Posted: 9/15/06

Higgs will lead BGCT
western-heritage ministries

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—Charles Higgs, founding pastor of Cowboy Church of Erath County, has been named director of Baptist General Convention of Texas western-heritage ministries.

He will begin serving on a part-time basis Sept. 15 and become a full-time BGCT employee June 1, 2007. Higgs follows Ron Nolen, who recently retired to become coordinator of the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches. The fellowship works closely with the BGCT director of western-heritage ministries.

Stephenville’s Cowboy Church of Erath County has grown to about 300 members in its first 19 months under Higgs’ leadership. He also helped start several other cowboy churches and been pastor of several traditional Baptist churches.

Andre Punch, director of the BGCT affinity group directors and congregational strategists, said Higgs emerged as the ideal person for the position. He was mentored by Nolen and knows western-heritage ministry well.

“His past experience as a pastor at different churches, his administrative and relational skills are of a very, very high quality,” he said. “We felt he was best suited to do the job.”

The pastor has held numerous positions in Baptist associations and the BGCT, including the Red River Valley Baptist Association moderator, chairman of the Erath Baptist Association evangelism committee and member of the BGCT Executive Board. He also currently serves on the board of directors of the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches.

Higgs earned his doctor of ministry degree from Trinity Theological Seminary in 1998. He earned a master’s degree from Dallas Baptist University in and his bachelor’s degree from Independent Bible College.

Higgs and his wife, Nancy, have one daughter and three grandchildren.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

Around the State

• James King Jr., dean of the College of Business at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, will be the guest speaker at the fall convocation service Sept. 22 at 11 a.m.

• The Howard Payne University Yellow Jacket Band will be celebrating their 100th anniversary during the school’s homecoming activities Oct. 6-7. Friday, the Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma fraternities will host a memorial ceremony in the Davidson Music Complex. Also, former band members are invited to perform with current band students at the 10 p.m. pep rally. A continental breakfast honoring the band will be held Saturday at 7 a.m. The homecoming parade will follow at 10 a.m. Former Band Director Greg Barry will be the parade grand marshal. Alumni band members also are invited to play in the finale of the homecoming football game’s halftime show. The game begins at 2 p.m. The centennial band banquet will be at 7 p.m. For more information, call (800) 950-8465.

• Mark Warren has been named director of institutional research and effectiveness at East Texas Baptist University.

• Leigh Jackson has been endorsed as a chaplain with Seton Healthcare Network in Austin by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

• Bruce Muskrat, emeritus missionary to Argentina, has joined the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute as fellow, professor of church music and missions, director of business affairs and treasurer.

• The Dunham Family Bible in America Museum at Houston Baptist University has opened its fall schedule with new displays that include “The Story of the English Bible,” Earliest Bibles in America” and “Bibles with Connections.” For more information, call (281) 649-3287.

• Dub Oliver, vice president for student life and visiting professor in management at Baylor University, was named the 2006 inductee to the Norman “Moon” Mullins Honor Roll for Distinguished Faculty and Staff. The award signifies leadership, devotion and overall love for Baylor athletics, and recipients are chosen by the Mullins family.

Anniversaries

• Iglesia Manantial in Sugar Land, fifth, July 29.

• Mike Stone, fifth, as pastor of First Church in Crystal City, Sept. 2.

• Danbury Church in Danbury, 70th, Sept. 13-17. Jason Treadaway is pastor.

• First Church in Sutherland Springs, 80th, Sept. 24. For more information, call (830) 947-3333. Frank Pomeroy is pastor.

• J.L. Williams, 50th in the ministry, Sept. 24. He will be honored at First Church in Gainesville with a meal following the morning service. He was licensed to the ministry by Pierce Street Church in Amarillo, which is now Second Church. After graduation from Southwestern Theological Sem-inary, he served 30 years in the Kansas/Nebraska Convention. Since returning to Texas, he has served the Gainesville church as interim pastor and associate pastor.

• Oakridge Church in Denison, 50th, Sept. 24. Sam Garrett is pastor.

• Ben Condray, 10th, as associate pastor of First Church in Midlothian, Sept. 29.

• Oak Grove Church in Harleton, 50th, Oct. 1. The church had its beginnings as a mission meeting under a tree and holding Sunday school classes in cars. Bob Johnson, the mission’s first pastor, will preach. A meal will follow the morning service. Mike Midkiff is pastor.

• Phillip Sitton, 35th, as associate pastor for worship and administration at Shearer Hills Church in San Antonio, Oct. 1.

• Freeman Heights Church in Garland, 50th, Oct. 1. Activities include a 9:15 a.m. breakfast and ministry celebration followed by a 10:30 a.m. worship service with Don Newberry as featured speaker. A catered lunch and afternoon service will follow. For more information, contact larry.fhbc@verizon.net. Larry Venable is pastor.

• First Church in Colorado City, 125th, Oct. 7-8. Saturday afternoon will be a time of fellowship and tours of the church’s facilities. That evening there will be a hamburger supper followed by a song service that will include former staff and members. Former Pastor H.W. Bartlett will speak in the Sunday morning service, and former Pastor Ted Spear will preach. A catered barbecue lunch will follow. For more information, call (325) 728-3442. Jerry Shields is pastor.

