Posted: 10/28/05

Skater evangelism blends
boards & Bibles to reach teens

By Helena Andrews

Religion News Service

PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS)–Tattoos, piercings, skateboards–and Jesus? That combination may have seemed heretical a decade ago, but now mainstream churches have flipped a “one-eighty,” using skateboarders to bring teens into the fold.

“I think it often takes time for Christians to catch up on culture trends,” said Kevin Palau, executive director of the Oregon-based Luis Palau Evangelistic Association. The group produced Livin' It, a 40-minute DVD featuring skateboarders who also are Christians.

Livin' It has been one of the most popular skateboard videos of all time, and PalauFest Pro-ductions, the production arm of the evangelistic association, recently re-leased a second DVD, Livin' It LA. It features big-name skaters Christian Hosoi, Matt Beach, Lance Mountain, Lynn Cooper and others.

In addition, a “Livin' It Tour 2005” was launched earlier this year, with skateboard demonstrations and Christian testimonies in 20 cities.

“It takes time for churches and larger ministries to feel safe and comfortable with something new,” Palau said, but thanks to the ministry his father started in the mid-1960s, mainstream churches are seeing the advantage of blending boards and Bibles.

Skateboarding, which has gotten a bad reputation over the past 20 years as leading boarders into drugs, alcohol and sex, isn't the rebellious teen subculture it once was, Palau said. It's a powerful evangelistic tool, he said.

Skateboarders form a circle of prayer at an event sponsored by the Oregon-based Luis Palau Evangelistic Association.

The definition of Christian skateboarding is loose, but the Palau method melds wicked tricks on the half pipe with a Billy Graham-style evangelistic message. After demonstrating the newest moves, skateboarders then tell their personal stories to an attentive teen crowd.

Palau festivals have attracted young people with a combination of skateboarding, BMX biking, contemporary Christian music, food and a message from Luis Palau, the 70-year-old evangelist. The most recent festival was held earlier this month in Washington, D.C.

Tom Fain, a former pro skater turned youth pastor, says the Palaus have put a new spotlight on Christian skateboarding, but it has been around for years.

“My first experience with a skateboard ministry was actually in the late '70s, and there were a few organizations doing it back then,” Fain said.

In 1987, Skatechurch, arguably the nation's first organized skateboard ministry, was founded by two friends in the parking lot of Central Bible Church in Portland, Ore. Other groups followed, and traveling skateboard ministries sprouted across the country–the King of Kings Skateboard Minis-tries based in Idaho, Steel Roots in North Carolina and Glory Skateboards in California, among others. Estimates of how many skateboard ministries exist nationwide exceed 300.

The connection be-tween grinding and the gospel is obvious, Fain said. After winning the National Skateboarding Association's world championship in 1978, he said, he found his life empty.

“The fame and the money wasn't making me happy, so I just walked away from my career,” Fain recalled. So for most of the 1980s, he wandered the streets of Ventura, Calif., homeless, an alcoholic, sleeping on beaches and landing in the local jail.

Getting locked up, he said, is what saved him.

“I cried out to God one night, and someone gave me a Bible in jail,” Fain said. A week later, he stopped drinking, and in 1995, he convinced Sap Skateboards, a Christian skateboarding company with religious-themed boards, to sponsor him.

He traveled around Southern California demonstrating the company's boards and telling his story.

Now the owner of Sap and a youth pastor at Ventura Assembly of God, the 43-year-old Fain considers himself “a cutting-edge type of a Christian.”

The Palaus want to be on the cutting edge of evangelism. Since 1999, the ministry has been using skateboarding to grab the attention of the new extreme-sports generation. It builds a10,000-square-foot skate park at each of its U.S. festivals, which have seen nearly 2 million attendees in the past six years. About 30 percent of those are young people.

“Our vision was to take an evangelical celebration outdoors and make it more appealing to not just the Christian community, but the community at large,” said Craig Chastain, communications director for the evangelistic association.

By the Palau organization's count, about 52,000 people have converted to Christianity at these revivals. They want to add as many teens to that number as possible.

“More kids are riding skateboards now than are playing organized baseball,” Chastain said. So to extend their ministry even further last year, the evangelistic association got together with actor Stephen Baldwin to direct Livin' It.

But some Christians in the skate community take exception to selling evangelistic skateboarding videos, arguing they should be free.

“There's a lot of people right now trying to jump on the Christian skateboarding bandwagon to make a buck,” Fain said. “It's kind of sad. It's almost like they're compromising their beliefs.”

Palau organization spokesmen said the $10 retail price of their DVD is about one-third the price of most skate videos. Proceeds are re-invested in the ministry and the production of more DVDs. Kevin Palau said that of the 100,000 DVDs distributed so far, about one-third have been given away, including shipments sent to soldiers and chaplains in the military. Most have been distributed to churches and other ministries at or below cost, he said.

“It's very much a nonprofit ministry type of venture,” Palau said. “But our people have told us that if you just give something like this away it's not perceived as having value.”

Glen Darcey, a Christian skater since the 1970s who is shooting a DVD that will feature several pro skaters, said he doesn't plan to charge for his production. His goal is to go beyond the impact of the Palau DVD to get “reviews in Trans World, Skateboarder magazine or Thrasher–the legitimate skate outlets where non-Christian skaters would actually find out about it.”

