Posted: 8/17/07

Buckner collects humanitarian
aid for earthquake victims in Peru

With more than 440 people reported dead and thousands injured following the 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Peru, Buckner International has requested donations of humanitarian aid for shipment to the struggling South America country.

“We are not a disaster relief organization, but we have a responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in crisis,” said Rachel Garton, director of Shoes for Orphan Souls. “We already have a container scheduled to send shoes and humanitarian aid to Peru in a few weeks. This is the perfect opportunity for us to really provide the victims with their most pressing needs.”

Buckner is seeking the following donated items:

Shoes and socks.

Blankets.

Towels.

Basic medicine and first aid supplies (including alcohol, bandages, pain relievers).

Diapers.

Donated items can be delivered to the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid, located at 5405 Shoe Drive, Mesquite 75149. Due to customs regulations, all donated items must be new. For more information, contact Andrew Knight at (214) 367-8080, ext. 1012.

To make a cash donation, visit www.buckner.org to donate online, or contact Buckner Foundation at (214) 758-8050.

Buckner International currently supports eight government and privately run orphanages in Lima and Cusco.

Buckner staff in Peru is developing a foster care program and looking to expand their support into the northern jungles of Iquitos.

About 42,000 pounds of shoes and other humanitarian aid are shipped to Peru each year.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 5/27/07

Drake won’t repeat as SBC 2nd VP;
won’t rule out higher office

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

BUENA PARK, Calif. (ABP)—Wiley Drake, the Los Angeles-area pastor, radio crusader and Southern Baptist Convention gadfly, has announced he will not allow himself to be nominated for a second term as second vice president of the convention.

The convention will meet June 12-13 in San Antonio.

The news comes as a surprise to those who follow Southern Baptist news, since Drake had publicly stated in 2006 he would be nominated to the vice president position in 2007 and then ascend to a presidential nomination in 2008.

Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., said his nomination wouldn’t be “best for the kingdom or the convention.”

He had recently discovered that Bill Britt, former president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists, would also be nominated and didn’t want “a runoff situation” in which “factions are created and people get their feelings hurt,” he said.

“I really feel like my reason to withdraw was that God told me not to run,” Drake said. “I don’t mean to spiritualize, but I woke up at three in the morning and knew I had to (withdraw) . … I had every intention of running again and being nominated and running again.”

Don’t expect Drake to drop out of SBC politics, though. While he won’t seek the presidency the June convention, he said, he would accept such a nomination in 2008.

“I think (SBC President Frank Page) has done a good job,” Drake said. “I mean, he’s not perfect, he’s not the Lord, but I think he deserves another chance. After that, I would accept a nomination to be president.”

Drake said he can’t say for sure whether he’d accept a nomination this year as first vice president. It would depend on the situation and his opponent, he said. For now, he’s ready to step out of the limelight, if only for a moment.

“I’ve seen it be a little bit divisive” in convention politics, Drake said. “I’ve got a very busy ministry here, and I’ve enjoyed my year in office. I felt like it’s time for me not to be back in the divisive.”

In a letter to Britt, Drake said he respected him and his “reputation in God’s kingdom.”

“I will recommend to all our brothers and sisters to support you when you are nominated,” Drake wrote. “I also stand ready to offer any help I can when you are elected. I believe your emphasis on evangelism is not only great for the kingdom’s work but our work as Southern Baptists.”

Drake, a self-proclaimed “champion of the little guy,” is a much-loved figure among many Southern Baptists. He gained prominence more than a decade ago in his role in the Southern Baptist boycott against the Walt Disney Co. for its perceived abandonment of its family-friendly image. In his hometown, Drake is best known as the pastor who fought city hall for the right to turn his 75-member church into a homeless shelter.

But despite his popular support, Drake has tussled with the SBC establishment. In October 2006, he created his own letterhead with the title “Southern Baptist Convention, Office of the 2nd Vice President” and used it to endorse Republican Dick Mountjoy of California in his bid for the U.S. Senate. Soon after, Drake received a terse warning from the SBC’s top lawyer.

Earlier that year, Drake said he expected to attend the September meeting of the SBC’s Executive Committee but was told he’d have to pay his own way. SBC policy states that pastors in top elected positions must pay for expenses in attending events, Drake said.

Last October, Drake said that refusal to pay for travel expenses sent an unspoken message from SBC leaders: “‘You don’t need to know anything, because the president doesn’t need to know anything, because the president doesn’t do anything either. We control everything.’”

As second vice president, Drake has no specific duties except to succeed the first vice president and president if both are incapacitated, but he has questioned how he can take over if he doesn’t know the inner workings of the group. “That’s why I think I need to be at the meeting,” he said last October. “I really take my job as vice president serious. The Executive Committee don’t. And the convention, so far, don’t.”

