Posted: 7/21/06

Bell decides not to seek 2nd BGCT term

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK—Michael Bell will not seek a second term as president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

The convention’s first African-American president told participants in the African American Fellowship of Texas annual meeting he would follow the example of Ken Hall and Albert Reyes in holding the presidency for only one year.

Traditionally, BGCT presidents have served two one-year terms. But beginning in 2004, Hall and Reyes chose to serve only one year. Both times, the incumbent first vice president—Reyes, then Bell—was elected president.

Stopping just shy of endorsing current First Vice President Steve Vernon for the convention presidency, Bell told the crowd it is “prudent” to follow the precedent for presidents to hold office only one year before stepping aside for the first vice president to become president.

This pattern enables the first vice president to serve as an “apprentice” for a year, learning the BGCT system, before becoming convention president, he said.

Bell’s tenure has been marked by a continued increase in ethnic-minority inclusion in the BGCT, an emphasis on the importance of support for the convention’s Cooperative Program unified budget, and cooperation between affinity groups affiliated with the convention, he said.

But more than his points of emphasis, Bell noted, he hopes he is remembered as a president who clung tightly to who he is and followed God’s guidance.

“I hope when they look back, they say that he did not compromise his calling, that he served the convention well,” said Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth.

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade praised Bell’s commitment to serving the convention.

Bell has been invaluable in communicating the ministry of Texas Baptists, Wade said.

“Michael Bell has served Texas Baptists with enormous energy and a dedication to what we are and what we can become,” he explained. “He has reached out to include in meaningful ways all of our ethnic congregations and leadership. He has urged support of the Cooperative Program and the Mary Hill Davis Offering (which supports BGCT missions efforts). He has a keen insight into the impact that Texas Baptists can have on our Texas culture.”

Bell has traveled continuously to tell Texas Baptists how the BGCT staff’s new structure will help accomplish the mission God has given them, Wade added. He has preached in many churches and shared in conferences for African-Americans, Hispanics, Vietnamese and Chinese. He also attended the annual meeting of bivocational and smaller-church ministers.

More ethnic minorities also were incorporated into the BGCT staff during Bell’s tenure. The number of Hispanic employees has increased, and African-American additions to the staff have been made recently.

He also initiated quarterly discussions between leaders of Texas Baptist affinity fellowships. Ministers come together to discuss issues they are facing and how they can help each other.

“This is a convention that reflects the face of Texas,” Bell said. “There is room under the BGCT tent for all people.”

Next month, Bell is set to kick off monthly meetings for Texas Baptist pastors to gather regionally to support and pray for each other.

“The spillover from that is going to be phenomenal,” he predicted. “We have to start talking to each other.”

Bell asked Reyes to expand what Reyes started with the President’s Council, pastors who commit to talking with other pastors about the importance of giving through the BGCT Cooperative Program, which funds Texas Baptist ministries in the state and around the world. Enlarging the group enabled more ethnic leaders to participate in the effort.

The convention has improved in all the areas he sought to help, Bell said, noting more work remains to be done. He would like to see staff members participate in mandatory diversity training. He would like convention leaders to continue focusing on making the convention what God has called it to be.

“We have a convention that is pregnant with promise,” he said. “I am so committed to helping our convention birth that promise.”

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: 7/21/06

African-American leader
Evans elevates focus on church

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK—Michael Evans, the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ African-American ministries director, is resigning to focus on pastoring his Mansfield congregation and spend time with his sons.

Evans made the announcement after receiving the inaugural Dr. Michael Bell Living Legend Award at the start of the African American Fellowship of Texas in Lubbock. He will leave his post Oct. 1.

Michael Evans

His congregation, Bethlehem Baptist Church, has quadrupled in size in five years and serves more than 1,000 people. The congregation now needs more of Evans’ time, he said. He also wants to spend more time with his sons.

In a letter to convention leaders, Evans said his experience at the BGCT has been wonderful for him personally and professionally. Through his service, he learned many of the skills that helped Bethlehem Baptist Church grow, he noted.

“The level of exposure that I have received has allowed me to serve as the conduit for missions and evangelism throughout our state, nation and entire world,” Evans wrote. “Literally thousands of people have been affected in a positive way with the opportunity to experience God’s true meaning of missions and evangelism; the hand of our God and the BGCT are responsible.”