While DVDs and their pricing will differ, there is agreement that skateboarding has become an effective vehicle for evangelicals to reach today's youth culture.

“People right now are hungry for something spiritual,” Fain said. “The method of reaching them constantly has to change to (adapt to) our culture, but the message we're delivering never changes.”

Posted: 10/28/05

Around the State

Baylor University's Martin Museum of Art is hosting two biblical art exhibitions. Talmud and the Art of Ben-Zion and Marc Chagall will run through Nov. 16 and showcase the works of two of the most important Jewish artists of the 20th century. Collector's Items: Biblical Art and Private Devotion will run through Dec. 3. Prints of biblical narratives dating from 1510 through 2000 are featured include the works of Durer and Rembrandt. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call (254) 710-1867.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will hold homecoming festivities Nov. 4-5. The events begin with homecoming chapel on Friday morning, when the Alumni Association will present the Distinguished Alumni Award and Honorary Alumni Award. The Heritage Club, graduates of 50 years or more, also will be honored. That evening will feature class reunion dinners, Friday Night Live, a pep rally and a dessert party. Saturday events include a golf tournament, campus tours and a tailgate party. Reservations for the barbecue lunch of the tailgate party must be made at (254) 295-4599.

Green Acres Church in Tyler has been named one of America's safest churches by GuideOne Insurance due to the church's risk-management efforts.

James Parker, Abilene businessman and philanthropist, has been named recipient of the John J. Keeter Alumni Service Award at Hardin-Simmons University. The award is presented to the alumnus who has contributed the most in his or her field of endeavor toward the betterment of HSU. His service to the university includes working on the board of trustees from 1995 to 2003 and the board of development from 2004 to 2006. He also is a deacon at First Church in Abilene, where he has worshipped since 1959.

Albert Reyes, president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Baptist University of the Americas, urged students to "shine like stars in a dark world" during his address at Hardin-Simmons University's fall convocation.

Howard Payne University has added nine faculty members and five adjunct instructors. New faculty include Corey Ash, instructor of music and director of bands; Cathi Ball, instructor of art; Mary Carpenter, assistant professor of Christian studies; Brett Coulter, assistant professor of math; Johnathan Marlow, associate professor of communication; Keith Mask, associate professor of psychology and department chair; Joe Miracle, instructor of communication and director of student media; John Sneed, instructor of social work and coordinator of field instruction; and Ronald Walenga, associate professor of chemistry. Adjunct instructors are John Alamo, music; Tim Cooper, computer information systems; Bethany Hastings, developmental math; Cleresa Reding, developmental math; and Randy Rives, Christian studies.

A review by the Com-mission of Collegiate Nursing Education has found East Texas Baptist University's department of nursing to be in full compliance.

Don Byrnes, retired legal counsel to the president, and Linda Clark, administrative assistant for the office of academic affairs, have received Houston Baptist University's Mayfield Outstanding Staff Awards.

Dallas Baptist University celebrated Sue Mitz's 40 years of service with a gala musical event. Performers from across the nation entertained a packed house to honor her contribution to their lives. The professor of music came to the university in 1965, the year the school opened its doors in Dallas.

Despite health issues during the year, Mission Service Corps missionaries Gerald and Ora Lee Tomes are gearing up for their Christmas ministry along the Rio Grande. Those wishing to contribute to their longtime gift distribution to the colonias can call (903) 784-7346 for a better idea of their needs.

Anniversaries

First Church in Eagle Lake, 130th, Oct. 9. Chris Thacker is pastor.

Mel Hooten, fifth, as pastor of South Park Church in Lubbock, Oct. 15.

Mike Haun, fifth, as minister of education and music at First Church in Maypearl, Oct. 29.

First Church in Eastland, 125th, Nov. 12-13. Robert Jeffress will preach the dedication sermon for the church's new multipurpose facility at 4 p.m. Saturday. Tom Goodman will preach the anniversary sermon at 10 a.m. Sunday. For more information, call (254) 629-3355. Shawn Brewer is pastor.

Retiring

Reggie Bowman, as minister of education at Pioneer Drive Church in Abilene, Oct. 23. He served the church nine years and was in the ministry 43 years. He will be available to lead conferences and other ministry on a part-time basis.

Jerry Griffin, as director of missions for Kauf-Van Association, effective March 31. One that date, he will have served 46 years in Kaufman County–33 years as pastor of First Church in Forney and 13 years with the association. The search team is collecting resumes for the next director of missions at the association office, P.O. Box 708, Terrell 75160.

Death

Fredalene Tapley, 77, Oct. 11 in Coleman County. She served with her pastor/missionary husband during 53 years of ministry in Texas and New Mexico. She was a member of Valera Church in Valera. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Darrell; daughter, Nancy Whitworth; sons, Jim and Gary; sisters, Mary Lou Fuller, Edna Sparks and Helen Smith; and six grandchildren.

Events

A play to benefit The Well Community, a church for the mentally ill, will be held Nov. 4 and 5 at Cliff Temple Church in Dallas. The play, Venice in the Moonlight, entertains as well as educates about the difficulty of living with mental illness. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with complimentary dessert, and the play begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 each. For more information, call (214) 942-8601, ext. 306.

