Posted: 12/01/06

Belton-to-Austin trek
raises funds for missions

By Jennifer Sicking

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

BELTON—Mile after mile, Bear Garza’s feet pounded the pavement to help bring the gospel to others.

Garza raised money for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor campus missionary fund and the school’s general missions fund Veteran’s Day weekend by running and walking from Austin to Belton—70 miles in less than 24 hours.

Initially, he gathered about $940 toward his $3,000 goal, but additional money has continued to arrive in the mail, on his doorstep and in a jar in the Baptist Student Ministry building.

“It’s to help send students all of the world during the Christmas break,” he said. “It will help alleviate the money-raising stress for them.”

About 15 miles outside of Austin, his legs began to cramp. Further down the road, he stepped in a hole and hurt his foot. Construction caused his running path to be diverted and extended his planned 62-mile run by eight miles.

Lindsay Deringer, a junior recreation major from Marble Falls, rode behind Garza for part of the run.

“He’s a very driven person,” she said. “A gift given to him is endurance. He is very fit. This summer we talked about that, and we were praying to see how he could use it.”

Garza trained about a month, running between two to five hours each Saturday—counting time, not distance—in preparation for the long-distance run.

Garza, 22, acknowledges that at 220 pounds, he’s built more like a weightlifter or a football player than a distance runner.

“I’ve always been blessed in athletics,” he said. “I’ve always wondered about the physical limits of my body. It might be the most physically intense thing I’ve ever done.”

Garza, a senior exercise and sports science major from Belton, discovered it was.

“Intense,” is how he described it after finishing the more than double marathon-length run for God.

It also became an answer to prayer. Garza said he has been praying for school unity, and he saw it evidenced as he prepared for his run and during it.

“It’s been cool to watch (other students) come alongside me,” he said.

During his run, about 60 people came to encourage, run and walk alongside him.

“There was a tangible sense of community,” he said. “I didn’t expect all those people to show up.”

Deringer also saw the run as building community on campus.

Some of the people who came to cheer on Garza and to run with him had never been to the Baptist Student Ministry building, she noted.

“At one point, there were about 20 people running with him,” she said.

At 6:30 a.m., almost 17 hours after he started, Garza arrived at his apartment near the UMHB campus after running through the night.

“It was one of my best experiences in college to see it happen,” Deringer said. “It was by the grace of 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: 12/01/06

Book Reviews

When a Congregation is Betrayed: Responding to Clergy Misconduct by Beth Ann Gaede, editor (The Alban Institute)

The difficult topic of this new book is this: Adult, heterosexual misconduct by ministers in a church setting. Clergy sexual misconduct devastates the victim or victims, the minister’s family and the congregation.

Gaede’s collection of 30 chapters written by 12 experts (plus an extended bibliography), offers a thorough treatment of the dynamics that lead to such events. Then, with clear, step-by-step instructions, the reader learns how to respond.

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

The authors consider different ways to care for victims, church leaders, the congregation, the perpetrator and his (the book points out it is overwhelmingly a male perpetrator) family, and even the “Afterpastor” interims and ministers.

Special consideration is given to walking the reader through the timeline that follows misconduct—from the first emergency response, to releasing initial information, to getting help for victims, to guiding a church through a healing process, and to addressing the issue before, during and after a new minister’s arrival.

The book is practical and helpful, but the volume of material warns that the steps involved could easily overwhelm the average church. Knowing this, Gaede wisely includes guidance on finding professional help for individuals and for the church, taking preventative measures and training a response team.

Karl F. Fickling, coordinator

Intentional Interim Ministry

Baptist General Convention of Texas

Dallas

The Embrace of a Father by Wayne Holmes, compiler (Bethany House Publishers)

While the behavioral and social sciences have produced much literature documenting the influence of the father (by both his presence and ab-sence) in the life of a child, Wayne Holmes has compiled true, real-life accounts of how fathers have encouraged and inspired their children.

Under the banner of such topics as love, wisdom, discipline, forgiveness, provision, comfort, trust, embrace and others, Holmes has collected 53 stories from the memories and pens of a wide variety of recognizable Christian writers. Each account was seminal and profound in the life of the author and will make a lasting impression on the reader.