Although he no longer will be part of the BGCT staff, Evans said he will be involved in the convention and the African American Fellowship.

“There should be no doubt that I will forever sing the praises of our beloved convention and her mission to encourage, facilitate and connect churches in their mission of reconciling the world back to our God,” he said.

Evans’ tenure with the BGCT has been characterized by continuous growth in the number of BGCT-affiliated African-American churches and an increased prominence of the African American Fellowship. Last November, Michael Bell was the first African-American elected BGCT president.

Evans thanked the African-American pastors for teaching him and allowing him to serve them. He credited them with the growth of African-American churches throughout the state.

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade praised Evans’ work with the convention and looks forward to future ministry with him.

“Michael Evans is a remarkable pastor, preacher and denominational leader,” he said. “I am grateful that he could work with us these five years. He has been all that I believed he would be. He has filled this role with extraordinary ability and good sense. He has the respect of everybody he meets. I am grateful he served with us and will continue to be a leader in the life of the BGCT as a great pastor.”

BGCT Chief Operating Officer Ron Gunter believes Evans has a bright future in ministry.

“Michael has been a complete joy to work with,” Gunter said. “He has done a tremendous job of giving leadership to the office of African-American ministries. He has led our work to a level it has never been before. His great wisdom at a young age, his good judgment, his diplomacy skills are all to be commended. We will miss Michael as part of our staff, but we are excited that he will be one of the leading pastors in our state and that we will continue to work together to expand the kingdom for all peoples in the state of Texas.”

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: 7/21/06

Elena	Rita	Dima	Kristina

Russian siblings to be separated
if families don’t adopt

By Russ Dilday

Buckner News Service

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—Two sets of Russian siblings will be separated—perhaps forever—if they are not adopted soon, reported Debbie Wynne, director of Buckner International Adoption.

In order to speed their adoption, donors have enabled Buckner to waive several key costs normally paid by adoptive parents.

Kostya, 13, and his sister, Ella, 9, as well as Dima, 12, and his sister, Kristina, 11, need to be adopted immediately.

“As children age out of care from younger children’s orphanages, they are placed in orphanages more appropriate for teens,” Wynne explained. “Kostya and Dima are both approaching that age, and their orphanage director has said she will soon be forced to separate them from their sisters because of their ages.

“It’s a heartbreaking situation,” said Phil Brinkmeyer, Buckner International Adoption’s Russia program coordinator.

Both pairs of children have traveled to the United States through Buckner’s Angels from Abroad program.

Ella and Kostya

Angels from Abroad allows Russian children to visit U.S. families “while raising awareness about the large number of older children living in Russian orphanages and Buckner programs to improve their lives,” said Lyndee Kiesling, BIA special events coordinator.

According to their orphanage director, Kostya and Ella would do well “in a family with older children in the home or as only children in the home.” Both children are musically talented and perform in their orphanage’s special presentations.

Their Angels host family called them “a blessing to the family that adopts them.”

Dima and Kristina “are loving and kind toward each other and those around them,” their Angels host family reported. “They are great candidates for adoption.”

Their orphanage director hopes the pair will be matched with parents who do not have other children.

Because of the urgent situation, Buckner has solicited donations to help defray the costs of international adoption, Wynne said.

“For both pairs, Buckner has waived some key fees,” she said. “With the additional support of concerned donors, we were able to offer $6,500 in savings for these adoptions.”

Placement of older children and sibling groups often is difficult “because of perceptions that older children might provide more challenging parenting situations, but the truth is these are children who hurt and hunger for a home as much as their younger counterparts,” Brinkmeyer said.

He pointed to the urgent-need sibling pairs as an example, as well as siblings Elena, 12, and Rita, 7, also Angels from Abroad participants who are waiting for adoption.

“These sweet girls are talented artists who love to perform, and their host family reported that they’re laid-back, easy-going and very quick learners,” he said. “They would do well in a family who has an older sister to serve as a mentor.”

“But again, their orphanage director is concerned about having to move Elena to an orphanage for older children soon and having to separate them because they have not been in the orphanage very long and are very close to each other.”

