Posted: 8/8/03

Garland book contains stories of family faith

Barbara Massey

EthicsDaily.com

WACO–In today’s world, where families face many uncertainties, what resource is better for understanding and dealing with challenges than the stories of other families who have had similar experiences?

Families with a strong faith connection and spiritual dimension seem to weather the storms of life in a particularly positive way, experts say.

And what about the experiences at the opposite end of the spectrum–times of joy and happiness? Just as families of faith weather storms more positively, they also reportedly meet times of joy and happiness with deeper rejoicing together.

In "Sacred Stories of Ordinary Families," author Diana Garland interviewed 110 "ordinary" families and used their stories to illustrate how faith shapes the way families live.

The stories are representative of all kinds of families–traditional nuclear, single-parent, remarried, blended, single adults and older adults who are both married and widowed. Their stories illustrate how the Bible and the overarching Christian story become the backdrop for living out faith in ordinary, daily lives, observed Garland, director of Baylor University’s School of Social Work.

She encourages families within congregations to connect their own experiences with what is holy and to share these stories within the community of faith, thereby offering strength for the journey to other families.

"My hope is that this book will encourage congregations to become communities for the telling of family stories–stories of family struggles and resilience and redemption, stories of family faith," she says.

The book offers practical suggestions about how congregations can nurture the faith life of families. It is designed to give families the tools for living their faith in daily life and developing their own "sacred" stories, strengthening not only their own lives, but also the lives of others to whom they tell their story.

Rather than adding new church programs, this type of nurture means looking at what the congregation is already doing from the perspective of the impact it has on individuals and families.

Garland suggests that churches:

Look for family relationships beyond the "of-course" family.

Seek the strength of all families.

Encourage families to develop their own faith practices.

Provide ways for families to serve and learn together at church.

Offer opportunities for families to minister together.

Use church conflicts as opportunities.

Show how families can eat together or simply be together.

Be a place that evokes and listens to family stories of faith.

Posted: 8/8/03

Churches struggle to keep
newlyweds in church after wedding

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

With the changing of the seasons, spring love turns to deep relationships as couples flock to churches to be married.

But statistics indicate large numbers of those couples will find blight rather than bliss, as their marriages crumble in divorce.

Churches with beautiful sanctuaries are struggling to bring couples who were married there into the congregation, Christian leaders said.

“All over America, we are performing weddings for people we will never see again,” said Tommy Culwell, pastor of Colonial Hill Baptist Church in Snyder. “Something is wrong with that.”

Some Christian leaders are bucking that trend by strengthening relationships and building bonds between couples and congregations with a combination of one-on-one counseling and group communication classes before the wedding and throughout the first year of marriage.

“This is a time that many young people seek out the church. The church in the United States is reaching out to the younger generations,” said Carla Aday, minister of community development at Country Club Christian Church in Kansas City, Mo.

She helped organize Great Start, a premarital course endorsed by the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Christian Life Commission.

Counseling allows ministers to get to know couples they may not know well and helps the engaged pair trust the minister who will perform their wedding, the church leaders said. The sessions also give ministers and couples time to explore relationship dynamics and personal issues.

Aday's church, affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), encourages couples to meet congregation members early in the outreach by completing the character assessment in a class format.

The larger-scale method helps the church counsel more than 100 couples who get married in the sanctuary, she added. If leaders feel a couple needs more serious counseling, they refer the pair to a counselor.

Communication classes vary slightly in each church that uses the Great Start curriculum, but leaders teach basic interpersonal skills to help couples work through problems in a healthy manner, Aday said.

The Missouri church holds a communication class once a week and asks couples to complete nine hours of coursework. Engaged couples pay for the classes and are encouraged to complete the counseling program.

Culwell, who sees about 10 marriages in his West Texas church annually, found the minister training through Prepare, the first portion of Great Start, extremely helpful. He often jokes that he took just enough counseling to make him dangerous in seminary and wanted to strengthen his premarital ministry.

The training and material give him a way to assess and analyze relationships so he can help couples work through issues, Culwell said. “It gives me a great deal of insight I would not come up with on my own.”

While couples can go through the premarital program at Country Club Christian Church in three months, most take more than a year, Aday said.

Counseling requirements deter many people who do not want to put work into their marriage, Culwell explained. They do not want to examine their relationship.

