Posted: 9/01/06

Gulfport members learn
church not just brick and mortar

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

GULFPORT, Miss. (ABP)—Members of First Baptist Church of Gulfport have learned a lot in the year since Hurricane Katrina destroyed their waterfront church buildings. Mostly, they’ve learned that a church is much more than an edifice.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” Pastor Chuck Register said. “Probably the most exciting thing for us has been being forced to rethink the New Testament (concept of) what really is the church. The church is not brick and mortar.”

Katrina erased much of Gulfport, a town of 72,000 before the storm, which hugs the Gulf shoreline. First Baptist was located a few hundred yards from the water, in the center of downtown.

A photo of the congregation’s decimated sanctuary was published around the world, symbolizing the response of faith to tragedy. It even inspired a country-gospel song about indomitable faith.

The sanctuary’s ruins are gone now. But the lessons of Katrina live on, Register said. Church members have learned the joy of fulfilling Christian responsibilities, namely to worship God, spend time with other Christians and tell other people about Jesus, he said.

The patience to refocus and reflect came gradually, though. After initial elation about surviving the storm, many church members became depressed with the seemingly hopeless state of their ruined homes and the partially abandoned town, Register said.

“We rode the typical disaster psychological profile,” Register said, adding that it began with the “euphoric, mountaintop, ‘we’re survivors’ mentality” and progressed to a subdued resignation.

“If you follow that curve, you get to a point where reality sets in, and you realize that this is going to be a long-term recovery,” he said. “There is a deep emotional cavern that follows. And then eventually you follow that out past the one-year anniversary, and things begin to pan out to a more normal routine. This is going to be a multiyear process.”

Founded in 1896, the church had to demolish its sanctuary that was built in 1967, and the three-acre plot of beachfront land where it stood is now up for sale. Demolition crews began tearing down other church buildings June 21, so current Sunday services are held at Gulfport High School’s auditorium.

Meanwhile, the congregation has bought a 34-acre site several miles north of the Gulf. Phase one of the new project will be finished in March 2008, Register said, and the church will raise money for the project with the help of profits from the three-acre plot sale.

Financially, Register said, the church has fared relatively well. Sunday morning numbers have dropped in recent months, often because people work on restoring their houses on Sunday, but the congregation has been “extremely blessed” in meeting its budget. They also have information posted online about how to give money for disaster relief and to the congregation.

Register also continues to lead the congregation in prayer to be more outwardly focused on the Gulfport community—something that could elude them as they begin a building project.

“The biggest challenge has been trying to help a community that is 80 percent unchurched to see that with Christ there is hope,” he said. “Through Christ, even in the midst of challenges, his grace is sufficient.”

Help from Southern Baptist volunteers has aided that outreach, Register added. The work has given Baptists an inside advantage in the community, especially when people see that “it’s Christians who put their roof on, who took the trees off their house. …”

“What we discovered is that when the church loves as she should love, we bring a sense of hope to those families,” he said. “They see that people do care. They are interested, and they want to help. With the help of our community and churches and our spiritual community, we will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

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: 9/05/06

Explore the Bible Series for September 10

Without faith, it is impossible to please God

• Hebrews 2:5-18

By Howard Anderson

Baptist University of the Americas, San Antonio

As we listen to God’s word, we are challenged to grow in faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Faith is trust in an unknown future. Faith is the life-blood of the just. Faith is the shield of Christian armor. Faith is the guarantee of answered prayer.

Through faith, we can see Christ is perfectly qualified to be High Priest to all humanity. We can be certain Christ shares our circumstances, feelings and humanity in order to be the sacrifice for our sins.

God’s intentions for humanity (Hebrews 2:5-8)

The superiority of Christ to the angels is urged not only because Scripture testifies to it but also because of what Christ was and did during the days of his flesh. Psalm 8 speaks of the wonder of humankind as compared with the majesty of the heavens; God has made us a little less than divine and subjected all things to us. God gave humanity the dominion over all the earth; however that dominion can become tragically demonic if exercised out of relationship with Christ. This is God’s original design—giving humanity complete control of all God has created.

Some part of God’s creation is subjected to every individual, regardless of social status, race, ethnicity and gender. Each of us has authority over 168 hours each week. Each of us has an opportunity to tell someone about the goodness of God. You are somebody! At times, we probably doubt that by the way we feel.

God has a personal interest in you, and that is why he sent his Son not only as priest but also the sacrifice. Jesus becoming human is both psychological and sacrificial.

Our design as seen from a New Testament point of view is more meaningful. John writes concerning Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Jesus’ identification with humanity (Hebrews 2:9-13)

Jesus, the Son of God, indeed was “made a little lower than the angels” for a time, because of the suffering of death. Angels are immortal and cannot die. It was necessary for Jesus to be capable of death that he might taste death for every human being. As a result of his death, we are cleansed in our consciences. Jesus Christ appears in the presence of God for us, on our behalf and in our stead, in human form, and his experience becomes effective for every person on this earth.

The people of faith must realize that glory is in the suffering and death of Jesus. It was suitable to divine wisdom, justice and the program of grace to offer Jesus as a sacrifice in order to bring many sons and daughters to “glory.”

Jesus is the great Sanctifier, who sets apart and consecrates men and women to the service of God. They, who are consecrated and set apart to the service of God, are all one, in the same family, and called brothers and sisters.

The use of Old Testament quotations is interesting and instructive. Jesus Christ, as the fulfillment of God’s revelation, is seen as the speaker of the prophetic word through the psalmist and the prophet. When the author of Hebrews listens to the prophetic word of the Old Testament it is really the voice of Jesus that he is hearing.

Jesus’ intervention for humanity (Hebrews 2:14-18)

The Son of God was not by nature “flesh and blood.” He took upon himself that nature for the sake of providing redemption for humanity. “Power of death” is the ultimate purpose of the incarnation—Jesus came to earth to die. By dying, he was able to conquer death in his resurrection. By conquering death, he rendered Satan powerless against all who are saved.

For the believer, “death is swallowed up in victory.” The fear of death and its spiritual bondage was brought to an end through the work of Christ.

