Updated: 5/11/07

Tornado blessings astound Tulia
couple as Baptists provide relief

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

TULIA—As Nancy and Kerbow Ellis return to teach at their West Texas classrooms, they do so with a newfound understanding of how their faith overcomes all adversity.

Nancy and Kerbow Ellis insist they’ve been blessed in the aftermath of a tornado that destroyed their home. They are one of four Tulia families to receive BGCT disaster response assistance.

The Tulia couple—both schoolteachers— lost their home to a tornado April 21, but they insist God has blessed them in allowing them to survive the storm and its wrath. They were in Amarillo at a concert instead of at home when the tornado hit.

“We were blessed again because we had heard there might be severe weather. So, we packed up three boxes of photo albums, titles to our trailer home and vehicles, and a laptop computer and put it in the car with us,” Mrs. Ellis said.

Returning to their home that night, the Ellises realized they couldn’t live in it anymore. The roof was gone. Walls were damaged. The twister even moved the trailer home several inches from its foundation. The Ellises prayed.

After a few nights at their son’s apartment in Canyon, the couple returned to Tulia to pick up the pieces. They found refuge in God and his people.

Their church, First Baptist Church of Tulia, and the larger Texas Baptist family proved to be rocks of refuge amid the tornado’s devastation.

“My Bible was gone,” Mrs. Ellis said. “But someone at the church gave me one—a women’s devotional Bible.”

Pastor James Hassell, in collaboration with Baptist General Convention of Texas Church Strategist Charles Davenport, had other plans to help.

Nancy Ellis wears a smile as she trusts in God to help them through the Tulia tornado.

“Pastor James Hassell came over and sat down on the porch Monday while were cleaning up and told us funds were available to help,” she said.   

That meeting stemmed from a phone call with Davenport, who discussed the church’s disaster-related needs with Hassell.

“The situation is tragic, but God will bring good out of it. He always does,” Davenport said.

Offering prayers for the families and churches affected by the tornado, Wayne Shuffield, director of the BGCT missions, evangelism and ministry team, activated his team to move forward with disaster response.

“Our involvement in this is just beginning. We will stay with it until all the people in need are cared for and the job is done,” Shuffield said.

Hassell saw firsthand the impact of Baptists reaching out to help other people in Tulia. He’s grateful the BGCT is meeting people at their point of need.

“Words fail,” Hassell said. “There’s such an overwhelming reaction from seeing how it has all come together so quickly.”

Davenport and Hassell toured the neighborhood to identify those needing immediate assistance. They located four church families, and soon the BGCT provided funds to the congregation.

City Manager Rick Crownover, a member of First Baptist Church in Tulia, stops by to help console the Ellis family as their home is being bulldozed.

“It proves to me that Texas Baptists are unique in how we so like to take care of our own,” Hassell said. “Church members were pleased to see how quickly the BGCT responded in such a stressful situation.”

To help church members and the community cope with their disaster, Bobby Smith, director of BGCT chaplaincy relations, along with trained experts Will Bearden and Susan Edwards, arrived to lead a crisis intervention community forum at First Baptist Church in Tulia.

More than 100 people participated, including the Ellises. One-on-one meetings with affected families were scheduled the next day.

For the Ellis family, the good began outweighing the bad from the tornado. Through it all, they managed to keep smiles firmly planted on their faces. 

“A call from the Red Cross came saying the Rotary Club was trying to secure FEMA trailers for displaced residents,” Mrs. Ellis.

A 35-foot FEMA trailer home would be a “huge blessing,” but it might take weeks.

As a math teacher, Mrs. Ellis understands probabilities and odds. She explained how God, against all odds, worked as they tried to find a Tulia hotel room. There weren’t any.

Despite the “No Vacancy” sign at the hotel, Mrs. Ellis opened the door anyway.

“The motel manager said she had only one room left but there was no electricity in it,” she recalled. “When we went to look at the room, there was another blessing. … The lights came back on, so we took it.”

Storage unit space was sparse in Tulia as well, but the Ellises said, “God has always provided for us, and we rest in that.” They managed to secure the city’s last available storage unit, and at no charge.

Always trusting their faith to guide them, the Tulia couple moved on their path to recovery through funding received from the BGCT disaster response family assistance program.  

“We are very appreciative,” Mrs. Ellis said. “We’re blessed.”  

But seeing their home of 16 years ripped apart at the seams ripped apart their hearts, as well.

Tears came to Mrs. Ellis' eyes as she watched a bulldozer scoop up the damaged structure in which they had raised two sons, shared countless memories and prayed together as a family.

“It was a good ship. It was custom built extra strong to withstand storms, and it had for 16 years,” she recalled. “I remember when our sons would go off to junior high school. We would hug each other and pray before we all left. We prayed for God to protect us from evil and guide us.”

She remembered spending time with her children, helping them with homework at the kitchen table and sharing daily experiences. The family became close-knit because their home was so compact. The family has always trusted God to work things out, she said.