Jonathan Martin, of family group The Martins, and Melissa Evers will be in concert at First Church in Devers Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. For more information, call (936) 549-7653. Harry McDaniel is pastor.

A training event for church planters will be held Jan. 9-10 at Northwood Church in Keller. The Turbo Training conference will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. Registration is online at www.glocal.net, and the cost is $100. Trainers will be Bob Roberts, Glenn Smith and Lance Ford.

Ordained

Jeff Campbell to the ministry at Faith Church in Corsicana.

John Eck, Ginny Howell, Jeff Newton and Lori Roberts as deacons at Broadway Church in Fort Worth.

Scott Nevins, Reggie Miller and Wayne Thomas as deacons at Crossroads Church in Marshall.

Larry Benton, Wendell Moore, Greg Petersen and James Tindell as deacons at Oak Grove Church in China Spring.

Sean Crowder, Cody Dailey, Scotty Fisher, Grover Fyffe and Stephen Keithley as deacons at First Church in San Marcos.

Carl White and J.D. Babin as deacons at White Creek Church in George West.

Sam Olaniram, Jeremy Winters and Bill Dunlap as deacons at Redbud Church in Lubbock.

Willow Laugen as a deacon at Wildewood Church in Spring.

Revival

Shady Shores Church in Shady Shores; Nov. 6-9; evangelist, Carl Lane; music, Mackey and Gale Willis; pastor, Bob Joyce.

Posted: 10/28/05

BGCT annual meeting focuses on unity

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

“One Family–One Mission” is the theme of the Baptist General Convention of Texas' 120th annual meeting, Nov. 14-15 at the Austin Convention Center.

“I would like to see Texas Baptists gather for a great celebration of what God is doing in our churches throughout the state,” said Charles Wade, BGCT executive director. “We will see demonstrated that we are one family and we have one mission. I hope when we go back to our churches, we'll go back excited and encouraged because we really make a difference in Texas.”

Texas Baptists have much to celebrate, he noted. They continue serving after a tsunami devastated South Asia and hurricanes struck Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Mexico. Christians are meeting physical and spiritual needs in every Texas Baptist church around the state, he said.

John Nguyen, pastor of Vietnamese Baptist Church in Garland, will preach the annual meeting sermon Nov. 15.

In addition to the celebration times, more than 65 seminars will be offered. They will provide information about ministry strategies and issues facing churches.

In business matters, messengers to the annual meeting will vote on a revised constitution that includes a reorganized and streamlined BGCT Executive Board structure.

The proposed constitution, which was affirmed last year, would take effect this year if approved. The document reduces the number of BGCT Executive Board members by more than half and eliminates many of the convention's boards, committees and commissions.

“The governance changes we will be voting on represent a new era of effective stewardship of our Texas Baptist human, congregational, institutional and individual resources,” BGCT President Albert Reyes said. “The changes are long overdue and represent the most dramatic and compelling organizational changes in a generation.”

Texas Baptists also will elect a new convention president. Reyes is eligible for another term as president but has said he will not run again.

He would be the second consecutive president to serve a single one-year term, following Buckner Baptist Benevolences President Ken Hall.

Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth, is the only declared nominee for president. If elected, he would be the first African-American to serve in that post.

Messengers also will consider a proposed $49.4 million budget, an increase of about $2 million from last year's spending plan. Nearly $41.3 million depend on gifts through the BGCT Cooperative Program unified budget plan that distributes funds to ministries throughout Texas and around the world.

CityReach Austin, a collaborative evangelistic effort by Austin Baptist churches, and Weekend Fest, a Nov. 12 contemporary Christian concert featuring Tree63 precede the annual meeting.

Also prior to the meeting, a prayerwalk through the convention center is scheduled at 4:30 p.m., Nov. 12 starting in exhibit hall 4.

For more information about the BGCT annual meeting, visit www.bgct.org and click on the annual meeting icon.

Posted: 10/28/05

Institutional board nominees
to be considered at BGCT

The following information is provided in compliance with the bylaws of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Board nominations for trustees, regents and directors to be considered by messengers to the BGCT annual meeting in Austin, Nov. 14-15, are presented by the Committee on Nominations for Institution Boards.

Key: % nonchurch/denominational employee; # new trustee; + elected by an institutional board; @ elected at a BGCT Executive Board meeting and must be elected at the annual meeting; and E/1 one-year extended term. * The CNIB recognizes that these individuals are serving on two boards, which is contrary to policy; however, the CNIB recommends their approval. This situation occurred partially due to adjustments between the governing documents of the institutions and the BGCT. The committee felt their approval was in the best interest of the institutions and the BGCT. Steps have been taken to avoid this in the future.