In verse 16, the author sums up his argument about Jesus being better than angels, declaring he did not take on the nature of angels, but became the natural seed of Abraham. It was necessary that he be made in all things like unto his brethren that He might be a merciful and faithful high-priest in the things of God, to remit their sins by his own atonement, and to represent them in time of temptation (vv.17-18)

The author shows the Hebrew people that Jesus had to be made a human being. He came from Abraham according to the flesh, and was one of their own people. Redemption could not have been possible otherwise. Jesus has to suffer to redeem, and he now is able to help and deliver all humankind who are tempted.

Prophetic preaching must portray Jesus as the one who overcomes the demonic host. His power to cast out demons, heal the sick, and cleanse lepers must be seen as the assurance that he has both authority and power to overcome the forces that hold humans in slavery. As High Priest, he not only represents God’s purpose in rescuing his creation, but also has undergone temptation and suffering and “is able to help” men and women who are subject to these afflictions.

Discussion questions

• How often in the course of a day do you realize your importance to God? Would that realization becoming constant in your life change the way you live?

• How does Jesus’ willingness to release his divinity change the way you live each day?

• Jesus came to earth to die that we might live. What do you need to “die” to so that others might have a clearer picture of the abundant life available through Jesus Christ?

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: 9/05/06

Pastor uses retirement funds to help restore church

By Carla Wynn

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

NEW ORLEANS (ABP)—Pastor Lawrence Gaines has spent $35,000 of his personal retirement funds to help restore his church building, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

“We’ve gotten to the point now where we just don’t have any other (financial) source to keep going,” said Gaines, pastor of Little Zion Baptist Church in New Orleans, earlier this summer.

But a partnership of Baptist groups stepped in to help rebuild some of the city’s deluged church buildings.

Baptist Builders International, a coalition that has been helping Katrina victims find housing, began rebuilding churches in July. The Louisiana-based group is a partnership between the Progressive National Baptist Convention, American Baptist Churches USA, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the District of Columbia Baptist Convention and the Alliance of Baptists—all members of the North American Baptist Fellowship, a regional branch of the Baptist World Alliance.

Previously, the organization had helped displaced laypeople and pastors find housing for their families or cover financial losses incurred in last year’s catastrophic hurricane. The group also helped reimburse churches outside New Orleans that housed or fed Katrina evacuees, putting a strain on the host congregations’ budgets.

In July, Baptist Builders began providing funding and volunteer labor to aid in the rebuilding process for at least five African-American churches in New Orleans.

The initiative involved volunteers from Baptist Builders’ affiliated groups working with local volunteers on church buildings and parsonages. Most of the churches already had started renovation, but they exhausted their resources and needed help completing the job.

“We hope to get a number of churches back operating to quicken the restoration of communities,” said Elmo Winters, Baptist Builders executive director, as the group started work. “We understand the church is a central part of the community.”

Early on, Baptist Builders made inroads among New Orleans pastors by providing more than 100 personal grants. With church members dispersed nationwide, many local congregations quit receiving offerings from parishioners, leaving a funding shortfall for pastors’ salaries and church rebuilding efforts.

“Nobody’s sending anything, so the only money I had to work with was mine,” Gaines said. Once Little Zion Baptist Church is restored, it will provide a worship space for not only his once-100-member congregation but also other African-American churches whose buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged.

The majority of funding for the $200,000 project comes in part from a financial contribution the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship received from Canadian Baptist Ministries for Katrina relief efforts. Canadian Baptists helped CBF volunteers restore the community of Lacombe, La., after the storm.

Restoring churches allows members to continue vital ministries like that of Greater Emmanuel Baptist Church, which before Katrina had a growing ministry among drug addicts.

“It’s devastating for us in the household of faith that were really trying to do our part to turn the city around,” said Louis Jones, Greater Emmanuel’s pastor. “We thought that we were just getting to the point of helping some communities. We were just getting people to find themselves and to also find the Lord.”

Only about one-eighth of Jones’ church members have returned to the city so far. The others are scattered across the country, but he’s still their pastor, calling often to check on them and having traveled several times to perform funerals for members who died since the storm.

Six feet of flooding in his church’s building left major damage, forcing the congregation to relocate its meetings to a Masonic lodge. To enable the church to minister again at full capacity, CBF and other Baptist Builders volunteers planned to help restore the church building and Jones’ house, allowing his own family—whom he had only seen twice in the last year—to return home from Dallas, where they evacuated.

Claudell Hampton, whose home was destroyed, bought a less-damaged house in New Orleans. But he hadn’t been able to restore it.

“I’m living in a (FEMA) trailer, and I thank God that I have a place to stay,” said Hampton, pastor of Triumph Overcoming Churches in Christ. “But it’s a lot of stress. I’m trying really to regroup. It’s stressful, but I thank God that I’m still alive.”

Hampton’s church and New St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church opened their sanctuaries for other congregations to use for worship services. St. Mark’s pastor, Ike Mayfield, worships with his church on the second and fourth Sundays of each month, leaving the remaining Sundays for another church to hold services.

“We had to have help—outside help from churches outside the city … and the state,” Mayfield said. “We could not have gotten back to our mission without their help. Outreach from other churches to us has helped us to outreach to the community—and not only to the community, but our members also.”

The pastors said they are committed to revival of their congregations and the city as a whole.

“We’re going to come back. Our church is going to come back,” Mayfield said. “We’re going to build our lives back. Not only that, but when we build our lives and the church back, the city will be built back.”

“I look into their eyes and see amazing courage,” said Reid Doster, Louisiana CBF disaster-response coordinator. “These pastors are not going to abandon their people but remain deeply committed. We would do well to honor, bless and learn from them.”

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: 9/05/06

Couple left family, friends
to run volunteer base in Gulfport

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

GULFPORT, Miss. (ABP)—It would take an act of God for most people to quit their jobs, move away from friends and family and commit to living for two years in a camper in Katrina-ravaged Gulfport, Miss.

Martha and Eddie Williams were no different, but they chose to respond to that act of God with cheerful hearts. Along with four other couples, the Williamses, who enjoyed a “comfortable, normal” life in North Carolina, moved to Gulfport March 1 to oversee Hurricane Katrina relief and construction operations for two years.

Although the Williamses had considered eventually working in missions in some capacity, they had planned to wait until after they retired. God, apparently, had other plans.