For more information, call Buckner Orphan Care International’s toll-free number, (866) 236-7823, or e-mail Brinkmeyer at pbrinkmeyer@buckner.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: 7/21/06

My Father's House offers
a safe home for a fresh start

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

LUBBOCK—Monica Limon had no job and faced a no-win choice—live on the streets or depend on her abusive boyfriend.

Child Protective Services temporarily took custody of her two daughters, and agency officials told her if she didn’t press charges against her boyfriend, she would lose the girls permanently.

“I was at the end of my rope,” she said.

When she went to the authorities, an official with the Terry County Crime Victims Unit saw her potential and referred her to My Father’s House, Lubbock.

Monica Limon and her two daughters, ages 20 months and 4 years old, have found a home—and a new lease on life—at My Father’s House, Lubbock.

“When Monica arrived, she gave me permission to be as tough as it takes to get her where God wanted her to go,” Director Shirley Madden recalled.

One year later, she has completed Christian Women’s Job Corps training at My Father’s House, regularly attends church and is enrolled at South Plains College. For now, she and her daughters have found a home at My Father’s House.

“My 4-year-old says: ‘Mommy, I like it here. God lives here,’” she said.

The Living and Learning Center of My Father’s House—built primarily by Texas Baptist Men volunteers—offers safe, clean, apartment-style housing for women in need while they attend Christian Women’s Job Corps, vocational training and college.

Christian Women’s Job Corps is a ministry of Woman’s Missionary Union that teaches job skills and life skills in a Christian context to unemployed or underemployed women. Texas Baptists help support Christian Women’s Job Corps through their gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions.

Tanji Lamar entered My Father’s House “kicking and screaming,” she recalled. “I didn’t want to be here. … It was the only door I could go through. My husband had just left. I had no way to pay my bills.”

At her initial entry interview, her self-esteem was so low she couldn’t bear to make eye contact with the person who was asking her questions. By the time she completed Christian Women’s Job Corps, she spoke publicly at the graduation ceremony.

Houseparents Russ and Sharion Stephens talk with Director Shirley Madden about their shared dream of seeing at-risk young women from Girlstown USA enter a transitional program at My Father’s House, Lubbock.

“It blew my family away,” she said. “This place has radically changed my life.”

Since My Father’s House opened its Living and Learning Center—the first Christian Women’s Job Corps program with a residential component—Mad-den has seen many young women in desperate circumstances find new life there. “This is a second-chance place,” she said.

But while My Father’s House remains committed to helping troubled women find a fresh start, Madden hopes the ministry can expand to include intervention with at-risk young women before they make life-changing bad choices.

She believes Russ and Sharion Stephens, houseparents at the Living and Learning Center, can be the bridge to help My Father’s House connect with at-risk adolescent girls.

Before the couple came to My Father’s House, they served as houseparents at Girlstown USA, a division of Cal Farley’s Boy’s Ranch ministry near Whiteface, west of Lubbock.

“When the girls come out of that structured environment, they are looking for freedom,” Mrs. Stephens said.

Madden believes My Father’s House can provide a bridge between the highly structured life they have known at Girlstown and a society where they face challenges for which they may be unprepared—including sexual predators.

“The adult entertainment business is just waiting for those girls when they get out,” she said. “They promise the girls they can make $200 a night. They end up spending the money on drugs. Before long, they’re addicted or pregnant, and they are discarded.”

The Stephenses already have made efforts to strengthen ties between Girlstown and My Father’s House by initiating conversations between leaders of the two ministries and inviting young women from Girlstown to visit the Lubbock facility.

A donor gave My Father’s House 7.8 acres—valued at $413,000—adjacent to the Living and Learning Center. Now Madden hopes to raise the $6 million needed to develop a transitional housing facility for adolescent girls on that site.

“Through Girlstown, we have an opening to reach these girls before they are out there caught up in a vicious cycle,” Madden said.

“We’ve said we want to change the next generation one mother at a time. This is an opportunity to change them before they become mothers.”

For more information, visit www.myfathershouselubbock.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: 7/21/06

Flip-flops provide perfect
fit for foreign AIDS orphans

By George Henson

Staff Writer

WICHITA FALLS—Flip-flop sandals may be inexpensive, but First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls is using them to teach children a valuable lesson—you’re never too young to take part in missions.