• Rosen Heights Church in Fort Worth, 100th, Oct. 8. Former Pastor Forrest Pollock will speak in the morning service. The choir will sing a hymn written by Minister of Music Barry Feriend and Organist Jane Morrison especially for the celebration. A catered lunch will follow. For more information, call (817) 626-3783. Bruce Corley is interim pastor.

• Oak Hills Community Church in Floresville, 10th, Oct. 8. The morning service will feature a video presentation, testimonies and a sermon by Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. A catered meal will follow. Joel Odom is pastor.

• First Church in Luella, 140th, Oct. 8. Former Pastor Bobby Hawkins will preach during the morning service, followed by a meal. Former Pastor Jerry Creek will preach in an afternoon service. Harvey Patterson is pastor.

• Second Church in Amarillo, 100th, Oct. 15. Former Pastor Charles Jones will preach in the morning service. A catered lunch will follow. Make lunch reservations by visiting www.sbcama.org. Wayne Griffin is pastor.

• Plymouth Park Church in Irving, 50th, Oct. 28-29. A reception will be held Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. that will include former staff and members. Sunday will feature a worship service and meal. Participants will include BO Baker, Oral Bowman, Wayne Wood, Walter Draughon, Pres-ton Nix, Jerry Carlisle, Neil Davidson, Cliff McClellan, Bart Young, Cliff Feeler, Carl Rider and others. Youth will celebrate with Al Fike, and children will be entertained by performers from Nana Puddin. For more information, visit www.plymouthpark.org. Ken Branam is pastor.

• Trinity Church in Palacios, 50th, Oct. 29. W.C. Maddox, the church’s first pastor, will preach in the morning service. A lunch at Texas Baptist Encampment will follow. Other former pastors and members will speak of their remembrances of the church. Make reservations for the meal by Oct. 20 by calling (361) 972-3139. Louis Rush is pastor.

• Gregory Gomez, 50th in the ministry. During October, he and his wife will be in Puerto Rico training leaders on the western part of the island.

Retiring

• Duane Kelly, after 20 years as director of missions for Trinity River Association, Oct. 31. He also was pastor of Bethel Church in Marion County, First Church in Avery, Garden Acres Church in Burleson and Second Church in Lake Jackson.

Deaths

• Luis Estrada, 71, Aug. 1 in Corpus Christi. He was pastor of Iglesia Estrella de Belen in Corpus Christi. He is survived by his wife, Manuela; sons, Carlos and Luis; daughter, Alfa Omega Abaunza; sister, Ester Resendiz; brother, Filiberto; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

• Ken Lawrence, 71, Aug. 15 in Fort Worth. He was a member of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute’s commission on teaching, learning and academic administration. He had already evaluated syllabi and examinations and was beginning to evaluate the institute’s administrative documents at the time of his death. An educator and author, he was preceded in death by his brother, Carlton. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Carol; son, Eric; daughter, Cyrena Allen; sister, Kathleen Sims; and two grandchildren.

Events

• The Kiev Symphony Orchestra will perform at First Church in Woodway Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $10, student tickets are $7. They can be purchased at the door.

• First Church in Denton will present its annual House of Judgment Oct. 18-Nov. 1. Cost is $5 per person. This presentation is encouraged for youth groups but is not suggested for children younger than sixth grade. Reservations are suggested and can be made by calling (940) 382-2577, ext. 191. For more information, see fbcd.net. Jeff Williams is pastor.

• A free job search workshop will be held from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at The Heights Church in Richardson. The workshop will include resume critique and development, effective networking skills, interviewing techniques and more. Pre-registration is suggested due to limited seating. To register, send an e-mail with name, phone and e-mail address to: jobseekers@theheights.org. For more information, call (972) 238-7243.

• Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Church in Wichita Falls, was named the recipient of Vision America’s Daniel Award at this year’s Heroes of the Faith gala.

Revivals

• First Church, Center; Sept. 24-27; evangelist, Lonnie Riley; pastor, Michael Hale.

• Colonial Hills Church, Cedar Hill; Sept. 24-28; evangelist, David Crain; pastor, Billy Johnson.

• Immanuel Church, Paris; Oct. 1-6; evangelist, Jeff Meyers; music, Allen Shoemaker; pastor, Randall Scott.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

Book Reviews

A Touch of Jesus: Stories and Studies of Women in the Life of Jesus by Janet F. Burton (Pleasant Word)

Many authors believe historical fiction to be the most difficult of stories to pen. The writer must mesh character, plot and setting with historically accurate research involving names, clothing, vocabulary, events and physical location. In A Touch of Jesus, Texas pastor’s wife Janet Burton not only tackles historical fiction, she adds a theological dimension by imagining and filling in the blanks in the stories of biblical women touched by Jesus.

From Mary’s cousin Elisabeth, to sisters Mary and Martha and the mothers of the little children blessed by Jesus, to the widow who gave her mites, Burton paints word pictures of significant incidents in their lives.

What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com.