Baptist University of the Americas

Term to expire in 2008: Jesse Aguilar, Converse; Doug Diehl, San Antonio; Phyllis Nichols, San Antonio; Johnson Omoni, Grand Prairie; % Juliet Smith, Orange; #% Jo Betsy Szebehely, Austin; # Roland Rodriguez, Dallas

Baylor University

Term to expire in 2009: Howard Batson, Amarillo; Bobby Dagnel, Lubbock; #% Gary Elliston, Dallas; % John Reimers, Beaumont

Dallas Baptist University

Term to expire in 2008: % Mike Arnold, McKinney; #% Ellen Byrd, Dallas; Jim Denison, Dallas; # Bob Dean, Garland; #+% Amy Jones, Grapevine; % Richard Keathley, Arlington; #% Wright Lassiter Jr., Dallas; #+% Alva Parks, Montgomery, Ala.; #% Dorothy Renfrow, San Marcos; % Scott Robinson, Dallas; #% ——– ——–, Dallas; % Joseph Williams, Dallas

East Texas Baptist University

Term to expire in 2008: Kenneth Branam, Irving; #% Gwen Estill, Texarkana; Bill Everett, Carthage; Harlan Hall, Carthage; #% Jerry Hamilton, Houston; % Sheila Hurtte, Daingerfield; # Laney Johnson, Longview; #% Patty Jones, Tyler; % Ken Livingston, College Station; David Massey Sr., Hallsville; Bob Mayfield, Tyler; % John Scull, Tenaha; #+% Jimmie Sheffield, Little Rock, Ark.; # Tim Watson, Longview; #% Don Woolley, Mesquite

Term to expire in 2006: #+% Margaret Unkel, Dayton

Hardin-Simmons University

Term to expire in 2008: #% Kay Henard, Amarillo; % Bonnie Baldridge, Jayton; Ron Blevins, Garland; #% Lila Lee Senter, Abilene; % Hilton Hemphill, Dallas; % John Hyde, Midland; % Neal Lowry, Abilene; % Allan Meador, Abilene; % Norma Schaffer, Abilene; #% Rob Wiley, Abilene; #% Tina Hunter, Abilene

Houston Baptist University

Term to expire in 2008: + Garry Blackmon Sr., Houston; +% Gem Childress, Sugar Land; +% Ray Cox Jr., Houston; +% Karl Kennard, Spring; % Grady Randle, Houston; Ed Seay, Magnolia

Howard Payne University

Term to expire in 2008: Larry Bertrand, Houston; #% Rudy Camacho, Fort Worth; % David Currie, San Angelo; % Iva Hamilton, Brownwood; #% Lynn Nabers, Austin; #% Roy Poage, Coleman; Pepper Puryear, Mount Vernon; Clinton Stewart, Brownwood; % Leonard Underwood, Brownwood

Term to expire in 2006: # Brad Helbert, Abilene; #+% Arnold Oliver, Wichita Falls

San Marcos Baptist Academy

Term to expire in 2008: #% Jimmy Creel, Port Neches; # David Edwards, Georgetown; % Ed Fauver Jr., San Marcos; % Stanley Finch, San Marcos; #% Ross King, San Marcos; #% Mack Phipps, Belton; % Jimmie Scott, San Marcos

Term to expire in 2007: #% Carl Hefton, Richardson

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Term to expire in 2008: +% Bob Black, Houston; Andy Davis, Belton; #% Rodney Deyoe, Salado; % Joe Durrett, Houston; #% Martha Galligan, McAllen; #% Perry Fulcher, Dickinson; % Leska Hendricks, San Antonio; #% Carl Hudson, Rockdale; # Vernon King Jr., Woodway; #% Eduardo Lara, Temple; % Ronald Lemon, Houston; + Pam Manly, Austin; % Janie Minten, Falfurrias; % Don Ringler, Temple; % Gordon Wiggers, Belton

Valley Baptist Missions/Education Center

Term to expire in 2008: # Daniel Rangel, Mission; #% Claudio Cruz, Austin; Victoria Price, Beaumont; #% Rosa Zapata, Harlingen; #% Sam Allen, Grand Prairie

Term to expire in 2007: #% Jimmie Hough, Harlingen

Wayland Baptist University

Term to expire in 2008: % Tom Brian, Lubbock; Stacy Conner, Muleshoe; % Max Gabriel, Plainview; Travis Hart, Plainview; % Donald Jackson, Amarillo; % Terry Rhoads, Midland; #% Sally Walker, Arlington; % Peggy Wall, Plainview: #% Jim Hollon, Lubbock

Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio

Term to expire in 2008: % Mary Ann Brogan, San Antonio; Ronnie Carter, San Antonio; Roland Lopez, San Antonio

Term to expire in 2006: @% Ann Morrison, San Antonio; @% John Owens, Lubbock; @% Emily Simons, San Antonio

Baylor Healthcare Systems

Term to expire in 2008: %Albert Black, Dallas; Brian Harbour, Richardson; +% Ed Kinkeade, Grapevine; +% David Walls, Rockwall

Hendrick Medical Center

Term to expire in 2008: % Leigh Black, Abilene; Calvin Gray, Stamford; Ward Hayes, Sweetwater; % Patsy Kelley, Abilene; % David Morris, Abilene; % Lanny Vinson, Abilene

Hillcrest Medical Center

Term to expire in 2008: % Billy Davis Jr., Waco; % Marc Fowler, Waco; Loretta Oliver, Waco; #% David Alford, Waco

Memorial Hermann Baptist Hospital

Term to expire in 2008: #% Jimmie Carpenter, Beaumont; % Nell Morris, Beaumont; #% Ann Scoggin, Beaumont