“That's why we don't have more weddings,” he said. “Frankly, some couples don't want to think about it that much.”

However, the outreaches are bringing more people in than they are turning away, Culwell and Aday said. Couples who are getting married elsewhere come to the two churches for counseling.

The outreach has altered the image of the Snyder church, Culwell observed.

“The church is seen as a resource for marriage preparation, not just a place to get married,” Culwell said.

More importantly, the premarital efforts have positively impacted marriages and congregations, the ministers said. Couples who go through counseling have joined the churches and learned techniques to work through marital issues.

“If you do this stuff before you get married or in the first year or two of the marriage, it sets the course for the rest of the relationship,” Aday said.

Posted: 8/8/03

BEFORE 'I DO':
Does premarital counseling make a diference?

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Marriage education and premarital counseling are the latest trends to emerge from the marriage movement–a push for stronger traditional families.

Churches nationwide are requiring couples to undergo counseling and follow-up sessions in order to use sanctuaries.

State governments have followed suit and developed marriage education curriculums for high school students. Several officials are pushing strongly to mandate those courses.

But do the efforts work?

That depends on what a successful premarital counseling program means, according to experts. Long-term studies on divorce rates of couples who were counseled do not exist, and the shorter-term studies do not give a clear indication of effectiveness.

Marriage Savers, a Christian organization that brings community church leaders together to create a standard requirement for all couples who wish to use a sanctuary in the community for their weddings, reported mixed results following an extensive short-term study.

The divorce rate dropped in 91 of 131 areas where church leaders adopted city marriage policies. The study, facilitated by the Institute of Research and Evaluation, cited a drop of more than 35 percent in divorces in Tyler, Austin and Waxahachie and a 79.5 percent decline in El Paso.

However, 39 of the 131 areas either experienced no decline or reported an increase in the divorce rate. According to Marriage Savers' annual report, “most of the increases were below 10 percent.” However, 13 regions experienced even higher rates of divorce, including increases of 24 percent, 38.6 percent and 59.2 percent in Sacramento, Cleveland and Chadron, Neb., respectively.

Mike McManus, president of Marriage Savers, cited the number of trained mentor couples, paid staff members and amount of press coverage as factors that significantly altered divorce rates.

While many people would simply look at the divorce rate of couples after counseling, Preston Dyer, professor at Baylor University and a clinical social worker, said those numbers do not tell the full story.

Effective premarital counseling should help couples evaluate whether they should get married, identify strengths and swoons in the relationship and help them develop skills that will strengthen their upcoming marriage, Dyer said.

Personality inventories such as Prepare help couples understand the dynamics of their relationship, agreed Dyer and Amy Branch-Lambert, pastoral care counselor for the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Counseling and Psychological Services.

Research on the Life Innovations website, which offers information on Prepare, indicates the inventory predicts with an 80 percent accuracy which couples will get divorced or have severe problems.

Even if the inventory shows two people may not be compatible, Dyer and Branch-Lambert caution ministers not to refuse to marry a couple. The counselor should help both parties learn to work through issues and develop a healthy relationship.

“Here's the reality for the minister: If the minister says no, they're going to go down to the justice of the peace,” Branch-Lambert said. “Why would we force people to go to the justice of the peace when they can find a place where they are loved and honored?”

Branch-Lambert and Dyer agreed counseling should include at least six hour-long sessions stretched over several months prior to the ceremony. The counselor should cover a series of relationship issues including finances, expectations and spiritual beliefs.

But that commitment is difficult for many pastors, they acknowledged.

“Ministers have a hard time finding six to nine hours to give to a couple,” Dyer stated. “You think of so many of our Texas Baptist churches, and they're a one-man staff.”

An important issue to discuss is the family background of each person, Branch-Lambert said. Parents provide a model for marriage that their children often imitate.

“That's where we all learned to do relationships,” she said. “Going into marriage, you can't think they won't act like their parents, because they will carry some traits into the new marriage.”

While Branch-Lambert prefers individual counseling between a professional and the couple, Dyer said some research indicates couple classes have proven slightly more effective, since couples can support each other.

Counseling is effective, but Branch-Lambert noted couples ultimately are responsible for nurturing the marriage.