The expense of attending SBC events played a small role as well in his decision to forego this year’s nomination, Drake said. He called himself the first of the top executives to come from a small church and said that when elected, he didn’t know he’d have to pay for convention-related trips on his own.

Church members at First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park would happily sponsor him in convention events, Drake said, but they just don’t have the extra money.

“As a pastor of a small church, it’s difficult to get to convention, budget-wise,” Drake said. “My total budget including my salary package at my church is less than $100,000.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/10/07

KidsHeart builds relationships, grows churches

By Jenny Pope

Buckner International

PROGRESO—Pastor Ismael Gaspar dug his heels in the mud as the church van’s tires spun with no avail. The KidsHeart mission team from The Church at Canyon Creek, Austin, was stuck.

It took nearly an hour of pushing, spinning and sliding through Iglesia Bautista Sublime Gracia’s muddy parking lot—caused by several days of unusual Valley thunderstorms—before the van was finally released.

But Gaspar didn’t mind getting dirty. Not for Canyon Creek. If it weren’t for them, the church behind him wouldn’t look the way it does today.

A volunteer from First, College Station, assists a woman with her quilt in Lasara Community Center. Volunteers hope that teaching impoverished women to quilt will provide them with the experience needed to bring extra income to their families.

“They have helped us so much,” he said. “And not just economically. The most important thing is the fellowship and companionship they bring to us in our spiritual life. They are our friends.”

Canyon Creek first met Gaspar in 2003 through KidsHeart, a week-long missions blitz hosted by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Buckner International in some of the poorest U.S. counties along the Rio Grande River. After five years of KidsHeart, their relationship has blossomed—and so has the church.

Canyon Creek has helped the 55-member church renovate the sanctuary, construct a large pavilion, install outhouses and a playscape, and build a 780 square foot addition to the main building, which Gaspar uses as a community food pantry.

“We distribute nearly 2,000 pounds of food each week,” he said, adding that food is among his community’s most desperate needs. “And through the food pantry, we’ve been able to grow our church and share Christ with more people.”

Several Canyon Creek members have formed personal relationships with Gaspar and the Progreso community, returning several times throughout the year for small projects and fellowship.

“Our church is very missions-minded,” said Karen Funderburk, a Canyon Creek missions volunteer. “We see this church, this community, as an extension of our own.”

The long-term relationship between Canyon Creek and Sublime Gracia is just what CBF and Buckner leaders had hoped for when they began KidsHeart more than five years ago, said CBF Texas Coordinator Rick McClatchy.

Volunteers from Clear Lake Baptist Church, Houston, and Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, worked to build a house from the ground up in a week for a family in the Progreso colonia.

Since KidsHeart’s inception, more than 1,700 people have served in the Valley. Nearly 400 volunteers served this year from about 15 churches, and only two of those were first timers.

“These churches have really built strong relationships, picking the same communities to return to year after year,” McClatchy said. “Those friendships have grown. And now we can’t go into these communities without people we’ve helped (in years past) recognizing us and stopping us to say hello.”

First Baptist Church in College Station has served the Lasara community five years, hosting a community-wide Vacation Bible School, free dental clinics and quilting classes. They have also built and reconstructed several homes in the small colonia, where more than 50 percent of the population is below poverty.

This year, in addition to home repairs, the team worked to build a parsonage at Iglesia Bautista Adonai, where pastor Agustin Garcia will live. Garcia has served as a pastor for 30 years, four of which have been spent living off and on inside a small room at the church.

“Park Cities Baptist Church (in Dallas, another partner church in the Lasara community) tried to build the parsonage years ago, but he wouldn’t have it,” McClatchy said. “He wanted them to build the classrooms for the church first. He is very dedicated to that community.”

Garcia said that the mission teams, and construction work, have helped bring more families to the church, which now has about 60 members. He said it has also helped them gain credibility within the community, getting a foot in the door with area schools.

Jorge Zapata, Buckner missions coordinator in the Rio Grande Valley, said gaining the trust of leaders in the community can prove challenging for small churches. But with Buckner having a big influence in the Valley, he added, “they trust us. And soon, they learn to trust the church.

“I think we have helped pastors see they need to get involved in their community centers and become friends with the directors, the school superintendents … after about six months to a year, they will have built that presence and become the pastor for the whole community.”

“KidsHeart has helped pastors realize that if they want to reach the community, they have to reach out,” McClatchy added. “They have to do more than just preach on Sundays.”

