Posted: 8/22/03

Plainview man helps bring better health to Iraq

By Jonathan Petty

Wayland Baptist University

CAMP BABYLON, Iraq–Lt. Col. Michael Keller sets foot outside his temporary home in a former presidential palace in Iraq. What meets his eyes isn't pretty. All the windows and doors in the building were broken out or destroyed during the looting and riots that followed in the wake of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

All around him lies destruction from the war and from years of neglect by those previously in charge of Iraq.

But that's not the worst of it. As Keller looks out across the desert, he knows he stands within walking distance of two mass graves–both the result of Saddam Hussein's 30 years of tyranny.

Keller stands in front of an arch on Eisthar Street in the ancient city of Babylon. The lower portion of the brick wall behind him is part of the original walls of Babylon. In the background is the presidential palace that the troops call home while living at Camp Babylon.

Visiting that gravesite made an impression on the Army Reserves officer who is married to an art professor at Wayland Baptist University, his alma mater.

“Realizing that where I stood lay thousands of bodies of men, women and children was a horrible sense,” Keller said. “As I stood there, I could see their bones, some with bullet holes in the skull. Men, women, children, entire families lay in this common mass grave. Within these two mass graves lay the remains of approximately 20,000 Iraqis that Saddam executed after the Gulf War. They were executed because they wanted to be free of Saddam's regime.

“It convinced me that Saddam was Iraq's most potent weapon of mass destruction,” he said. “If that alone does not justify the war and the loss of American and coalition soldiers, I do not know what would.”

Hussein's reign has been earmarked by stories of unbelievable cruelty and brutality to his own people. But when a statue of his likeness was toppled by American soldiers in the center of Baghdad, what remained was a country staggering from years of neglect.

“Saddam was a criminal tyrant of a magnitude not seen in the world since Adolph Hitler,” Keller said in an e-mail interview.

Keller has served in the U.S. Army Reserves 16 years, working as full-time military for the past year. He lives in Plainview with his wife, Candace, an art professor at Wayland, where he received his master of business administration degree in 1987.

Keller has no timeline for his return home, but he knows what he is doing is important and necessary. He serves in Iraq as public health chief for the 358th Civil Affairs Brigade in Camp Babylon on the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon.

While the war is officially over, Keller knows there is a long road ahead for the coalition forces and the people of Iraq. Every day, soldiers face the danger of retaliation from Iraqi troops and Saddam supporters. As of July 27, Keller had been through more than 24 scud missile attacks and has had several shots fired in his immediate vicinity.

On several occasions, Keller has had his own weapon locked, loaded and aimed, ready to fire if necessary.

Most people never will know the feeling that comes over a soldier as he prepares to squeeze the trigger, Keller said. “During these times, I find that I often have tunnel vision due to extreme focus and concentration on the situation, yet I'm very calm. It is really all about training and implementing what you have been trained on.”

To date, Keller has not fired a shot, a statistic for which he thanks God.

“I credit the power of prayer for that,” he said.

Even though the conditions have been less than ideal, Keller maintains a positive attitude and said his stay in Iraq hasn't been too bad. While the weather is extremely hot and dry (more than 100 degrees at sunset), and the troops must drink approximately two gallons of water a day to stay hydrated, Keller has yet to spend a night sleeping on the ground thanks to a cot he carries with him.

“Living conditions for me have been good. It is a lot like an extended camping trip where you move sites from time to time,” he said. “I live in Saddam's Babylon Palace, which was looted after coalition forces moved north in the war effort. I guess you could say that I live in the finest house in the Babyl Governate.”

The palace is built on a man-made knoll standing 300 feet high. It doesn't quite have all the comforts of home, however. There is no running water. Drinking water is purified by reverse osmosis and served to the troops by tank trailers known as “water buffalos.” The soldiers bathe with the aid of a solar shower. A generator supplies electricity for the troops, but there is no air conditioning.

“During the looting of the palace, every window was broken out and all the doors were stolen,” Keller said. The result is a mosquito net blanket for protection as he sleeps and a mouthful of sand when it is time to rise.

Still, Keller said the troops' morale is generally good. He has seen the power of the human spirit as people pull together, working toward a common goal.