“We were just being obedient to the Lord,” Eddie Williams said. “We didn’t come for any honor, praise or glory. We came to help. We just wanted to be obedient.”

He and his wife supervise operations at the Gulfport National Guard Armory, the place where the North Carolina Baptist Men’s disaster-relief team has centralized operations to build 600 homes in the next two years. On loan from the city of Gulfport, the armory provides a place where the Williamses and a staff of 10 can house, feed and coordinate construction jobs for more than 400 volunteers at one time.

The Williamses first got permission to use the armory when, in providing as many as 13,000 meals a day to people displaced by the hurricane, they outgrew Pass Road Baptist Church. Once the group moved in to the armory, they completely renovated it as a functioning base camp, adding an industrial kitchen, a prayer garden and other structural renovations.

Improvement material, meals and supplies are funded completely by grants and donations from Baptists and other religious organizations, as well as the city of Gulfport. After the Baptist Men leave, the armory and its improvements will go back to the city as a “donation” from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

Until then, the Williamses and armory staff have their work cut out for them. So far, they’ve served more than 435,105 meals, completed more than 2,500 home-recovery jobs and provided emergency childcare for 480 children. They also have built more than 250 homes toward their goal. The work was done by volunteers from different denominations staying at the armory and in surrounding churches—nearly 1,000 people in the peak week.

“Volunteers just fall in love with the people here,” Eddie Williams said. “Word is continuing to spread. They just keep coming. We’re averaging over 300 people here a day.”

More than 14,000 volunteers have come from almost every state since Sept. 5, 2005, Williams said. Most come for a week, live in mobile homes lined with bunk beds and work long days to provide meals, house restoration and home rebuilding.

It hasn’t all been easy, Martha Williams said. She “wasn’t ready” for the devastation that would face them in Gulfport—her husband compared it to his work in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami—and leaving family back in North Carolina proved difficult at first. The couple attended Liberty Hill Baptist Church in Spruce Pine, N.C.

“The hardest thing was coming to a place of peace” about the move, she said. “I had to leave a job I loved, … but each of our children was extremely supportive.”

And seeing displaced people learn about Jesus’ love through the construction work has made it all worthwhile, she said, adding people have told her they had no hope until they saw the yellow shirts and hats of the volunteers.

“We’ve had 252 salvations from homeowners,” she said. “That’s just through being a friend. We’re not going out and evangelizing. We’re just meeting a physical need, and it turns into meeting a spiritual need.”

Eddie Williams agreed, noting the mayor and city officials became supportive after they saw the good accomplished through the North Carolina Baptists. In his view, despite reports of more than 27,000 families in the Gulfport area permanently displaced due to the hurricane, the work done already has produced positive energy for the community.

“I think the city is encouraged with the help,” he said. “They had no idea they’d have so much help from so many places. The whole city really is encouraged. They’ve got a lot of fight in them.”

Now, the Williamses are focusing on a long-term push for the next year. Along with Gary and Edith Holland, Elmer and Barbara Farlow, and J. E. and Betsy Skinner, they work 15- to 16-hour days and have returned to North Carolina only for short weekend stints. Eddie Williams is trying to form a schedule so that each couple can return home for “a week every 60 days or so.”

Joyce Thrift is one of the relief helpers. She initially came to Gulfport planning to stay for a week. But when she returned to North Carolina and started missing her work down south, she decided to move there for a more permanent term.

“It’s God’s work. It’s such a blessing to see him working,” Thrift said. “If you stay home, you’re missing so much. You’re missing seeing the miracles that God does. There are miracles every day.”

Eddie and Martha Williams continue to rely on those miracles. Martha Williams said she often spends time praying in the prayer garden, and her biggest area of concern is “for the citizens.” Many of them face a gamut of emotions daily, she said, and deal with cycles of depression, frustration and anxiety.

“If we had a general prayer for everybody, it would be that they’d be encouraged and not give up,” Eddie Williams said. “Pray that they’d not rely on mankind but rely on the Lord. He’ll meet their needs.”

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: 9/05/06

Katrina giving did not hurt
other charities, group says

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

NEW ORLEANS (ABP)—Despite expectations to the contrary, donations to many charities not related to Hurricane Katrina held steady or increased last year, according to reports from Charity Navigator, a nonprofit watchdog group that monitors the financial health of charities.

The most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, Katrina caused roughly $75 billion in damage since it hit land Aug. 29, 2005. One year later, nonprofit leaders and watchdog groups are evaluating how much money was given to Katrina relief, what it was used for, and how that giving affected other charities.

Giving for Katrina relief on the national and international levels exceeded $4.25 billion in 2005, Charity Navigator reports.

Sandra Miniutti, director of external relations for the New Jersey-based group, said the combination of the Asian tsunami and Gulf hurricanes in 2005 could have spelled a funding slump for local charities not involved in disaster relief.

“It was something we were quite worried about last year,” she said. “But giving did not decline to other charities. That’s not what happened.”

Instead, gifts to local non-disaster-relief charities actually increased in some cases.

“I think that was probably in part because there was so much attention paid to the fact that the local charities still needed support,” Miniutti said. “A lot of the thinking behind that was that all of the media coverage of Katrina … got people to think about their local charities.”

Along with giving to local charities, people continued to give more than usual to national nonprofits assisting Katrina victims, including the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Baptist Builders, an interdenominational recovery coalition.

Charity Navigator listed 35 groups as the top-rated nonprofits assisting Katrina victims. The charities included World Vision, Desire Street Ministries, Islamic Relief and the Christian Relief Fund but no specifically Baptist groups.

Marty King, a spokesman for the North American Mission Board, said the Southern Baptist agency received almost $24 million specifically for Katrina relief. NAMB’s 30,000-plus individual donations for Katrina came from churches, children, senior citizens and local groups—including some gifts from people who are not related to the Southern Baptist Convention or even to Christianity.

“There was so much publicity that we received lots of gifts … from outside of the convention. Some of the donors were Christians and some were not,” he said, later adding that national media coverage helped prompt those gifts. “I think (non-Christians) gave to NAMB because they saw us doing the work. They saw who was actually doing the work, not just talking about it.”