“Nothing's going to totally prepare you for marriage,” she said. “That's the reality of it. But the more tools in the tool box, the more you have to work on it.”

Marriage Resources

www.lifeinnovations.com–parent company that offers the Prepare inventory and Enrich marriage enhancement materials.

Hope for Home–the BGCT Christian Life Commission's initiative to strengthen families. Consultants can help churches establish marital counseling programs. Contact Carol Bowman at (888) 332-5870 for more information.

Celebrating Marriage in Ministry–the BGCT's marriage enrichment event for ministers. This year it is Sept. 11-13 in San Antonio. Contact Bob Cavin at (888) 447-5143 for more information.

www.marriagesavers.com–an organization that helps churches and cities create community marriage policies to encourage marriage counseling and enrichment.

www.greatstart.org–web site of the Great Start marital preparation material.

Posted: 8/8/03

Meteor proposed as Constantine's vision

LONDON (RNS)–Could the impact of a meteorite hitting the Italian Apennines have been the sign in the sky–believed to be in the shape of a cross–that encouraged the Emperor Constantine to invoke the Christian God in his decisive battle in 312 when he defeated his fellow Emperor Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge?

The victory paved the way for the recognition of Christianity by the Roman Empire and the union of church and state that lasted nearly 1,500 years.

The possibility is raised by a report in the current issue of New Scientist of the discovery of a meteorite impact crater dating from the fourth or fifth century A.D. in the Apennines.

The crater is a seasonal lake, roughly circular with a diameter of between 115 and 140 meters, which has a pronounced raised rim and no inlet or outlet and is fed solely by rainfall. There are a dozen much smaller craters nearby, such as would be created when a meteorite with a diameter of 10 meters shattered during entry into the atmosphere.

A team led by the Swedish geologist Jens Ormo believes the crater was caused by a meteorite landing with a one-kiloton impact–equivalent to a small nuclear blast–and producing shock waves, earthquakes and a mushroom cloud.

Samples from the crater's rim have been dated to the year 312 plus or minus 40 years, but small amounts of contamination with recent material could account for a date significantly later than 312.

However, from the written historical record it is uncertain whether Constantine's vision of the cross was a dream just before the decisive battle or, as Eusebius stated in his life of the emperor, a sign he saw in the heavens.

Posted: 8/8/03

Mexican Baptists and Texas Baptists
launch three-year partnership plan

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

The National Baptist Convention of Mexico unanimously approved a three-year partnership with the Baptist General Convention of Texas at its July 23 annual meeting in Mexico City.

Formal cooperation is slated to run through 2006, but leaders on both sides expect to see the partnership continue substantially longer, said Joe Bruce, projects director for the BGCT Texas Partnerships Resource Center and chairman of the BGCT team involved in the cooperation discussion.

Leaders envision the partnership, called the Mexico-Texas Baptist Network, as Texas and Mexico Baptists flowing back and forth across their shared border to help each other in prayer, evangelism efforts, church starting, missions, social ministries and leadership training.

“This is not just them asking and us sending or vice versa,” Bruce said. “It will be a free-flowing exchange of people and resources as we attempt to work together to minister in Christ's name in both Texas and Mexico.”

The BGCT Executive Board must approve the network before it becomes an official partnership.

Mexico and Texas are linked in several ways, including culturally, historically, economically and religiously, according to Bruce. Baptists from each side of the border commonly cooperate in ministry.

The partnership recognizes what is already happening and attempts more strategically to focus on the agreed ministry objectives, Bruce observed.

Network leaders seek to build on the long Texas-Mexico relationship and help Baptists identify needs in both places, Bruce said. Convention leaders will work together to help churches, associations, compañerismos and institutions find places to minister.

“This is not doing away with border ministry,” Bruce said. “This is to amplify opportunities for Texas Baptists to work throughout Mexico, and for Mexico Baptists to minister here.”

Dexton Shores, director of River Ministry and a BGCT representative in the partnership discussions, said the network will expand Texas Baptist ministry beyond the border areas. Texas Baptist churches will be able to partner with central Mexico Baptist churches or travel directly to meet needs in the heart of the country, he explained.

“There are regions in the interior of Mexico that have never received mission groups,” Shores explained.