For pastors like Gaspar and Garcia, sharing God’s love to each and every person in their community is what comes first. And they will not rest until his work is done.

“These groups have opened doors for us,” Garcia said while looking out over a group of volunteers from Trinity Baptist Church, Harker Heights and First Baptist in College Station playing games with Lasara children.

“Buckner was the force that started everything, and now they have come along beside us to see it through. I feel very blessed.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/15/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for August 26

God’s steadfast love

• Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-41

By Corey Cornutt

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene

As discussed in last week’s lesson, Lamentations is a book that records the sorrow of an entire nation after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 587 B.C. From the mourning over the loss of a great city, to the frustration with suffering while enemies prospered, to weeping over the sight of a starving child, the author of Lamentations successfully captured the true despair of the Jewish people.

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God punishes his own (Lamentations 3:1-9)

The destruction of Jerusalem was brought on by the disobedience of the Jews. The people were sent prophets who gave them several chances to repent, but they continued in their transgression, and God had no choice but to punish them.

In the first part of chapter 3, the author continues in his description of God’s punishment. Notice the distance the author feels between himself and God. He never even uses the actual word for God, but continually refers to God as “he.” This distance is further explained in verse 8, when the author says God ignores his prayers.

The author even seems to be relating his experience to death. For the Hebrews the abode of the dead was a place in the underworld named Sheol. A key feature of Sheol was darkness, which the author mentions both in verse 2 and 6. Likewise, the author also mentions in verse 4 that God has caused his flesh to waste away and his bones to be broken. The worst part, though, is that there appears to be no way out, because in verse 9, the author explains that God has walled him in.

Perhaps we also feel distant from God. Maybe you were wishing for a new lease on life, and instead you got a bad report from your doctor. Or maybe you have been trying to provide for your family, and you were laid off at work. In times like those, we might be able to understand what it feels like to have no way out. But there is good news; the story is not over.

Hope is near (Lamentations 3:21-25)

In verse 21, the author suddenly changes course. It is as if he took a break from writing to weep over his suffering. And during that break, he was reminded that the prophets who foresaw the destruction of Jerusalem also foresaw a restoration of the faithful. Maybe those words caused the author to claim, “I have hope.”

In verse 22, the distance that dominated the first part of the chapter disappears as the author calls God by his name, Yahweh. He claims God’s compassions never fail, and in verse 23, he says to God, “Great is your faithfulness.” Even amidst his suffering, the author is whole-heartedly trusting in God’s love because as verse 33 says, God does not punish willingly. God did what had to be done, and now a time for restoration is on the horizon.

We can cling to such a realization when we feel walled into a prison of despair. No matter how bleak the situation, God still loves us. No matter how deep and dark the hole, hope remains. But how do we take hold of such a hope?

A return to the Lord (Lamentations 3:26-41)

In verse 26, the author recommends something rather unpopular in our world. He says it is good to wait quietly for God to act. Modern humanity is horrible at waiting, especially quietly. The author of Lamentations obviously was content to wait on the Lord, but it was probably more than 100 years later before Nehemiah began rebuilding the walls of the city. His hopes, however, were answered. Real faith lasts even beyond death.

In order to receive restoration, one also must be willing to become a slave to God. Verses 27-30 portray the image of bearing the yoke of slavery. The author explains the faithful must bear such a yoke with silence and humility, symbolized by burying their faces in the dust. We must become as slaves of the Lord before we will be restored.

This call to humble service is summarized in verse 40. The author claims the faithful should examine their ways and return to the Lord. Eventually the faithful would return to the Lord, and some progress towards rebuilding Jeru-salem would be made.

In our setting, many people seem to have left the Lord, even those within the church. As a result, people are suffering through times of faithlessness and distance from God. Let us examine our ways first, making sure we have returned to the Lord. Then, let us be a voice calling out to all who will listen: “Return to the Lord. There may yet be hope.”

Discussion question

• What are some ways God has shown his love for you in spite of your sin?

• How does God offer forgiveness and restoration when we return to him?

• Can you think of someone you know who obviously feels distant from the Lord?

• What have you learned from our study of Lamentations that you can/will share with them?

Corey Cornutt is a master of divinity student at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary in Abilene.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/15/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for August 26

When society abandons God’s ways

• 2 Kings 22:1-23:30

By David Harp

First Baptist Church, Stanton

I went to the doctor early this Monday morning to get a shot for some allergies. I made the appointment nearly two weeks ago. When I arrived, I was 10 minutes early.

