Posted: 6/25/04
| Youth practice at a Latvian sports camp put together by a Latvian church starter who is partially supported by MHD funds. |
Missions partnerships build
relationships, expand ministries
By John Hall
Texas Baptist Communication
Texas Baptists are expanding ministries through relationships fostered by the Texas Partnerships Resource Center of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions.
Ministries are expanding rapidly worldwide because of funds from the Mary Hill Davis Offering, said Don Sewell, director of Texas Partnerships.
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More than $100,000 of the 2005 offering budget is slated for partnership missions around the world.
Funds are used to train and orient mission teams. They also have been used to improve Baptist encampments in the Northwest United States and work with church growth and international students in New England.
“The spirit of missions is what Mary Hill Davis is all about,” Sewell said. “We carry out that legacy through Texas Partnerships. We gladly work with all kinds of Texas Baptists–the laity, the ministers, the different cultures–and we're honored when we have the opportunity to find a match for them overseas or in the United States.”
Some of the funds will help support 12 indigenous church starters through the European Baptist Federation. Christians are working in nations such as Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine and Latvia.
Most of the workers are beginning churches in areas with little if any Baptist presence, according to reports from Daniel Trusiewicz, who coordinates the effort.
Leaders are using strategies such as youth camps and sports camps to make inroads into communities.
In Moldova, offering-supported church starters focus on reaching children. One offers them music lessons and is hoping to start a youth club in his town. Another organizes evangelistic efforts around Christian holidays. In the summer, he sends children to Christian camps.
Funds from the Mary Hill Davis Offering, promoted by the Woman's Missionary Union of Texas, also support work in the Baptist Convention of New England through a partnership with the BGCT.
Money is allocated to specific requests from the New England convention, particularly to start churches or help ministries on the verge of expanding greatly.
Texas Baptist support “has pushed our work forward at least five years,” said Jim Wideman, executive director of the Baptist Convention of New England.
“In specific areas, it would be more than that.”
Wideman, a Texas native and Baylor University alumnus, said he is grateful for the support from Texas Baptists.
The financial contributions, mission teams and encouragement have helped expand Baptist work in the region, he remarked.
Specifically, he noted Vermont Baptists witnessed a record number of baptisms and mission teams last year.
“That's because Texas Baptists chose to partner with us,” he said.
The Mary Hill Davis Offering supports the following efforts through Texas Partnerships:
Orienting and training for mission teams
Exploring new partnerships
Improving Baptist camps in the Northwest United States
Helping church starting and water purification efforts in Mexico
Working with international students in New England Baptist Student Ministries
Enlisting and encouraging Texas Envoys to minister long-term around the world
Doubling the size of the chaplaincy office at the university in Hong Kong
Starting churches in Germany and Spain
Expanding opportunities in West Africa and Nigeria
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