But she doesn’t leave the reader there. She offers a behind-the-scenes Bible study surrounding the incident and includes insights gained from her research. Then she adds touch points showing how Christians can reach others in similar circumstances with the touch of Jesus.

If you read a chapter a day, A Touch of Jesus provides 17 meaningful daily devotionals. Also perfect as the basis for a Bible study series, Burton’s book offers a wealth of sermon illustrations, vignettes adaptable for dramatization, devotional thoughts for public presentation and springboards for further study into women important in the life of Jesus.

Kathy Robinson Hillman,

past president

Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas

Waco

God is in the Hard Stuff by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz (Barbour Publishing)

In their newest release, Bickel and Jantz tackle some of the really difficult issues of life just about all of us have to grapple with at one time or another.

So much of life these days seems to be lived in the midst of the “hard stuff,” and a search for answers to the hard questions: Why do the innocent suffer? Why doesn’t prayer always seem to work? Why do good marriages go bad? What do you do when your kids turn away from you? How do you cope with cancer? How do you deal with death?

This powerful little book doesn’t attempt to give comprehensive or quick-fix, easy answers, but it does offer an excellent “primer” to point in the right direction in a search for answers. With a two- to three-page treatments of about 40 “hard stuff” issues, Bickel and Jantz provide some remarkably profound words of wisdom that help us see that God is, in fact, right there in the midst of all of the “hard stuff” of life.

I highly recommend this book for its devotional value. Pastors will appreciate it as an excellent sermon-starter idea book. It also would make a great little gift book, especially for someone you know who is struggling with some “hard stuff” in their life right now.

Jim Lemons, pastor

River Oaks Baptist Church

Fort Worth

Perfecting Ourselves to Death: The Pursuit of Excellence and the Perils of Perfectionism by Richard Winter (Intervarsity Press)

Perfecting Ourselves to Death is an overview of concepts Richard Winter refers to as “healthy perfectionism versus unhealthy perfectionism.”

Much of the book reads like a literature review in a doctoral dissertation, providing highlights from various researchers on the subject of perfectionism.

The most substantive and interesting part of this book comes toward the end, when he discusses identity and purpose as they relate to perfectionism. Within this context, he provides a succinct look at the influences of modernism and postmodernism in our society. He follows this with a biblical perspective on these ideas.

Winter wraps up this work with an excellent chapter discussing a healthy pursuit of excellence and perfection from the Christian perspective of grace. He definitely saves the best for last.

Margaret Hunt Rice, executive assistant to the president

University of Houston-Victoria

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

Baptist Briefs

Association breaks with church over homosexuality. The North Area Baptist Association, a 10-county group of Baptist congregations belonging to the American Baptist Churches-USA, voted 18-3 to break ties with Woodside Church in Flint, Mich., because of its acceptance of homosexuals. Woodside Church decided in May to join the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, a pro-gay organization with 55 member congregations nationwide.

CBF-affiliated program receives federal grant. Sowing Seeds of Hope, a community and economic development organization affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has received a $338,000 federal grant for the creation of a self-help housing initiative in depressed Perry County, Ala. The grant will be used to administer loans to low-income families, who will build their own homes. It will fund four employees and a portion of the salary for executive director Frances Ford. Applicants to the program must still qualify for a loan, which comes in addition to the grant. More than 140 applications from local residents already have gained acceptance to the program. Planners expect to build 20 custom-designed homes within two years.

GuideStone Funds mark five years. GuideStone Funds recently celebrated its fifth anniversary as a registered mutual fund company. The investment funds are affiliated with GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. GuideStone Funds launched on Aug. 27, 2001, with total assets of $7 billion; five years later, the opening balance on Aug. 28 was $8.56 billion.

Oklahoma church inducts worker into hall of fame. First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City inducted Lucy Gibson—pastor’s secretary from 1949 to 1981—into its newly created hall of fame on her 90th birthday recently. In addition to her staff responsibilities, she also was a three-time Woman’s Missionary Union president at the church.

Retired Kentucky Baptist leader dies. Franklin Owen, executive secretary of the Kentucky Baptist Convention from 1972 to 1983, died Aug. 30 in Lexington, Ky., at age 93. During Owen’s years as Kentucky Baptists’ executive secretary, convention receipts in-creased nearly 220 percent, indebtedness was eliminated and ministry reserve funds were established. He also led efforts to build Baptist student centers on the campuses of several universities across the state as well as a major addition to the former Baptist Building in Middletown. Before accepting the denominational post, Owen served 18 years as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Lexington. He also was pastor of other Kentucky Baptist congregations as well as churches in Missouri, Georgia and Alabama.

Richmond seminary president to retire. Thomas Graves, president of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond since 1991, has announced plans to retire next year. Citing health reasons, Graves, 58, will step down July 1, 2007. Graves, who has multiple sclerosis, announced his plans at a called meeting of the seminary’s board of trustees. During Graves’ tenure, the seminary has grown from 32 to 333 students, with 15 full-time faculty and 19 visiting or adjunct professors, and has an annual budget of $3.8 million. Graves grew up in Louisville, Ky., completed his undergraduate education at Vanderbilt University, and received his master of divinity and doctor of philosophy degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also received the master of sacred theology degree from Yale Divinity School. He taught religion at Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach, Fla., and was professor of philosophy of religion at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served pastorates in Kentucky, Florida and North Carolina. Graves and his wife, Wendy, have two grown daughters.