“We have a saying drawn from the Bible —‘Hold loosely to the things of this world’—and we tried to teach the kids that,” she said.

Mrs. Ellis calls God “our rock and our peace” through the disaster.

“Faith does prevail,” she said. “I don’t know how people who don’t have faith do it.”

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

Updated: 5/11/07

Federal panel decries Iraq’s
religious-freedom record

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—For the first time since the United States overthrew Saddam Hussein four years ago, a non-partisan federal panel said May 2 that religious freedom in Iraq is gravely endangered.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, in its annual report to Congress and President Bush’s administration, said the conditions for religious freedom in Iraq are “alarming and deteriorating.”

The panel, also for the first time since the late dictator’s government fell, has placed Iraq on a list one tier below the world’s worst violators of religious freedom.

Without significant improvement in Iraq’s human-rights conditions over the next year, the report added, the commission will bump Iraq up to its most infamous list of human-rights violators. Such a move would place Iraq alongside nations like North Korea and Saudi Arabia, where the State Department says religious freedom is nonexistent.

“Despite ongoing efforts to stabilize the country, successive Iraqi governments have not adequately curbed the growing scope and severity of human-rights abuses,” the commission report said, noting the explosion of sectarian violence between Iraq’s Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the past year.

“Although nonstate actors, particularly the Sunni-dominated insurgency, are responsible for a substantial proportion of the sectarian violence and associated human-rights violations, the Iraqi government also bears responsibility.”

The report cited innumerable reports of “abductions, beatings, extrajudicial executions, torture and rape” perpetrated by para-governmental factions like Shiite militias. Such organizations frequently “operate with impunity and often … complicity” of the U.S.-backed government, the report said.

It continued: “Although many of these militia-related violations reveal the challenges evident in Iraq’s fragmented political system, they nonetheless reflect the Iraqi government’s tolerance—and in some instances commission—of egregious violations of religious freedom.”

The commission also noted other religious minorities in Iraq—including Christians— “continue to suffer pervasive and severe violence and discrimination at the hands of both government and nongovernment actors.”

Nina Shea, one of the panel’s three vice chairs, told reporters the commission was alarmed by the thousands of Iraqi religious minorities who have fled the country in the past few years because of such persecution. Their numbers in the country “are dwindling down to statistical insignificance,” said Shea, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom.

The 1998 law that created the commission requires it to report annually on the status of religious liberty worldwide and recommend the State Department name nations that commit or tolerate “severe and egregious” violations of religious freedom as “Countries of Particular Concern.” Administration officials retain ultimate authority to make those designations and impose sanctions they deem appropriate.

In addition, the commission has made a practice of producing a “watch list” of nations in danger of earning CPC status. This year, it added Iraq to the watch list.

Last year, the panel added Afghanistan—another nation struggling to recover from a U.S.-led invasion—to the watch list. It recommended keeping Afghanistan on the watch list.

A footnote in the report noted that at least three members of the nine-member commission considered the Iraqi situation so dire that they voted to recommend that Iraq be added to the CPC list this year. The three—including the panel’s current chair, Felice Gaer—were appointed to the bipartisan panel by Democrats. Republicans appointed most of the other six commissioners.

Asked if there was an ideological division over the Iraq war that precipitated the panel’s split vote on CPC designation, Gaer said, “The commissioners and the commission as a whole consider religious-freedom conditions in Iraq as truly alarming.”

Gaer is the director of the American Jewish Committee’s Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights.

Commissioner Richard Land, who is a close Bush ally and has been one of the most outspoken defenders of Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq, said the division simply reflects disagreement over the extent to which Iraq’s current government can be held accountable for the deteriorating conditions there.

“I think there’s a difference of opinion about how much we can know about how much the government is capable of doing and how much … these are non-state actors or state actors and to what extent the government has the capacity to control non-state actors,” he said. Land is the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Land also took exception to the characterization that religious freedom in Iraq has become a “disaster” since the U.S. invasion.

“Iraq was a CPC under Saddam Hussein,” he said. “Religious freedom, and every other freedom, was a disaster under Saddam Hussein.”

The commission had recommended CPC status for Iraq every year since 1999, when the panel began its work. The designation arose mainly from Hussein’s suppression of Shiite Muslims while favoring those of his own Sunni faith. However, according to many Middle East experts, Christians and some other religious minorities in Iraq enjoyed more governmental tolerance in Hussein’s Iraq than in many other Middle Eastern locales.

As for its CPC recommendations for 2007, the panel nominated the same 11 nations as last year—Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Although the commission has long recommended most of those nations for CPC status, the State Department has not followed that recommendation for Pakistan and Turkmenistan, has been slow to take action against Saudi Arabia and, last year, removed Vietnam from its CPC list.

The religious freedom commission’s report criticized those decisions, noting that religious-freedom violations are widespread in Pakistan and Turkmenistan. The commission also contended that Vietnam has not improved conditions enough to warrant its removal from the CPC list, which happened on the eve of a November 2006 trip that Bush took there.