Cooperative efforts also can help the Mexican convention meet its goal of starting 8,500 churches in the next 10 years, Shores said. About 1,500 churches currently comprise the 100-year-old convention. Mexican Baptist churches are serving less than half the 62 native language groups in the nation, according to Shores.

Leaders expect Mexico Baptists to help start new churches in Texas as well, particularly in primarily Spanish-speaking areas.

In addition to working cooperatively in the two regions, Bruce said he hopes Baptists will “know each other as true friends as well as being involved in ministry for the building of the kingdom of God in Mexico and Texas.”

He imagines the Mexico and Texas conventions working together to do evangelistic work in a third locale.

“Not only are we neighbors,” Bruce said, “we are also partners in sharing the good news in Mexico and Texas.”

Posted: 8/8/03

In San Carlos, teen volunteer Britney Smith holds a new glass pane in place while 5-year-old Azusena Cruz, a resident of the house, gazes outside. Through gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions, Baptist workers have helped the Cruz family secure their home and their eternal destiny.

Mary Hill Davis gifts warm hearts & homes

By Craig Bird

Texas Baptist Communications

MISSION–When the first hard freeze bullies its way into the Lower Rio Grande Valley this winter, folks at Kenefick Southern Baptist Church will be thinking about more than potential increases in citrus prices.

Nothing against grapefruit and oranges, but the Dayton congregation will be celebrating the fact Marcos and Alma Cruz, along with 6-year-old Marcos Jr., 5-year-old Azusena and 1-year-old Yvonne, are warm and dry.

This year–thanks to Kennefick's involvement in the Texas Baptist River Ministry–when the cold winds start biting, the Cruz family will shelter inside a newly insulated, caulked and sealed home.

And consider the impact on Kennefick Church. Its heart for missions beats much stronger after its first–but assuredly not its last–partnership with ministries funded through the Mary Hill Davis Missions Offering for Texas missions.

The church, which averages 100 in Sunday School, “had never done anything” like the summer project in San Carlos, just north of Weslaco, reported Pastor Jeff Day. Sixteen Kenefick members, including two teenagers, made the trip, while others maintained constant prayer support.

“We even had two commissioning services,” Day said. “One for those that were going and signed a formal covenant and one for those who publicly committed to praying who also signed a formal covenant. Both groups were part of what happened.”

“What happened” reached far beyond the enrichment of the spiritual and physical lives of the Cruz family.

In addition, Baptist volunteers intent on helping others got the much bigger blessing themselves. People who went to South Texas to give their faith away came back to East Texas with more than they had when they left.

Chuck Burch, a 70-something member of the construction team, got nods of agreement when he noted the experience “made me much more thankful for what we have.”

“More importantly, the trip got me to thinking that we need to open our eyes back home, too,” he said. “There are lots of needy people around us, and we need to be willing to be aware of our neighbors we can help just like we helped the Cruzes and for the exact same reason–because of all that God has done for us.”

Day and his wife, Cathy, “had been praying about a mission trip for years but couldn't justify the $2,000 a person it would cost to go overseas,” he said.

On the fourth day of the volunteers' trip, Marcos Cruz approached Jorge Zapata (in blue shirt), Buckner's liason with the River Ministry, to ask about becoming a Christian. His wife has been a believer for about a year.

Then one Wednesday night, the conviction was so strong–even though the vision was no clearer–“that Cathy got up and announced she was going on a mission trip, and the rest of us could come or not,” Day explained. “When she finished, she was crying, and the only other sound was a lot of heavy breathing.”

Shortly thereafter, the church received a notice about a Texas River Ministry presentation at Tyler. One of the workshops was led by George Zapata, border ministry coordinator for Buckner Benevolences, a program funded through the Mary Hill Davis Offering as well as Buckner. His work includes the San Carlos Community Center. He had a picture of a three-room house, pieced together by a bricklayer named Marcos Cruz.

“Marcos is not a Christian, but his wife has been a believer for a few months,” Zapata explained at the session. “Last winter, they came to the community center because the baby was sick and they had no money for a doctor. When I visited them, they had no food in the house and no warm clothes. It was about as cold in the house as it was outside.”

The Kennefick team planned for the women to teach classes in sewing, nutrition and literacy. Actually, they did the sewing part but wound up putting together a Vacation Bible School instead of the other projects.