It is written in the Harp DNA that we arrive earlier than scheduled. There was not one available seat in my doctor’s waiting room. Then I remembered that Dr. Tevini had been out all last week for vacation. The waiting room resembled a mass of confusion from a recent episode seen on television’s “E.R.” program. Babies were crying, adults were coughing and teenagers were sneezing. I wondered to myself, “Is this any place for a fairly healthy human being?”

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I quickly became fascinated from my perch of leaning against the wall as I noticed a frazzled young mother. Bless her heart; she tried to control three small children—all boys. One was in diapers, and he couldn’t keep his hands off the trash can—playing with it as the open/shut container whirred at a blurring pace. The middle boy was barely a toddler, and he could do nothing to please his anxious and worn out mother. First he wanted his “binky” in his mouth and then out. He took over the waiting room with his outbursts of tears and wouldn’t settle in to watch cartoons on the television as Mom kept pleading. Mom was a really good counter as she tried her best parenting skills to remind little “Rowdy,” as she called him, that he was down to his last chance. Finally, Mom had enough and dragged little “Rowdy” outside for a “come to Jesus” meeting.

While Mom took “Rowdy” out to blister his bottom, there was a sudden sigh of relief in the air. That’s when the oldest boy, probably all of 8 years old, made a mad dash for the receptionist. He desperately wanted help, maybe for himself or maybe it was just for his frazzled Mom. He slid into the wall at the receptionist’s desk and pleaded loudly, “Lady, is there a doctor anywhere in there?”

I share my Monday morning story at the doctor with you for a special reason. Can you remember what it was like to be 8 years old? Most 8-year-olds I know are like this little boy, vitally interested in self-preservation. Eight-year-olds are full of life and laughter and even love, at times.

In our lesson this week, we study an 8-year-old named Josiah, who was appointed as king over an entire nation, Judah. The nation, like my doctor’s office waiting room, was filled with chaos and confusion.

Like young Josiah, we might wonder, what can one person do to make a difference?

Maybe as you prepare or teach the lesson this week, you are feeling overwhelmed at life’s difficulties. Josiah will take his stand as a leader and serve 31 years. Josiah, unlike many of his forefathers, will remain faithful and committed to God in spite of the ungodly ways of the world.

Desire righteousness (2 Kings 22:1-5)

Josiah was a righteous king, and he deeply desired a godly nation. The evidence we have for this is Josiah’s strong effort to promote and establish right worship. Josiah initiated repairs to the Temple that had been defiled by his ungodly predecessors, Manasseh and Amon (21:4, 7). The clear words in our text tell us, “Josiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father, David, not turning aside to the right or the left” (22:2).

I have been blessed over the years to pastor five churches. Steve was my banker and good friend when I was his pastor in Quanah. We have remained good friends through the passing of years. Steve always ends our conversation with me by saying, “be sure and do the right thing.” We all need friends and fellow worshippers who will call us to accountability with one another and with the Lord. Josiah desired to “do the right thing” and called his people to worship the Lord properly.

Elevate God’s word (2 Kings 23:2-3)

Under Josiah’s urgent call to clean up the Temple, a book was found. The book was the law, likely the book we know as Deuteronomy found in our Old Testament. While there is some debate about this book, there is no question that Josiah read its contents to the people. He calls the leaders-elders, priests, prophets and people to the temple. He reads from the book publicly and then renews the covenant by responding to its stipulations.

He does as Deuteronomy 6:5 demands; with heart and soul, he and the people pledge to love, obey, and serve their covenant Lord. Think of the impact of this event. God’s book, lost in God’s house. Josiah, a strong and vibrant young leader, led the people to place a high value on God’s word. We need to make up our own minds about how serious we are going to be when we read and are confronted with God’s word.

Hebrews 4:12 reminds us “the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Work for change (2 Kings 23:4, 24)

Josiah initiated reforms throughout Judah. Josiah’s reforms touched both the public (v. 4) and the private (v. 24) spiritual abuses. There is a needed word from God for us—spiritual renewal must be accompanied by practical reforms. It really counts when we elevate the reading of God’s word to the point where we actually apply it to life.

The nation needed to change, and Josiah was just the leader to call the people to live for God. God leaves the choice with us.

Realize judgment may still come (2 Kings 23:26-27)

In spite of Josiah’s reforms, God did not turn from his wrath against Judah. Judgment was delayed but not averted. When a nation sins, there will be a divine response.

Personally, I like happy endings. But this passage ends on a negative note. We can affirm, however, that Josiah’s reforms still were worthwhile. It always is the right time to do the right thing!

Discussion questions

• Using 2 Kings 22:2, how would you define obedience?

• In what ways has God’s word been lost in our culture today?

• In what ways can our class work for change in our world?