“The medical community of Iraq worked tirelessly during the initial combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, providing care to the many patients that came through their doors each day, along with the added burden of those who were injured by the war activities,” Keller said. “During this time, virtually all the doctors and nurses worked 24/7 with diminishing supplies and no relief of manpower or supplies in sight.

“Yet those I have talked to worked tirelessly and looked forward to being free of Saddam Hussein's regime and the rampant corruption associated with the Ba'ath Party.”

Since then, U.S. aid has provided millions of doses of vaccines for measles, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and polio. Regular immunizations have been established for children. A system has been established to monitor cholera outbreaks. Iraqis have been educated on hygiene and health. Medical clinics have been restored, training has been implemented and essential medical supplies have been restocked.

But the list of things to do far outweighs the list of accomplishments and no one knows for sure how long the rebuilding process will take, Keller said.

“A lot depends on the Iraqi people and their ability to adapt to systems and organizational structures of self governance,” he explained. “Iraq, as a nation, has recently made some great strides in this area, but I believe it will take four to six years for Iraqis to be up and running the country on their own.”

Posted: 8/22/03

Reyes to be nominated for BGCT's
first vice presidency in Lubbock

By Marv Knox

Editor

SAN ANTONIO — Albert Reyes, president of Hispanic Baptist Theological School, will be nominated for first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas when it meets Nov. 10-11.

Charlie Johnson, Reyes' pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, announced he will make the nomination at the BGCT annual session in Lubbock.

“Albert is the best of our breed. He's got the right vision and the right sensibility for Baptists' mission in Texas and beyond,” Johnson said.

“Albert is a guide and a model and a real instructor about how to minister the gospel in a multi-cultural context. He's a gifted administrator with a pastoral heart. He's a gifted preacher. As a Christian strategist, this guy is unparalleled.”

Under Reyes' leadership, HBTS received authority to grant bachelor's degrees from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The San Antonio school also is in the final stages of gaining accreditation from the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges.

If messengers to the BGCT annual session approve, the school will change its name to Baptist University of the Americas. Numerous denominational leaders have noted the school's pivotal role in preparing church leaders as Texas' population becomes increasingly Hispanic.

Reyes confirmed his willingness to accept the vice presidency.

“Texas Baptists are in a unique time of history,” he said. “We have tremendous opportunities in our state, and our identity as a missions people is getting stronger and beginning to emerge with a number of things that have come into place.”

Among those opportunities is formation of a missions network, which will enable congregations to more fully participate in missions around the world, he said. Reyes serves as vice chairman of that network.

“I see the changes that are happening in our world and how Texas Baptists have an opportunity to impact their communities and the world through the work of our institutions and churches. I present myself as someone who's willing to serve, because I have a responsibility not only as an institutional leader but also a Texas Baptist to serve the churches in the future of missions that we share.”

HBTS is an integral part of that future, Reyes noted. “Our state is changing, and demographic changes are coming, so we want to be available to serve the churches of our state.”

For example, half of all Texans will be Hispanic by 2015, he said, adding that Hispanics became the largest minority group in the United States early this year.

These changes provide implications for mission work not only in Texas but far beyond, Reyes stressed.

God seems to be telling Hispanic Texas Baptists: “OK, this is your turn. You're up to bat. Now, take a swing,” Reyes said. “I'm willing to sacrifice time to enter into our missionary heritage that we've had all these years.”

With Johnson's announcement, Reyes becomes the second BGCT agency leader who will be a candidate for convention office this fall.

Ken Hall, president of Buckner Baptist Benevolences, will be nominated for president by his pastor, Jim Denison of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.

“In Buckner Baptist Benevolences and Hispanic Baptist School, you have two dynamic institutions that incarnate the soul of the Baptist General Convention of Texas,” Johnson said. “We're reaching out to children and the elderly, and we're also crossing cultures, training ministers in a multicultural context to go into the world.”

Before becoming president of HBTS in 1999, Reyes was founding pastor of Pueblo Nuevo Community Church in El Paso. He also has been pastor of Love Field Church/North Temple Baptist Church in Dallas and Iglesia Bautista Alfa/Home Gardens in Dallas.

Reyes received an undergraduate degree from Angelo State University. He earned master's and doctor's degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and he is working on another doctorate from Andrews University.

Reyes is chair of the Hispanic Outreach Task Force of the White House Initiative for Hispanic Academic Excellence.

