Although I was raised in a religious family and had heard some Bible preaching, by the time I was eighteen years old, I was living a terrible life of sin. I was, at the time, dating a young lady (Judy Ann Kratzer) who was also “religious but lost.” Both of us were members of protestant churches. On February 26, 1966, she invited me to go to a Baptist church with her and I accepted the invitation. She claimed she had that very day been “saved.” She was baptized and we continued to go to church together regularly. On March 20, 1966, I too, was “saved” at the altar at Bible Baptist Church, Enid, Oklahoma by receiving Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was soon baptized. Judy and I were married in that same church. I served there as a trustee and then for two years as a deacon.
I knew as early as 1968 that the Lord was dealing with my heart to preach the gospel. However, it was not until the second Sunday in November of 1971, that I ever preached on a Sunday Morning. Since that time I have preached the gospel of Christ at every opportunity, in every place that I can. In May of 1975, I graduated from Baptist Bible College, Springfield, Missouri. In August of 1975 my family and I started Blackstone Valley Baptist Church in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, as a mission of Southwest Baptist Church of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The church has a full-time pastor with a congregation of about 150. We purchased eight acres and built an 11,000 SF building. Our Christian School had a high of eighty students. We ran three buses and supported over thirty missions projects.
My life verse is: I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord..
In connection with this ministry, and with God’s help I have:
– Preached Bible conferences in USA, Canada, Russia, Romania, Malta, Guyana, The Philippines, Hungary, Trinidad, and Mexico
– Preached and traveled in Puerto Rico, Rome, England, Wales and Scotland
– Started Rhode Island BBF and served as State Rep. for several years. Seeing a need to hold fast to the things which we had been assured of from the scriptures, we moved away from the BBF and started the Northeast Fellowship of independent Baptists.
1976 – Started and maintained a weekly radio broadcast (1 hour) on WNRI for 12 years.
February 1982 – Spent eight days in Israel visiting historic Jerusalem and other significant places in the Bible lands.
For several years I have organized the youth camps from our state exclusively. During this time I used several different camps and many different speakers.
1989 – We began to pray that the Lord would make us fruitful. We surrendered to His will again and we thought that perhaps He would have us to go to the mission field.
July 26, 1991 – “ Seriously injured in a traffic incident.
1992 – Finished a college level, 40 hour course concerning Nouthetic (Biblical) Counseling; Forestdale Counseling Ministries, Forestdale, Ma. (Jay Adams).
May 1992 – Finished work required for BRE (Bachelor of Religious Education) Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary.
1994 – Spent one week in Russia preaching and handing out Bibles with J. O. Grooms. Many Souls professed Christ Jesus as Savior on this trip.
May 1995 – Finished work required for MABS (Master of Arts in Biblical Studies) Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary.
April 1996 – Preached 13 times in Constanta, Romania. Successfully planted a baby church with 33 new members of which I personally baptized 10. This is connection with the work of our missionary Gary R. Santino.
May 1998 – Finished work required for Doctorate of Ministries (DMin) from Lousiana Baptist Theological Seminary
After pastoring four churches (27 years at the same one), 6 years of full time evangelism, my wife and I still want to be fruitful. There are a multitude of experiences which my wife and I have had which the Lord can use to help others in the churches. We are available as the Lord directs our pathway. God has given us good success with our family and our ministry and we are attempting to live debt free. We have two children. Both of them are serving the Lord. We have 6 grandchildren and one great grand-child. In 2003 Blackstone Valley Baptist Church promoted Robert Lewis to Pastor Emeritus, and commissioned him as a Missionary Evangelist.
In 2003 Randy Lewis became pastor of Blackstone Valley Baptist Church.
In 2003 Robert Lewis traveled to Jordan and Iraq to teach in Baptist institutes.
In February, 2004 He returned to teach and to plant a church in Baghdad, Iraq.
In November of 2004 he was invited to team up with Dick Webster as the Assistant
Director of Global Independent Baptist Missions in Lewisville, Texas (see www.gibf.org).
Since November of 2004, 20 new missionary families have signed up with Global Independent Baptist Missions bringing the total to 24 families.
From October of 2007 to October of 2010, Robert served as Interim Pastor of the First Missionary Baptist Church of Healdton, Oklahoma.
Robert and Judy Lewis continue to live in Texas. They spend about 50% of our their time on the road preaching about missions and promoting the missions office. They are not on salary, but live on the offerings and support they receive from the churches they visit.Edit
2 Responses to Testimony of Robert Lewis
Marvin & Leah Palmer says:November 3, 2009 at 1:49 am (Edit)Dear Bob and Judy,So glad to have found you. Many times, we have wondered
where you were. The Lord has surely blesssed you. Not the least surprised. I knew He had something great in store for you since the day I opened a completely bare cupboard and refrigerator in Springfield. Hard to realize the little boy who had such a good day at Silver Dollar City is now a preacher
and pastor.We are both retired, I think. Marvin doesn’t. I keep his honey -do list going. We have eight grandchildren. Five girls and three grandsons. The oldest is 24 and the youngest twins are thirteen. Lots of History. Kathy, our oldest daughter lives in Enid;about 2.6 miles from us. She has 5 of the grandchildren-2 boys a girl and twin girls. Not bad for someone who 8 fertility specilists said was impossible. We had to request the little boys stop praying for more. Their Dad told them God allots so many children to a family and that they had met that allotment. Gina lives in Stillwater. She gave us one grandson and two grandauhters. The oldest
of which is 24yr and in college pursuing a Funeral Directors
Career. She said she couldn’t be a nurse. She surely has a calling.Please, when time allows, let us know how you are and where
you are.Love and prayers,Marvin and Leah PalmerJonah Seo says:October 21, 2011 at 1:34 am (Edit)Thank you for your wonderful and powerful message that I heard tonight from Haengdang Dong Bible Baptist Church web site.
I was former member of HDD BBC. 2007, my family and I came to US for studying Christian Music, but now God call me to preach His precious Word.
God gave me an opportunity to work with Him as a church planter in here at LA Koreatown. Time is tough and heart is discouraged for a while. But the Word of God stirs me once again for His glory! What a wonderful Word of encouragement!
Thank you again for your wonderful ministry for the Korean people.
I love you and thank you so much.In His Love,
brother Jonah Seo