Children 3 years old through the sixth grade are collecting flip-flops for adults to distribute when they take mission trips to Brazil and Malawi this summer.

A group recently left for a trip to Teresina, Brazil, to build a church.

Jeff White is part of a three-person team that will plant community gardens and visit orphanages in Africa. His group hopes to distribute about 60 pairs of sandals to grandmothers to give to children in a village.

“Most children live with the grandmothers because they have been orphaned by AIDS. We have been told to give them to the grandmothers, because if we give them directly to the children, older children will beat them up and take them away. If the grandmothers give them to the children, that won’t be a problem,” he explained.

The idea for the flip-flop giveaway grew out of the experience of another group from the church that made the trip last year and noticed the villagers had no footwear. Flip-flops were chosen over conventional shoes because more pairs can be compacted into a smaller space, they weigh less, and they will be cooler on the feet of the people living in warm climates.

“I thought it would be better than taking necklaces or something like that as gifts because the sandals would be more useful,” White said.

Appropriately, the group found a way to include the church’s children in the mission trip. White serves the church are children’s recreation coordinator, and Carson McGowan is an intern in the children’s ministry.

Tammy Trembley, administrative assistant to the children’s and preschool ministries director, said the church’s children have been excited about the project and have brought colorfully designed sandals.

“They have brought flip-flops with brightly colored flowers and Garfield on them—the things that are enticing to kids anywhere,” she said.

“It’s kids helping kids,” White explained.

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: 7/21/06

Texas Envoys find purpose in Afghan hospital

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

KABUL, Afghanistan—God gave Rick DeFoore what he prayed for, even if he didn’t fully understand what he was requesting.

DeFoore confesses he was “stuck” in a routine in Abilene and couldn’t escape—the same thing week after week.

He prayed each day for a year that God would change his life without any sign of an answer. Each day, he wanted change even more.

“God was working on us and had us in a place where I was just crying out for answers and had me in a place of almost desperation to understand why I was going through the struggles I was going through,” DeFoore said.

Then the longtime Hendrick Health System employee found an opportunity. He received a job opportunity that would utilize his knowledge of hospitals and organizational talents. It was the ideal match for him.

“The only problem was it was in Kabul, Afghanistan,” he said.

That may have been a problem, but DeFoore couldn’t resist the chance to alter his life. He and his wife, Janet, signed a one-year contract to help an Afghan hospital build its day-to-day infrastructure from the ground up.

God led the couple to Afghanistan, DeFoore said, looking back. The long wait for an answer to prayer made him willing to consider a job in Afghanistan. Soon after they made the decision to go, people in their church—Pioneer Drive Baptist in Abilene—connected them with people in Kabul. Before the DeFoores arrived, they had a place to stay and multiple contacts in the city.

The DeFoores became Texas Envoys, part of a volunteer missions program of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and received several resources that helped prepare them for what they would be experiencing. They’re also supported by Texas Baptist prayers.

“I know its God’s purpose and plan,” DeFoore said.

He acknowledges progress has been slow during the first four months of building the hospital’s policies and procedures, but he has built relationships crucial to success.

The DeFoores also hope to have a spiritual impact. They have found Afghan Christians to be extremely welcoming. One of the Christian women he met came to Christ through First Baptist Church in Lubbock while studying at Texas Tech University.

The DeFoores also have had the opportunity to invest in the staff who help the couple around their house, as well as other Afghan men to whom he provides leadership development coaching.

Years ago, God called DeFoore to hospital work. Now, he believes, God has called him to take that calling to Afghanistan.

“It is my ticket into the country,” he said. “You can’t go as a missionary. You go as a schoolteacher, an electrician, an engineer. … It’s also an indication that your vocation is a calling.”

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: 7/21/06

Churches must be ‘irresistible
influence’ in community

By Laura Frase

Communications Intern

LUBBOCK—When Gerald Davis urges, “Just do it,” he isn’t referring to star athletes. He’s talking to pastors and ministers, telling them to get pumped up about uniting their church and their community.

“Go and devote your life to make a change in the community where you are,” Davis said during the annual meeting of the African American Fellowship of Texas.

Davis called for pastors and other ministers to devote themselves to making a difference in their communities through their churches.