He is a board member of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs and Texas Baptists Committed and was a trustee of Valley Baptist Academy.

Reyes and his wife, Belinda, are the parents of three sons, Joshua, David and Thomas.

Posted: 8/22/03

BGCT schools ranked in
annual U.S. News survey

By Marv Knox

Editor

Twenty-eight schools stand between Baylor University and its goal of ranking among the 50 finest schools in the country.

Baylor tied for 78th in U.S. News & World Report's 2003 assessment of the best colleges in America.

Baylor competes in the “national universities-doctoral” category with the most recognized major schools in the nation. Harvard and Princeton universities tied for first place on this year's list.

Tier One status–a U.S. News & World Report ranking among America's top 50 universities–is a major goal of Baylor 2012, the Baptist General Convention of Texas university's 10-year plan.

That goal has created a storm of controversy among the “Baylor family.”

Supporters stress it will allow Baylor to demonstrate a university can be world-class and still champion Christian principles. They say it will push Baylor to provide the highest-quality education and national leadership in both faith and learning.

Opponents contend the effort will destroy the essential nature of the university, which consistently has delivered high-quality education in a Christian environment where relationships are valued. They warn escalating tuition costs will price Baylor out of many Texas Baptist family budgets, indebtedness will imperil the Waco school's financial future, and an emphasis on research will devalue classroom teaching.

To reach Tier One status, Baylor would have to supplant such schools as Penn State, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Florida, which tied for the 48th-50th slots this year.

Baylor also would have to surpass three Texas schools that ranked higher in the second tier–the University of Texas, tied for 53rd; Texas A&M, tied for 67th; and SMU, tied for 73rd.

Meanwhile, Baylor's seven sister schools in the BGCT competed in two categories of smaller schools in the west region.

Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene achieved the lone Tier One status, tied for 32nd in the West in the “universities-master's” category.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton and Dallas Baptist University received second tier ranking in that category, in which Houston Baptist University and Wayland Baptist University in Plainview ranked in the third tier.

East Texas Baptist University in Marshall and Howard Payne University in Brownwood gained second tier status in the West region of the “comprehensive colleges-bachelor's” category.

Posted: 8/22/03

Shepherd's Inn keeper knows her flock well

By George Henson

Staff Writer

PORT ARTHUR–Toni Damian's life is a testament that God can use both the good and the bad in a person's life, given the opportunity.

In Port Arthur, she leads the Shepherd's Inn hospitality house, a place families can stay while visiting loved ones in the federal prison nearby. Damian understands their needs because her husband, Fidel, also is incarcerated there.

Her road to ministry was a long and bumpy one, beginning in the remote Mexican village of Guerrero, between Mexico City and Acapulco.

Her unmarried mother later moved to Mexico City to find work to support her four children, then to California, leaving the children with their grandmother. Her mother worked hard in California, sending back enough money to build her family a brick house and obtain a cow.

In 1985, when Damian was 11, she and her siblings moved to San Diego to live with their mother. “I had no idea what was in front of me,” Damian said.

A good student, she graduated from high school in 1992 but could not attend college because her mother could not afford it. Since she was not a U.S. citizen, she did not qualify for financial aid.

On June 7, 1993, she ran away with her boyfriend, Fidel.

“I knew I was into heavy things, but I didn't care–there were so many pressures at home,” Damian said.

One month later, on July 9, 1993, Fidel was arrested on drug conspiracy charges.

“My mother told me, 'It's summertime; it's only been a month; just come home; no one will know.' But I told her, 'I'm not the same anymore.' I had been with a man. How could I just go home?”

Fidel Damian was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison and sent to Texas, to a prison outside Three Rivers.

Although they were not married, she followed him there. They started reading the Catholic Bible together from time to time.

While she knew the Ten Commandments from her catechism, she was particularly struck in her readings by the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.”

“Now I know that it was the Lord speaking to me, but then I didn't know,” she said. “Now I can put together the pieces.”

She soon forgot about the impression that commandment made on her, however.

“It came back to me a couple of months later, though. I went back to Mexico and went to church with a cousin. This church was known for its virgin,” she recalled.

The virgin, a three-foot-high doll dressed in a richly ornamented robe, was ascribed almost magical powers. Parishioners placed money on the robe, or took a handkerchief to rub in on the doll's face and then keep as a kind of talisman.