While acknowledging no earthly fathers are perfect, this book helps remind us of those wondrous occasions when the perfect love of our Heavenly Father is able to shine through. Any pastor desiring a wealth of illustrative material for sermons on family or Father’s Day would do well to add this book to the shelf.

My heartiest recommendation, however, comes from my perspective as a man and a father. When you most underestimate your role and influence, pick up this book and start reading.

Bobby Dagnel, pastor

First Baptist Church

Lubbock

The Tender Scar: Life After the Death of a Spouse by Richard L. Mabry (Kregel Publications)

The Tender Scar is authoritative, inasmuch as Mabry, a physician, speaks from the trenches and not the pulpit. The book consists of 26 short chapters. Each begins with an ex-cerpt from e-mails and journal entries he wrote after the death of his wife of 40 years. He uses this material to introduce commentary and suggestions, tried in the crucible of his own experience, offering guidance to those who have lost a loved one.

Mabry’s use of Scriptures, the sensitive prayers, the obvious desire to help those who grieve—these qualities make the book a must-read-and-share volume for pastors and counselors, as well as people dealing with their own loss.

As I read The Tender Scar, I found myself caught up in Mabry’s struggles. What would I have done if the decision to cut off life support had been mine? Could I have disposed of the clothes, the gardening equipment, and all the traces of a life lived and loved?  How would I get through the holidays? He deals with all these problems, and more.

After reading this book, the grieving widow or widower—indeed anyone suffering the sting of a loved one’s death—is left with the assurance that, although the scar left behind is tender, healing is possible.

Dan Griffin, pastor

Christ Fellowship Baptist Church

Arlington

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: 12/01/06

Baptist Briefs

Alabama Baptists pray for Wal-Mart. At the Alabama Baptist State Convention’s annual meeting, messengers approved a resolution that calls on Baptists to pray for the store’s leaders and asks local and national Wal-Mart officials to reconsider their recent decision to join the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. A resolution dealing with the conflict in Western Sudan called for Baptists to pray for the suffering people of the Darfur region, as well as offer advocacy and humanitarian aid on their behalf. A resolution on ethics in government urged messengers to ask state governments to ensure that officials cannot use power for personal or private gain.

CBF needs volunteers in Louisiana. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship needs volunteers to build houses and build hope for Hurricane Katrina victims April 23-May 5 in Baton Rouge, La. More than 325 volunteers a day are needed for the two-week Habitat for Humanity build. Twelve families who lost their homes during Katrina will be chosen for the new homes. Habitat for Humanity subsidized the cost of the homes, with several Baptist organizations contributing the remainder. The Fellowship has given $105,000 to the effort, which included an initial three-house build in October. Both skilled and unskilled volunteers are needed to work in a variety of areas, including construction, hospitality, landscaping and painting. Volunteers are invited to stay for the entire two-week build or for just a few days. Fellowship volunteers should register and receive additional information through CBF’s volunteer office, which is coordinating the Fellowship’s volunteer efforts on this project. A $100 per week fee covers three meals a day and lodging. If other lodging facilities are used, the fee is $50. For more information, contact Timothy Wood at (800) 782-2451 or twood@thefellowship.info.

Kentucky Baptists elect young conservatives. Continuing a recent trend of electing young leaders, the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s new top three officers are under age 40—Darren Gaddis, 37, as president; Kevin Smith, 39, as first vice president; and Chad Fugitt, 27, as second vice president. All three officers also have current ties to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Gaddis and Fugitt are pursuing doctor of ministry degrees from Southern, and Smith is an assistant professor of church history at the Louisville-based seminary.

Rift among Missouri Baptists. Strong words from several Missouri Baptist Convention leaders during the convention’s recent annual meeting highlighted a growing rift among fundamentalists in Missouri Baptist leadership. The rift is between two groups—one loyal to the convention’s executive director, David Clippard, and one loyal to Roger Moran, a political leader within the convention. In a sermon to Missouri Baptists, former convention President Gerald Davidson called for an end to the Moran-led Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association, a powerful political group that helped conservatives gain power in the convention and now controls appointment to many leadership positions. Moran has feuded with Clippard for several months.