Global Women picks new leader. Cindy Dawson, a former missionary with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has been elected coordinator of Global Women. Global Women, based in Birmingham, Ala., was founded in 2001 as a way for Christian women to network and mentor younger women through shared learning and service. The group encourages and facilitates involvement in mission and ministry among Christian women worldwide. As missionaries, Dawson and her husband, Frank, served with a Romany ministry team eight years in Moscow. There she managed the office, planned events from London to Siberia, organized an international missionary choir and directed music for Hinkson Christian Academy, a school for children of missionaries. The Dawsons and their two daughters live in Pelham, Ala., where she is minister of music at Crosscreek Baptist Church.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

BUA breaks ground for major expansion

SAN ANTONIO—Baptist University of the Americas broke ground Aug. 29 on a new 78-acre campus in southwest San Antonio that school President Albert Reyes called the institution’s “field of dreams.”

The new Baugh Family Campus will include a $4 million student housing complex, the 60,000-square-feet Piper Student Village, opening for the fall 2007 semester.

BUA purchased the 78-acre tract in early 2006 with the assistance of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The new campus is directly across the Pan American Expressway from the current campus and is accessible by a walkover bridge.

Infrastructure development and the housing complex are Phase 1 of the project and represent a $6 million investment, according to university sources. The university hopes to begin Phase 2 within the next three years, and it will include an additional $5 million to $10 million investment for a student services building that will include a learning resource center, dining facilities, a student center and student development offices.

Phase 3 is planned to include administrative and classroom space, a chapel and additional student housing with plans to invest about $50 million in campus development during the next 25 years.

“The generosity of the John and Eula Mae Baugh family and Katie and the late Paul Piper Sr. helps us fulfill our vision for bridging cultures and building lives beginning with the life of each student and ultimately including the countless lives they will enhance during a lifetime of Christian service,” Reyes said. “These visionary supporters recognize that BUA’s personal approach to student development helps many fulfill their potential who might be left behind in larger institutions. We are so grateful to them for this wonderful kickoff to our capital campaign.”

Baugh is founder and chief executive officer of Sysco Foods Corp., headquartered in Houston. Daughter, Babs Baugh, and granddaughter, Jackie Moore, are residents of San Antonio, while Julie Ortiz, another granddaughter, included in the family foundation, resides in Austin. Katy and the late Paul Piper Sr. are founders of the Christ is Our Salvation Foundation headquartered in Waco. Katy Piper lives in Austin, while son Paul Piper Jr. and wife, Shirley, reside in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

The groundbreaking also marked the beginning of a capital fundraising campaign—Crossing Over Together. The campaign, co-chaired by Bill Thornton and Debbie Ferrier, will support a 10-year plan with the ultimate goal to serve 1,000 students on campus with unlimited off-site and online expansion.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

Buckner brings hope to orphans in Guatemala

By Jenny Pope

Buckner Benevolences

Four-year-old Juan Pablo was severely burned as an infant when his mother poured scalding water over his face and body as punishment and then abandoned him. Two surgeries and two orphanages later, he finally has broken away from the once-distant little boy who shuddered at human touch.

Now, with his arms tightly clasped around his caregiver as she swings him around the room, he closes his eyes and parts his lips into a beautiful, if twisted, grin and sways his head back and forth to the music.

Juan Pablo is a changed boy.

A young girl at the Manchen Girls’ Home in Antigua, Guatemala, gets her face painted by a group of mothers and daughters traveling with Buckner Orphan Care International.

With an estimated 22,000 orphans living in Guatemala, Buckner Orphan Care International has worked since 2002 to provide abandoned children like Juan Pablo hope for the future by providing for their physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

What began with a few mission trips has evolved into a full-blown ministry—providing humanitarian aid, such as new shoes, clothing and equipment; building schools and dorms and digging wells; opening two Buckner-run baby orphanages and a girl’s transitional home; and ministering to the hurts and needs of hundreds of children, including many who have come to trust Christ as Lord and Savior.

Because of the unique relationship Buckner has developed with the Guatemalan government, it is the only agency allowed to work in government orphanages and community centers.

“The only reason we’ve been able to grow so much is because each staff member has a great relationship with the Lord and is really dedicated to doing what is best for the children,” said Leslie Chace, director of Latin American ministries for Buckner Orphan Care International.

Buckner employs 12 full-time staff members in areas of adoption, humanitarian aid and special projects, mission team coordination, case management and ministry follow-up.

Juan Pablo, 4, receives special self-esteem building therapy at the newly-opened Buckner Esperanza Baby Home in Guatemala City.

Currently, they work in 12 private and government-run orphanages in Guatemala City, Antigua, Zacapa, Xela and Huehuetenango. They also send aid to many others, including the government-run community centers overseen by Secretary of Orphan Protection Carmen Alicia de Weiner.

Buckner delivered more than 9,000 pairs of new shoes from the Shoes for Orphan Souls project to needy children in the government daycare centers in 2006.