• How can I know God is going to one day punish evildoers?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/15/07

Explore the Bible Series for August 26

Trusting the God of justice

• Malachi 2:17-4:6

By Kathryn Aragon

First Baptist Church, Duncanville

You know you’ve thought it. It’s the age-old question that haunts us at the end of the day. But Malachi says we have “wearied the Lord” with our words (2:17).

It seems as if the world couldn’t be more mixed up. What is evil is called good. What is good is called wrong. Moral fiber is rewarded with ridicule rather than respect. Courage has more to do with extreme sports than with following the call of God. And meanness is rewarded, while goodness is punished.

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Is it any wonder we cry out, “Where is the God of justice?”

Professing faith in God seems easy. Expected even. But is it as easy to obey him? Obviously not, or else we wouldn’t be reading exposés about ministers who prey on children and seniors. We wouldn’t worry about locking our doors when we park our cars at church. And we wouldn’t have to talk differently at work or in our neighborhoods just to fit in.

It doesn’t take much interaction with the world to become a little jaded. It seems as if God allows evil to be rewarded while ignoring his faithful few. Can he really mean what he says in Malachi 3:5: “So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me”?

The answer lies in faith

Job had as much reason to doubt God as any of us. Throughout his ordeal, he did in fact question God, but his faith could not be shaken. “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22). In spite of the unfairness of his situation, at the end of the day, Job still could not say God had made a mistake.

At the end of the day, we too must stand on faith. Trusting in God means more than believing he’ll allow us into his heaven. It means believing he knows what he’s doing and has a plan. It means believing he sees what’s going on and will respond at the right time. It means trusting his words to be true, even when it doesn’t look that way.

It’s the timing issue that makes trust so hard. Because we’ve grown accustomed to immediate results, we often get discouraged when we get no reward for our efforts. Hence, someone might tithe for years, but when financial blessings never come, he’ll decide tithing doesn’t work. Someone else might make a habit of answering harsh words with soft answers, but after years of people taking advantage of her, she’ll decide God’s word isn’t true. We build expectations around God’s promises and call it faith. But when this “faith” isn’t rewarded, we become resentful.

Malachi tells us this faithlessness offends God. Listen as he quotes what many of us have thought, if we haven’t actually spoken the words: “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape’” (3:14-15).

Rest assured. God’s word is true. He just works on a bigger scale than we can imagine. When God says he’ll testify quickly, he doesn’t mean tomorrow. A lifetime is quick to the God of eternity.

Furthermore, God has a plan. We like to focus on the passages promising blessing on God’s children and judgment on his enemies. But we fail to remember the passages revealing God’s nature. The Bible plainly says God is patient and willing to wait for his enemies to change their hearts and become his children. It isn’t that God doesn’t see the evil in the world. It isn’t that he is going back on his word. It’s that he has a plan. And that plan is for everyone to discover his love and follow him.

Malachi wants us to line up our expectations with God’s. Yes, God will punish. And in rare cases, that judgment occurs here on earth. But we always must wait on God. “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire … .But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall” (4:1-2).

All too often, because we don’t understand God’s ways, we think he has failed us, or doesn’t hear us or, worse, uses difficult circumstances to punish us. Yet faith can see us through the times that don’t make sense. Regardless of our circumstances, we are called to follow God, loving him and obeying him.

We must trust that the rewards will come. “Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. ‘They will be mine,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not’” (3:16-18).

We must focus on God, not the world

The promise is clear. God does see, and he does remember. In fact, he even records our faithfulness in a scroll so it will never be forgotten. But we must not grow discouraged when we aren’t immediately showered with blessings. God says he will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. We must be patient until that day.

But how do we manage until that day? We must learn how to focus. If we spend our days focusing on the unfairness and inequality of our circumstances, our attitudes will disintegrate. When we focus on the world, we develop a worldly heart, and we begin to resent God.

Instead, we must learn to see through the smoky haze of life to the truth. Yes, it seems the evil are getting away with their wrongdoings and the good are not being recognized for their faithfulness. But God, who sees all, is keeping a record. We don’t need to worry. We only need to take our eyes off the world and focus on him.

Like Peter, who dared to walk on stormy waters, faith will take us outside the boat and into the storm. But we mustn’t think about the impossibility of our situation. We must simply focus on Jesus. Yes, it appears dangerous, but if we’ll keep our eyes on Jesus, we’ll find ourselves walking on water.

Discussion questions

• Have you experienced circumstances that made you doubt the truth of God’s word?

• How did you respond?

• Is it possible to remain faithful even when it seems futile?