Term to expire in 2007: #% Loretta Hughes, Orange

Valley Baptist Health System

Term to expire in 2008: % Jack Abbott, Harlingen; % Chris Allen, Harlingen; #% Bob Boggus, McAllen; #+% Gary Schwarz, McAllen

Term to expire in 2007: @% Vernon Stenseng, Harlingen

Baptist Community Services

Term to expire in 2008: % Bob Callan, Amarillo; % Bob Gerald, Amarillo; % Craig Sanders, Amarillo

Term to expire in 2007: #+% Sam Bass, Amarillo

Baptist Memorials Ministries

Term to expire in 2008: % Mike Boyd, San Angelo; # Jim Butler, Odessa; #% Santos Elizondo, San Angelo; % Gail Flood, San Angelo; #% Ronnie Goodwin, San Angelo; #% Jamie Highsmith, San Angelo; # Larry Howard, Burnet; % Marvin Moore, Sweetwater; % Steven Saldivar, Lamesa

Term to expire in 2006: #% Linda Love, Sonora

Baptist Child & Family Services

Term to expire in 2008: David Dykes, Tyler; % Les O’Farrell, Kingwood; % Kristi Tschoepe, San Antonio

Buckner Baptist Benevolences

Term to expire in 2008: #+% Amed Bendfeldt, Guatemala; #+% Rebecca Brokenbek, Richardson; Carol Brian, Amarillo; +% Lee Bush, Athens; +% Ed Francis, Dallas; #% Cassandra Harris, Missouri City; #+% Nell Morris, Beaumont; % Nancy Neal, Lubbock; +% Bill Pratt, Fort Worth

South Texas Children’s Home

Term to expire in 2008: % Brad Akin, Stockdale; Dorso Maciel, Laredo; E/1% Jenie McCraw, Mathis; #% Myra Starkey, Victoria; Richard Rogers, Huntsville; Harold Sellers, Rosenberg; David Silva, Beeville; #% John Weber Jr., San Antonio

Term to expire in 2006: #@% Gene Kuykendall, Boerne

Texas Baptist Children’s Home & Family Services

Term to expire in 2008: % Charles Boyd, Round Rock; % Billie Sue Cariker, Round Rock; % Dan Gattis, Georgetown; #% Hal Harris, Austin; #% David Lykes, Georgetown; Lisa Massar, Tyler; % Norma Teetes, Bryan; % John Winder, College Station

Baptist Church Loan Corporation

Term to expire in 2008: #% Charlie Black, Abilene; #% Milton McGee Jr., Henderson; #% Daniel Ochoa III, Boerne; Bill Shockley, San Antonio

Baptist Foundation of Texas

Term to expire in 2008: #% Mary Burleson, Dallas; #% Ansel Condray, Dallas; #% Maston Courtney, Amarillo; #+% Robert Fowler, Houston

Term to expire in 2006: @% John Owens, Lubbock

Baptist Standard

Term to expire in 2008: % Jon Mark Beilue, Amarillo; #% Ron Ellison, Beaumont; % Dan Malone, El Paso; #% Charles Risinger, Gilmer; Charles Walton, Conroe

WorldconneX

Term to expire in 2008: % Irma Alvarado, Donna; # Tom Billings, Kingwood; # Josh Guajardo, Katy; # Kyle Henderson, Athens; % Patrick Shing, El Paso; # Matt Sprink, Waco, % Mike Stroope, Dublin; + Cindy Wiles, Arlington; Dennis W. Young, Missouri City

Term to expire in 2007: #+ Julio Guarneri, Fort Worth

Posted: 10/28/05

Baptist Briefs

Former UMHB campus minister named CBF regional coordinator. L.W. "Dub" Pool, who served 11 years as Baptist Student Ministries director at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, has been named coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Pool has been minister of education at Heritage Baptist Church in Annapolis, Md. When not traveling to churches within the region, Pool will work from Washington, D.C., in office space provided by the District of Columbia Baptist Convention. Pool and his wife, Donna, have two daughters, Becky and Jackie.

Kentucky Baptists, Georgetown College propose new relationship. Officials of Georgetown College and the Kentucky Baptist Convention are proposing a new working relationship that would allow the college to have a self-perpetuating board of trustees while maintaining historic ties between the two organizations. The proposal would eliminate direct convention funding of the college but insulate the trustee board from a fundamentalist takeover. Under the new plan, the college's trustee board will become self-perpetuating, with Kentucky Baptist Convention funding phased out over a four-year period. Rather than all trustees being Baptist, up to one-fourth could be from other denominations. The new Georgetown plan is proposed by a 14-member joint workgroup formed in August to discuss the working relationship between the two entities. It still must be approved by the college's board of trustees and by messengers to the Kentucky Baptist Convention annual meeting Nov. 15-16 in Frankfort, Ky.

Posted: 10/28/05

Brooks retires after 27 years with BGCT

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–E.B. Brooks, who led the Baptist General Convention of Texas' church missions and evangelism efforts, has retired after 27 years of ministry with the state convention.

Brooks, a Tyler native, joined the BGCT staff in 1979 as a consultant in Christian social missions and interfaith witness. Later, he became director of the convention's church-starting effort and eventually was named coordinator of BGCT missions and evangelism ministries.