In addition, the report criticized the Bush administration’s implementation of the CPC recommendations it had made. The law that created the commission and established CPC status requires the government to take sanctions against those countries designated as such. However, part of the law allows the government to cite sanctions already in effect against such nations rather than taking any additional sanctions.

The panel specifically faulted the State Department for continuing a waiver for sanctions against Saudi Arabia while U.S. officials monitor implementation of reforms promised by the kingdom.

State Department spokesperson Leslie Phillips, asked May 2 for the agency’s reaction to the report, said department officials would need more time to analyze it before commenting.

Joining Iraq and Afghanistan on this year’s watch list were Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria.

The report also turned the panel’s attention to Turkey, which received its first official visit from USCIRF commissioners last year and is in the midst of political upheaval over the proper role of religion. The country also has experienced a series of violent attacks by religious radicals against Christians, Jews and other religious minorities in recent years.

Gaer noted that the nation is struggling with how to become a modern, democratic society that is welcoming to religious pluralism.

“For religious-minority communities in Turkey, there are state policies and actions that effectively stop them from sustaining themselves,” she noted. “This has led to the decline and, in some cases, the virtual disappearance of some of these religious minorities on lands that they have inhabited for millennia.”

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

Updated: 5/11/07

Baptist nurse retraces steps of
pioneer missionary in Nigeria

By Craig Bird

Baptist Child & Family Services

OTUTULU, Nigeria—Squinting against the glare of the tropical sun and the dust hanging in the air, Kerrie Snow couldn’t help but imagine it was 125 years earlier. Instead of an Australian-born Baptist nurse from Houston, she was a “wee Scottish woman” known as “the White Ma of Africa.”

“Many years ago, I had the joy of being the missionary story lady for several years during Vacation Bible School,” she explained. “Two summers, I told about how Mary Slessor had to deal with some formidable Nigerian tribal leaders in the late 1880s. I never dreamed that someday I would find myself also going to meet an Eje—which means ‘aggressive and powerful like the hyena’—representing a faith he didn’t share.”

In a face-to-face encounter with a Nigerian tribal chief, Kerrie Snow was thrilled to explain to the Muslim how Christians were assisting the orphans in his area.   (CERI Photo)

Her meeting with the Muslim chief went smoothly, and now he is aware of Children’s Emergency Relief International’s ongoing work at the Ministry of Mercy Orphanage in Otutulu, she noted.

One of the most dramatic episodes of Slessor’s 39-year ministry in Nigeria was when she saved brother/sister twins, who were typically killed at birth, and brought them into her home—only to have a servant betray her by allowing villagers to snatch the boy from her compound and murder him.

Snow’s sorrow was named Adukwu, one of the 300 orphans and disabled children to whom the missions team ministered during her week in Nigeria. The day after returning to Houston, she received an e-mail informing her the 3-month- old boy had died.

“Sadly, he’s not the first from the orphanage to die, and he won’t be the last,” Snow said. “God allowed me the privilege of being part of the end days of his short life. But as a last resort, we took him to the local hospital, where the care was inadequate, to say the least. God’s grace sustained him for six days of his illness, and then his grace took him home.”

The recent trip was Snow’s second with Children’s Emergency Relief International, the overseas arm of Baptist Child & Family Services, but it won’t be her last.

Kerrie Snow trades smiles with one of the babies the Baptist Child & Family Services/ Children's Emergency Relief International team treated at the Mission of Mercy Orphanage in Otutulu, Nigeria. (CERI Photo)

“When people ask why I go to Africa with CERI, my immediate response is, ‘Why wouldn’t I?’” she pointed out. “CERI offers the opportunity to be God’s hands and feet in some desperate situations. God has uniquely gifted each of us to minister and given us the resources to be able to make a difference. God wants people to know him.  How can we not go and tell others? We have so much in material things that most in Africa can only dream of, but we have riches in Christ that we can easily share that will make a difference for eternity.”

The dying face of Adukwu and the welcoming face of the Muslim Eje bookend a host of other memories for Snow.

“We woke each morning to the sound of bleating goats, the starting of a fire to cook the food outside, crying babies and voices lifted in praise as they gathered together for the start of another day,” she said.

“We were able to see all the sick children, assess their nutritional needs, teach hygiene, stock and reorganize the pharmacy/clinic and help out where we could, passing out toothbrushes, toothpaste and sunglasses—the latter being especially helpful for the many albinos who live there. With the generator on for between three and four hours each evening, we could regroup, reflect, plan and pray for the next day.”

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

Updated: 5/14/07

Abstinence program draws support in Del Rio

By Melissa Gonzales

Baptist Child & Family Services

DEL RIO—In Del Rio, the Right Choices for Life program is redefining “everybody’s doing it”—turning peer pressure into positive influence.

More than 90 percent of the South Texas city’s eighth grade students—720 out of 795—signed up for Right Choices for Life, a Baptist Child & Family Services program geared toward helping teenagers abstain from premarital sex and illegal drugs.