• What are some strategies for focusing on God during difficult times?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/14/07

Taliban reportedly releases
two Korean Christian hostages

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (ABP) — Two of the 23 South Korean hostages kidnapped by the Taliban last month were released Aug. 12.

Associated Press reported Kim Kyung-ja, 37, and Kim Ji-na, 32, were driven to waiting Red Cross vehicles in rural Afghanistan and then transferred to a United States military base.

The kidnapping victims all are members of Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, South Korea. Their leader, Bae Hyung-Kyu, 42, was found dead July 25. A second hostage, Shim Sung-min, 29, was reported dead July 31.

A Taliban spokesman told reporters the hostages were released “for the sake of good relations between the Korean people and the Taliban.” In exchange for the hostages, the kidnappers have demanded the release of 21 militants incarcerated by the Afghan government and U.S. military. Afghan leaders have refused to release any prisoners.

Korean leaders have insisted that the church workers were providing social services in Afghanistan, not evangelizing.

Fourteen women and five men are still being held.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/13/07

East Texas volunteer warms hearts
—and heads—of Moldovan orphans

By Whitney Farr

Communications Intern

TYLER—Beth Rowley has knit 100 wool stocking caps. Only 2,900 left to go.

Mrs. Rowley isn’t shooting for the Guinness Book of World Records, but she is working overtime to make 3,000 wool hats for orphaned children in Moldova before the next snowfall.

She had always knit by hand until brain surgery limited her dexterity. But after her husband bought her a knitting machine she realized her limits were not setbacks.

“I can’t work well in a crowd, but I can certainly work a knitting machine,” she said.

After sending a few handmade hats to orphans in Moldova, the missions committee at The Woods Baptist Church in Tyler asked Children’s Emergency Relief International—an agency of Baptist Child & Family Services—how many more caps they would like to have in Moldova.

The missions director at The Woods laughed as she told Rowley the agency’s response. They needed 3,000 more hats by winter.

“Well, to me that wasn’t funny—that was serious business,” Rowley said. “It was overwhelming, but I decided to do it, because I was raised in an orphanage and I know what it feels like to have nothing.”

It all started when a young woman from Moldova, Connie Belciug, told The Woods Baptist Church about Children’s Emergency Relief International’s work in her homeland.

Belciug shared the heartbreaking numbers concerning the youth in Moldova with The Woods congregation—12,000 or more children live in state orphanages; when children finish the 9th grade, they are expelled at age 16 or 17.

Employment opportunities for the newly independent orphans in Moldova—Europe’s poorest country—are so scarce that about ten percent commit suicide within a year of leaving the orphanages, many of the boys go into crime and up to 70 percent of the girls become prostitutes in order to stay alive.

Until hearing of this need, Rowley had always knit hats for local hospitals and children in China. Eventually the Chinese churches decided to take on the knitting ministry themselves, which freed up plenty time for Rowley sew the seams on the 3,000 hats, 418 of which she finished in one month.

A local Hobby Lobby heard of Rowley’s ambitious undertaking and donated $1,000 worth of yarn.

“It’s a remarkable feeling,” Rowley said, “to be able to give a gift to those children who have nothing.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/10/07

Academy's centennial focuses on future

By George Henson

Staff Writer

SAN MARCOS—San Marcos Academy is celebrating its centennial this year with a glance at the past but with the future firmly in sight.

The centennial celebration theme is 100 Years of Light, Academy President Victor Schmidt noted.

The school’s century of providing light to students just learning to make their way in life began July 10, 1907, when the cornerstone of the first building was guided into place. The school opened its doors for the first day of classes Sept. 24, 1908, with J.M. Carroll as its president.

The school, the fruit of the labors of several southwestern Texas pastors, began its association with the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1910.

And while the school is proud of its longstanding history, changes have been made to ensure the school’s continued success.

The school began its longstanding military tradition in 1917, when the academy was granted a junior unit of the Reserve Officers Training Corps. The school retained its strong military bent until the spring semester of 2004, when the school did away with the residential military program.

While the school retains its junior ROTC program, only U.S. male students are required to take the course and only for one semester, although many elect to stay in the program after their requirement has been met. Students no longer have to wear the uniform all the time, and the military program has no bearing on dorm life.

That break with tradition was a tough decision to make, Schmidt acknowledged.

“That ending of the non-residential military emphasis was a big move for us,” he said. “A lot of alums are still smarting from that.”

It was a move made in the interest in attracting and keeping students, and it has proven to be wise, Schmidt said. In 2004, when the change was made, SMA had 198 students. In 2007, that number was 270.

“We didn’t think of ourselves as a military school but as a school with a good military program. But to a kid who goes through a military program and wears a uniform all day, this was a military school,” he pointed out.