That reminded Damian of God's prohibition against idols.

She got in the processional line leading to the doll but didn't participate in the ritual.

“When it came my turn, I looked at her with emptiness. My cousin told me that if I didn't do something I would have a curse, but I just turned and left without giving reverence to the virgin or any of the saints,” she said.

Damian returned home to Texas and kept reading the Bible, but she still was “not living a good life,” she said. She knew just enough of God to be afraid of him.

“I knew I was doing wrong things. I thought God would do something bad, devilish to me–put scary faces or something on a tree,” she recounted. “I always said: 'God, not yet. I'm not ready.' I called him 'God' because that is what you call him when you don't know him. When you come to know him, you call him 'Jesus,' 'Lord' and 'Father.'”

She found herself in this remote town between San Antonio and Corpus Christi without friends or family, and she was lonely and afraid.

“When you don't know the Lord, the enemy has you frightened all the time,” she said.

Fidel, still not her husband, was transferred to Port Arthur. He asked around until he found a place she could stay with another inmate's wife in Houston.

There, many of her fears were relieved, but nights were filled with remembrances of the few times she had attended Sunday School at an evangelical church with cousins in California.

“We went only a couple of times, but I remember my cousin crying in church. That wasn't something I was used to seeing. What could be making my cousin cry, I wondered. I said 'God, I want to know why they are doing that, what they were feeling.'”

A few days later–May 3, 1997–a local pastor visited the family she was living with. “He asked me, 'Toni, do you want to accept Jesus into your life?' I said 'yes' without even thinking. It was like asking a kid if he wants candy. I was so excited.

“I was so happy, but I really didn't know what I had done,” she said.

She didn't tell Fidel about her conversion, but he found out from the husband of the woman she was living with, so she started sending Fidel Christian tracts.

Shortly after, she became pregnant while still not married. “I was so ashamed. I said: 'Lord, look at what I've done. You scrubbed me clean, and now I have this big red spot on this white dress you gave me.'”

She continued to go to church and study the Bible.

“I was able to grow,” she recalled. “I was coming to church, studying my Bible, praying, watching preachers on TV. I was eating, eating, eating–just feeding my Spirit all the time. I felt so ashamed about my sin, but I knew I could count on the Lord.”

She prayed God would give her a son so she could have a companion, which she needed since she had moved into an apartment by herself.

God answered her prayer, she said, giving her a son, born with no labor pains whatsoever.

“I was so excited that it was a boy. It was at that time that I felt God had forgiven me. During those nine months, I had been so face down. I had been so depressed, but now I was the old Toni that the Lord had saved 10 months ago. It was almost like I had been saved a second time.”

She taught her son, Isaias, about God as she had promised God she would. One day when they were visiting the prison, Fidel was feeding Isaias while Toni was out of the room. When she came back, Fidel explained that the 2-year-old had refused to eat without praying first.

That started a journey toward Fidel professing faith in Jesus Christ as Savior as well.

“The Lord used Isaias to lead his daddy to the Lord Jesus,” she recalled. On May 8, 2002, she and Fidel finally were married.

She and Isaias moved back to Three Rivers for a while, however.

“I prayed, 'Lord, take me to a church where your word is preached, and where they have a good Sunday School for my son and me,'” she recalled.

That church was First Baptist in Three Rivers, the first Baptist church Damian ever had attended.

“They welcomed me like they would the Lord,” she said.

Feeling a need to be closer to her husband, last December she was a guest at the Shepherd's Inn, a ministry of Golden Triangle Baptist Association, for a week. While there, she overheard a conversation that the missionary serving as resident manager was leaving for another mission endeavor.

“I had been telling the Lord that I wanted to serve him and really had been doing this in Three Rivers–sharing my apartment and meals with people who needed some place to stay. My doors were always open on the weekends to inmate families.”

She was a bit unsure of herself, though. “I thought, this is a ministry; this is not something I'm going to play around with. They need a mature Christian. This is the Lord's ministry, so it would be like working in the boss' office.”

Later, Dion Ainsworth, associate director of missions for the association, brought her an application to fill out. “It wasn't a job history,” she recalled. “It was, 'How long have you known the Lord? Tell us about your Christian walk.'”