S.C. Baptists increase budget. Messengers to the South Carolina Baptist Convention annual meeting increased their budget and elected a strong Cooperative Program supporter as president. The 2007 convention budget of $32.75 million represents a $600,000 increase over this year’s budget of $32,150,000. Sixty percent of the budget, or $19,705,000, will go to support the state convention’s ministries and missions endeavors. Forty percent, or $13,045,000, will go to the Southern Baptist Convention for national and international missions causes. Mike Moody, pastor of First Baptist Church in Honea Path, S.C., won the presidential election with 550 votes, or 67 percent of the votes cast, over Tom Tucker, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Rock Hill, S.C. In nominating Moody, Von Reynolds, pastor of Seneca Baptist Church in Seneca, S.C., praised him for his “loyal and unswerving support for the Cooperative Program.”

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: 12/01/06

American Baptists to sell office building

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP)—Leaders of the American Baptist Churches USA have approved selling the organization’s Pennsylvania headquarters building and confirmed the appointment of a new head for the denomination’s international missions organization.

The ABC’s General Board voted nearly unanimously recently to sell the ABC-USA Mission Center in Valley Forge, near Philadelphia. Of those present, 72 voted in favor of a recommendation from the board’s executive committee to begin the process. There was one abstention, according to the American Baptist News Service.

“In this time of transition for all denominations in our culture, to let go of this symbol is a dramatic sign of our opening ourselves to the new thing God is doing in our midst,” said Roy Medley, the denomination’s general secretary.

Earlier this year, a long-range committee recommended selling the building, built in 1962 and jokingly nicknamed “the Holy Doughnut” by American Baptists for its distinctive circular shape. At the time, ABC officials said the organization occupied less than 50 percent of the building due to changing needs and staffing patterns over the last 40 years. The denomination rented nearly all the rest of the space.

“Much energy and resources go into keeping the building leased and lessees satisfied,” Medley told the board. “We are not in the rental business but the business of mission.”

The board approved the recommendation with the proviso that any deal reached with a buyer would include a 3-to-5-year period for the denomination and its tenants to find new housing arrangements.

It also voted to confirm the appointment of Reid Trulson as the new executive director of American Baptist International Ministries, the denomination’s global missions and ministry arm.

Trulson currently is the International Ministries area director for Europe and the Middle East. He succeeds Charles Jones, the acting executive director, who will move to another position within the organization.

Trulson served more than 20 years in local-church ministry and 11 years in international missions—five years as a missionary in Europe and six years as a member of the stateside staff. He served two terms as president of the board of international missions.

The president of the board of American Baptist International Ministries, Ray Schooler, praised the choice.

“Reid has a tremendous heart for mission,” he said. “He has a great historical perspective, a steady hand and a dynamic vision. Since the first announcement of the nomination by the search committee, we have received overwhelming affirmation of this choice from missionaries, staff, board members and many others.”

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: 12/01/06

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

Posted: 12/01/06

2nd Opinion:
Time to implement year-end tax tips

By Sherre Stephens

Think it’s too early to start preparing for tax season? A recent flurry of tax legislation, as well as expiring tax credits and deductions that Congress may retroactively extend at year’s end call for early preparation despite a later filing date in 2007—April 18.

Here are five basic things you need to know:

Get organized. Start now and use a checklist. Checklists facilitate organization and minimize frustration. Many checklists are available on the Internet. Just search for “checklists for tax preparation.”

Identify last-minute savings opportunities.

• Maximize retirement plan elective deferrals. The basic deferral limit is $15,000 ($20,000 for age 50 or older).

• Contribute to a traditional IRA. The limit for taxpayers younger than age 70 1/2 with sufficient income is $4,000 ($5,000 for age 50 or older). Consider an IRA for the nonworking spouse. To qualify, the couple must be legally married at year’s end and file a joint tax return.

• Coordinate capital gains and losses. Review stock and other capital assets. Are some ripe for sale? Such tax harvesting can offset gains with losses thereby lowering taxable net gains.