“Mom and Dad usually decide where a kid is going to go that first year, but by the second year, it’s really the student who decides if they are coming back. Our customers are both parents and students. We’re providing an environment that is more enjoyable to attend for our students, but at the same time giving our parents those elements their looking for.”

Making the military program voluntary after the initial semester has been a major factor in a greater student retention rate, Schmidt said.

The demographics of the student body also are different than when the school began a century ago. Two-thirds of the 7th- through12th-grade student body is male, and 80 percent of the students live in the three dormitories on campus. Students come from 80 Texas cities, nine other states and 10 foreign countries, primarily Asian.

“Our school district is quite large,” Schmidt quipped.

The decision has been made to cap the international student enrollment at one-third, Schmidt said, even though financially it would be rewarding to do otherwise.

“The parents who send their children here from foreign countries want them to assimilate into American culture, and we feel that if the percentage gets too high, it makes that assimilation more difficult. We could attract more international students, but we have a responsibility to their parents to perform the task they intended,” he said.

The education of those students goes beyond the academic training they receive, as many are exposed to the tenets of Christianity for the first time, he noted.

“That presents us with an opportunity for ministry to these kids who will return to their countries and will take home the seeds of our ministry here,” he said.

Students initially learn about the San Marcos school in a way that would have been totally incomprehensible when it was founded. “We get more referrals of the Internet than anything else,” Schmidt reported.

One thing that has not changed—and will not—is the school’s bedrock adherence to its Christian principles, he maintained. Students attend devotionals and chapel each week.

“We’re unapologetically Christian, and we’re going to be sure our Christian values transcend everything we do,” Schmidt said. “Our forefathers built this academy on Christian faith, and that is something we want to maintain and strengthen.”

“At the same time, as Baptists, we respect other religions. We are not coercive about our beliefs. You can’t force it down their throats.”

While the student body is primarily Christian, and more than a quarter are Baptist, there are a number of students who are not Christian.

“We are a cross-section of society,” Schmidt said. “We are getting some kids that didn’t get the opportunity to form values and be positively influenced by their families, and some of our kids have not had cohesive families—this is a ministry.”

In the future, as in the past, what sets the school apart from others is the people involved—students, faculty and staff, Schmidt said.

“Our future is our people—our people that have created that 100 years of light. We are blessed by our faculty and staff. They are here because they love the Lord, and they love kids. For most of them, this is a ministry,” he said.

“It also is our students. We want to provide them with a challenging education that enhances their Christian values. We want to prepare kids for college and for those who don’t choose to go to college, we want to prepare them for life,” Schmidt said.

One of the school’s greatest assets is its alumni, he continued. The school boasts more than 5,100 graduates and many more students who were there for a time, he said.

“We have numerous alumni come back and say that the academy had a profound influence on their lives,” Schmidt said. “And some of those were only here for a semester of so, and some were not particularly successful while they were here. But regardless how long they were here, they recognize in looking back a positive influence.”

The Sept. 14-15 centennial celebration will begin with campus tours at 2 p.m. Friday. The day also will include a pep rally and bonfire. Saturday will include a convocation at 1:30 p.m. with Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade as keynote speaker. At 2:30, the dedication of the newly constructed alumni plaza will take place. The plaza is designed to recall the façade of the Carroll building, the first building of the original campus. At 4:15 p.m., the groundbreaking for a campus fitness center will be observed. The day will be capped with the homecoming football game that evening.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/10/07

Northeast Texas churches provide
medical missions in Guatemala

By Rebekah Hardage

Communications Intern

MOUNT PLEASANT—A team of volunteer missionaries from First Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant and First Baptist Church in Texarkana traveled to Guatemala this summer to offer general medical assistance, perform surgeries and share the gospel.

Gerald Stagg, a pediatrician in Mount Pleasant, and his family went on a similar trip last year with the Texarkana church.

“I made a request for others to volunteer to go in 2007,” he said.  “That request was simply in the form of a testimony of what God had done through that medical mission trip and asking for prayer for our church to be involved.”

Doctors and dentists in the area responded to the invitation, including surgeon Clint Twadell, who decided to go and take his crew, wife and son with him.

The Twaddell family, along with Pastor Clint Davis from First Baptist in Mount Pleasant and his wife, prepared for the trip by enrolling in a Spanish language immersion class at the Baptist University of the Americas.

“We all enjoyed our opportunity to see the BUA campus and to interact with the faculty and student body. I was very impressed with the learning experience,” Davis said.

Delores Head, nurse from Texarkana, showed the love of Christ to children during mission trip to Guatemala.