Meanwhile, the men overhauled the house. Zapata urged them not to witness verbally to Cruz the first two days, but to “let your actions point to God.”

It can take years for Christians living in the community to lead a handful of families to faith in Jesus Christ, “but there is something about volunteers that speeds things up,” Zapata said. “By the third day, the lost man or woman we are praying for almost always begins to ask questions.

“Marcos did. The first two days, he basically hid, embarrassed at having others help him and his family. But by the third day, he wanted to know what made these people do this. On the fourth day, he told me he wanted to become a 'God person' like these people.”

Day arrived at the Cruzes' house just as Zapata was answering the man's final questions. Immediately, he told the others in the car, “Marcos is getting ready” to make a profession of faith in Christ.

“As a preacher, I could just tell as soon as I saw them talking,” Day added. “It was a marvelous experience to watch.”

So, too, is the experience of watching Kennefick Southern Baptist Church enlarge upon the mission foundation of the trip last June.

“The Cruzes asked how they could ever repay us, but I think we owe them–and George and the River Ministry,” Cathy Day said. “To know that I have Christian friends in San Carlos is worth more than I can express. I'll never be the same.”

On the fourth day of the volunteers' trip, Marcos Cruz approached Jorge Zapata (in blue shirt), Buckner's liason with the River Ministry, to ask about becoming a Christian. His wife has been a believer for about a year.

Posted: 8/8/03

Montaña Vista stands
as mountain of witness in El Paso

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

EL PASO–Texas can't claim many scenic mountains, but this Montaña Vista on the edge of town is a beautiful sight to Baptist association leaders.

Juan Perez, pastor of Montaña Vista Community Church, has been working the outskirts of east El Paso for three years, visiting people and starting Bible studies that would come together to form a church.

He builds friendships within a several-mile radius of his home and encourages families to start home Bible studies. He continually nurtures the network of groups and is available to help if needed.

This Bible study method is a new strategy leaders of El Paso Baptist Association are employing as part of Focus El Paso, an effort to dramatically increase the number of Baptist churches in the border town.

Leo Samaniego, River Ministry coordinator for the association, said the technique is a wise use of a tight budget. The Bible studies require few funds to launch because they demand no building, and if they fail, the association has not lost much financially.

“Right now, we need to build the people,” Samaniego said. “We can meet anywhere.”

The Bible studies also have proved to be effective evangelism tools, because people in the region are more comfortable inviting others to their homes than to a church building, said Samaniego, whose position is partially funded by the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions.

“We can multiply faster and reach the lost for the Lord,” Perez explained.

With the help of missionaries from Hispanic Baptist Theological School in San Antonio, Perez reached unchurched people around his home. He continued nurturing the studies until he had enough people to bring them together to form a self-supporting church.

In a little less than three years, Perez was ready, and Texas Baptist churches joined hands to construct facilities for the emerging congregation. Although the facilities lack some finishing touches, the congregation worships there faithfully.

However, the church does not end with worship, Perez noted. The vision of the congregation is to start churches. To date, members have begun seven places of worship.

“It's work for God,” Perez said. “First we saw the potential of the people and then shared the potential. Afterward, they prayed and decided to be church starters.”

Perez said he was sad to see members leave to start churches because he is close to them, but he takes joy from knowing they are reaching others.

New members are filing into the church, and Perez said he is excited to see how God works through them. The congregation wants to start 14 churches in the near future, he said. “We're praying to see where the Lord leads these new members.”

Samaniego called Montaña Vista Community Church a “model church” that association leaders would like to see replicated across the El Paso/Juarez borderplex. Such churches hold the key to reaching the area through multiplication, he said.

“These churches are 90 percent new Christians. This is not a traditional church. We don't want it to be a traditional church.”

Posted: 8/8/03

Church's mission wrapped
up in its name: Perigrino

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

EL PASO–Most church names are symbolic reminders of the faith or historical markers. For Iglesia Bautista Peregrino, the name points to a ministry.

“Passers-By Baptist Church,” as translated by its pastor, Alfonzo López, reaches out to a constantly changing community of poverty-stricken Texans, recent immigrants and illegal aliens near downtown El Paso.

Residents continuously move in and out of dilapidated federal housing, run-down apartments and rudimentary homes. The overwhelming majority of people are single parents or illegal aliens.