Make the most of tax deductions.

• Itemize deductions. The list of possible deductions is myriad, and some impose thresholds in order to take the deduction.

• Make a direct transfer from an IRA to a qualified charity. Taxpayers age 70 1/2 and older may transfer up to $100,000 to a qualified charity tax-free. The transaction must go directly from an IRA to the charity. Don’t wait until the last minute. Many IRA providers have cut-off dates for year-end transactions—some as early as Dec. 15.

• Donate clothing and household items. Contributions of clothing and household items made after Aug. 17, 2006, are not deductible unless the property is in good used condition or better.

Take advantage of tax credits. A tax credit reduces tax, whereas a deduction reduces the amount of taxable income.

• Child Tax Credit. This credit can reduce taxes up to $1,000 for each qualifying child. For more information, see IRS Tax Tip 2006-45.

• Retirement Savings Contributions Credit. Taxpayers eligible to contribute to an employer-sponsored retirement plan or an IRA may qualify for this credit (up to $1,000, or $2,000 if filing jointly). See IRS Tax Tip 2006-49.

• Hybrid Car Tax Credit. The credit, $400 to $3,400, is available for qualifying vehicles purchased after Dec. 31, 2005.

• Qualifying Alternative Fuel Vehicles. Purchase of an AFV between Jan. 1, 2005 and Dec. 31, 2010 may yield a tax credit of up to $4,000.

• Home Energy Efficiency Improvement Tax Credits. Purchase and installation of energy-efficient products qualify for a tax credit of up to $500. Additional credit is available for some other qualified purchases and applies only to the taxpayer’s principal U.S. residence. The total credit caps at $2,000.

• Earned Income Tax Credit. Generally available to taxpayers with 2006 earned income under $38,348, the EITC may also provide a refund.

Know where to go for help. The IRS website, www.IRS.gov, offers a number of fact sheets, tax tips and a toll-free help number. The Internet offers copious tax helps, but use caution, since some tips may or may not be reliable.

Tax preparation software and services are viable resources.

Sherre Stephens is a certified employee benefits specialist and director of executive and institutional benefit design for GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. This educational information is not intended as legal or tax advice. Individuals with legal or tax questions should consult a legal or tax adviser who can provide specific information to the unique situation.

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: 12/01/06

DOWN HOME:
No place like ‘home’

We’ve got another home.

No, the Baptist Standard didn’t hand me a big, fat bonus so I could go out and buy a second place out in the Hill Country or down by the beach. And I haven’t signed a blockbuster movie deal based on “Down Home.” (Who would play me in the movie? Some folks might pick George Clooney or Brad Pitt, but I’d go for Ray Romano or Matthew Perry. In my universe, funny trumps sexy.)

If you’ve met me on this side of the page the past few months, you probably know Joanna and I bought another house late this summer. We sold the home in Lewisville where we raised our girls and bought another one in Coppell, way closer to work.

Our house seemed like home from the start. It feels like it was built for us, even though we didn’t find it for a long time. Now, except for hanging pictures in a hallway and trimming bushes, we’re pretty much settled. And since the “new” neighborhood is about twice as old as as the “old” one, we enjoy the trees and developed yards.

But for the record: We don’t own a second home. This is the only one we’ve got.

Still, Jo and I have another home. It’s an apartment in Orlando, Fla. We visited it for the first time during Thanksgiving. It’s where our oldest daughter, Lindsay, and her husband, Aaron, live. A part of Jo and me goes wherever our kids abide.

Molly lives in a funky loft apartment in Waco with five other Baylor coeds. Lindsay lived in Abilene in, ummm, two apartments with I can’t remember how many Hardin-Simmons coeds and then in a duplex with Aaron for a semester.

Although I would’ve loved to have lived in a loft like Molly’s when I was a student at Hardin-Simmons, I’ve tried to figure out why I haven’t thought of the girls’ collegiate housing quite the way I feel about where Lindsay and Aaron live now. The deal, I’ve decided, is college seems/seemed so temporary. In college, things can change from semester to semester. In college, the kids are home for a month at Christmas, and they just might be home for the summer.