“This isn’t just more homework,” said Aliyah McKinney, program director for Right Choices for Life. “We’re showing them it’s cool to make the right choices.”

Watching someone else get her face painted was just as entertaining as being the person painted at one of the activity booths at Right Choices for Life’s kick-off Family Fun Day in Del Rio.

Since parents must approve their child’s participation, the program obviously is meeting a need in families, too, she added. With more than 500 families actively involved, “it’s safe to say not only kids are getting the message,” she said.

Right Choices for Life stresses the vital role parents play in their children’s decision-making. Parents are provided additional material they can use at home to reinforce and expand classroom instruction.

The San Felipe Del Rio school district welcomed the program with open arms, as did interested parents who organized fundraisers before Right Choices for Life was two months old. Del Rio restaurants donated all the food and beverages for the kick-off parents’ breakfast.

The program pairs an eight-week, in-class right-choices curriculum with monthly “family fun events” which create an environment to strengthen parent-child relationships.

More than 500 adults and middle school students—and their siblings—turned out for the first family fun day.

Aliyah McKinney, program director for the Right Choices for Life emphasis in Del Rio, coordinated substitutions during basketball games—among a lot of other things—at a FamilyFun Day.

The school assignments ended in late April, but the events will continue through the summer.

Next fall, Right Choices for Life will expand to include both seventh and eighth grades.

“On a scale of one-to-10, this is a 10,” said Sandra Hernandez, assistant principal at Del Rio Middle School. Hernandez played a major role in facilitating the program, offered during the 120 minutes of each school day allotted for language arts.

The program almost certainly will reduce dangerous behavior, she noted. Hernandez hopes to see it expanded to include sixth graders.

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

Updated: 5/11/07

Maciel named president at
Baptist University of the Americas

By Brad Russell

Baptist University of the Americas

SAN ANTONIO—René Maciel, assistant dean at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, has been named president of the Baptist University of the Americas, effective Aug. 6.

Baptist University of the Americas’ trustees elected Maciel, 48, at their May 7 meeting.

Teo Cisneros, chairman of the school’s presidential search committee, called the naming of Maciel “a strategic step in bringing a true institution-builder to the helm” at Baptist University of the Americas. He characterized Maciel as “a visionary and innovative leader with a broad knowledge of the systems that build a great university.”

“He has that rare combination of both strong organizational skills and people skills that will enable him to build many important relationships for the benefit of our students. Most importantly, he is respected throughout Baptist life for his sincere love for the church and service to the mission of God in the world,” Cisneros said.

Maciel expressed his excitement about the opportunities at Baptist University of the Americas.

“I am excited to be called to BUA because I believe Hispanic students are being called as never before to serve the world,” Maciel said. “At Truett, we have received some excellent students from BUA where they first developed academic confidence, and now I am excited about getting the privilege of building that confidence in students so that they will understand and fulfill their God-given potential for ministry. For a host of reasons that are all coming together demographically, culturally and historically, I believe our BUA graduates are going to have great opportunities to perform great tasks for the kingdom of God.”

Paul Powell, who is retiring as Truett Seminary’s dean, pointed to the “wonderful relationship” he has had working with Maciel more than six years.

“I have never worked with a more committed, capable and cooperative person than René,” Powell said. “Truett would not be where it is today without his able assistance.”

David Garland, Truett Seminary’s new dean, expressed regret at seeing Maciel leave the seminary, but he said, “We are also extremely proud of him and excited for the possibilities for BUA.”

Maciel succeeds Albert Reyes, who now serves as president of Buckner Children and Family Services.

“René’s experience at Truett seminary will provide an excellent background for leadership at BUA,” Reyes said. “He is an extraordinary administrator and has been a key player in the dramatic growth at Truett. BUA is ready for a leader like René, and I am confident that BUA has a bright future under his leadership. I have pledged my support and availability to René, the trustees, and the BUA family.”

Maciel expressed his appreciation to Reyes for his leadership in positioning Baptist University of the Americas to be “the premier equipper not only of Hispanic ministry students, but of Texas Baptist churches who are engaged in a multitude of cross-cultural ministries.”

“I really see BUA being a great resource for the BGCT in helping our churches better minister to the diversity of cultures in their own communities, along with preparing them for global missions in the border region, Latin America and around the world,” Maciel said.

Baldemar Borrego, president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, stressed his belief that Maciel is the right leader for this time and moment in the theological university’s history.

“Brother René has shown a great commitment to be involved in the training of our fellow Hispanic ministers to equip them to be better prepared to serve him and to serve our communities,” Borrego said.

Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, praised Maciel as “a wonderfully gifted leader,” and he stressed Baptist University of the Americas “has a very special place in the hearts of Texas Baptists.”

“Rene Maciel has the experience in higher education, the confidence of our Baptist people in Texas, the relationships with our strong Hispanic Baptist leaders, and the heart and vision to take BUA to the next level of influence and effectiveness,” Wade said.