In fact, King said, the sheer volume of gifts, which peaked for roughly three months after the storm, required NAMB to hire temporary employees to process the donations. And the 132,598 eight-hour volunteer days donated to NAMB projects, he added, represent more than $18 million of in-kind volunteer hours. The dollar amount is based on a $17-per-hour estimate often used to calculate the financial value of volunteer work.

Meanwhile, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board was not hurt by Katrina-directed giving. It set a record in gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in 2005, King said.

NAMB supported workers in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida and Texas, King said. Of the $23.8 million NAMB received, $7.5 million will go to Project NOAH in New Orleans; $9 million went to the Baptist conventions in Louisiana and Mississippi; $2 million went to Alabama, Florida and Texas state conventions; and $1.3 million went directly to local churches, associations, individuals and volunteers. NAMB also still holds $3 million for contingency efforts.

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, based in Atlanta, collected almost $1.5 million for Katrina relief and continues to work in the Gulf area “for the long-haul,” Jack Snell said. Snell is the CBF global missions associate coordinator for field ministries.

“CBF tries to stay and work with the local community…as long as there is a need,” he told ABP. “We are committed to partner with churches and individuals as they discover and fulfill their God-given missions.”

Many of those partnerships were in New Orleans, La., through Baptists Builders International, a disaster-response coalition launched in October 2005. The association includes CBF, American Baptist Churches USA, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Alliance of Baptists, and the District of Columbia Baptist Convention.

CBF also sent significant funds to Baton Rouge, La., and Lacombe, La. In Bayou La Batre, Ala., it worked with Volunteers of America Southeast to coordinate more than 9,500 volunteers—134,000 hours of service—for hurricane reconstruction.

Cooperation with organizations like Volunteers of America and the American Red Cross was indicative of CBF’s main philosophy in disaster relief, Snell said.

“CBF does its better work in partnerships,” Snell said. “We do that all over the world, and our response to Katrina was a reflection of that philosophy. We have used our volunteer office to help recruit and process volunteers, but much of the work has been done under the work of these state organizations.”

Like NAMB and CBF, many charities continue to work in the still-devastated region. American Red Cross expects to continue working “today, tomorrow, and for a generation of families from the Gulf region,” said Neal Denton, Red Cross vice president for government relations and public policy.

Of the $4.25 billion in Katrina donations, roughly half went to the American Red Cross. While the Red Cross was the target of much of the public outcry about ineffective disaster relief, Charity Navigator president Trent Stamp said much of the criticism was undeserved.

It wasn’t fair to lump private groups like the Red Cross and Salvation Army with the much-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency, Stamp wrote in an Aug. 17 Chronicle of Philanthropy article. Instead, he said, since the federal government could not handle the disaster alone, the role of charities in disaster response was vital.

To evaluate the Katrina response, he said, one must analyze a charity’s failures and successes. “The real story is that charities in and around New Orleans did a ton of good,” he wrote. “… The community is slowly being rebuilt, largely on the backs of donor dollars and volunteer labor. Plenty of mistakes were made, to be sure, but in most cases, they were errors of omission, not commission.”

In Katrina’s aftermath, the American Red Cross sometimes worked inefficiently in distributing food supplies, for example. But organizers had the best intentions and not much else to go on, Stamp said. No one could have prepared Red Cross directors for the extent of the damage they faced, he said.

The 2005 hurricane season, which included storms Katrina, Rita and Wilma, was 20 times larger than any disaster the Red Cross had previously managed, Denton said.

In a recent Charity Navigator roundtable discussion, he said his group’s biggest shortcoming was “a failure of imagination.”

“While we’re proud of the work of our staff and volunteers, the 2005 trio of hurricanes stretched us more than ever before,” Denton said. “In the end, we provided basic necessities for more than 1.4 million families, but it took us about seven weeks to reach everyone because we didn’t have the capacity to respond to so many people.”

And like other relief organizations, he said, American Red Cross is committed to the long haul.

“Our local chapter colleagues wake up every day with the reality of heart-wrenching casework to be done, mental-health counseling to be administered, and lives to rebuild,” Denton said. “There’s plenty of work for the entire nonprofit community, and we’re proud to play our part in those communities.”

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: 9/05/06

Inexperience hurt effectiveness
of some Katrina relief groups

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

NEW ORLEANS (ABP)—Although Hurricane Katrina inspired an unprecedented relief response, some of the groups who answered the call were inexperienced and ineffective, a charity watchdog group has concluded.

The deluge of new and inexperienced charities that responded to Katrina complicated the relief picture, said Sandra Miniutti, director of external relations for the New Jersey-based Charity Navigator.

“The biggest concern that we had was that there were too many groups holding their hands out with no experience in this type of work,” she said. “I think that’s a big concern. Also, for the groups that popped up, the brand new charities, to take on a disaster of this scope, it’s almost impossible to be effective.”

Many groups emerged post-Katrina that didn’t have the same focus, experience, methodology or priorities as established disaster-relief charities, Miniutti said. That meant well-meaning donors sometimes gave money that wasn’t used responsibly or efficiently.

“The response was complicated by the compelling nature of the disaster,” said Thomas Tighe, president and chief executive officer of Direct Relief International, at a roundtable discussion hosted by Charity Navigator. The storm attracted most of America’s “brand name” relief groups, Tighe said. “It also attracted America’s brand-name religious organizations. And, too, America’s brand-name televangelists like Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham and Larry Jones.”

“I think that religious organizations have done a great job of tapping into a base of volunteers over the country,” Miniutti said. That efficiency impressed the American Red Cross, which indicated it probably will partner with more religious groups in the future, she added.

Charity Navigator listed 35 groups as the top-rated nonprofits assisting Hurricane Katrina victims. In addition to the American Red Cross, the charities included World Vision, Desire Street Ministries, Islamic Relief and the Christian Relief Fund.

Among them:

— Samaritan’s Purse raised more than $37 million for storm relief and formed help units in Biloxi, Miss.; Kiln, Miss.; and New Orleans, La. It received one of Charity Navigator’s highest overall ratings. Founded in 1970 and led by Franklin Graham, the Boone, N.C., charity starts education, clothing and shelter programs around the world. It also provides medical supplies, food and water in disasters.

Although Samaritan’s Purse no longer seeks donations for Katrina relief, its crews have worked on more than 5,100 damaged homes and crews anticipate repairing another 1,000, according to the report.