Now, however, Lindsay and Aaron have moved halfway across the country, and they have set up housekeeping entirely on their own. They’re there, making a life for themselves. And no matter how far away it is, our hearts are with them, feeling a wee bit like Florida residents. If only we could get their sunshine and fresh oranges.

During our trip to Orlando, I reflected on something my mother has talked about for years. Jo and I have lived in 11 residences in six communities. Mother always said she never could feel settled until she visited each place the first time, so she could see where we lived and spent our time.

When we walked into Lindsay and Aaron’s apartment, I realized what had been nagging me since last summer—I never could picture them until I knew what their “place” looks and feels like.

So, I’m better now. And I take comfort in knowing that even though our kids are too far away for our daily hugs, they’re still in the embrace of their Heavenly Father.

— Marv Knox

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

Posted: 12/01/06

EDITORIAL:
Wanted: More compelling Christians

How—and with whom—should Christians cooperate?

This issue surfaced again in the past few days, when some fundamentalist Christians demanded California pastor Rick Warren remove Sen. Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) from the program of his global AIDS summit because Obama does not oppose abortion.

Warren’s ministry innovation spans almost three decades, since he started Saddleback Church in his California apartment in the late 1970s. The church engages about 20,000 worshippers each week. It has started scores of congregations, and his training conferences have helped thousands of pastors. Purpose Driven Ministries—based on his books The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life—has impacted millions of people. The AIDS summit is a key ingredient in Warren’s latest initiative, the P.E.A.C.E. plan, which ministers to the people Jesus called “the least of these.” P.E.A.C.E. plans to plant churches, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick and educate the next generation.

The AIDS summit took aim at two of the P.E.A.C.E. initiatives, assisting the poor and caring for the sick. The P.E.A.C.E. website reports more than 40 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS. Compassion International notes more than 25 million people have died of AIDS, nine out of 10 children with AIDS live in Africa, and 25 million children will lose both parents to AIDS in the next four years. Warren’s efforts embody the gospel. One can only wonder what might happen if all those pastors who looked to Warren to help build up their congregations would follow his lead in P.E.A.C.E. Our planet would be a vastly better place.

A brilliant marketer and inspired networker, Warren recruited renowned religious leaders to participate in the AIDS summit. They included Richard Stearns, president of World Vision; Franklin Graham, founder of Samaritan’s Purse; Emmanuel Kolini, archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda; and Wess Stafford, president of Compassion International. He also tapped leaders from other fields, including rock singer Bono, Bill and Melinda Gates, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Obama.

Still, the conservative activists criticized Warren and Obama because the Illinois senator is pro-choice. Interestingly, they overlooked flaws in other participants. Bono’s conscience-driven music positively stirs millions of listeners, but he has used the F-word on television. Bill Gates is an agnostic who once responded to a question about God’s existence by saying: “I don’t have any evidence of that. … Religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.” So, Obama, a Christian brother who testifies to the role Christ plays in his life and supports his words with deeds of compassion and mercy, should be ineligible to help eradicate AIDS because of his views on abortion? Go figure.

This incident parallels the decision of Florida pastor Joel Hunter to resign as president-elect of the Christian Coalition because he could not convince other leaders of the staunchly pro-life organization to broaden its focus to include such issues as poverty and the environment. And just when you hoped evangelicals were poised to provide positive leadership for our country.

Don’t get lost in the woods: This is not an abortion endorsement. I stand with the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ repeated denunciations of abortion except for cases of rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger. I concur with the BGCT’s condemnation of the heinous partial-birth abortion, as well as its call for parental consent before a minor can receive an abortion. Abortion is a blight on our society, and we should seek to eliminate it—particularly, as Obama has supported—by channeling our efforts to eliminate its causes through myriad means, including reducing poverty, promoting abstinence and improving the adoption process.

The activists’ action is appalling, not because of their view of abortion, but because of their view of Christian cooperation. We should not be required to agree on every issue or pass a litmus test in order to work together to achieve a common good or eradicate a pandemic evil.