Rolando Rodriguez, BGCT director of Hispanic ministries, added: “I have worked with Rene in the planning of the Hispanic Preaching Conferences, and he is a great leader. I look forward to partnering with Rene as President of BUA to serve our people better.”

Along with his experience at Truett Seminary, Maciel also served in higher education administration at Baylor University and Hardin-Simmons University, and as administrator of the New Mexico Baptist Children’s Home.

He holds an undergraduate degree from – University and a master’s degree in higher education administration from Baylor.

Maciel’s wife, Sabrina, is a licensed speech pathologist. They have two daughters, Brianna and Carmen.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

San Marcos Academy
students learn value of service

San Marcos Baptist Academy volunteers collected 50 boxes of used books to help schools, hospitals and rural outposts in Nigeria, and an eighth-grade Boy Scout at the academy led his peers to build a wildlife observation platform for a new San Marcos park.

The academy provided textbooks that were no longer needed—as well as several outdated-but-functional computers and other supplies—to Rural Nigerian Outreach.

“Teachers change books, courses change, or texts become outdated for our students,” said Bob Bryant, school principal of the academy. “It is a real joy to know that these perfectly good books are going to be put back into service and be used where they are so desperately needed.”

John Myers completed his Eagle Scout service project by leading members of the academy’s National Honor Society, other volunteers from the academy and members of Boy Scout Troop 1954 to construct a wooden wildlife observation platform for a new park in their city.

Beginning with plans provided by the San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department, Myers made adjustments and then in one weekend installed foundational framing posts for the station, with the help from members from his Scout troop.

Construction was completed over the course of a second weekend with the help of academy volunteers. The crew donated about 50 hours of labor to the project.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Around the State

• East Texas Baptist University has expanded its annual writers’ conference from one day to two, June 1-2. Twenty-three presenters will be included this year, with Friday’s activities beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday will begin at 8:30 a.m. The cost is $60, with a $20 discount offered to high school and college students. The fee covers a luncheon on Saturday. Registration deadline is May 28. For more information, call (903) 923-2083.

• Houston Baptist University held a naming ceremony for the Joella and Stewart Morris Cultural Arts Center and the Belin Chapel. A special naming ceremony paid tribute to the Morrises, whose financial contributions made the arts center possible. Morris also was among the founders of the university and twice served as chairman of the board of trustees. The Belin Chapel is named for Mary Ann and Bruce Belin. The arts complex will be dedicated in October.

• Ron Smith, senior professor of theology at Hardin-Simmons University, has retired after 28 years of service.

• Dallas Baptist University has created a new dual 54-hour master of arts degree. The master of arts in Christian education/master of business administration degree primarily will be offered through evening and online courses. For more information, call (214) 333-5242.

• Ben Craver has been named dean of Wayland Baptist University’s Albuquerque campus. Craver had been pastor at First Church in Del Rio.

• Katy Romero of Hemphill was named Senior Girl Call-Out at East Texas Baptist University. The honor is the university’s oldest tradition, and the script for the ceremony has remained the same since its inception in 1947. She was selected based on Christian character, social consciousness, personal poise, academic achievement and spiritual vision.

• One hundred forty-eight University of Mary Hardin-Baylor students received recognition during the university’s spring awards ceremony.

Anniversaries

• David Massey, 10th, as pastor of First Church in Hallsville, May 1.

• Kaye Hill, 15th, as minister to preschool and children at First Church in Longview, May 6.

• Bob Moore, fifth, as minister of education and adminstration at Hampton Road Church in DeSoto, May 6.

• Joe Carbonaro, fifth, as minister of business administration at First Church in Denton, May 6.

• Russell Clemons, fifth, as pastor of Faith Fellowship in Denison, May 12.

• Robert Creech, 20th, as pastor of University Church in Houston, May 20. The celebration service will begin at 6:30 p.m.

• Roger Jackson, 25th, as administrator of Mount Lebanon Encampment in Cedar Hill, May 21.

• Dale Talbert, 10th, as associate pastor for Christian education at First Church in Conroe, May 23. He and his family will present a concert at 6 p.m., and a reception will follow.

• Steve Beckwith, fifth, as pastor of Oak Grove Church in Burleson, May 27.

• Bill Chamblee, 35th, as minister of recreation at First Church in Denton, June 3.

• Maryneal Church in Maryneal, 100th, June 10. The morning worship service will begin at 11 a.m., followed by a meal. A dedication service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Truman Davis is pastor.

Deaths

• Joe Gilmore, 82, Feb. 12 in Fullerton, Calif. A Baylor University graduate, he played a role in the Youth Revival Movement that was spawned there. Churches he served as pastor include Burlington Church in Burlington, First Church in Itasca, First Church in Linden and First Church in Clarksville. In 1964, he moved to California to help strengthen the Baptist work there. Following his retirement from the pastorate, he served two hospitals as a chaplain. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Shirley; daughters, Elizabeth Gilmore and Jennifyr Jo Gilmore-Williams; sisters, Faye Moore and Sue Sibley.