She soon had the job of resident manager and has with the help of local churches in the area renovated much of the house in the last six months.

“When I came here as a servant of the Lord, I said, 'Lord, show me what you want me to do.'”

One of the first things her eyes fell upon were the pillows and linens that had become worn, stained and threadbare with use. Damian brought the need to the awareness of women in the local churches. Since then, Woman's Missionary Union groups have made the beds there as nice as their own.

Damian cooks for the 15 to 20 people who stay at the house each weekend as well as the lesser number who are there during the week. They are almost exclusively women and children, and she can identify well.

“Just like people don't want to be around inmates, they don't want to be around inmates' families,” she explained. “But here they can come and be loved.”

Local church members play a key role in expressing that love, she said. “We go through so much as inmate families that we think no one loves us. They ask who buys this–the sofas, the beds, the food, the milk for the babies–and I get to tell them it is the people in the churches.”

Families travel from all over the United States and Mexico to visit inmates in the federal prison. Some have only gas money and stay and eat at Shepherd's Inn at no cost. Others don't even have a car, so they ride a bus to Port Arthur, where Damian becomes their chauffer.

At the Shepherd's Inn, however, the women have a confidant in Damian, who knows their trials as the wives of inmates. She also knows the difference Christ can make in a life.

“I tell them: 'The Lord will be your husband. Put your faith in him; he will supply all your needs,” she said.

Posted: 8/22/03

Enlist 'special' volunteers for music

By Sara Horn

LifeWay Christian Resources

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)–By all accounts, little David was a holy terror at church. He didn't sit still, didn't listen and distracted other children.

By the time he turned 5, his behavior problems were causing teachers to take a year off from teaching before David came into their classes.

Elaine, a busy career woman with grown children of her own, wanted to help with the children's music ministry but had no time for preparation. So she volunteered to become David's “special friend.”

Each week, her job was to be with David during music class and help him stay focused. Through kindergarten, first grade and second grade, she remained committed to her assignment. By the time David reached third grade, he had outgrown most of his problems.

“Special situations sometimes require special volunteers,” said Martha Hicks, a church music professor at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo. “Elaine needed something she could just show up for, and this was her ministry. She not only was a help to David, but she also ministered to his family.”

Volunteers are valuable to any church ministry, but especially so in music ministry, because of the size and scale of planning and activities, Hicks said. The former full-time music minister with more than 20 years of experience was one of the workshop leaders this year at Music Ridgecrest, a weeklong music training conference.

“Motivation is the key for any successful volunteer program to work,” Hicks said. “You have to show how something is important and why.”

Building relationships and observing the strengths and weaknesses of people are vital for a music minister or director looking for help, she explained. Not everyone is cut out to direct handbells or lead a preschool choir.

Hicks advised starting new volunteers slowly.

When she served as minister of music at Central Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., she worked to develop a stronger children's choir program. She noticed a young woman, Harriet Brawner, and asked if she would help.

“She didn't know anything about it, so she wasn't sure whether she could handle it,” Hicks recalled. “So I asked if she could just sit in a class and watch the helpers. Within a few weeks, she felt comfortable enough and decided she could do it.”

Eventually, Brawner became the church's children's choir coordinator. Two years later, she served in the same capacity for their church's regional association. Now she serves on the staff of another Baptist church.

Volunteering brings eternal rewards as well, Brawner added.

“There may be a child in your class who doesn't have a great home situation, and you're the one person who shares with them how much Jesus loves them each week,” she said. “We may not see the benefits today, but who knows how God will use our seeds for tomorrow.”

Posted: 8/22/03

Non-Aggies find a home with international Aggies

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

COLLEGE STATION–Call them students. Call them summer missionaries. Just don't call them Aggies.

A team of five Baptist General Convention of Texas student missionaries assigned to work this summer at Texas A&M may not have fallen in love with Aggie tradition, but their hearts went out to international students on the campus.

The group encountered a variety of different cultures but tried to treat them all the same–with compassion, as Christ commanded, said Scott Seymour, a senior business administration major at Lamar University in Beaumont.

“We don't deal with different cultures; we deal with individuals,” he added. “We're not here to win cultures; we're here to win individuals.”

Student missions workers helped the international students combat loneliness and language difficulties by becoming their “conversation partners” and speaking with them for several hours a week at the Baptist Student Ministry building.