After several packing parties and other preparation, the East Texas group was ready to leave for Guatemala. They expected a large number of people to be in need of medical care, but the numbers they encountered were more than they ever imagined.

Each day at 4:30 a.m., people dressed in their best began lining up to receive help from a medical doctor. Some needed dental help, while others required surgery. And the physicians were ready to offer their services with compassion.

Twaddell performed the first laparoscopic surgery in Guatemala, removing gallbladders and appendixes with minimal invasion.

Martha Twaddell also received a blessing when she was able to watch her husband of 25 years perform surgery for the first time.

“After helping him through undergrad, medical school and his residency, I finally got to see him do what he does,” she said.

John Homer, a carpenter from Mount Pleasant, plays with children in Guatemala.

Stagg not only treated children, but helped adults, as well.

“Oftentimes medicine here in the U.S. is expected, or there is a feeling of entitlement,” he said.  “In Guatemala, they are very grateful for even the littlest thing we do.”

After receiving medical care, each patient received a Bible and one other gift. The tennis balls and beanie babies were a big hit with the children, while the men loved the baseball caps. And people of all ages appreciated the crayons and coloring books while waiting to receive medical care.

In spite of challenges, all of the mission trip participants left Guatemala feeling they had been blessed by the experience, Davis said.

“The Lord showed me his power to do the unexpected and the virtually impossible when we make ourselves available to him,” he said.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/10/07

Cowboy church moves from
horse trough to lake for baptism

By Toby Druin

Editor Emeritus

WAXAHACHIE—The Cowboy Church of Ellis County baptized 64 new converts at Lake Waxahachie July 29.

Pastor Gary Morgan performed the baptisms, assisted by several lay pastors and elders from the church.

Several hundred of the church’s more than 1,500 members crowded the banks of the lake, cheering and clapping as each of the 64 was immersed in the lake.

Morgan said the lake baptism was the idea of Ruth Brearley who asked in February that she be baptized in the lake.

“I asked her to put it off until the summer, so the water would be warm and we could see if others might like to be baptized there, too,” Morgan said.

“I thought maybe 10 or 12 might want to be baptized in the lake, but obviously the demand far exceeded my expectations.”

Most of the people baptized were adults, Morgan said. And with the 55 already baptized this year in a horse trough at the church, it brings the total number of baptisms for the year to 119.

“We may have learned something here,” said Morgan of the baptismal service at the lake. “This was a culturally relevant, western-heritage event, and considering the response, many of our other cowboy churches may want to take note of it. Western-heritage people respond to going outside.”

Cowboy Church of Ellis County, established in 2000, is the largest of about 100 cowboy churches affiliated with the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches, which has offices in Waxahachie. The fellowship is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Fellowship Coordinator Ron Nolen lauded the baptismal service.

“This was a wonderful event,” he said. “Our prayer is that it might be duplicated in cowboy churches all across Texas.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 8/10/07

Summit at DBU offers help
for children’s ministers

By Whitney Farr

Communications Intern

DALLAS—It’s what all Baptist churches should have—potluck dinners, ice cream socials, Sunday school parties…and Bar Mitzvahs?

Veteran children’s minister Tommy Sanders, now director of the graduate program in childhood ministry at Dallas Baptist University, believes Baptist Bar Mitzvahs are just what pre-teens need to help provide special attention during the transition from adolescence to young-adulthood.

Sanders taught his idea of the Baptist Bar Mitzvah—along with other sessions such as “Writing for Your Ministry” and “Parent-Driven Children’s Ministry”—during the Childhood Ministry Summit at Dallas Baptist University August 3-4.

DBU, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Dallas Baptist Association jointly sponsored the event, which drew 196 preschool and children’s ministers and teachers.

The summit provided a place for churches to bring all of their teachers to one place, at a minimal price, to receive synchronized and up-to-date training for children’s ministry, BGCT Preschool and Children’s Specialist Diane Lane said.

The also provided the required training hours to licensed weekday program teachers.

“Many people think it is all about babysitting, but we need to be more intentional in teaching Christian values,” Lane said.

Session topics included conflict management, ministering to parents of children with special needs, teaching through drama, valuing the child, writing for your ministry, discipline, growing and developing staff, playing games that teach and legal issues.

During the session on “Parent-Driven Children’s Ministry,” Sanders stressed the only way to get through to a child is to get through to the parent.

“Childhood ministry is not about the child, it is about the parents. We have so few hours with the child that what we really need to do is focus on the parents to teach the child. If we want to make a lasting impact on the child, we have to teach the parents,” Sanders said.

“Parents often think they can drop their kids off at Sunday school and not have to do anything else. We need to get rid of that idea.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.