• Caitlin Creed, 19, April 30 in an automobile accident near Palestine. A freshman social work major at Baylor University, she was traveling to her grandmother’s house in Tyler to prepare for exams. She was a member of Tri Delta sorority and attended Highland Church in Waco. She is survived by her parents, Brad and Kathy Creed; brother, Charlie; sister, Carrie; and grandparents, Vernon and Peggy Harton, and Charles and Jeanette Creed.

Events

• Seacroft Church in San Antonio will hold the “Freedom in the Son Car and Bike Show” May 19 from noon to 8 p.m. on the church’s seven-acre property. The men’s ministry of the church is using the event as an outreach effort to the community. In addition to the cars and bikes, live bands also will play throughout the day. For more information, call (210) 433-6908. Luis Olivan is pastor.

• Harpist Greg Buchanan will perform at 6 p.m. May 20 at First Church in Paris. Randall Perry is pastor.

• Iglesia El Calvario in Haskell will hold homecoming activities June 22-24. For more information, call (940) 864-2391. Arturo Flores is pastor.

• Calvary Church in Gainesville’s Calvary Cone Head puppet ministry received the bronze prize during a Houston competition. Team members include Kayla Perkins, Crystal Lakey, Katy Plunk, Drew Alvarado, Patrick Westbrook, Tracy Feaster and Ryan Kremling. Traci King is the director.

Licensed

• Juan Ruiz to the ministry at Iglesia Memorial in Waelder.

• Owen Clifton to the ministry at Second Church in Clifton.

• Ken Durham to the ministry at Richey Street Church in Pasadena.

• Chad Carroll, Randa Carroll, Terry King, Joanne King, Jackie Solomon, Margie Solomon, Johnnie Couch and Lindsay Luedeker to the ministry at Gateway Community Church in Granbury.

Ordained

• Ken Williams to the ministry at First Church in Evant.

• Lisa Williams to the ministry at First Church in Knoxville, Tenn. She is a Truett Theological Seminary graduate.

• Bubba Fowler to the ministry at First Church in Smithville.

• Randy Burkey, Byron Cook, David Evans, Brad Haynie, Kurt Knauth, Jim McNeel, John Myers, Leeman Pape, Joe Sims Jr., Glen Smith, Danny Wigley and James Wright as deacons at Northside Church in Corsicana.

• Chad Conner, John Gibson, Jonathan Le, David Kummerfeld, Jack Neagle and Clark Wiginton as deacons at First Church in Galveston.

• Jerry Allison, Lawrence Campos, Michael Jackson and Greg Malone as deacons at Rosen Heights Church in Fort Worth.

Revivals

• Westside Church, Mineral Wells; May 20-23; evangelist, Don DeFoor; music, DeFoor Trio; pastor, David Best.

• Carlisle Church, Trinity; May 20-23; evangelist, Herman Cramer; music, Charles Hunt; pastor, Charles Goodson.

• North Dixie Church, Tyler; May 27-30; evangelist, Gary Newman; pastor, Duane Petty.

• Turnersville Church, Gatesville; May 27-30; evangelist, Sam Crosby; pastor, Russell Crosby.

• Corinth Church, Cisco; May 27-30; evangelist, H.K. Neely; music, Larry Russell; pastor, Benny Hagan.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Book Reviews

The Road to Unafraid

By Jeff Struecker with Dean Merrill (W Publishing Group)

Mark Bowden’s 1999 bestseller Black Hawk Down vividly visualized the story of the 1993 “Battle of Mogadishu,” the U.S. Army’s Delta Force and Ranger raid to capture two senior lieutenants of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force in Somalia.

One of those U.S. Army Rangers who was a part of that harrowing and heroic experience was Capt. Jeff Struecker.

Struecker tells his story of growing up under tough family circumstances, fearing death as a child until finding faith in Jesus Christ. He then recounts his experiences being involved as a Ranger in every U.S. military initiative since the 1989 invasion of Panama and earning the Best Ranger award in 1996. Along the way, he writes about his marriage to his wife, Dawn, and his closer walk with Christ and call to ministry after several years in the Army.

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

After attending seminary, Struecker was commissioned in 2000 as a chaplain and now ministers to the 2nd Ranger Battalion in Fort Lewis, Wash.

This is good book for readers of military biography or to give to loved ones serving in uniform.

Greg Bowman, minister to students

First Baptist Church, Duncanville

Hold You, Mommy

By Laurie Lovejoy Hilliard and Sharon Lovejoy Autry (Bethany House)

Sisters Laurie Lovejoy Hilliard and Sharon Lovejoy Autry have written a book perfect, as the subtitle suggests, for “Moments with God for Moms on the Go.” Geared to mothers of children from newborn to preteens, Hold You, Mommy provides quick bytes that encourage spending quiet moments with God when a mom’s time mostly isn’t her own.