— Operation USA raised $8 million through in-kind donations and $2.1 million in cash donations for Hurricane Katrina relief. Besides sending medical supplies and equipment to 60 clinics in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, the Culver City, Calif., group awarded $700,000 in cash grants to 40 nonprofit clinics in the same region.

One reason Operation USA worked well, the Charity Navigator report said, was because it focused on its strengths—in this case, community health care. Richard Walden, the president of Operation USA, said one of its most effective strategies involved using pre-existing statewide primary-care units as distribution points for supplies.

— Direct Relief International received one of Charity Navigator’s highest ratings for financial health and efficiency. Based in Santa Barbara, Calif., the long-established organization is a non-political and non-sectarian organization that gives to health programs in poor areas around the world.

Direct Relief raised more than $4.5 million for work with Katrina victims and partnered with clinics in the Gulf States by joining with national associations of community health centers. According to the report, Direct Relief gave $26.7 million in wholesale medical materials. It also maintains wholesale pharmacy licenses in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, so it can make pharmaceutical donations to clinics and health facilities still in need.

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: 9/05/06

FBC Wolfforth volunteers help
Buckner get facilities back to normal

By Jenny Pope

Buckner Benevolences

BEAUMONT—When Hurricane Rita threatened to strike the Gulf coast Sept. 21, 2005, more than 60 residents of Buckner Children’s Village and Calder Woods, a Buckner retirement community, evacuated together in a two-week, statewide shuffle from one location to the next.

And though most of the physical damage from the storm—broken fences, downed trees, water-logged carpets and sidewalks—have since been repaired, the two communities continue to mend the emotional damage one year later.

“Anytime there is an anniversary to a traumatic event, it can evoke some fear and stress,” said Greg Eubanks, executive director of Buckner Children’s Village in Beaumont.

The Buckner Children's Village activity room received a makeover from the members of First Baptist Church in Wolfforth. Until recently, Hurricane Katrina evacuees occupied the space.

With hurricane stories dominating the Beaumont newscasts each night and many damaged homes still protected by plastic tarps, “I’m asked every day by children and staff wondering what we’ll do if we have to evacuate again,” he said. “It’s at the forefront of everyone’s minds.”

Glenn Shoemake, executive director of Calder Woods, said that dealing with the post-traumatic stress among staff and residents is a slow and steady process of reassurance. He recently had a worried resident in independent living visit his office to discuss the very thing on everyone’s mind—another evacuation.

“Basically, what he was asking me was: ‘Will you help me?’” Shoemake said. “When I assured him that he could evacuate with the other (assisted living and nursing) residents if the situation arose, you could see his facial expression and his posture change completely.

“I wish I could say he was the only resident who has approached me, but dealing with this fear is an ongoing ministry that will not easily go away.”

In addition to the inevitable emotional stress, Calder Woods was perhaps hardest hit by the loss of 30 percent of the staff following the storm.

“Although we are blessed to be completely full (with residents), we still struggle to maintain a stable staff to care for all the needs,” Shoemake said. “Many people are having to work harder and longer to make up for it.”

“Being able to recruit new staff at the Children’s Village has been a challenge for us,” Eubanks said. “But the staff who have stayed with us throughout the crisis has gone the extra mile.

“We have staff that as recently as two weeks ago moved into their homes for the first time since the storm. So seeing them pour their hearts out to these kids, day after day, amazes me.”

But it’s not just the Children’s Village and Calder Woods that struggle with staffing needs. The available workforce in Southeast Texas has diminished, Eubanks said, as many who evacuated from the storm will not return.

“It’s a supply-and-demand thing,” Eubanks said. “There are just a few people here to work, and the demand is huge. So it’s hard to attract good labor.”

Despite the loss of skilled labor, the Children’s Village has benefited from the support of local churches and one special group of teenagers from First Baptist Church of Wolfforth.

The group planned to conduct Vacation Bible School in the area, but was washed out by area flooding and rain. In what Eubanks described as a “providential encounter,” the 60-person team organized themselves to relocate and refurbish an on-campus school that had preciously been moved to house Katrina evacuees.

“They also spent time with our children, playing games and talking to them,” he said. “They were sent by God and were a wonderful encouragement to us all.”

Both communities are prepared for another evacuation, should the situation arise, both Eubanks and Shoemake assured.

“We’ve revamped our evacuation plan and looked at what we did last year to see where we can do a better job,” Shoemake said. “Though you can never know 100 percent what will happen, we’re as prepared as we can be. We just pray that it won’t happen again.”

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: 9/02/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for September 10

God is open to hearing our questions

• Psalms 3, 13, 22

By David Wilkinson

Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth

“Where have you been?” “What took you so long?” “Are you listening to me?” “Do you care?”

Which do these questions sound like—complaints or prayers?

For the psalmist, the answer often was “both.”

Poetic prayer in the form of complaint, distress and despair mixed with faith, hope and gratitude compose a particular genre in the Psalms known as individual laments. Psalms 3, 13 and 22 are among some 40 psalms typically placed in this category. They are prayers from the heart that resonate with the deep pain that sometimes accompanies the human experience and the crises of faith that sooner or later confront our faith and challenge our relationship to God.

Psalm 3

If Psalm 1 serves as the introduction to the psalter and to the wisdom found therein, then Psalm 3 sounds the first notes of songs of lament that echo throughout the book. It is a reminder that the Psalms are honest and truthful, refusing to gloss over the difficult questions and painful experiences of life.

The psalmist’s prayer of lament begins by invoking Yahweh, the name given by God as an expression of God’s holiness and God’s covenantal relationship with the Hebrew people. True prayer, even in the form of lament or complaint, is addressed to God.

For a printer-friendly version, click on the printer icon at bottom of page.

The superscription added to the original psalm ascribes this prayer to David, and Jewish scribes often identified the particular occasion for the writing of the psalm to David’s flight from his son Absalom and his military force.

Whatever the circumstances may have been that gave rise to the psalm, it is a reminder that the psalms of lament are a mixture of biography, theology and liturgy. They resonate with real-life experiences of people through the ages. They are grounded in the poet’s understanding of God and relationship with God. And they were written for and incorporated into the worshipping community of the temple and later the church.