Alfonzo López visits visits with Maria Alvarez and her son Frank about participating in an upcoming Vacation Bible School.

In this setting, López sets out to make a difference in the name of Christ.

“We have need on both sides” of the Texas-Mexico border, López said. “If we look in the United States, we can see a need here.”

Through Urban Allies, a ministry loosely connected to his church and funded by the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions, López provides a food pantry, clothes closet, literacy classes, furniture, household items and occasional financial help to needy families.

He also helps illegal immigrants become United States citizens and then helps them bring their families to Texas.

The humanitarian outreaches are vehicles to share the gospel, López said.

“As they come for us to help them, that's where we share the gospel,” he explained. “We don't promote it as 'we help illegal people,' but the community is such that 50 percent is illegal people. Our goal is to reach people for Christ.”

López believes evangelism is done through relationships, and that attitude can be seen everywhere he goes. He knows most people's names and family and financial circumstances. He remembers each person's needs.

Those he does not know, he stops to meet. He waves at everyone who passes by, and his sincerity seems to be welcomed by all. Even in unplanned visits, people drop what they are doing and invite him in with large grins.

He spends time talking with each person and asks how he can help. He inquires about family members and spiritual conditions. Every conversation ends with a prayer.

Meeting needs is not enough for López's 40-member church. The congregation holds several Vacation Bible Schools a year that include games, movies and Bible studies.

Maria Alvarez's children Frankie, 6, and Fernie, 4, said they enjoy the Vacation Bible Schools. Volunteering for the outreaches fulfills their mother.

“I want something spiritual for the children to learn,” Alvarez said. “I like to share the change Christ has made in my life. They learn a lot about Christ. Nowadays, not many people can teach about Christ openly.”

Additionally, López hand-selects children to go to Opportunity Camp, a New Mexico Christian summer camp for unchurched youth. He chooses kids he believes to be strong prospects for becoming Christian believers.

Children can return to the camp only if they bring at least one non-Christian friend. This year, López can give 12 scholarships to the camp. Other children will not be able to afford the $150 fee.

The events are a step toward a deeper spiritual relationship, he said.

“We can grow people to Christ,” López insisted. “Discipleship is a process. We know in one week we are not going to get everyone to come to church, but maybe we can target four or five families.”

López developed a network of contacts throughout the community that helps him assess needs and organize outreach. Friends and church members identify needy families.

His small congregation has partnered with other churches to improve the neighborhood. Mission teams from around the state have painted and remodeled houses and the church in the community.

The Christians' efforts transformed lives in the surrounding neighborhood. Alvarez was involved in gangs before she crossed into Texas. Another resident, Juan Rodriguez, has overcome alcoholism and is dedicated to his family.

“It is like the Lord Jesus said: You draw the net. Sometimes you catch good people,” López concluded.

Posted: 8/8/03

Volunteers: The future of border missions

By Craig Bird

Texas Baptist Communications

MISSION–Volunteers “are pretty much the future” of Texas Baptist efforts to share the gospel in the Borderlands, insists Loren Fast.

“The population is growing so rapidly, and the local personnel and financial base is far too small to address all the opportunities,” said Fast, field consultant for the Texas Baptist River Ministry in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

But the importance of those opportunities underlines the need for “ministry visitors” to strategically support the dreams and goals of local Baptists with manpower and skills, just as the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions provides financial support.

Conversations with pastors, associational leaders, local program directors and volunteers yielded 10 things to consider when planning a Borderlands mission trip:

Anticipate and work toward a mutually beneficial experience. When different parts of the body of Christ gather, there is no room for parent/child or donor/recipient relationships.

Always keep in mind you will be serving in places that not only are bi-lingual and bi-cultural but also bi-traditional. This isn't Texas as you know it, and it's not Mexico. This is the Valley. You won't always feel comfortable. Trust the residents to interpret for you–not just language but also what works and what doesn't.

Get oriented. River Ministry presents workshops around the state to provide information on prospective projects and contact information. Baptist associations offer on-site seminars, which include one-on-one time with directors of missions. After identifying a project, plan a preliminary visit to the location several months prior to the mission trip to meet the local leaders, discuss their needs and take photographs to share with others back home.