The Texans divide each of the 60 daily devotionals into three parts—an anecdote or story that includes parenting advice and a Scripture, a related prayer and a “Mamadrama” that offers an activity or principle to put into practice. The first entry begins with Hilliard’s moving song, Hold You, Mommy. The founders of 2MOMS Women’s Ministry arrange the entries into 12 weeks of five days each, suitable for group Bible study. Each week carries a theme such as “Comfort in the Chaos.”

Although Hilliard and Autry aim their writing at the stay-at-home mom, working mothers can benefit from their practical, reassuring approach to parenthood that encourages good, not perfect, moms. Hold You, Mommy makes a great baby shower gift or present for a new mother.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas

Waco

12 Steps to Congregational Transformation

By David C. Laubach (Judson Press)

David Laubach reminds me of one of my church members. When I seek this wise church member’s counsel, he always says, “It’s simple.” Then he reduces the issue to a few salient points.

Do you want transformation in your church? Then it’s simple. Follow Laubach’s 12 steps.

Well, OK, it’s not quite that simple. But Laubach has written a book that ought to be a companion to the Bible for every church leader in America. His plan is understandable, achievable, teachable and measurable. If 80 percent of our nation’s churches are plateaued or declining, then at least 80 percent of us need this book.

The simple premise of the book is “There is no renewal without change.” But I will tell you before you read the book, you will not like some of the changes. Perhaps the best way to review the book is to hear from Laubach himself: “Those who lead change should have their eyes wide open to the dynamics of change and the cost of change and expect mixed results.”

This is an outstanding, practical book. Get a copy of 12 Steps and start doing what it says to do. Your church can be transformed.

Charles Walton, pastor

First Baptist Church, Conroe

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Baptist Briefs

New Baptist Covenant launches website. The New Baptist Covenant has launched www.newbaptistcovenant.org, a website that provides information about the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant event, slated for Jan. 30-Feb. 1 in Atlanta. In addition to providing general information about the celebration, the website also offers opportunities for volunteer involvement. Information on housing, transportation and needs for large room blocks also will be posted on the site.

Olive named Bluefield president. David Olive will be the next president of Bluefield College, a Virginia Baptist school, effective July 1. Olive, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Pfeiffer University in Charlotte, N.C., will be the ninth president in Bluefield’s 85-year history. Olive has worked at Pfeiffer since 1998. Before Pfeiffer, Olive served three years as director of charitable gift planning at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn., two years as a legal advocate for students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and one year as the coordinator of alumni and development programs at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tenn. He is a licensed attorney and an ordained minister with a master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

SBC president names Texans to committees. Gary Dyer, pastor of First Baptist Church in Midland, has been named by Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page to the SBC Committee on Committees, along with Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, a congregation uniquely aligned with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The committee will meet in San Antonio immediately prior to the SBC annual meeting, June 12-13, to nominate members of the Committee on Nominations. Members of that committee, in turn, will nominate trustees to serve on boards of SBC entities. Page also named to the SBC Credentials Committee Jerry Raines, pastor of Hampton Road Baptist Church in DeSoto, along with the pastor of two uniquely aligned SBTC churches—Nathan Lorick of Martin’s Mill Baptist Church in Ben Wheeler and Jeremy Green of First Baptist Church in Joshua. Page named to the SBC Tellers Committee Don Wills, pastor of First Baptist Church in Fort Worth, and John Dammon, pastor of Fredonia Hill Baptist Church in Nacogdoches.

S.C. Baptists elect exec. Messengers to a special meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention voted without opposition to elect Jim Austin the new executive director-treasurer of the state convention. The vote, taken at Riverland Hills Baptist Church in Irmo, S.C., moves Austin from his old position as associate executive director for the Missouri Baptist Convention to replace Carlisle Driggers, who retired in February after 15 years as executive director-treasurer. Austin agreed to be nominated to the South Carolina post less than a month before his supervisor—state executive David Clippard—was fired by the Missouri convention. A graduate of Jacksonville State University in Alabama, Austin attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. Austin formerly was pastor of Morganton Baptist Church in Morganton, Ga., Blackshear Place Baptist Church in Gainesville, Ga., and First Baptist Church, Roanoke, Va. He and his wife have five children.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Baptists care for disaster’s youngest victims

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

CACTUS—When a tornado hit Cactus, calls poured in from across the state to offer help. Among them was First Baptist Church in Borger, which sent cases of bottled water, disposable baby diapers and other supplies to the devastated Panhandle community.

“It’s good to see how God can put into people’s hearts to help,” said Delilah Rosales, a pastor’s daughter. “It’s a big, big blessing.”

For Alexandra Garcia, one of the biggest blessings came in the form of the Texas Baptist Men emergency child care unit, which set up at the Cactus Community Center in the aftermath of the disaster.

“We had a lot of people needing help to clean out houses, and it was depressing seeing people without houses. So, we needed to help those who needed it,” Garcia said. “But with kids, we can’t do that … because there is glass, nails and broken things. So the child care unit helped a lot of people out.”

