Episode 148 Bill Parks Cuba Outreach Ministry – Bill Parks

Episode 148 Show Notes for Bill Parks Interview

Born and raised in Baltimore, as a teenager, Bill ran the streets and lived a wild life until he had a close brush with tragedy, and a powerful personal encounter with Jesus Christ.  Overnight it seemed, the burning intensity of his life was to know God, and to point the way to others.  Joyce grew up nearby, but a world away, in the sheltered community of Lancaster, PA.  But, she too, as a teenager, experienced the life-changing work of the Holy Spirit. The calling of God brought the two together as they studied and prepared for life-long ministry in Bible College.

Following the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and through several different phases of ministry work, Bill and Joyce ended up in Washington, DC and joined the staff of the Faith Based drug rehab ministry called “Teen Challenge” as Resident Supervisors.

A series of ministry moves found them moving to Houston, Texas and then ten years in pastoral work in Pennsylvania. Longing for a greater evangelistic outreach beyond the four walls of the church, they followed the Lord into an outreach that opened up on Mexico.

They then began to invite others to join them on short term mission trips and for twenty years continued to do so until the dangers of encountering the drug cartels made it too dangerous to take others into the area. Since 2009, other countries have opened up their doors and over 4000 team members have now traveled with them into countries throughout Central and South America, as well as Mexico AND Cuba! Literally thousands have responded to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

In 2008, Bill founded “Teen Challenge” of Baltimore where he served as Executive Director until December 2015 when he “retired” – but continues to travel extensively and often into Latin America and the Caribbean .

Now happily married for over 45 years, he and Joyce continue to follow the leading of God in their lives and to introduce others to a vibrant life through Christ Jesus…

Help me welcome to the program, Bill Parks…

Bill, other than that brief bio…tell us – WHO IS BILL PARKS

You say that, since you are now retired, you want to focus your attention on the support of the church and its needs in Cuba. How did you become involved in Cuba?

Since the government banned civilians from going to Cuba, how did you get in during those years?

Since the government has eased relations with Cuba, have you found it becoming more “modern” since then? Or have things pretty much remained the same for the Cuban people?

The recent hurricanes have wreaked havoc in the Caribbean – and Cuba… What kinds of reports have you had from your contacts there?

Your up coming trip to Cuba – what do you intend to accomplish?

How are you organizing support for this trip?

What is the “Extreme balloons” program with Steve Gambrill?

What kind of children’s programs are you attempting to build in Cuba?

You would like to build a distribution system for humanitarian supplies…how are you planning on doing that?

Can anyone contribute to your ministry and help you reach that goal? How can they go about doing that?

If anyone has any questions, how can they get ahold of you? Can you provide us your contact information?

RESOURCES:

Website: www.reachmin.org

1715 Mystic Cir., Baltimore, MD 21221

www.trinitylife.com for credit card donations

Steve Gambrill website: www.extremeballoons.com

Email: reachministries@verizon.net

reachmin@verizon.net

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