“It's been harder than what I expected,” said Michelle Standley, a junior industrial technology major at Lamar. “Each person is something new to learn. Each person has different needs. You can't read a book to know how to reach them. You just have to be friends with them.”

The students shared their faith with people who had no prior contact with the gospel, said Jade Anderson, a senior management and marketing double major at Texas Tech.

Internationals were interested in Christianity and responded with questions that expanded the missionaries' faith, Anderson said. The missionaries constantly studied the Bible to have answers to the inquiries.

Several team members said they learned to rely more heavily on God to give them strength in their Christian journey and wisdom to know what to say.

“It's definitely stretched me,” Anderson said. “Any time you spend time in the word, you're going to grow.”

Jenn Blakely, a senior English major at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, wanted to work on foreign soil this summer, but she found the summer experience in Central Texas more fulfilling than she imagined.

“I got to meet lots of different people, whereas if I was in one country, I would meet only that one type of person,” she explained.

But staying close to home is challenging, Blakely added. The temptation to visit friends was stronger than if they had served farther away. But the team stuck together and held to Christ throughout, she affirmed.

“It's not about going to the mall or movies,” she said. “It's about showing the internationals what being a Christian is like.”

Posted: 8/22/03

Student missionaries parade God's
presence in Colorado resort town

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

CRESTED BUTTE, Colo.–Baptist General Convention of Texas student summer missionaries paraded a Christian presence down the streets of this popular Rocky Mountain resort town.

In addition to directing Vacation Bible School and teaching Sunday School, Lauren Baker, a Stephen F. Austin University senior, and Mandy Ray, a Texas Tech University junior, helped Oh-Be-Joyful Church members put together a float for a summer parade.

The church was the lone spiritual institution represented in a parade that also featured hippies, bikers and research students wearing strategically placed leaves, Baker said. Many of the residents are not familiar with the Bible or Christianity, according to the duo.

The missionaries designed the float to help people connect the scenic surroundings with God's glory, Baker explained. The float depicted clouds and featured the children of the church.

“Here it's been a lot harder because a lot of people worship his creation but do not give God the credit,” Baker said.

As the float went down the street, church members passed out fliers advertising the upcoming Vacation Bible School. Many unchurched children came to VBS this year because their parents heard about it at the parade, Ray said.

The women's impact ran far beyond those who saw them at the parade, Baker and Ray noticed. It seemed everyone knew what they stood for and what they wanted to accomplish.

“Everyone knows why we are here, it's such a small town,” Baker explained. “We may not have gotten to share with everyone, but we were a Christian presence.”

Ray and Baker also encouraged weary church workers and provided a much-needed break for several members. The experience gave Ray a new appreciation for the trials of ministers and leaders, she said.

“I've learned ministry isn't always mountain-top experiences,” she said. “It's helped me to see what church staff go through.”

Jim Kunes, pastor of the church, praised the women's efforts. They comfortably connected with the youth and church leadership and continued the tradition of strong summer missionaries that have come through the church, he added.

“Being a small congregation, summer missionaries bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm for the Lord that is contagious,” Kunes said.

Posted: 8/22/03

Little sleep, lots of opportunities

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

HAMPSTEAD, N.H.–Robert Nixon loves to sleep. Maybe now that his stint as a summer missionary is over, he'll get some.

Nixon kept moving during his service as a youth intern at Island Baptist Church in Hampstead, N.H., where he served through the Baptist General Convention of Texas student summer missionary program.

He helped with Vacation Bible School, led canoe trips, went on a mission trip to Canada and directed a camp for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders during his nine-week tenure in New England.

The sophomore from Hill College in Hillsboro said he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of hands-on activity he had. Often he served as a de facto youth director and was in charge of activities for about 55 kids during the camp.

The effort cut down on the amount of sleep he got but allowed him to bond with the 35-person youth group he dealt with regularly, he said. He stayed up long into the night speaking with kids about spiritual issues and woke up early to prepare for the day's work.

“Once you take on a leadership role in a group, you have to sacrifice your time,” explained Nixon, a liberal arts major.

The way the youth opened up to him and welcomed him in their lives reaffirmed Nixon's belief that God would direct his ministry, he said. He wanted to do whatever was necessary to spread the gospel where God put him.