“We value not just the economic help, which I would say is very important, but most importantly how our children feel the love of the people who come and visit them,” Weiner said. “You can see the difference when the group is from Buckner and when the group is another type of volunteers. … Our kids really feel the love and concern.”

Buckner celebrated the opening of its transitional girls’ home in Guatemala City earlier this year through a partnership with entrepreneur Isabel de Bosch, owner of a restaurant chain in Guatemala.

The home cares for seven teenaged girls—three from the Manchen Girl’s Home and four from Fundaninas Girl’s Home, owned by de Bosch—as they transition out of the orphanage and prepare for life on their own. Each attends private school and receives help from specialized tutors in the afternoons.

Linda Williams, a Buckner mission trip participant, consoles a Guatemalan orphan at the Fundaninos orphanage outside Guatemala City.

In addition to the transitional home, Buckner opened its two baby orphanages—Esperanza in Guatemala City and a small home in Xela. Esperanza—which means “hope”—currently cares for four children, each with special needs, which can be best attended to in a private home than in the government baby orphanages, according to the baby home director Abigail de Bauer.

“It is no coincidence that we have children with many emotional and physical needs,” she said. “It wasn’t on purpose, but it was God who prepared our home to be a place for them.”

The children, including Juan Pablo, have experienced tragic circumstances in their few years which has led to many emotional and developmental problems, such as delayed speech, Bauer said. They each receive individualized attention and therapy—such as speech therapy and exercises to increase both dexterity and self-esteem.

Guatemala has the third-highest number of adoptions in the world because many of the children are acquired through illegal means and baby trafficking. It is not uncommon for women to make a business out of having babies and selling them, earning as much as 10,000 quetzals ($1,000) for each child, said Buckner adoptions coordinator Paula Anleu.

In Guatemala—with its 12 million population—officials declared more than 5,000 adoptions completed in 2005. The United States in comparison, with a population of 300 million, completed about 1,000, Anleu noted.

“The system is very corrupt,” she said. “It’s hard when lawyers are doing adoptions much faster than us, in just two to three months, when it takes about six to eight months to do it legally. They are just further promoting families to make a business out of selling their babies.”

Since adoptions began in 2005, Buckner has placed five children into Christian families in the United States. Eight more children are in the process of being adopted.

Buckner first began ministry in Guatemala by sending a few mission teams to work in the orphanages. In 2006, 32 teams will travel to orphanages and community centers in Guatemala to share the gospel, provide humanitarian aid, host sports camps and Vacation Bible Schools, and unabashedly deliver kisses and hugs. Many have developed lasting friendships, sending notes and cards throughout the years to show the children they haven’t been forgotten.

“Without the work of these mission teams, we couldn’t do what we do,” said Chiqui de Mollinedo, executive director of Buckner’s ministry in Guatemala. “The teams just fall in love with the children and then go back to the United States with each child in their hearts.”

“Many of the girls here struggle with low self-esteem,” said Eva de Garcia, director of the Manchen Girl’s Home where most girls have been physically or sexually abused. “When someone from the United States comes to hug them and kiss them, they start to think, ‘I am a really special person.’ You can see the difference. They start having more and more self confidence and learn to value themselves.”

A recent mission trip by 121 Community Church in Grapevine proved fruitful at Manchen when 26 girls professed faith in Christ as their Savior.

“It’s a rough place, and the girls realize that the only way they’ll be able to get through their lives and the hard times is having the Lord in their hearts,” said Ada Ramirez, Buckner follow-up staff member.

“We all get really happy when we hear a group is coming,” said Debora, 17, a former gang member who lives at Manchen. “Otherwise, we have nothing to do. They bring gifts and activities for us; it’s a fun time. It’s very encouraging to hear about God.”

Orphanage improvements and renovations are a large part of Buckner’s work in Guatemala, because “showing the children we care about where they live helps them know we care about them, too,” Chace said.

Last spring, Buckner completed work on the water well at the San Gabriel boy’s orphanage outside of Guatemala City. The $30,000 project provides clean water for a group of boys who at one time collected rain water in buckets and slept on concrete beds, she said.

Other ongoing projects include renovations to the girls’ dorm and kitchen at Manchen, and restructuring the former on-site baby home into a five-room schoolhouse. Buckner also will build a new bakery and computer lab to encourage and support vocational skills for the girl’s future.

“My greatest hope for these girls is to give them all the benefits I can while they are here, especially the attention and love,” Garcia said. “If even just one of the girls that I took care of can have a great future, a family, a successful career, it will all be worth it.”

“Mother Theresa once said that there is no greater disease than being unwanted,” said Amy Norton, director of Shoes for Orphan Souls, to a mother/daughter mission team before they departed to love on orphans.

“I’ve been to orphanages all over the world … but I’ve never, ever been so overwhelmed or shocked than when I came to Guatemala and heard some of the stories about the children who are abused, sold and prostituted out by their families. They wake up every day feeling alone and unwanted.”

But they are not unloved. Due to Buckner’s partnership with the Guatemalan government and several private orphanages, thousands of children receive hope—through a laugh, a toy, new shoes or a gentle hug—and know they are loved.