Under his direction, BGCT staff members worked with Texas congregations in church-starting efforts above and beyond other Baptist church-starting ventures, BGCT Exe-cutive Director Charles Wade said.

Since 1988, when he assumed BGCT church-starting leadership, the convention helped start nearly 3,400 congregations.

“E.B. Brooks' retirement from the BGCT puts an exclamation mark on a life of mission achievement,” Wade said. “E.B. led Texas Baptists in one of the most successful church-planting efforts in the history of any denomination. He will continue to be an effective missions advocate and strategist, and there will be many opportunities for continued partnership and involvement.”

Brooks' insight added to the life of each person he met, Wade observed.

“I have been encouraged and challenged by the breadth of his vision and the depth of his passion for fulfilling the Great Commission,” he said.

Ron Gunter, BGCT chief operating officer/associate executive director, echoed Wade's sentiments. Brooks diversified the convention's church-starting efforts to help reach an increasingly diverse state, he noted.

“E.B. has been a faithful servant for some 27 years with the convention,” Gunter said. “He has been an inspiration to everyone in his desire to plant churches across this state. E.B. has always been a visionary.”

Two years ago, Brooks was instrumental in launching City Core Initiative, a BGCT-supported effort to transform city centers with the gospel.

As his last official duty as part of the BGCT executive board staff, Brooks led the convention's re-cent disaster res-ponse efforts in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Brooks said he enjoyed putting together a team of experts who helped Texas Bap-tists accomplish their mission of serving God.

“The BGCT is 5,700 churches working together with the world on their heart and willing to invest themselves in following the commands of Christ in that world,” he said.

“It's church members committing themselves and their church to cooperation with other churches and other Christians in helping the hurting, strengthening churches, evangelizing the lost.”

Posted: 10/28/05

Posted: 10/28/05

Saintly Chinese foster families
care for special-needs children

By Marv Knox

Editor

URUMQI, China–“What do you think?” someone asked as a group of Buckner Orphan Care International volunteers filed out of a foster-care family's apartment building.

“Saints,” Elvin Smith of Rockwall replied.

His answer was terse, yet sufficient.

The rest of the volunteers understood exactly what he meant shortly after they climbed four flights of narrow stairs. They entered a cramped apartment–maybe 800 square feet, concrete floors, four rooms–crammed with love.

And they met a foster family who labor tirelessly to provide physical and emotional comfort to three tiny special-needs children.

Healthy chinese orphans such as this baby in the Beijing city orphanage, are prime candidates for adoption.

The foster mother remains with the children–a 15-day-old baby with spina bifida and two older boys with Down syndrome, all of them abandoned by their birth families–almost around the clock. Her teenage daughter works nights in a local café so she can stay home during the day to help her mother, until the father/husband arrives home from work and the son gets home from school.

Wang Jian Hong, director of the Changji Social Welfare Institute, in Xinjiang Province on the far western edge of China, chose this family specifically for this task.

They previously provided foster care for five children–one who was adopted by a Chinese family and four who were adopted internationally.

This family stands out in the number of children under their care, but not their commitment.

Buckner's interest in orphanages–and particularly foster care–in China is fueled by a passion for children and a desire to give them tender care, explained Jeff Jones, operations director for Buckner Orphan Care International.

The theory behind foster care is simple: Children need the loving touch of families, Jones said. “We want all children in families.”

Buckner's experience through generations verifies that children in family homes tend to develop better socially, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually than do children in institutional settings, he added.

In China, as in the United States, recruitment of foster families is a priority–and a challenge, explained Guo Chang Zheng, director of the Shihezi Social Welfare Institute, also in Xinjiang Province.

Finding families who are willing to bring special-needs children into their homes is one thing. Finding families who can afford it is still another.

The Chinese government pays each foster family only 400 yuan–about $50–per month per child.

At that rate, the foster families, especially families who care for disabled children, actually subsidize the program. The financial demands upon foster families include feeding and clothing the children, but also providing transportation to therapy and doctor visits, plus all the incidental expenses of raising youngsters.

Orphanages are careful about who they allow to become foster parents, said Zuo Yan Qing, vice director of the civil affairs bureau in Urumqi, the political and commercial hub of Xinjiang, and longtime director of the orphanage in Urumqi, the province's capital city.

Couples must meet stringent requirements regarding education, character, health and stability before they can even be considered for assignment, Zuo ex-plained. To stay active, they also receive training weekly, sometimes daily.

Zuo described recruitment of foster families as difficult. The orphanage advertises for volunteer families through local media, but most learn about the program as information regarding needs spreads from family to family, she said.

Even though the task is daunting–92 percent of children under the Urumqi orphanage's care have special needs–the response has been more than sufficient, Zuo reported. The orphanage has placed 260 children in foster homes, but it still has a waiting list of couples who want to be foster parents.

The growth of foster care in China is most encouraging, Buckner President Ken Hall said. Buckner has promoted foster care around the globe and has written foster-care protocols and procedures for some countries.

Now, foster care is widespread in China, Jones added. “Every place I've been, there are more children in foster care than in orphanages.”

And although he can't prove it, Hall has a strong hunch Christian families are stepping up to provide a significant portion of foster care, both in Xinjiang and across China.