Where are the Christians whose faith is strong and resilient enough to labor alongside others who may be very much unlike them but who share a common concern? We need more Christians who possess generous spirits, thick skins, soft hearts, keen minds and entrepreneurial spirits. Christians who don’t worry about being accused of associating with the wrong crowd as long as they’re working on the right causes. We need them to help eradicate AIDS and eliminate abortions. We need them to mediate peaceful relationships between adversarial enemies. We need them to live winsome, reconciling lives in their communities.

They will do more to win the world to Christ and overcome the world’s evils than all the anti-oriented Christians will accomplish in 490 lifetimes.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.

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

Posted: 12/01/06

MK carries on legacy
through gift to Nigeria hospital

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—Many people renew family ties at Christmas. For Mary Kay Posey, the trip home takes 19 hours. But when she returns to Nigeria this month to deliver a Texas-sized gift, it gives her the chance to carry on the legacy of her medical missionary parents.

“We were expecting a miracle, but what we got was so much more,” she said.

Posey meets with residents and staff at a leper colony near Eku Baptist Hospital. • Watch video from CBS11 News in Dallas on Posey's trip.

Posey plans to return to Eku, Nigeria, with two 18-wheeler-sized containers filled with operating room equipment and medical supplies—a shipment facilitated by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Healthcare Outreach Network, Texas Baptist Men and Walking in Love Ministries, a nonprofit organization Posey and her husband, Fred, formed last year.

“It’s the dream of a missionary kid, to go back to Eku and share the love of Jesus,” she said.

More than 60 years ago, Posey’s parents helped start the Eku Baptist Hospital about a mile from a lepers’ colony and a tuberculosis camp.

“I remember reaching in with my small hands to pull two twins from their mother during a Caesarean section,” Posey said. “When I was old enough, I taught little girls about Jesus in Sunbeams class.”

Growing up in Nigeria, Posey witnessed the effects of hunger, inadequate medical care and devastating disease.

She and her husband have traveled to Nigeria with supplies four times in the past two years. They plan to make three visits a year to Nigeria. These two-week to four-week trips will involve volunteer doctors, medical personnel, teachers and other people who want to share Christ’s love and minister to needs they have discovered in Nigeria.

“It’s been heart-wrenching,” Posey said. “With the loss of support from the International Mission Board, the hospitals have struggled to stay alive.”

A shift in the mission board’s strategy in 2000 dramatically reduced funding for the Eku Baptist Hospital, leaving it without the money to hire doctors, nurses and other staff or to fund operations.

The Eku hospital serves one-third of Nigeria, and the nearest Baptist hospital is eight hours away.

The Christmas gift from Texas Baptists will help save lives at three Nigerian Baptist hospitals—in Eku, Ogbomoso and Saki.

Healthcare Outreach Network, an organization launched by the BGCT institutional ministries office made the shipment possible. For several years, some Baptist hospitals offered used equipment to the Baptist hospital in Guadalajara, Mexico, through medical missionary Lee Baggett. With the project’s success, hospital administrators and BGCT representatives began discussing how they could expand their effort, and Healthcare Outreach Network developed. After changes in IMB funding, the global medical outreach need grew urgent as hospitals and clinics overseas struggled to survive.

Ben McKibbens, former CEO of Valley Baptist Health System, serves as volunteer executive director for Healthcare Outreach Network.

“We’re trying to bridge the gap left behind,” said Keith Bruce, director of the BGCT institutional ministries office. “At least nine Texas and national hospitals are ready to offer support motivationally, financially and physically through medical supplies and equipment to hospitals like those in need in Nigeria.

“These are the first large containers of medical supplies and equipment we have sent to a developing nation. We were aware of the need of the Baptist hospital in Ogbomoso, and we’re glad to be able to provide medical assistance to those desperately in need.”

BGCT Medical Missions Coordinator Shirley Shofner helped bring the medi-cal resources together—involving not only Baylor Medical Center and Valley Baptist Hospital, but also Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, the Christian Community Action in Lewisville, Heart to Heart of Kansas City, Mo., and Supplies Overseas of Louisville, Ky.

“It’s awesome what the Lord has done,” Shofner said. “Children’s Medical Center was remodeling its operating rooms and provided us operating-room suites, including tables and lights.”