“Buckner has given me an injection of energy,” Weiner said. “It’s good to know we have friends who are willing to help us fight for what we believe in, because this is a battle we fight everyday. I know we are not alone.”

For more information on Buckner’s work in Guatemala, visit www.helporphans .org.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

BGCT budget proposal reflects
reorganization, other changes

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

The 2007 Baptist General Convention of Texas budget proposal the Executive Board will consider Sept. 25-26 not only reflects a comprehensive staff reorganization that occurred this year, but also includes incremental steps toward bringing into the budget items previously covered by discretionary funds and designated gifts.

The $50.6 million recommended budget represents about a 2 percent increase over the $49,437,000 budget for 2006. Of the total proposed budget, $42,441,000 would come from Texas Cooperative Program receipts.

But on top of the $50.6 million budget proposal, BGCT Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer David Nabors also will show the finance committee and then the full Executive Board how an additional $1.1 million from wills, trusts, interest income and some designated gifts will be used to fund operations in the coming year.

“We are trying to move as much into the budget as possible in the interests of transparency and accountability,” said BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade.

But the 2007 budget could not absorb the full amount needed to fund ministries, and it will take at least one more year to complete that process, he added.

Since the new organizational structure did not exist when messengers to last year’s BGCT annual meeting approved the 2006 budget, it makes simple side-by-side comparisons of the two budgets difficult.

Further complicating the picture, this year’s budget incorporates more—but still not all—of the programs funded by wills, trusts, interest income and some designated gifts that had, in the past, been allocated at the discretion of the treasurer’s office.

For instance, based on the budget proposal mailed to Executive Board directors, the recommended operations budget—excluding the executive director’s office, financial management and Texas Baptist Men—totals $42,218,838, a $1,122,393 increase over 2006.

It shows decreases for three areas in the operations segment of the proposed budget: missions, evangelism and ministry, down $700,667; institutional ministries, down $205,138; and the chief operating officer’s office, down $205,352.

But in terms of actual dollars available from other sources—and considering the shifting of staff and program assignments within the staff structure—missions, evangelism and ministry’s net loss actually is closer to $130,000 than $700,000, and institutional ministries will receive an amount roughly equal to the 2006 budget, Wade explained.

About $200,000 previously earmarked for church starters moved from the missions, evangelism and ministry area into the category with congregational strategists, he said.

An additional $370,000 in anticipated funding will come from discretionary and designated funds.

Within the recommended operations budget, the communications office shows the largest single increase in the comparative budget summary mailed to the Executive Board—up $437,389.

That apparent increase reflects the movement of most budgeted funds for publicity and promotion from individual program areas into the communications office, Wade explained. It also brings into the budget many expenses for the BGCT annual meeting previously funded through other sources. But the second-largest single increase shown in the proposal—$407,591 for theological education—represents a real funding increase, he added.

Based on the information mailed to the Executive Board and not considering additional funding from non-budget sources, other areas showing significant increases with the operations category include Christian ethics and public policy, up $282,217; the leadership team, up $245,124; research and development, up $242,153; congregational strategists, up $208,255; collegiate ministries, up $199,109; and the service center, up $115,053.

In other areas of the proposed budget, the executive director’s office shows a $216,673 decrease, most of it attributable to the elimination of a $199,644 line item for the Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention.

“Minnesota/Wisconsin is being moved out of the budget and will be funded in a decreasing manner over the next few years of our partnership agreement,” Wade said.

The formal partnership ends in 2010, but Texas Baptist Men and Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas will continue to relate to the Minnesota/Wisconsin convention, he added. Financial support for the convention for the remaining years of the partnership will be allocated from designated missions offerings.

The executive director’s office also shows a $69,988 reduction in recommended budget allocation for WorldconneX.

Financial management receives a $202,314 increase over 2006, according to the recommended budget, and Texas Baptist Men’s proposed budget increases by $54,966.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

2nd Opinion:
A ‘giant’ who cared for all children

By Jerry Haag

Editor’s Note: Jess Lunsford, the founding administrator of South Texas Children’s Home, died Aug. 28 at age 96. STCH is one of four childcare agencies affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Jess Lunsford was a giant. If you only knew Jess by his physical stature, you would wonder why anyone would characterize him as a giant. But if you knew Jess by his character, wisdom, relationship with Christ, heart or dreams, “giant” does not do him justice. Giant is too small for Jess Lunsford.

I have enjoyed reading his journals and want to share some of them with you. Some of the early struggles Jess faced occurred because people did not know the function of a children’s home. During Christmas of 1955, Jess wrote about the strange request he received one night at South Texas Children’s Home. He wrote: “Three oilfield workers at the door last night wanting to meet some of our girls—imagine; we never saw this before. They were shown the shortest route out of the grounds.”

Jess wrote about the heartaches that grew out of where the children had come from and what they had experienced. As I read these stories, I was struck how many of them are the same tragic stories of our children today at South Texas Children’s Home.