After all, if Jesus urged his followers to care for “the least of these” in society, who could be more “least” than a handicapped, abandoned child in a country whose population growth devalues children?

The faith motivation for foster families won't be known soon, for at least a couple of reasons. Years of communist oppression have made many Christians wary of publicly expressing their religious belief. And, perhaps as significantly, centuries of Chinese reserve and respect for others teach all people to keep their opinions to themselves.

Still, subtle signals support Hall's theory.

He received implicit confirmation of his hunch during Buckner Orphan Care International's recent mission trip to China. At one orphanage, a foster father pulled Hall aside, patted his hand over his heart and said just one word: “Jesus.”

Also, Xinjiang is known for its strong and active Muslim population and its Buddhist influences. But Buckner volunteers who visited foster homes did not see a single indication of Islamic or Buddhist influence in those private spaces, where religious symbols of Islam and Buddhism often abound, he said.

So, many of the foster families across China may be exactly who Smith said they are–saints.

Posted: 10/28/05

'Orphan Souls' means more than shoes

By Marv Knox

Editor

BEIJING, China–Shoes for Orphan Souls is about more than just shoes.

Every orphanage where the Shoes program ministers–not only in China, but also in Bulgaria, Guatemala, Kenya, Latvia, Peru, Romania and Russia–faces other pressing needs, noted Jeff Jones, operations director for Buckner Orphan Care International.

“We try to respond to realistic requests–to meet needs not funded by the governments that operate the orphanages,” Jones said, explaining why Buckner workers take money as well as shoes to the orphanages.

“We have donors in the States who want to help orphans around the world. They trust us to make decisions on requests that will immediately benefit children.”

The money Buckner invests in the orphanages not only helps children, but it also produces other benefits as well, he added.

“It demonstrates our desire to have a long-term relationship with that particular orphanage. And as we continue to support each of these orphanages, we build relationships not only with the orphanage leaders, but also with the government agencies that operate those orphanages. Then, as the governments see our consistency and how we benefit the children, the doors open wider for us to have long-term impact on child-care programs.” Buckner creates a budget for each country where it operates. Some donors make designated contributions to specific countries, while others give to the program in general.

During the recent Shoes trip to China, Buckner contributed funds to help the orphanages in each city:

Beijing, $5,000 to furnish a new “family home” section of the orphanage. It will allow children to spend time with a caregiver in a home-style setting. The Beijing orphanage also asked Buckner to conduct nationwide training conferences for child-care workers.

Changji, $4,000 for rehabilitation equipment, so workers can treat severely handicapped children. This small orphanage in a poor region has a variety of needs, from a rice steamer to a minivan that would be used to take children to see the doctor.

Shihezi, $1,060 for four water heaters. Other requests include computers, so children can keep pace with their classmates who live with their parents.

Tianjin, $5,000 to fund one of the large orphanage's most pressing needs, a treatment room for children with autism. The Tianjin orphanage also requested training for its workers.

Urumqi, $1,000 to purchase three bathing beds for handicapped children. The Urumqi orphanage also asked for training conferences, and its many needs include fall and winter clothing, children's walkers, a water purifier and an industrial clothes washer.

Posted: 10/28/05

2nd Opinion:
How can a benevolent God allow evil?

By James Rudin

If you want religion to represent more than “sermons, songs and shaking hands,” you need to confront theodicy–the problem of evil and suffering–as soon as possible.

In recent weeks, I have met many people who are stunned by the unrelenting series of natural and human disasters–lethal earthquakes, sudden tsunamis, murderous mudslides, destructive hurricanes, continuing genocide, “evil but not insane” (President Bush's term) terrorism, global warming, rising ocean levels and predictions of an influenza pandemic that will kill tens of millions of people.

If the religious community does not respond in a meaningful and timely manner, increasing numbers of men and women will seek spiritual answers elsewhere, including membership in dangerous cults, New Age claptrap or other seductive substitutes. If the questions of theodicy are not publicly addressed, the Marxist definition of religion as the “opiate of the masses” will not be so easily dismissed.

Laypeople may be unfamiliar with the theological term “theodicy,” but they are surely asking theodicy-focused questions. Sadly, theodicy as a subject frequently receives scant attention in seminaries and is rarely discussed when rabbis, priests and pastors meet with one another. It's time to change this lamentable situation.

For the record, theodicy (the Greek for “the justice of God”) concerns how the existence of a benevolent God can be reconciled with the persistence of human evil and horrific events that kill and maim the innocent. Many theologians have struggled with the effort to reconcile the coexistence of evil and God, and in case you play “Trivial Pursuit,” remember it was Gottfried Leibniz in 1710 who first coined the term “theodicy.”

F.M.A. de Voltaire offered one popular response to theodicy with his Dr. Pangloss character in “Candide”: Evil people and events do not conflict with God's goodness, and this is, after all, the best of all possible worlds.

Well, maybe, and maybe not.

Calvinist Christians teach that everything that happens is part of God's righteous plan, and although some events are indeed evil, they still reflect God's morally justified purposes that finite humans cannot always understand. In this theological system, God never loses or is truly called to account.

How often have we heard grieving parents throw up their hands when their young son or daughter drowns in a hurricane or is lost in an earthquake? “God knows best. God wanted or needed my child more than I did.”