Stay oriented. Commit to open communication with the pastor and other local leaders during the mission trip. Have your prayer support team include prayer that each volunteer would always maintain the attitude of a servant and share the love of Jesus in a Christ-like manner.

Prayerfully and carefully consider signing up for a “three-year plan” with a clear exit strategy. A typical approach is for the volunteers to do 75 percent of the project the first year with local believers responsible for 25 percent. Year two, the work is split 50-50. The third year, it is the volunteers who handle 25 percent of the tasks. Whether construction, Bible school, teacher training or revivals, the goal is for volunteers to work themselves out of a job by training local Baptists to take over.

Similarly, avoid returning to the same location over and over. This is difficult, since you will develop friendships with fellow Christians. But if the volunteers provide an unending source of money and materials and manpower, the local church members are tempted not to take on the work themselves.

Stretch the concept of who goes on mission trips. Seek Spanish-speaking members in your church, and encourage them to participate. Partner with a Spanish congregation in your town, perhaps helping some of its members with travel expenses to increase the bilingual capacity of your mission team.

Stretch the concept of what goes on during mission trips. Consider interactive training so you leave behind skilled Bible teachers and witnesses instead of just memories of the Bible passages you taught or the people you witnessed to. Don't impose a project on the local church. If you have a 60-voice youth choir but their performances don't assist the local believers in what God has led them to do, don't insist on a concert.

Don't donate directly to individuals. Buying shoes for a specific child or buying groceries for a specific family can be gratifying. But allowing the local church and pastor to handle distribution offers multiple long-term benefits.

Match donations to their usefulness. Leftover Vacation Bible School material likely uses illustrations that won't make any sense to children along the Rio Grande. Ask local leaders about Spanish-language Christian publishers. Also, Spanish-language hymnals and Bibles often are needed.

Posted: 8/8/03

Nominees sought for Texas Baptist ministry awards

LUBBOCK–The Baptist Standard and Baylor University will honor three of the state's most outstanding vocational and lay ministers during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session this fall.

Nominations are being accepted for the Texas Baptist Ministry Awards, to be presented at the Truett Theological Seminary dinner at the BGCT meeting in Lubbock.

The awards program encompass three recognitions, each named for a prominent Texas Baptist.

The George W. Truett Award, named for the legendary pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas in the first half of the 20th century, will honor a Texas Baptist minister for a singular ministry achievement in the recent past.

Nominees may include pastors, church staff members, denominational employees, associational workers, Baptist educators, Baptist social workers, chaplains or anyone engaged in vocational ministry.

The first recipient of the Truett Award, presented during the BGCT annual session last year, was Albert Reyes, president of Hispanic Baptist Theological School in San Antonio.

The Winfred Moore Award, named for the longtime pastor of First Baptist Church of Amarillo, will honor a Texas Baptist minister for a lifetime of exceptional achievement in ministry.

Nominees may include pastors, church staff members, social workers, educators or anyone engaged in an expression of vocational ministry.

Tillie Burgin, founder and executive director of Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex in Arlington, received the inaugural Moore Award last year.

The Marie Mathis Award will honor a layperson for a recent singular ministry achievement or a lifetime ministry achievement.

The laity award is named in honor of the first woman elected to office in the Southern Baptist Convention, who also worked on the staff of First Baptist Church of Dallas, directed the Baptist Student Union at Baylor for more than 25 years and served as president of both Texas and SBC Woman's Missionary Union.

Ophelia Humphrey, a longtime state convention and congregational leader from First Baptist Church in Amarillo, received the first Mathis Award last year.

Each award will carry a $5,000 prize.

Nominations must be made in writing and should include the name, address and position of the nominee, as well as the name, address and phone number of the nominator. The letter should include a brief biographical description of the nominee and a brief description of the ministry achievement that distinguishes the nominee.

Nominations should be received by Sept. 15. They should be mailed to Texas Baptist Ministry Awards Nominations, Office of University Relations, Baylor University, Box 97024, Waco 76798-7024.

Posted: 8/8/03

Church's vision for a clinic
grows with aid from other churches

By Heather Price

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–Many poor families enter the Mission East Dallas County Health Services Clinic, each with their own story of heartache. They leave with free medicine, stuffed bears, children's books and the gospel of Jesus.

