Child: Noah Byers
Age: 15
Child: Elijah Byers
Age: 14
Child: Micaiah Byers
Age: 12
Mission Field: United States
Years of Service: 6
Home Church: Greater Portland Baptist Church
Portland, Oregon
Missions Agency: Baptist International Missions Inc.
Harrison, Tennessee
Our Missionary for 6 years
Missionary Update 03/04/2024
FEB 2024 Dear Church, Rain, rain, and more rain is what we are experiencing here in Clatsop County. It has been this way for months. Even Portland has clear skies in the forecast today as I write this letter, but Astoria started with snow, followed by rain, and (you guessed it) more rain! I don’t complain about the rain because I love the greenery here in this most beautiful corner of God’s creation. The trade is worth it! Thank you for praying for us, reading our letters, and supporting the work financially. A young Coastguardsman returned to us after spending a few months at sea. Before he left, he coordinated with the Coastguard chaplain and volunteered to handle the religious services on the cutter under the authority of Anchor Baptist Church. He originally planned to be with us for a total of 4 years but recently received word that his cutter will be decommissioned. This means they are sending him somewhere else after serving here less than a year, and most of that time was spent at sea. I plead with you to plead with the Lord on his behalf, and ours! The Coastguardsman submitted a request to be assigned to one of two new boats that will be stationed here. He has a chance of getting that assignment, but not a good chance. Please pray fervently and frequently that God will keep him here with us at Anchor Baptist Church. This dear brother has been a great encouragement to us, and he says Anchor Baptist has helped him grow much stronger as a Christian as well. We are thankful for the Bibles that were sent, and we have distributed them to some very gracious elderly people. One lady received a Bibles who has been attending for quite some time. She was taken to the hospital a few weeks ago, so I went to visit her, and she was in great spirits. A day later she was sent back to the care center, and I am sad to say that her prognosis is not good. Thursday evening, I went back to pick up some people from the care center for church and I stopped in to visit this dear lady. She apologized several times for not being able to attend church with me. My heart goes out to her, and I am so amazed at her strong desire to be in church despite her deteriorating condition. Please pray that God will comfort her. A few months earlier I had a great conversation with her, and I am confident she knows Jesus as her Saviour! Winning souls, baptizing people, and adding them to the church so we can teach them is the formula we find in God’s Word for church planting. The Bible doesn’t mention an Old-Fashioned Gospel Tent Meeting specifically, but there are a lot of tents in the Bible, and the Gospel is certainly in there as well! I believe the Lord laid the tent meeting upon my heart and he has always provided a way for us. Last year we took a break because we expected to move into a store-front building and moved into the Shilo instead. We really want to hold the meeting this year and we have people coming from far away to help us. The problem is, I haven’t heard from the owner of the property yet. Time is running short for me to submit the paperwork needed for our permits. Will you please pray that I hear back from the owner of the property within the first week of March? Pray for God’s direction as we might need to consider another venue or even canceling the meeting. It’s still raining here so don’t forget to pray for some sunshine too! God bless you! -The Byers Family www.thebyersfamily.net
Missionary Update 10/16/2023
Dear Church, thank you for taking time to read this letter and pray for our work here in Astoria. It is a privilege to labor together with you in the ministry. We are so grateful for your continued support as the economy under the current administration has presented us all with challenges we would rather not face. I’m so glad that in my Father’s house there are many mansions! Several months ago, I shared a story about a man with a burden for his son. I met the man at a preacher’s fellowship, and he pleaded with me to get in touch with his son that I might share Christ with him. The next day, the man was so excited to tell me that I had already met his son. He began describing him to me and I realized we had, in fact met, the previous Sunday when I preached at the retirement home where he worked. The father was elated about the Lord’s timing and so was I. Skipping forward to September… There is an elderly man who has been visiting Anchor Baptist Church for almost one year. We pick him up from this retirement home whenever he can make it. The man seems to understand Bible things at a very basic level and doesn’t talk a whole lot. I have certainly given a clear presentation of the gospel many times, but the man has never responded. I never have pressed the issue trusting the Holy Spirit to work in God’s time. Well, several weeks ago I went to visit on a Saturday. I sat down with this man and began to share the Gospel with a large print Bible opened on the desk. Backing up a bit… Do you remember the man who was praying for his son? That son was standing right there working at the retirement home while I spoke with the resident. I went very carefully and deliberately through the Gospel of Jesus Christ while both men listened. The elderly man bowed his head and confessed Jesus as Lord, believing that God had raised him from the dead! A week or two later, the father of this son called me to see how things were going and to share some news with me. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the young man who overheard me share the gospel had already visited his father a few weeks prior. During that trip, the father shared the message of salvation with his son and pleaded with him to trust Christ. This brother, overjoyed on the phone, told me how his son had trusted Jesus as Saviour. Praise the LORD! The young man never offered this information to me while I was there so I will do all I can to determine his understanding in the days and weeks ahead. Through all of this, the Lord is building my confidence in the truth that He is working at all times behind the scenes and in ways we cannot imagine. Pray that God helps us to remain steadfast. Most of the family was sick with respiratory illness recently so please pray for good health. We still need signs on the side of our trailer so we can park it at the Shilo Inn. There are also some printing needs we have if your church would like to help out with an extra project. There is lots to do and many souls to reach. Thank you for reading, praying, and supporting the work here in Astoria!
Missionary Update 04/11/2022
Dear Church, Thank you for reading our prayer letters, praying, and sending support to Anchor Baptist Church for the purpose of planting a church in a very wicked part of America. We are fighting spiritual battles on every front in this town and rely on your informed prayers and generous support to continue. I heard Dr. Johnny Pope say while preaching, “new levels, new devils” and that is certainly true of church planting. Each milestone we have reached has brought a stronger and more concentrated attack against the work. Thank you for helping us! I just heard from a pastor whose church has been supporting us for a couple years. He told me they have not received a letter in almost two years! This was tragic news to me because we work hard to inform our supporters. It was also tragic because we need our supporters to be informed so they can pray strategically. A simple prayer like “God bless the missionaries” is not sufficient for the battles we face. Our last prayer letter had an open rate of 60%. Many years ago, I sent a prayer letter and used the word “cancer!” in the subject line just to see what would happen. I had over a 90% open rate! We are so thankful to you who read our letters. This week we had some great visits as a man in our church went door knocking with me. There were 3 people who said they would visit the church on Sunday. We were able to present the gospel message to several others and we prayed for some people as well. We tried to reach out to my soul-winning partner’s family but were met with very strong opposition. I was even threatened with harm. The hearts of the people are so hard, and they are blinded spiritually. We ask for your prayer in this and for the Lord to send us laborers. Anchor Baptist Church needs more help, and I am more determined than ever that God desires a church to be planted here. We have received $1,652.72 towards the 3 rd Annual Gospel Tent Meeting in July and hope to raise at least $5,200.00 more before July. We could also use two 20lb Class ABC Fire Extinguishers. I will provide a link in our e-mail to a site that has ones like what we need to pass inspection for the tent. Last year the city told us we needed larger fire extinguishers. If you would like to order one of those it would be a great help! I sent out a request for prayer in a quick update email last month. Many people responded and we were encouraged and helped. Without going into personal details, I want you to know the Lord answered your prayers and we were helped by the mighty hand of God! In Heaven you will learn the rest of the story and give praise to the LORD!