He also wrote about what touched his heart. At Christmas in 1955, the children and staff went together to buy him a two-piece suitcase set, something he badly needed. On Dec. 26, 1955, he wrote: “Joe, 13, leaned on the car door last evening in back of cottage and said, ‘Brother Lunsford, you know how much I put in on your gift, (the two-piece suitcase)? All my allowance, I did it because I love you so much.’ If my eyes were wet, I’m not ashamed.”

Through God’s wisdom and leadership, Jess established the principles that still guide us today. Jess established in our bylaws that South Texas Children’s Home never would be in debt and never would take state and federal funding. It was his firm belief that if God wanted this work done, then God would provide the funding through his people. Jess believed, as we still do today, that meeting the physical and emotional needs of the children is not enough. The greatest gift we can give the children is a relationship with their heavenly Father through his Son, Jesus Christ.

I spoke to Jess by phone just a few days before his death. He always asked me how things were going and for an update. Our last face-to-face visit was in an Austin hospital, after he broke his hip. We talked about how he was doing and what was taking place at South Texas Children’s Home. As I was getting ready to leave, he said something I never will forget. Jess looked up at me and said, “I’m proud of you, son.” In those very few words, he said so much.

Lil Abshier, who first came to know her future father, Jess, when she still was called Lillie May Dworaczyk, said in an interview: “J.M. Lunsford will always be the giant and the one in my life. For me, he was it—the one who made the difference.”

Jess Lunsford always will be a giant to thousands upon thousands of children, to generations of children in need. He was the one who made the difference to Lillie May. He was the one to make the difference to thousands of children during his time at South Texas Children’s Home. It was his God-given dream that made it possible for South Texas Children’s Home to help more than 5,400 children and families this past year. It is his enduring dream that will care for countless children for generations to come.

What we see happen in the lives of children today, tomorrow, next year, even 50 years from now is a testimony to Jess Lunsford’s dreams, his dedicated work and his consuming passion.

I close with one last entry from his journal for Feb. 7, 1955. “The prayer of the day: O, Lord, help me to know that I do not know much, and give me the grace to use what I do know and lean on thee for the rest.”

“Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Mathew 25:21).

Jerry Haag is president of South Texas Children’s Home, near Beeville.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

Volunteers share gospel with
children in Dominican Republic

By Joanna Berry

South Texas Children's Home

VILLA MELLA, Dominican Republic—Eleven volunteers and staff from South Texas Children’s Home helped lead Vacation Bible School for children in the Dominican Republic.

The Texans worked in Villa Mella, a rapidly growing community north of the capital city of Santo Domingo.

They took part in Vacation Bible Schools at 15 locations in four days—teaching stories and songs to children in small wooden portable chapels, under trees in vacant lots and in empty school buildings. Some packed small homes, spilling out onto patios and surrounding alleyways.

South Texas Children’s Home worked in partnership with Quisqueyana Baptist Church and Time Ministries. Together, 135 workers shared the gospel message with 2,200 children—including 421 older children and youth who made professions of faith in Christ.

“It was the kingdom of heaven coming down, and we were blessed participants,” said Sandra Downs, a member of First Baptist Church in Beeville.

Dominicans and Americans met first for worship and orientation, then organized into five teams for the morning locations and regrouped into 10 teams for the afternoon classes.

Working with the Dominican Christians had an unforgettable impact on team members.

“I wish I could bottle their enthusiasm and their faith. It would send a wave of revival across the United States that has not been seen in decades,” said Donald Wilkinson, a member of First Baptist Church in Sinton. “They have such a love for God and for the children.”

The children—and their physical needs—touched the hearts of the volunteers, said Jerry Haag, president and chief executive officer of South Texas Children’s Home. “Beyond their tattered clothes and dirty faces, they are exactly like our children—longing to be held, loving to laugh and in desperate need of a Savior. How grateful we were to be God’s hands of love.”

The volunteers delivered clothing and blankets to a family caring for 35 children of prostitutes who had been living on the streets before they took them into their home.

Printed on the blankets were, “Jesus Loves You” and “Jesús Me Ama.” The children at South Texas Children’s Home and the children of First Baptist Church in Beeville assembled and tied the blankets for the children of the Dominican Republic.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

DOWN HOME:
Not just a house, this was a home

It’s only a house.

Gray brick with black shingles. A terrific “open” kitchen/den, laid out so a family can spend an entire evening together in the same room. Three bedrooms; two up and one down. A shower in the master bath that takes eons to get hot. Formal living and dining rooms that serve primarily as the shortcut between a small office and the kitchen. A two-car garage that doubles as a leaf magnet in the fall. And a yard that, despite my best intentions, always could use weed-pulling or flower-planting.

It’s only a house.

But for almost 11 years, it was our home.

We sold it last week.

Joanna and I talked about this for several years. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is a great place to live, with terrific restaurants, plenty of things to do and friends all over the place. The only really bad aspects of living here are ungodly hot summers and demonic commutes to work.

So, since we couldn’t do anything about the heat, we decided to improve our quality of life by shortening our commute. And since we didn’t move so far that we needed to change churches, this move seemed smart and easy.

Well, maybe smart. Over the course of a year, this move will save us the equivalent of days, if not weeks, of driving. Over the balance of our careers, that will add up to months, if not years. Plus, we’ll do our part to save the earth by burning less gas.