Unfortunately, people do not view the churches in their communities positively, Davis said, citing pastor/author Robert Lewis. The church should be an “irresistible influence,” but it’s not, he lamented.

“The church must rediscover its essential role and craft as bridge builder,” said Davis, a Baptist General Convention of Texas community development specialist.

Churches must focus on a range of issues, from helping the poor, to drawing people to church, to living among them in communities, he insisted.

“We need to be involved, because too many are left behind and forgotten about,” he said.

An essential problem with the church today is that it doesn’t reach people with new technology that enables people to bunker down in their homes.

“We have to be creative to attract the technology-based world … under a godly banner,” Davis said.

Davis’ church tries to appeal to people by playing televised football games on a projector at the church campus—complete with snacks and socializing under God’s roof.

He also offered a success story about the new African-American cowboy church in Goliad that reaches people through roping events and bucking broncos.

With specific ideas and motivation planted in the group’s heads, Davis concluded by asking them what they are going to do about it.

Before they could answer, Davis told them: “Start where you are. Don’t try to be what you’re not.”

He stressed the need for the church to connect with the community.

“Go beyond the walls to community transformation,” he said. “Be led and directed” by God.

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: 7/21/06

On your mark, get set: ‘Run & tell’

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK—When Jesus changes people’s lives, they must “run and tell” their good news to everyone they meet, Denny Davis, pastor of St. John Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, told participants in the African American Fellowship of Texas annual meeting.

Christ commands his followers to share the gospel with those who need it, Davis stressed. The workings of God in a person’s life should compel him or her to tell others about his goodness.

“I’ve got to tell someone that Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.

Unfortunately, some Christians don’t follow through with that command, he added, noting, “It has been called the Great Commission, but for many it has been the great omission.”

“Authentic ministry” begins with heartfelt worship, Davis said. Worship is where a Christian first understands how to praise God and talk about his greatness.

“We can’t learn how to witness outside the church until we learn to witness and worship inside the church,” he said.

Worship spurs believers to model a Christian lifestyle that can serve as an example to others, the pastor noted. God empowers people to share the gospel at appointed times and see lives change.

“If you go, he’ll go with you,” Davis said, urging the crowd not to allow fear to deter them from sharing their faith.

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: 7/21/06

To see the face of AIDS
in Africa, take a look at Susan

By Scott Collins

Buckner Benevolences

NAIROBI, Kenya—A Swahili Bible rested gently on Susan’s legs, a pencil in the crevice of the open book. Her left hand thumbed through the pages until it came to rest on Isaiah 40, her favorite passage.

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength,” she softly read aloud. “They will soar on wings like eagles.”

Slowly, she lifted her head and through sad but hopeful eyes told why she likes those verses: “I know that when I am weak, I will be lifted up. I will mount up like eagles.”

Susan knows weakness well. Like an estimated 40 million people worldwide, she has AIDS. And like millions of other Africans, Susan struggles daily with the effects of the deadly disease. Some are physical; others are emotional.

Married and divorced, Susan, 40, gave birth to three children—a son and two daughters, and she has two grandchildren. She moved from her village near the Tanzania border in rural Kenya to the bustling city of Nairobi in 1999.

In 2002, she started feeling sick and weak. For more than a year, she was completely bedfast. She suffered a stroke in 2003 that left her paralyzed on her right side. During that time, robbers beat her son to death. Illness prevented Susan from attending his funeral.

After several visits to the hospital, she learned she has AIDS. Almost immediately, she started taking anti-retro viral medications.

The regimen of drugs slowed the progression of the AIDS virus and helped Susan regain some of her strength. But the treatment is expensive, and she relies on free medicine from a nearby Catholic clinic.

“I was very confused and scared when I found out I had AIDS,” she recalled. “I had counseling, and that helped a lot.”

And while the medicine helps Susan regain her strength, she remains unable to work. Her right arm hangs loosely from her shoulder, useless since the stroke. She lives in a small room that belongs to her mother, an arrangement Susan calls “temporary.”

Daily life is a struggle, emotionally and physically. There never is enough food, and she worries about the day when she no longer will be able to stay with her mother.

Still, she remains steadfast in her faith.