Thus, Psalms 3, 13, 22 and other individual laments can be claimed rightly as prayers and expressions of faith and worship that are both “mine” and “ours.” They are voiced by an individual but always within the larger context of the worshipping community.

The psalmist’s desperate plight is found in a sense of powerlessness in the face of a multitude of enemies that not only threaten him but mock his faith (vv 1-2). His despair leads him to “cry aloud to the Lord” (v. 4).

All of us are familiar with “enemies” of various types—within and without and sometimes of our own making. Whether physical, emotional or spiritual, they can overwhelm us and lead us to despair.

The psalmist’s plea is followed immediately by an expression of trust. Even in the direst of circumstances, his confidence is in God who protects (a “shield,” v. 3), encourages (“lifts up my head,” v. 3), “answers” (v. 4), and responds (“sustains me,” v. 5, and “delivers,” vv. 7, 8). The little three-letter conjunction—the “but” of verse 3 or the “yet” of other texts throughout Scripture—is the believer’s ultimate statement of faith. It is the hinge of hope in our relationship with God, borne in a confidence that allows us to “lie down and sleep” (v. 5) amid uncertainties and unanswered questions, resting in the assurance of God’s provision and protection.

Likening his enemies to beasts that pursue their prey, the psalmist is confident God can crush the beasts’ jaws and break their teeth, freeing him from their deadly grip (v. 7).

The psalm that began with the taunt of his enemies that “there is no help for you in God” (v. 2) now comes full circle with a ringing declaration—and reply to his enemies —that salvation and blessing belong to God and to God alone (v. 8).

Psalm 13

This psalm, the shortest of the prayers for help in the psalter, often is identified as the prototype in both content and form for the psalms of lament.

Like Psalms 3 and 22, this prayer is addressed to Yahweh. The psalmist speaks directly to God, using the name given by God to God’s people as part of God’s self-revelation.

The description of the psalmist’s plight (vv. 1-2) “is composed of lines of decreasing length and rising intensity, held together by the repetition of ‘How long?’ These exclaiming interrogatives give the description the tone of protest.” The three-fold repetition of “how long” testifies to the depth and urgency of the psalmist’s troubles.

The psalmist’s petition in verse 3 is typically two-fold: hear me and help me. It is the heart-felt prayer familiar to anyone who has sought God’s help in the midst of pain or difficulty.

The prayer concludes in trust and hope and even a song of gladness (v. 6). Protest and petition lead to praise in grateful celebration of God’s salvation and steadfast faithfulness. In Anne Lamott’s wonderful expression, “Here are the two best prayers I know: ‘Help me, help me, help me,’ and ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’”

Psalm 22

For the Christian, Psalm 22 cannot be fully understood without its association with Jesus. The gospel writers place the psalm’s opening line, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani”—on the parched and bleeding lips of Jesus in his final moments of agony on the cross (Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46). In his darkest hour, as Jesus experienced the inexpressible absence of his Father’s life-giving presence that had guided and sustained him at every moment, his tortured mind turned to the plea of the psalmist, with words that welled up from deep within his heart and soul.

Can there be any more heart-felt and gut-wrenching words of blunt honesty and raw pain than these five, one-syllable words: “My God, my God, why?” One cannot casually read or pray these words. These are words voiced in the dark night of the soul, words that lead us to sacred ground where the wounded soul lies bare before God.

Again, however, the context for the psalmist’s lament is his relationship with a loving God, expressed in the opening verses in the repeated refrain of “my God.” Use of the personal pronoun does not hint of ownership or entitlement but rather the profound intimacy of personal experience. As with Jesus, the psalmist’s intimacy with God underscores and intensifies his anguish through unyielding pain that tortured him “by day” and “by night” (v. 2).

Again, as in Psalm 3, the conjunction “yet” (v. 3) connects the plea of protest and despair with the assurance of hope and the reminder of God’s saving presence. The psalm (as Job discovered) is a reminder that God is God, and we are not. God alone is holy (v. 3), while we are mortal; indeed, we feel at times like we are less than human (v. 6).

Again, the psalmist finds comfort and hope in the “remembered faith” of his religious tradition. Even in the immediate experience of God’s apparent absence, he could turn for reassurance to the trust of those who had gone before him and in the evidence of God’s faithfulness and deliverance (vv. 4-5). The “longer view” offers us a broader perspective than our current circumstances.

And again, as with other psalms of lament, the tone changes abruptly from despair and discouragement to hope and trust as complaint turns to praise. Verses 22-24 remind us of the crucial presence of the community of faith. Our faith, in darkness and in light, in despair and in joy, is intended to be lived in the context of community. The psalmist’s prayer of agony and song of praise are expressed not in isolation but in the context of the worshipping community—a reminder that we are not alone but surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) who help us find our way to God.

If today you are experiencing your own dark night of the soul, ask God for the psalmist’s courage to lift your pain to God in the assurance that God is nearer to you in the experience of God’s absence than you can possibly know. Pray for the grace of the psalmist to remember amid the pain and unanswered questions the goodness of the God who created you and loves you beyond measure.

If you never have experienced the absence of God, pray for those who do. Archbishop Dom Helder Camera of Brazil habitually arose at 2 a.m. to ensure his work among the poor was centered in the compassion of God and to ask for courage to speak out for the voiceless who suffered from oppression and injustice. Like Dom Camara, we can pray for those whose groanings are too deep for words.

Discussion questions

• Why do you think we are often reluctant to voice our complaints or laments to God?

• In what ways have you experienced the wonderful “yet” of faith amid difficult challenges or painful circumstances? Have you seen such signs of faith in others who have inspired you?

• Try writing your own prayer of lament. What circumstances in your life or in the world disturb you so much that you wish God would intervene somehow?

• Or recall a painful time when you experienced hurt, grief or wounding of some kind, and use that memory as a starting point for your psalm of lament. Turn to the simple structure of Psalm 13 as a guide.

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: 9/02/06

Bible Studies for Life Series for September 10

The victories God provides are worth remembering

• Joshua 4:1-3,8,10-11,17-24

By Kenneth Lyle

Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene

Like most homes in America, ours contains a permanent marker to commemorate all things celebrated in the Lyle household. This centrally located obelisk displays cherished reminders of victories in the classroom, on the baseball field, the football field and the basketball court. There are reminders of family gatherings both past and future. Perhaps most important are the photographs of special moments when brother and sister set aside minor differences and come together to embrace each other and the idea of family. Yes, the refrigerator in our kitchen is a veritable totem of remembrance.