Perhaps.

Some Christians and Jews believe God creates humans with choice or free will. It is we, not God, who carry out evil actions, and the divine gift of freedom of action is a supreme good. Evil deeds are the result of an “eclipse of God” (Martin Buber's words following the Holocaust). While this lets God off the hook for evil human behavior, it does not explain catastrophic natural disasters.

My favorite response to theodicy is exemplified by Hasidic Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev (1740-1809), who constantly challenged God and symbolically put the Creator on trial for permitting evil to occur in the world.

Yitzhak's powerful courtroom imagery teaches that active questioning and engagement with God is far better than passive acceptance or Panglossian pabulum.

James Rudin, the American Jewish Committee's senior interreligious adviser, is distinguished visiting professor at Saint Leo University.

Posted: 10/28/05

DBU students spend fall break
ministering in Mississippi

GULFPORT, Miss.–More than two dozen Dallas Baptist University students devoted their fall break to helping Mississippi residents recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“Our students, along with the entire nation, watched in disbelief at the destruction caused by the storm,” explained Jay Harley, DBU director of spiritual life.

“They wanted somehow to respond and to reach out to those who needed help.”

Dallas Baptist University students and staff pose outside a home in Gulfport, Miss.

Harley planned the Gulf Coast clean-up mission, reorganizing an already-scheduled fall break mission trip.

“Every year, we encourage our students to participate in service projects during fall break and spring break,” he explained. “This year, we had a unique opportunity to go into these devastated areas and help in tangible ways.”

The student volunteers removed debris, demolished irreparably damaged buildings and salvaged items from homes.

In addition, some students participated in rebuilding work at a local church.

“It was amazing to be able to help people who are still in such great need even over a month after the storm,” senior Kati Kavanagh said.

The DBU team served in several residential areas of Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss.

“It was great to be able to serve individuals and families here,” senior Brittany Bradley said. “We cannot imagine what they are experiencing, and I hope God used our work to help them with their immediate need and also to remind them that he has not forgotten them.”

The mission trip to Mississippi was one aspect of an ongoing ministry by DBU students to hurricane victims.

In the initial weeks after the storm, DBU students helped evacuees from the area by serving in camps, sorting clothing, packing supplies and being a friendly face for weary people.

Students (l-r) Jay Harley, Yuta Motegi, Taylor Robinson, and Shohei Kishida remove a destroyed refrigerator from a home in Gulfport, Miss.	Volunteers (back, l-r) Cody Caudill, Jon Grimes, Chris Crawford, (front, l-r) Jay Harley, Preston Hagaman, and Carlos Pinero of DBU help clear debris outside a home in Gulfport, Miss.Photos by Dallas Baptist University

Posted: 10/28/05

DOWN HOME:
Who couldn't love a child like that?

At first, he wouldn't look at me.

He's an orphan boy, most likely a “social orphan” abandoned by his Chinese parents because of his mental deficiencies.

Maybe you can blame his mother and father for turning their backs on their son. But you also can understand. To curb over-population, the Chinese government allows each family only one child. And in China, a healthy son is like Social Security–protector in old age. So, while walking away from your baby seems unthinkable, some Chinese think it's necessary when that baby happens to be a girl or handicapped.

I met this little boy in Changji, in northwestern China. A group of U.S. Christians visited five Chinese orphanages as part of Buckner Orphan Care International's Shoes for Orphan Souls program.

He sat on his foster mother's lap, taking in a collection of Americans–a strange sight for a tiny Chinese boy on the backside of the Gobi Desert, where few people who look like us ever venture.

I talked to him as I removed his old shoes and smoothed his socks, but he wouldn't look down. Maybe the sight of a white man so close was just too much.

But he didn't cry, and I kept talking: About his warm wool outfit. About his soft, brown hair. About his new red shoes.

When I finally tied his new shoes and placed his old shoes in the new shoes' box, I didn't know what to do next. Most of the time, I can talk a baby into smiles, if not giggles. But this kid kept staring past me.

So, I started stroking his cheek, rubbing his neck, holding his tiny hand.

He looked into my eyes. I fell in love.

After a minute or two of eye-to-eye one-way conversation, he slid off his foster mom's lap and into my arms.

He never uttered a sound, but we “talked” about all the new shoes the kids received, and how the big kids seemed to have all the fun over there, skipping around and jumping up and down.

He didn't decline when I suggested we go over and join the big kids. (As if he could understand my English. As if I could speak his Chinese.) But when I stood up, he knew change was afoot.

He turned toward his foster mom. He turned on the biggest frown you ever saw. He started to cry.

And, ironically, my heart leaped for joy. His tears testified that, despite being born handicapped and abandoned in a poor city in a remote region, this little fellow knows he is loved.

I handed him back to her. She laughed and shushed him, brushing away his tears with the palm of her hand. He turned in her lap, snuggled his head up under her chin, grabbed her coat with each chubby hand and pulled her close.

Later, when it was time to go, I walked back over to them, caressed his cheek and waved bye-bye.

His foster mother whispered in his ear. Then he smiled. And blew me a kiss.

Who wouldn't travel halfway around the world to meet a child like that?

–Marv Knox