But this was anything but easy.

Our daughters, Lindsay and Molly, grew up in that house, our home. We woke up to 11 Christmas mornings there. We celebrated dozens of birthdays there. We ate innumerable evening dinners around the oak table in the kitchen. We read an infinite number of books and watched untold hours of TV together in the den.

In our home, we laughed and cried and talked and dreamed. We rejoiced in all the little victories of life and hugged each other through the little defeats, too. We got sick and recuperated. We danced on the kitchen floor and cried over by the fireplace. We marked milestones, like Lindsay and Molly’s graduations, Lindsay’s wedding, first dates, births of the next generation of our extended family, the death of our beloved dog, Betsy.

When I think about that house, I understand why, in the Bible, the Hebrew people placed such an emphasis on place. They understood that a space becomes sacred—not so much in and of itself, but in how the people experienced God there. And in our home, we saw, felt and heard the activity of God’s good and great blessing in our lives, day by day, year by year. If I were an Old Testament patriarch, I would have stacked stones into a monument in the backyard before we vacated the premises.

Now, Lindsay and Molly have grown up and moved away, so Jo and I have moved on. I’ll always think of 1365 Edmonton Drive as home. But I’ll also know home for me is wherever Jo is, and my heart will feel at home wherever our girls may roam.

—Marv Knox

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/15/06

EDITORIAL:
Eternal lament: Why did God do this?

“Why did God do this to me?”

I don’t know how loudly James Polehinke asked that question, but his words reverberated around the globe.

Polehinke is the only survivor of Comair Flight 5191, which crashed in a private farm just past the end of Blue Grass Airport’s Runway 26 at 6:07 a.m., Aug. 27. Forty-nine other people died.

Polehinke, the co-pilot of Flight 5191, remained in serious condition in the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital in Lexington. The Louisville Courier-Journal, which reported Polehinke’s question, said he did not specifically mention the crash. Still, contemplating his pain and loss, he asked the question that has sprung from the lips of suffering souls for millennia: “Why did God do this to me?”

Polehinke asked the question of family friend Antonio Cruz, who responded: “It was not God. It was just an accident.”

The Courier-Journal cited human errors that led to the awful crash, the worst air disaster in the United States in almost five years:

• The air traffic controller who cleared Flight 5191 for takeoff had only two hours’ sleep between shifts. Immediately after giving the go-ahead, the controller turned to other administrative duties and did not visually monitor the airplane’s progress.

• The pilots had not taken off from the airport since the taxiway had been changed a week earlier. Although the flight recorder indicated they noticed their runway did not have working lights, they did not ask why.

• The plane’s compass should have indicated the aircraft was pointed in the wrong direction, yet the pilots continued.

• Ultimately, the plane took off from Runway 26, which is only 3,500 feet long—half the distance needed by commercial carriers that size. The pilots should have steered the plane the opposite direction down 7,000-foot Runway 22.

• The plane skidded on the grass at the end of the runway. Then it hit, in succession, a berm, the airport’s perimeter fence and the tops of trees before crashing in farmland.

The sole survivor asks: “Why did God do this to me?” A friend responds: “It was not God. It was an accident.”

Do you think God caused the crash of Flight 5191? Throughout time, people who have sought meaning in unspeakable horror have pondered God’s role in suffering. Devoted and thoughtful people of faith have offered answers that span a significant spectrum of possibility. On one end, people who defend God’s absolute sovereignty claim nothing happens aside from God’s design. So, whether we find this awe-inspiring or just plain awful, they believe God causes planes to crash and newlyweds, Habitat for Humanity volunteers, college professors and parents of small children to die. At the other end, people who defend God’s unconditional love insist such unjust suffering is contrary to God’s nature. So, as random and capricious as tragedy may be, they believe God has nothing to do with it.

No one fully knows or comprehends the infinite wisdom and logic of God. We who affirm God as Creator and Lord of all cannot fathom anything beyond God’s will and reach. We who affirm God’s limitless love as exhibited in the sacrificial death of his Son, Jesus, cannot imagine God would behave so willfully and destructively and take 49 lives just to make any kind of theological point.

Each of us who ponders God’s role in evil and suffering will come down somewhere along that spectrum. You must make your own evaluation. But count me as one who believes God would not propel a plane down a short runway and shove 49 people into eternity on a Sunday morning. God’s perfect will would not inflict such unspeakable suffering. God’s permissive will allowed it.

And why would God allow such horrible decisions? The same reason God has been allowing humanity to make bad decisions since the beginning: The Bible clearly indicates God created people so we could receive and reciprocate God’s love. In order to reciprocate, we must be free—free to love God, but also free not to love God. With that freedom comes the full scale of freedoms to make all kinds of choices—to drive drunk, abandon children, abuse our bodies, taxi the wrong way down a too-short runway.

The deaths of a planeload of people might seem like an awful price to pay for the freedom to make choices, including loving or not loving God. But it also ought to remind us how wild and furious and costly and precious is that freedom.

Lest we think God takes our freedom lightly, remember God sacrificed God’s only Son to redeem us from our wrong choice not to reciprocate divine love. God knows and bears our suffering.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.