The story of Israel crossing the Jordan as recounted in Joshua 4 contains an explicit command to “mark the occasion” of this victory. Even as Israel experiences the victory God promised and wrought, they prepare and create appropriate monuments to God’s working in the world and in their lives. Yes, they created stone monuments that are “… there to this day” (4:9); but, they also forged impressive narratives that help us recount “the thrill of victory.”

For a printer-friendly version, click on the printer icon at bottom of page.

Most of us will not have the opportunity to confirm the existence of stone monuments in the middle of the Jordan or along its banks, but we can appropriate and give testimony to the power of Scripture and God’s victories won in our lives. As Christians, we have unique opportunities to commemorate the triumph of God in Jesus Christ. Long after stone monuments crumble and fall, the stories of God’s victory remain.

For Israel, the crossing of the Jordan River into the land represented a long-awaited realization of a promise from God. Their 40 years of wandering comes to an end with the command to cross the river and enter the land of promise. Israel moves across a natural barrier, but they also move across a spiritual barrier. As a people, they renew the process of becoming what God intended them to become.

As Richard Nelson suggests: “The Jordan is not just an item of geography but part of a symbolic system. It represents the boundary between being a landless people and being a nation that possesses a homeland.” Nelson helpfully reminds us the “story” of crossing commemorates the shift from promise to fulfillment. The transition from the leadership of Moses to the leadership of Joshua—begun in chapter 1—finds reinforcement in the stories of chapters 3 and 4.

The focal passage for the lesson (Joshua 4:1-24) connects to the narrative begun in chapter 3. A close reading of these two chapters reveals apparent repetitions and contradictions. Some may become frustrated with how the narrative presents the story in rapid “flashback” sequences, but these passages demonstrate the recollection of events from different perspectives and with different emphases. Overall, the various stories come together to form a monumental story of how God brings promised victory to Israel, and how Israel commemorates that victory.

The order of events is instructive. God stops the river’s flow (3:16). God expedites an efficient and timely crossing on a dry riverbed (4:10-13). God restores the flow of the river to flood stage (v. 18). God, and God alone, provides the victory. As leader, Joshua reminds Israel, and he reminds us, to remember that truth.

The narrative seems fully aware that what God does at the Jordan, God has done before. In fact, this becomes an important part of the remembrance of the victory. After Joshua sets up the 12 stones taken from the river, he says: “In the future when your descendents ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over” (vv. 21-23).

Implicit in Joshua’s explanation is the expectation that later generations of God’s people would be interested in the victory of God commemorated by a monument of stone. People will ask, “What do these stones mean?” Joshua anticipates the power of monuments to evoke probing questions, and he implores God’s people to be prepared with an adequate response.

The question remains: “How do we as Christians establish appropriate monuments to the victories God has wrought in our lives?” Monuments that do not just stand in place, but also that evoke probing questions from subsequent generations. Monuments that do not just commemorate a moment in time, but also require us to forge telling narratives of how God works and continues to work in the world.

I would like to suggest two forms of commemoration already available to the church but that sometimes become as stagnant as a pile of rocks in the wilderness, when they should be a lively presentation of the good news of Jesus Christ.

It is difficult for the Christian to read the story of Israel crossing the Jordan without reflecting upon the baptism of Jesus and his command that this should be part of the experience of following him. For the Christian, baptism is an appropriate commemoration of God’s continuing victory in the world. The experience of baptism is meaningful for the individual involved, but perhaps more significant is the power of a baptism to present the basic gospel story and to evoke probing questions.

For both my children, initial inquiries about becoming a follower of Christ came subsequent to witnessing a baptism. The powerful visual of an individual immersed in water, and the dramatic words, “Buried with Christ … Raised to walk in newness of life” prompted “What do these stones mean?” moments for my children.

Likewise, the communal experience of the Lord’s Supper stands as a commanded monument for those who call themselves disciples. In eating of the bread and drinking of the wine, we give living testimony to the victory of God in Jesus Christ. We are told to “do this in remembrance of me.” In the doing, we will find opportunities not just to remember, but to proclaim.

Discussion questions

• Can you recall your baptism? What could make baptism more memorable for the participant and more engaging for those who view it?

• What events in your life do you need to backtrack toward so that you can build the monument that time deserved?

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: 9/01/06

RIGHT or WRONG?
Am I prejudiced?

My church is mostly white, but a few people of darker complexion have begun to visit a little, since the neighborhood around us is changing. I sometimes say that I really am not prejudiced toward other groups. But I find myself struggling a bit as to whether I should or could address this dynamic we are facing.

You find yourself in a position that many of us also are in. Thank you for admitting that, even though you realize that prejudice is wrong, you still grapple with it. This grappling will include accepting your feelings of uneasiness and realizing Christ can work in you to resolve the discomfort. Accept the reality that decades of segregation often have limited our social contacts to people of the same color. This barrier has created cultural differences that can make us unsure how to relate to others. Your struggle with your prejudice indicates you are well on the way to overcoming it and treating all people with equity.

Your situation provides an opportunity to do something that very few churches are doing—becoming a congregation that is truly multiracial. Martin Luther King Jr. called attention to single-colored churches nearly 50 years ago when he wrote: “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o’clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing: ‘In Christ There is No East Nor West.’” In an area where Christians should have taken the lead, they have abdicated that possibility.

A recent study suggests churches have made little progress in the past five decades. Only 8 percent of churches in the United States can be called multiracial, which is defined as churches where no single racial group comprises more than 80 percent of the participants. That seems a quite broad definition of a multi-racial congregation.

Not everyone in the community of faith will share your concern. Some may refuse to welcome others and may even leave the church when darker-skinned people begin to attend.

Michael Emerson, in a book that focuses on Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston (a church he attended, by the way), offers seven principles for creating healthy multiracial congregations:

• “An institutional commitment to racial equity, clearly stated.” This could be a mission or vision statement. Churches need to state that one of their aims is to be multiracial.

• “Leaders who are personally deeply committed to racial equity.”

• “A common purpose that supercedes racial equity.” Racial equity is not the end but a means to achieve a greater good, such as living fully one’s faith.

