Posted: 8/17/07
| Austrian Baptist students found encouragement and mission opportunities during their trip to Texas. (Photo/Dietrich Fischer-Dorl) |
Open plains, open hearts
welcome Austrian Baptists to Texas
By John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
DALLAS—Open plains and open hearts helped show Austrian Baptists how big the Baptist family is.
A group of Austrian Baptist youth recently finished a several-week-long trip through Texas, during which they served at Mission Arlington, ministered through Woodlawn Baptist Church in Austin and participated in Super Summer at Hardin-Simmons University.
The vastness and variety of Baptist work helped show the youth how numerous Baptists are around the world, said Dietrich Fischer-Dorl, who leads the youth division of the Baptist Union of Austria. Twenty-two churches that serve a total of 1,400 members comprise the Austrian union.
“I think the biggest effect is to show our Baptist family is much larger than this small minority in our country,” he said.
Fischer-Dorl said the youth were impressed by Texas hospitality. Texas Baptists welcomed the group into their homes with open arms. Texans showed the students new ways of ministering that Fischer-Dorl hopes they will take back to Austria.
“Ministering is part of a Christian lifestyle,” he said.
The Baptist Union of Austria has enjoyed a fraternal relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas through the BGCT Texas Partnerships ministry. Texas Partnerships’ mission initiatives partially are supported by funds from the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions.
Fischer-Dorl hopes Texans will continue to collaborate with Austrian Baptists for mission work in Texas and Austria. Both the Austrian union and the BGCT are members of the Baptist World Alliance.
“When we get teams to Austria from Texas, we see we have new friends who are praying for us, supporting us,” Fischer-Dorl said.
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