“The word of God keeps me safe,” Susan said. “I live with hope because of the Bible. The Bible helps me know that I am a forgiven person. Because I am forgiven, when I die, I know that I will live again.”

Hope of eternal life is something Susan found at a Baptist church, just a few hundred yards from the room where she lives. The church is located on the campus of the Baptist Children’s Center, a ministry supported by Buckner Orphan Care International.

Tony Wenani, the center’s manager, also serves as pastor of the church.

And even though Susan struggles to walk, Wenani said, she faithfully attends services at the church. Still, her disease is not something Susan talks about openly, even with church members who support her. Like so many infected with AIDS, she fears the stigma accompanying the illness.

Inside the room she calls home, posters and stickers attest to her Christian faith and the determination she shares with others to overcome the scourge that is AIDS.

A poster hangs on the wall above her favorite chair where she reads her Bible. It reads simply, “Together we can beat AIDS.”

Round stickers with red letters dot the walls, quoting Bible verses of hope, such as, “Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you.”

“Even if you are not sick, you are going to die,” Susan said quietly as she looked down at her open Bible. “What matters is the word of God.”

She lifted her head. Her right eye drifted aimlessly to the side, unable to see since the stroke. Her left eye fixed intently on her visitors, looking at them, but strangely past them.

“I was born one day, and one day, I must die.”

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: 7/21/06

African leaders look to
Buckner as ally in war on AIDS

By Scott Collins

Buckner Benevolences

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—Religious and government officials in four African nations welcomed staff and trustees from Buckner Benevolences and Buckner Orphan Care International.

The “vision tour” group led by Buckner President Ken Hall met with leading government officials during stops in Nigeria and Ethiopia. They asked the Dallas-based organization to help with the growing problems related to orphans throughout Sub-Sahara Africa brought on by the AIDS epidemic.

The four-nation tour was a first step intended to expand Buckner’s scope of ministry both internationally and domestically, Hall said. The organization is exploring additional opportunities and requests to address the needs of children and families worldwide, he added.

David Hennessee, a member of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio and a Buckner trustee, gives a pair of shoes to an orphan child in Addis Ababa.

“I really believe that ‘for such a time as this,’ God has placed Buckner in a crucial and strategic place to touch more boys and girls and to improve their lives,” Hall said.

“We’ve been blessed with tremendous expertise and resources, and it is our responsibility to faithfully share those with children and with organizations and governments around the world looking to make a difference.”

Buckner aggressively is looking for global partners in what Hall termed an “unprecedented and intentional plan to move Buckner to the next level of ministry.”

“Our 127 years of ministry to children and families in Texas and the past 10 years of international ministry have positioned us for the next phase of Buckner’s life and ministry,” he said.

Ethiopian President Girma Wolde-Giorgis met with the group for more than one and one-half hours and told them: “You are most welcome in Ethiopia. The AIDS epidemic is affecting every part of our society. Many of our problems were never solved. They have accumulated over the years.”

A priority for the Ethiopian government is the continued development of foster care so children are not forced to grow up in orphanages, Wolde-Giorgis said.

“We must provide families for these children,” he told the Buckner group. The Ethiopian president also asked Buckner for assistance in developing educational and medical programs for children.

In Ethiopia, the Buckner group met Getahun Tesema, president of Bright Hope, a Christian ministry dedicated to providing for the country’s orphans through extensive development programs. Tesema is a former Dallas taxi driver who returned to his native country to begin the ministry in 2000.

In Nigeria, Minister of Health Eyitayo Lambo said he was aware of Buckner’s work in other parts of the world. “There is a lot we can do together,” he said.

Lambo added that while Nigeria’s rate of AIDS infection is dropping annually, the country still has the world’s third-largest population affected by the disease. Nigeria has Africa’s largest population—about 120 million. While the government does not have current statistics, estimates put the total number of orphans in the country at around 7 million, with about 2 million of those being orphaned due to AIDS.

Many families in Nigeria refuse to admit there are AIDS orphans because of the stigma associated with the disease, Lambo said. Along with AIDS, he said, the other causes creating orphans are poverty and social changes in Nigeria.

To meet the country’s challenges, Nigeria needs help from nongovernmental organizations like Buckner, Lambo said. He asked Buckner officials to work with his staff to develop a memorandum of understanding leading to a formal proposal.