“I was willing to go anywhere God has placed me,” he reported. “And through prayer, the people in Texas felt God placed me here.”

Although he was constantly on the move, Nixon said he quickly discovered the importance of daily Bible study. Reading the Bible is like lifting weights, he said. When a person exercises, he becomes stronger. When people read the Bible, they become spiritually stronger and more prepared for the day.

“No matter how busy you get in the ministry, you need to be right with God,” he said.

The summer experience prepared him for a future in ministry, Nixon said. He feels a call to vocational ministry but is not sure where God will lead him. The wide-ranging summer helped him, no matter where his journey goes, he added.

“My goal is that people don't know Robert Nixon but know the God inside of me.”

Posted: 8/22/03

SARS detour opens student's eyes
to a new world vision in Germany

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

A Baptist General Convention of Texas student summer missionary learned to live intentionally for Christ by traveling the long way to serve him.

Melissa Forehand, a senior business major at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, was supposed to serve in Southeast Asia this summer. Her plans changed, however, when she was reassigned to Berlin due to the threat of the SARS virus.

“It was really hard,” she said. “It had been such a difficult decision to go to Vietnam, but now I know he used that to get us to Berlin.”

Forehand and her team of fellow summer missionaries immediately noticed a spiritual “darkness” in Germany, she said. The people they encountered never smiled and rarely talked to each other.

The team of student missionaries sought to bring light to German lives by meeting people in parks and floral shops and sharing the gospel when possible.

On one occasion, Forehand said, God led her to exercise with a Muslim woman. To the surprise of the rest of the team, Forehand took off running with the woman. The missionary and the woman became friends, and the student later shared her faith in the woman's home.

“God really does prepare you and organize circumstances the way he wants them,” she said. “Things would happen and you would see him working.”

Although the team did not see any professions of faith, Forehand said she believes the missionaries “moved a lot of rocks” that will pave the way for future conversions. An International Mission Board missionary will follow up on their work.

The summer experience taught Forehand she can share her faith no matter what she is doing at home or abroad. She can witness to others consistently if she remains focused on Jesus, she said.

Posted: 8/22/03

Children find faith through Bible stories

HOUSTON­June 26 and July 24 will live forever in the minds of Brandy Jacobson and the 15 children she led to Christ those days.

Jacobson, a senior elementary education major at West Texas A&M, served as a Baptist General Convention of Texas student summer missionary at the Houston Mission Center. She helped primarily with the Kid's Club program and the food pantry.

She vividly recalls going through a Bible lesson June 26 and looking up to see all the children staring at her. Jacobson felt God tell her to close the lesson and extend an invitation to the kids.

She ended the lesson in prayer and told the children that anyone who wanted to commit to live for Jesus Christ could remain while the rest could go play. To her amazement, nine stayed.

Jacobson admits she was unsure what to do next, but she stumbled her way through leading the children to pray the sinner's pray and profess faith in Christ.

“You're so humbled, but you're so high,” she said. “God is so exalted. It was the most beautiful moment I've ever had in my life.”

July 24, six more children professed faith in much the same manner, she explained.

Toward the end of her stay, Jacobson gave the children bilingual Bibles, with Spanish and English, at their request.

“They wanted Spanish too, so they can share with their parents,” she said. “That's encouraging.”

Jacobson did not come into the summer expecting to lead 15 children to professions of faith, but she hoped to tell about Jesus as believers had shared with her.

In addition to that work, Jacobson sang and gave her testimony at various churches throughout the city. One evening, she was listening to the message when she said she felt God asking her to give her life completely to him. She committed to do so and said God revealed her calling to her.

“When I told him he could have it, he told me missions,” Jacobson said. “Now I know that it's missions. I know it is my calling.”

Posted: 8/22/03

Missionary gets warm welcome

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Eastern Europeans love Americans, according to a student summer missionary. But they had no idea what this American stands for until they met him.

Still grateful for the aid provided in past wars, Eastern Europeans celebrate everything American, including July 4.

They waited on Wade Ashby, a Baptist General Convention of Texas student summer missionary, “hand and foot,” even fighting to make his bed. They offered him women “left and right,” he said.

