God used headline to call minister to invest his life in Minnesota-Wisconsin_111504

Posted: 11/12/04

God used headline to call minister to
invest his life in Minnesota-Wisconsin

By Miranda Bradley

For Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–Bill Williamson had a feeling he was going to be part of something big when he picked up the Baptist Standard in 1956 and read a headline announcing a new Texas partnership with Baptists in Minnesota-Wisconsin.

“I had a warm feeling in my heart,” he said. “I just knew the Lord was working something out for me.”

Williamson was a seminary student, and he couldn't know just how imbedded the new relationship between Texas Baptists and Minnesota-Wisconsin would be in his life. Four years later he found out, when he was asked to join the effort. Today, he is retired as director of missions for Pioneer Baptist Association in Minnesota.

Since that time when a sprinkling of small churches dreamed of a convention of their own, Baptist work in Minnesota-Wisconsin has flourished into a ministry of great proportions.

In 2004 alone, 10 new churches of varying nationalities were started. From the Korean Church in Woodbury to Faith Vietnamese Church in Mennetonka, it has become apparent the relationship between Texas Baptists and Minnesota-Wisconsin continues to impact many, he said.

“Texas Baptists have had the absolute assurance that what has happened in Minnesota-Wisconsin will have eternal consequences,” said Charles Lee Williamson, retired missions leader with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Texas Baptists have benefited from the relationship between the conventions, he said.

“Texas Baptists have received the satisfaction of watching the development of a mission field as an example of where God has moved across a people,” he said. “And Texas Baptists have had the privilege to carry the blessings God has shared with us with others.”