The 24-foot mobile child care unit, equipped with tiny chairs, a module stuffed with toys, puzzles and books, a miniature kitchen, riding trucks, a sandbox, a miniature bounce house and baby cribs can be set up in about three hours.

Seventeen Texas Baptist volunteers from the Panhandle and South Texas staffed the TBM child care unit. In Cactus, they ministered to nearly 90 children and their families while parents cleaned up homes, applied for Red Cross assistance and went back to work.

“We’re a licensed day care,” said TBM Executive Director Leo Smith. “It’s kind of a struggle because I don’t think people understand how to use the child care unit and how it functions. Our volunteers are licensed day care workers, and we do background checks on each one.”

Parents are required to sign in, licensed day care workers take photographs of children and trained staff ensure that state standards are met. Christian workers care for the children while their parents apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or other entities, or while they are cleaning their homes and businesses.

Lety Lara’s family is rebuilding after the tornado destroyed their trailer home. She, her daughters and an infant grandson rushed to safety next door in a brick house before the storm hit.

“We were all praying, and our jaws locked down, and you couldn’t breathe or anything,” Lara recalled. “Our ears felt like they were going to pop. After that, we heard debris hitting the house we were in.”

She emerged to find her home in shambles, suffered an “anxiety attack” and burst into tears. But she was grateful her family was safe, and she was thankful for the help the Texas Baptist child care unit provided.

Across town, Pastor Jose Rosales from Vida Cristiana Mission and his wife, Adelina, rushed to safety in the church. About a dozen other residents also sought shelter.

“Many children were inside crying, and everyone was praying for God to take care of them,” Rosales remembered.

Later, emergency officials evacuated Cactus.

“Some parents had lost their children, and it was scary,” Mrs. Rosales recalled. “That night in the church, people saw how God protects us. Maybe it will open the hearts of some people who have hearts of stone.” 

As clean-up efforts began, the Rosales family distributed tarps, delivered sandwiches and reminded residents the church was there to help.

“We told them to have faith in God—that we all need to be faithful for the lives he allowed us to keep and to give them hope that they are not alone,” Mrs. Rosales said.  

Many found hope in the TBM child care unit. Volunteers like Barbara Cook say it helps give them the opportunity to share their faith with families as they minister to them.

“It’s just a way to share the word of the Lord because it is ministering to real people’s needs and healing of the spirit and soul when they’ve been in such a tragedy,” said Cook, TBM child care unit director. “We have a real opportunity to show our Lord’s love to children and to families and plant those seeds.”

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

Posted: 5/11/07

DOWN HOME:
She’s a young dog; will she do tricks?

We took Topanga to school, but I should’ve worn the dunce cap.

Topanga is our 5-month-old puppy. Years ago, she would’ve been called a mutt. Today, she’s a cava-tsu, a mix between a cavalier King Charles spaniel and a shih tsu. So, she looks like a shih tsu but has a spaniel’s floppy, frollicky, I’m-just-happy-to-be-here disposition.

When Joanna told me we signed up for the training course, I figured Topanga’s class would be composed of four or five dogs. I figured wrong. It looked more like a dog zoo, with probably 25 to 30 canines. Everything from a Great Dane named Django to a chihuahua named Sonic, who looked like Django’s snack.

I thought we were OK but quickly knew we were in trouble when the teacher began by announcing, “Of course, we’ve (she was speaking on behalf of the dogs) all learned our names and how to sit.”

Topanga knows her name. When I holler “Topanga!” she comes running. But Jo and I hadn’t even thought about teaching Topanga to sit, since that’s why we enrolled her in the doggie college in the first place.

Turns out, we’d been using her name wrong too. Who knew you’re only supposed to say a dog’s name when you give commands? We’d been calling her name—indiscriminately, it would seem—practically every time we talked to her.

So, the first “lesson” consisted of saying, “Topanga,” holding the treat next to my eyes and then giving her the treat after she made eye contact. When she decided she didn’t like the treats, she also decided making eye contact wasn’t worth the effort.

Now, I’m wondering: If a dog won’t make eye contact, does she have something to hide? Or does that just apply to TV cowboys? You can bet I’ll keep my eyes on her if she decides to sell aluminum siding door-to-door.

Next, we worked on “sit.” Except for the fact Topanga didn’t want to look us in the eyes when we said, “Topanga” before we said, “Sit,” this part of the lesson went pretty well. But Jo has a theory, and I agree, that Topanga wasn’t learning all that much. She just likes to sit.

She also likes to cuddle and have her ears rubbed, so she was the best dog in her class when we learned “quiet time.” Come to think of it, if you scratched behind my ears, I might do pretty well at “quiet time” too.

Next week, I hope we can teach Topanga how to ring the bell by the back door when she needs to go outside. If she can’t do that, I’m thinking about hanging a cell phone with speed dial around her neck so she can just call us when she needs to do her business.

Driving home sort of frustrated, I wondered how annoyed God must get trying to teach us basic lessons for our own good. And I wondered what God looks at and thinks, “Leash!”

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