Ashby and his missionary teammate witnessed to the people by correcting their misguided ideas about what the Texan was like. He discovered a schedule was difficult to keep because he felt God calling him to share his faith with people he encountered. Sometimes he spent hours explaining a Bible passage to a Muslim.

“A lot of times, they would have preconceived notions from what they saw in movies,” Ashby explained. “We would have to explain we're not like that.”

Helping people understand his beliefs was one way Ashby built relationships as he taught English and computer science classes. Eastern Europeans asked a lot of questions about his faith, and he quickly learned he could not testify without God's presence.

“You come to the realization you know things by faith,” said Ashby, a senior business major at Angelo State University. “I can't tell (the gospel) without God. Through a language barring you, you can't share Christ unless the Holy Spirit moves.”

Although Ashby did not see any professions of faith in Christ from his efforts, he trusts God will work through his International Mission Board supervisor to lead people to Christianity. Several of the people Ashby met will help propagate the gospel, he believes.

“There were a lot of good relationships built,” Ashby said. “There were a lot of people in the computer science classes the IMB people wouldn't have met who will be great translators.”

The student also was encouraged when he saw a European Christian lead a fellow countryman to Christ at a café. He said he is considering a return mission trip to the area after he graduates in December and is hopeful a wave of indigenous reproducing small churches and cell groups will spread across the region.

“God has already been there,” Ashby insisted. “He's already working. He was minister before I got there, and he's still there now.”

Posted: 8/22/03

Dallas Baptist University student Micah Blalock (with guitar) leads Russian orphans and American volunteers in worship during a summer camp session for orphans.At right, DBU student Andrew Briscoe poses with a new friend, Vova, a Russian orphan boy.

Texas students travel to Russia with love

DALLAS–Andrew Briscoe, a graduate student at Dallas Baptist University, has devoted much of his life to learning in the classroom. But after a month-long summer missionary internship working in the orphanages of St. Petersburg, Russia, he is quick to tell listeners that education also takes place on the hard surface of the mission field.

DBU students Leslie Whitlock and Danny Krumbholz provide recreational fun for an orphan

Briscoe and eight other DBU students joined students from six other colleges, including Baylor University, to work as summer missionaries, or interns, through Buckner Orphan Care International. The team provided a Christian witness–and love –to children living in Russian orphanages and orphanage hospitals through summer camp programming, Vacation Bible Schools, personal attention and support of shorter-term volunteers.

For Briscoe, the internship was a learning experience in missions involvement. “I wanted to be a part of this trip so I would have a greater understanding of missions. The entire month was an incredible learning period and the spiritual growth we experienced was amazing,” he said.

DBU senior Jared Ambra felt an equal impact from his summer internship experience.

Describing many of the people he saw as having “a look of hopelessness on their faces,” he explained that “the first week was not easy at all. The children are really friendly, but orphanage life takes a toll. It's truly a test of your ability to trust that the Lord can take hopeless situations and turn them around.”

The interns ministered in a situation that calls for a strong Christian witness, explained Mike Douris, vice president for Buckner Orphan Care International, noting that interns and other volunteers often must adjust to seeing children living without love or hope.

In St. Petersburg, Russia, Baylor University student Justin Henry of Longview cradles an infant in an orphanage hospital. This was Henry's second year to serve in summer missions through Buckner Orphan Care International.

DBU student Lana Jones receives help transporting a craft station.

“These students were providing the love of Christ to children who have perhaps never been told they are loved and have never been exposed to the message that Christ can save. In addition, they live in some of the poorest conditions imaginable,” he said. “I can't begin to voice how crucial a part these students had in spreading the gospel and its message to these little ones. The interns provide the children a long-term, consistent message that they are loved.”

Echoing Douris' thoughts, Ambra said that those they worked with “need to know the hope that Christ can bring to their lives. Russia is definitely a country in need of the gospel.”

DBU President Gary Cook emphasized that the interns are an example of how missions partnerships among Baptists can work. He noted that while DBU and Baylor students provided the volunteer efforts and Buckner provided the organization, programming structure and contacts in Russia, a third partner, Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, provided funding for the internships.

Briscoe hopes the service he and fellow students gave will affect the future of Russia on a national scale.

“Perhaps the hope of this nation will be found in its children,” he said. “The orphans we met were so eager to be loved and accepted, and we were able to share with them the love of Christ, a love that will never leave or abandon them.”