“I want us to do this immediately,” Lambo said. “We want to start yesterday.”

Buckner will explore possible ministry options in Nigeria, Hall said.

“We want to move cautiously and look for victories along the way,” he said.

Sunday Onuoha, president of Vision Africa, assisted the Buckner team in Nigeria. Onuoha, a graduate of Southern Methodist University and its Perkins School of Theology, is a former high-ranking official in the Nigerian government.

In Kenya, Buckner leaders looked for ways to expand a foster care program started three years ago. Mike Douris, vice president and general manager of Buckner Orphan Care Inter-national, said Buckner hopes to add more families to foster care programs already in place in Nairobi and the northern district of Busia.

“African culture and Africans are generally opposed to institutionalizing children unless there is no other way” to help them, Douris said. “Foster care seems to be a natural fit for children needing a home and for families.”

Dickson Masindano, Buck-ner Africa director, told the group foster care has a bright future in Kenya and other parts of Africa because it fits the culture of extended families caring for orphan children.

The Buckner group also looked for ways to fund and build new community development centers in cooperation with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Representatives from several churches in Texas visited potential sites for the construction and development of the community development program.

Congregations represented included First Baptist Church in Lubbock, First Baptist Church in Amarillo, Oakwood Baptist Church in Lubbock, The Oaks Baptist Church in Grand Prairie and Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. Representatives from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Missouri, national CBF and the Baptist General Convention of Texas also participated in the trip.

During their stop in Morocco, Buckner officials visited two orphanages and consulted with leaders of those homes who are seeking advice from child care and medical professionals from Buckner.

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: 7/21/06

Students’ All-State music echoes through 3 decades

By Laura Frase

Communications Intern

Past and present members of the Texas Baptist All-State Choir and Band recently united in one key—their everlasting love for music and God.

The choir and band represent the best of the best among Texas Baptist student musicians. Audition tapes arrived from more than 80 churches this year, with only 136 students chosen to represent the prestigious group.

This year marked the choir’s 30th anniversary. The choir opened new doors for high schoolers, allowing students from ninth through 12th grades to travel to Mexico, Canada and across the United States to sing with Texas Christians their own age.

“The investment of time, energy and resources is an investment that will pay huge dividends as our students become the next leaders in our churches, homes and communities,” predicted Tim Studstill, who leads the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ music and worship efforts. “Throughout the 30-year history of Texas Baptist All-State, our alumni have become pastors, music ministers, education ministers, teachers, college professors and church leaders who continue to serve faithfully in churches throughout Texas and the world.”

The BGCT sponsors the All-State Choir and Band.

Robert Tucker, dean of music and fine arts at Howard Payne University, was part of the original choir and returned to direct the Texas Baptist All-State Band for the fourth time during the celebration.

Since his high school days, Tucker also has been a sponsor for the choir.

He remained involved because participating in the choir “played a vital role in who I ultimately be-came,” he explained.

Because of original All-State Choir Director Loyd Hawthorne’s influence, Tucker chose to attend Hardin-Simmons University and then found himself teaching at a Baptist school.

“The Lord has plans for all of us, so what we do when we are young builds on what we do with our careers,” he said.

Amy Samuel believes the two years she was involved in the choir influenced her decision to become the children’s music coordinator at First Baptist Church in McKinney.

“Choir definitely had an impact, and it was an experience that I was able to pull from and kind of remember the things that took place,” she said.

Steve Sullivan of First Baptist Church in Pittsburg already knew he wanted to be a minister of music before he joined the choir, but he sees the influence it can have on future decisions.

“It does affect kids’ lives,” he said. “I know that from kids’ testimonies. They’ve chosen All-State Choir over other camps. That says we’re doing something right.”

Many churches don’t have youth choirs, so talented students can miss out on developing their gifts in a religious atmosphere, Sullivan said. All-State Choir changes that by enabling students to take back everything they learn to their home churches and schools, he added.

Many alumni have followed music for their careers and become involved with churches. Now, it’s their turn to give the same encouragement to youth their youth ministers and ministers of music gave to them.

Sullivan has encouraged students to participate since he joined a church staff. This year, 11 students from his church took part in the choir and band. It’s the biggest group the church has taken.