With only two physicians on staff, the Eku hospital still desperately needs doctors. Nourished by only beans and rice, the hospital staff is loyal and compassionate but extremely overworked and underpaid, Posey noted. Walking in Love often wires $1,000 checks to feed the unpaid staff for a month.

“We’ve found the names of four doctors who are willing to come,” Posey explained. “But we need $30,000 for first-year salaries for each one. More than 200 people are currently on staff, but the hospital only has funding for one month’s salary, $25,000, excluding the doctors.”

Texas Baptist Men volunteers built crates for the supplies and loaded them in containers, and Posey is working with TBM to build an orphanage not far from the hospital in Eku. For now, Posey looks forward to delivering a Christmas gift that will improve the lives of many less-fortunate people a world away from 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: 12/01/06

Church gives thanks by giving back

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

EL PASO—Members of Lakeside Baptist Church in El Paso gave thousands of hungry people in Juarez something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Church members were the primary preparers of Thanksgiving meals for more than 20,000 people Nov. 24-25. The effort is part of an outreach coordinated by Hands of Luke Medical Ministries, an organization led by Marco Samaniego, pastor of Lakeside Baptist.

Christians from throughout Texas and beyond came together to donate food, prepare it and serve it in conjunction with Juarez churches, who continue ministering to people after they have fed them.

People were open to hearing the gospel after their physical needs were met, Samaniego said. Conversations were started through the Thanksgiving outreach that led to life-changing decisions—about 800 professions of faith in Christ.

Leo Samaniego, mission and evangelism coordinator for Hands of Luke Medical Ministries, said Christians are eager to bless others as God has blessed them.

“We have been blessed by God in so many ways that we need to share those blessings,” Leo Samaniego said.

“This is a Thanksgiving effort. We’re giving God thanks for what he’s given, and out of that we’re giving back.”

Marco Samaniego sees the biblical miracle of multiplying fish and loaves happen every year.

Organizers rely on donations to feed the hungry, but they never are lacking in supplies when it’s time to serve.

“We feed people abundantly,” he said. “We’re not skimpy about it. And after we’re done feeding these people, we have a freezer or two of turkey.”

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: 12/01/06

ETBU students serve in Sabine Pass

By Mike Midkiff

East Texas Baptist University

MARSHALL—Two student groups from East Texas Baptist University responded to a request by Texas Baptist Men Disaster Relief to help meet ongoing needs in Southeast Texas one year after Hurricane Rita.

“I received a phone call from a TBM representative asking if ETBU students would help with a tremendous need to gut houses and hang sheetrock,” said Allan Thompson, director of the university’s Great Commission Center.

“After the phone call, I went walking on campus and ran into the student president of Pi Sigma fraternity. He asked me unsolicited about doing a mission project. Later, I announced in a chapel service the need in Sabine Pass, and the baseball team responded as well.”

Sixty volunteers left the ETBU campus the weekend before Thanksgiving to help residents of Sabine Pass.

Earlier, during the ETBU fall break, another student group went to Metairie, La., to help Celebration Church in its efforts to bounce back after Hurricane Katrina.

In Sabine Pass, student missionaries gutted the inside of a house, hung sheetrock in a home being rebuilt after a tornado destroyed it, tore down a rotted porch in order for a new one to be built, shingled a roof, put beams in place for a new roof, built a foundation for a ramp and deck, and hung siding on a house.

“The most refreshing part of the trip for me was hearing this phrase over and over again: ‘What more can we do? We want to do more,’” said ETBU admissions counselor and Pi Sigma sponsor Joey Sutton. “This trip was definitely not a comfortable trip, but I think being able to serve someone firsthand as opposed to just giving money to a charity was rewarding for all those who went.” 

Tiger Baseball Coach Sam Blackmon said his team took part in the mission trip for two reasons. The trip allowed the players to be involved in community service, and it put them in a situation to appreciate the things they have.

“I was impressed with the generosity and warmth of the people we went to help,” Blackmon said. “The attitude they displayed after suffering through what they went through was amazing to see. Some are still living in FEMA trailers. And yet they still have the hope and courage to move forward.”