“You hear stories (about the poverty-stricken), but when you have the person right in front of your face, it is a reality check, and it is hard,” said Jenny Williams, executive director of Mission East Dallas. “That's the kind of person you go home and continue to pray for, for a long, long time.”

Since opening in 2001, the clinic has served more than 1,000 patients from East Dallas County, and about 200 people have professed faith Christ, Williams said.

At the conclusion of every office visit, each patient meets with a registered social worker and has an opportunity to hear the gospel. Volunteers connect them to a church and hand them a Bible as they leave.

While parents receive medical attention, children wait in a brightly colored room filled with books, toys and activities. Volunteers read Scripture books and teach Bible stories.

“This is a first-time experience for many of them,” Williams said.

All children who visit the clinic receive a stuffed bear, donated by the family of an 18-year-old girl who died recently. Her favorite Bible verse is tied around the wrist of each little bear.

In addition, each child picks out two books to take home. The clinic offers the program to encourage reading development.

Mission East Dallas began as an outreach of Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church. Now it is an independent, interfaith organization supported by many local churches and groups.

“This has been the best ministry Shiloh has ever been a part of. We have reached more people at one time than any other ministry has,” said volunteer Jack Morris.

According to the mission statement, the clinic “exists to share the love of God while offering holistic health care to the low-income and uninsured population.”

Patients receive acute health care, basic dental care, medications, social work services, annual immunizations, diabetes education, wound care, screenings and referrals.

Research conducted before the clinic opened found more than 50 percent of the East Dallas population has no insurance, said Elmin Howell, former president of the board of trustees for Mission East Dallas.

The church wanted to provide relief for these untreated medical needs.

“It is very nice that there is some place where you can actually see a doctor instead of going to the ER. We have been looking and looking, and finally we found a flyer about this place,” said Josh Hubacek, a first-time patient at the clinic. “This is something that will help me and my family until I can get (finances) taken care of.”

After receiving help from the clinic, many patients have wanted to express gratitude in tangible ways. Some have expressed their gratitude by serving as translators at the clinic.

The clinic is open from 5 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, and patients are seen on a first-come, first-served basis. Blood pressure screenings are available Monday through Friday. All dental exams require an appointment and can be scheduled on Fridays.

Patients are asked to give a $10 donation to the clinic if they are able. If not, all visits and prescriptions are free.

Because it takes more than 100 volunteers to staff the clinic, there is always a growing need for additional help. Representatives, equipped with a PowerPoint presentation, are available to speak at local churches and organizations in an effort to gain support, Howell said.

The most rewarding part “is the heartfelt gratitude of the patients,” Williams said. “We are making a difference in their lives, and that is my paycheck.”

Posted: 8/8/03

Missions network edges forward

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–Texas Baptists' currently unnamed missions network moved a step closer to being named at its Aug. 7 meeting, and it took strides toward becoming a formally constituted non-profit corporation.

Members of the network's board of directors discussed extensively name proposals and settled on first and second choices for the new entity. The board's organizational committee has been working with an Austin-based consulting firm to conduct market research on possible names for the network.

The board agreed to maintain confidentiality about the names until all research regarding legal availability, trademarks and registration could be completed.

The board should be able to finalize the name selection at its Sept. 9 meeting, according to Becky Bridges, communications director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

At the Aug. 7 meeting, the board also approved a draft of articles of incorporation and bylaws. The board granted Justice Anderson of University Baptist Church in Fort Worth, chairman of the board, authority to sign the legal documents after final revisions are made and a name is chosen for the network.

The governing documents underscore that the purpose of the non-profit corporation is “to connect God's people to advance Christ's call to missions.”

As drafted, the bylaws and articles of incorporation codify the relationship between the network and the BGCT. The governing documents stipulate that three-fourths of the governing board be elected by messengers to the state convention and one-fourth be elected by the board itself.

The documents also state that membership of the governing board should be ethnically diverse and inclusive of both men and women. They also clarify that each board member “shall be an active member of a Baptist church.”

The bylaws also allow the board to create an advisory council “to bring together missions experts and representatives of Baptist conventions from across the world on a regular basis to work on further missions endeavors.”

In other business, Kyle Reese of First Baptist Church in San Angelo reported on progress by the search committee seeking a nominee as staff leader for the network. Reese said the search committee began with a pool of 36 potential candidates and has narrowed the field to eight.