• “Structures to ensure racial equity.” Outsiders need to feel they belong and have a voice.

• “Internal forums, education and groups.” Take time for the congregation to dialogue concerning issues.

• “Be a DJ.” This is Emerson’s metaphor for being ready and willing to make constant adjustments.

• “Recognize that people are at different places, and help them move forward one step at a time.”

Two helpful resources are People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States, by Michael O. Emerson with Rodney M. Woo (pastor of Wilcrest). This book was published by Princeton Press in 2006. And One Body, One Spirit : Principles of Successful Multiracial Churches by George A. Yancey, published in 2003 by Intervarsity Press.

David Morgan, pastor

Trinity Baptist Church

Harker Heights

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

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: 9/01/06

Loan Corporation cuts interest rates

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—The Baptist Church Loan Corporation recently voted to reduce its interest rates for new and existing loans by three-fourths of a percent, the largest drop and lowest rate in the corporation’s history.

During its recent meeting, the corporation’s board of directors lowered interest rates by three-fourths of a percent to 1 percent below prime—the base rate at least 75 percent of the nation’s 30 largest banks offer on corporate loans.

Based on current prime, the Baptist Church Loan Corporation’s lending rate is now 7.25 percent. This rate also is being offered on all the corporation’s existing loans, allowing congregations to lower their interest rates.

Charles Pruett, corporation president/chief executive officer, said the rate change is possible because the corporation has negotiated favorable arrangements with financial entities.

“Our mission is to provide efficient, affordable loan programs for Texas Baptist churches,” he said. “By saving money on their loans, churches can use their financial resources to have a greater impact for Christ by investing in efforts to spread the gospel.”

The Baptist Church Loan Corporation currently has 615 active loans totaling $118 million. Since 1952, the corporation has loaned more than $485 million to about 2,300 Texas Baptist churches.

Loans are for churches to construct new facilities, renovate current buildings and purchase of land and property for future growth.

For more information about the Baptist Church Loan Corporation and its loan programs, visit www.baptistchurchloan.org or call (214) 828-5140.

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: 9/01/06

Cartoonist brings Christian
faith to the funny papers

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—Christian cartoons are nothing new. They’re everywhere from gospel tracts to Christian magazines and newsletters. But a Christian cartoon as a nationally syndicated feature in secular newspapers? That’s almost unprecedented.

Although cartoonist Kevin Frank’s strip involves Christian characters working in a place called Heaven’s Love Thrift Shop, he doesn’t consider the strip to be Christian.

Instead, he said his Sunday cartoon, which debuted recently in Salt Lake City’s Deseret News, simply takes his own angle on things as a person of faith and reflects it through his characters.

Kevin Frank

“It’s hard for me to think of this as a ‘Christian’ strip, as opposed to strips about working moms, office workers, divorced dads or single parents,” Frank said. “A Christian can be all of those things. I like to think there’s an audience for it among all kinds of people.”

He’ll soon find out. King Features Syndicate recently launched national syndication of the strip in 15 cities, giving readers the chance to meet Dag, Cassidy, Wilson and Shelby—Frank’s main characters and purveyors of his Christian worldview. And while Frank plans not to be too “preachy,” his message about faith in God will be clear.

The comic strip, called “Heaven’s Love Thrift Shop,” centers on a church-owned thrift shop and the workers who spend time there. Dag is an overzealous new convert. Wilson is the older, wiser shop director. Cassidy is the centered and warm-hearted shop manager. A frequent customer, Shelby, while not necessarily a person of faith, keeps returning to the thrift shop for something she can’t quite identify. Each character, Frank said, reflects a past or present aspect of his own spiritual growth.

That spirit has driven Frank, 43, since his youth. As a child, he first published religious cartoons for his rural Mennonite church bulletin.

He first drew cartoons professionally, for the local weekly, at age 14.

“I grew up in the church, and my parents were people of faith,” Frank said about his inclination to insert Christianity into his cartoons. “I knew people of faith. It just became part of who I was.”

Frank doodled his way through high school. He then moved from Peoria, Ill., to Chicago and joined an urban ministry called Jesus People USA, a Christian community that helps homeless people with a soup kitchen, a shelter and, yes, even a thrift store.

Frank then worked as a staff artist at Jesus People’s Cornerstone Magazine from 1982 to 1998, creating an award-winning strip called “Oboe Jones.”

Frank impetuously sent a copy of “Oboe Jones” to the editors at King Features Syndicate. To his surprise, King management thought there might be a niche national market for his style of work. He spent five years developing a comic strip, but King eventually dropped it.

Undaunted, he continued to hone his skills, working on various projects for Christianity Today, Tyndale House and the Discovery Channel Canada. All of it, he said, has helped refine his tone and talent. “Stylistically, you always try to learn and grow in your work. I like to think that I’m improving.”

The growth paid off when King Features took an interest in his newest strip, “Heaven’s Love Thrift Shop.”

One factor that separates it from his previous work is the subtlety of its preaching. Frank, a self-styled “connoisseur of thrift stores,” said his thrift store and charity experience helped him learn that “charitable outreach” appeals to most people, while outright Bible lessons often are dismissed by non-Christians.

“That (charity aspect) sort of gives me a vehicle to discuss matters of faith in a way that is more palatable to people, because nobody disagrees with charity,” he said. “It’s all good stuff, it’s all good works, and historically the church has a record of that.”

These days, many cartoon strips that appear in newspapers promote specific worldviews or agendas—in many circles, it’s almost expected. Nonethe-less, Frank knows he will have to maintain a delicate balance in his strip. As a faith-oriented artist composing for a secular medium and syndicate, he expects some criticism.

Frank said he’s not likely to address controversial issues like evolution, fundamentalism and politics. He’s “not a political person” anyway, he said.

“I’m not that smart, but I’m smart enough to know not to jump into the debate,” he said. “Let’s just say people hold all kinds of views of the world and where it comes from and how it works. The same holds for my characters, allowing me to work out my own opinions and doubts through their questions and interaction.”

Frank says, regardless of the size of his audience, he plans to take advantage of his opportunity with King Features.

“If I can glorify God in secular newspapers, even just a few of them, then that’s success to me. That’s just awesome,” he said.

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.