The hopeful spirit displayed by a local resident impressed Ren Watkins.

“At lunch one day, an elderly man named Marshall sat down with me,” said Watkins, a religion major from Houston. “He shared with me that the hurricane had taken everything he had. Marshall showed me what it looks like when you trust in God when you have nothing on this earth but him.”             

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: 12/01/06

Ethiopian church employs
indigenous missionaries

By George Henson

Staff Writer

GARLAND—Through an innovative plan employing indigenous missionaries, even Sunday school classes can afford to reach Muslims in Ethiopia.

Pastor Bedilu Yirga of Ethiopian Evangelical Baptist Church in Garland and his congregation have partnered with churches in Ethiopia to reach members of the Berta tribe, who live along the border of Ethiopia and Sudan.

Churches in Bambasi are calling out members to become missionaries among the Berta people, who are predominantly Muslim. This area was closed to Christian influence for many years, but a change in leadership recently has allowed this type of outreach to become reality, Yirga said.

“They give us missionaries to share the gospel with the Berta tribe. They have a real burden to reach these people,” he said.

After the local church chooses spiritually mature people as missionaries to the surrounding villages, pastors from Addis Ababa come to Bambasi to train them to do the work more effectively.

While it would be nice to go there and do the training with members of his church, Yirga said, it is much more cost efficient to pay for the training by people who already are there.

The goal is to reach 30 villages, each with its own missionary. One of the first jobs for the missionaries is to set up a school for preschool children in the area. The plan calls for 10 preschools to be built so children can become prepared for enrollment in one of the two elementary schools participants hope to build in about two years.

Construction of the schools not only will help provide an education for children who have no other avenue for learning, but also will provide jobs for the many poor people in the area, Yirga said.

Christian schools also would provide an avenue to teach children about Christ, he added.

Yirga went to Ethiopia to meet partners in the project last September on an exploratory visit. Early this year, the first missionaries were trained.

“The Berta are primarily Muslim and won’t be easy to reach with Christianity,” he acknowledged. But already they have observed early successes.

“In our last reports, we learned that the gospel had been shared with more than 500 people, and 53 of those made professions of faith in Christ. We would do whatever and spend any amount for one person, and now we already have reached 53,” Yirga exclaimed.

While each missionary in the field makes quarterly written reports, someone from Yirga’s congregation will travel to Ethiopia each January to inspect and verify the written reports, he said.

Twenty missionaries are reaching area villages, but Yirga said at least 10 more are needed. He hopes other churches will partner in the project so that the other villages also can be reached.

Each missionary’s monthly salary can be paid with $50, and $150 a month not only pays the missionary’s salary, but provides the tools needed to do ministry, Yirga said.

A Laotian congregation and a Brazilian congregation have agreed to support two missionaries on an ongoing basis, as has a church in Spain.

“I’m trying to communicate with other ethnic churches to stand with us and minister somewhere other than their own lands,” he said. “Maybe next time the Brazilian church will have a project, we can assist them with.”

“The ethnic churches are not just here for themselves, but to support the work back home.”

Expense is minimal, he noted.

“This is very cheap economically,” Yirga pointed out. “If we were to send one missionary from the United States, it would cost much more than this.

“Also, this is a part of the world with a great deal of unrest. Often it gets bad, and the (foreign) missionaries have to leave the area until it calms down. Already, two of our missionaries have reported persecution, but they have no place to go, so they must stay and pray for God’s protection.”

But Yirga is quick to offer his appreciation to U.S. missionaries who travel the world spreading the gospel.

“I’m very indebted to foreign missionaries who went to Ethiopia and shared the gospel with me, and some even gave their lives for the gospel. But it is high time to trust nationals to do the work among their own people,” he said.

As the ministry continues, digging water wells will begin.

“Some women walk as far as an hour for water and then wait in line two or three hours and then have to walk the hour back home. All that to get water that is not clean or sanitary,” he said.

Building schools and digging wells will require more funds, and Yirga is praying that other congregations will see the need and contribute to the ministry.

To learn more about the Bambasi project, contact Yirga at (214) 677-6555.

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.