Eddie Brown, minister of music at Calvary Baptist Church in Lufkin, took six students from his church, plus two of his children.

“That’s exciting that I can offer them that same growth and Christian experience in music that I got,” Brown said.

Alumni look forward to the future decisions of students who participate in the All-State program.

“The students who are in it today, who knows?” Tucker said. “One of them may end up directing the band and choir some day. … It’s exciting to think about.”

Alumni agree on the importance music plays in spiritual growth.

“Music is such a vital ingredient in worship and ministry,” Tucker 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.

Posted: 7/21/06

Around the State

• Howard Payne University has inducted eight members into the Sigma Beta Delta International Honor Society in Business Management and Administration. Inductees in-clude Heather Fisher, Charis House, Michael Lindsay, Jill McLaughlin, Leah Perez, Joseph Renner, Diann Seamans and Rachel Welch.

• Houston Baptist University has announced its Piper Professor nominees for this year. Nominees are Eloise Hughes, professor in education and director of field experience and student teaching; Levon Hayrapetyan, professor in computer information systems management; Vanora Hundley, associate professor in nursing; Susan Cook, professor in biology and director of the health professions program; and Connie Michalos, professor in English. The Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation presents 15 awards annually to professors across the state for their dedication to the teaching profession and their academic, scientific and scholarly achievement.

• Carol Holcomb, associate professor of religion at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, has been re-elected president of the Baptist History and Heritage Society.

• Dan MacMillan, president of Bluefield College in Virginia, will join the Gary Cook Graduate School of Leadership at Dallas Baptist University as director of the doctoral program in higher education leadership next month.

• Baylor University’s May-born Museum Complex has honored Omilou Miles of Waco as its outstanding volunteer. Miles has served as a tour guide and weekly greeter for the museum. She currently is a volunteer docent for the “Feathered Treasures” exhibit in the Anding Traveling Exhibits Gallery.

Anniversaries

• First Church in Hico, 125th, July 2. Chris Irvin is pastor.

• George Solis, 25th, as pastor of Primera Iglesia in Waxahachie, July 4.

• Jerry Raines, 10th, as pastor of Hampton Road Church in DeSoto. Special services to commemorate the event are planned for July 30 in both morning and evening services.

Texas Baptist college students prayed for the world during student missions orientation at First Church in Duncanville prior to leaving for their own summer missions assignments. More than 400 Texas Baptist college students serve worldwide as summer missionaries through the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ “Go Now Missions” program. (Photo by John Hall/BGCT)

• First Church in Dun-canville, 60th, July 23. Keith Brister is pastor.

• Clearview Church in Marshall, 50th, Aug. 6. Former Pastor Dick Sawyer will preach in the morning service. Donald Robinette is pastor.

• Mark Towns, fifth, as pastor of Pine Springs Church in Tyler, Aug. 12.

• First Church in Earth, 80th, Aug. 27. A meal will follow the morning service. An open house of the church’s new facilities also will be held.

Events

• Children attending Vaca-tion Bible School at Orchard Road Church in Lewisville brought enough money in their offerings to provide a year’s care for a child their age in Kenya, Africa. Mary Wamboi, an orphan in Africa, will continue her education and receive the care she needs. The children have supported the child through their VBS offerings since 2002, and the church is committed to her continuing care. In prior years, the children purchased a cow for a family in the Far East, goats for a family in Africa and chickens for a family in South America. Terri Hardin was VBS director. Jerry Rogers is pastor.

• Mount Hebron Missionary Church in Garland recently commissioned two members as Mission Service Corps volunteers. Glenda Anderson will work with Angel Food ministries, and LaDonna Norton will work in a multihousing ministry. Clarence James is pastor.

• The Southern Grace Quartet will perform at First Church in Paris Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. Randall Perry is pastor.

• Athey Church in Marshall will hold homecoming services Aug. 13. Martin Clickard is pastor.

Ordained

• Ann Pittman to the ministry at First Church in Austin.

• Reggie Mayfield to the ministry at Eastside Church in Gonzales.

• Jean Ducharme, Richard Eldridge, James Green, Darrell Hartsfield and Roy Lombard as deacons at First Church in Del Rio.

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.