Posted: 1/11/08

In the shadows, slavery remains

Editor's note: Jan. 11 is the national day of awareness of human trafficking.

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

COLLEYVILLE—Given Kachepa’s father died when he was seven. He lost his mother when he was nine. He ended up living with 15 relatives in a two-room hut without electricity or running water.

So, when a Baptist missionary offered to make Kachepa part of a Zambian boys’ choir that would sing in United States churches to raise money to build schools in his hometown and support his family, he jumped at the opportunity.

“If you look at the country and what they don’t have and you meet someone who says, ‘We are going to build schools, we are going to support families,’ it’s like a dream come true,” he said.

The dream quickly turned into a nightmare. Within three months, the choir director became increasingly controlling. He prevented the boys from contacting their families.

All 12 members of the choir lived in one mobile home when staying at the home base. They were refused medical care. When boys started asking questions, he threatened deportation.

Kachepa was one of an estimated 14,500 to 17,000 people trafficked through the United States each year. Neither he nor any of the other choir members ever were properly paid for their singing. Schools never were built. Families never received money.

“We were completely lost,” Kachepa said.

Slowly, American Christian families who hosted the boys realized something was wrong. Some pulled support and began writing letters to officials about the boys’ treatment. Eventually, the situation self-destructed as immigration and labor department services got involved.

The boys were taken in by Sandy Shepherd, a member of First Baptist Church in Colleyville. At one point, she supported the choir. She withdrew that support when she realized the boys were being mistreated years before their disbandment. She found homes for all the boys, eventually adopting Kachepa into her own family.

Shepherd raised Kachepa as one of her own children. She helped reconnect him to his family. She worked with him through school. Ten years after Kachepa came to the United States, he is a junior at the University of North Texas.

Along the way, Shepherd became one of a growing number of Christians who have become interested in fighting human trafficking. More than 2,000 congregations across faith and denominational lines have become involved with Not For Sale, a campaign to free the more than 27 million slaves around the world. Salvation Army and Catholic Charities are providing centers to help provide practical assistance for those who have been trafficked.

Mark Wexler, director of Not For Sale’s abolitionist church network, described “people trade” as an ethical, moral and spiritual issue. The practice of trafficking people is “pure evil” and demands a spiritual response.

“You can’t combat evil by saying it’s evil,” he said. “It has to more than that.”

In Texas Baptist circles, Mosaic Church in Austin participated in a Not For Sale Event last fall. The Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission has condemned human trafficking and provided a workshop about the issue. It also has produced a publication on the issue.

Tomi Grover, director of BGCT local transformational missions, has held and attended seminars on human trafficking, and she has met with the North Texas Anti-Trafficking Task Force to assess how Texas Baptists may be involved in the efforts in our state.

Bruce Peterson, pastor of South Park Baptist Church in Alvin, is working to raise awareness of the issue. He remembers being sparked to the issue after seeing a video of a young girl who had been trafficked and forced to have sex with men. She had two possessions by her nightstand—a roll of paper towels she used to clean up after being with a man and a teddy bear, the only vestige of a lost childhood.

“To have somebody who is a completely abused individual who is being used by men for money goes against everything I stand for as a minister,” he said.

Alvin lies along the corridor to traffic people from Latin America and Mexico to Houston, he said. While his congregation has not come in contact with anyone who has been trafficked, it is now more aware of the signs of trafficking.

Awareness is key at this point, said Sam Myrick, Mosaic pastor of community and contemplation. At this point, many people don’t know human trafficking exists around them. The Interstate 35 corridor is a primary route for moving people from Central America through the United States. That makes it imperative for Texans to keep their eyes and ears open.

“I think right now we’re a part of this network,” he said. “That’s the way any change comes about—people become aware of the problem.”

Shepherd, Kachepa, Myrick and Peterson see themselves as pieces in the puzzle that is building to quash human trafficking. Each of them and their churches can inform and affect a small group of people. First Baptist Church in Colleyville started a school in Kachepa’s hometown. Now, church member plan to construct a building for it.

Kachepa and Shepherd share their story when they can. When possible, Kachepa speaks at conferences. A book has been written about his life, and he’s been interviewed by numerous media outlets in an attempt to share the realities of human trafficking.

After graduating from UNT, Kachepa hopes to attend dental school and become a dentist. He’d like to use those skills to help the people of Zambia. There, he’ll be a piece of another puzzle—strengthening Zambians.

Fortunately, he has a model for how to do that. He simply looks at what Shepherd did for him and is reminded to invest in one person at a time.

“You don’t have to help the whole community,” he said. You don’t have to help the whole city. You just have to help one person that goes so far.”

 For more information, visit:
www.jochifundoschool.org
www.notforsalecampaign.org
www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/

Posted: 1/11/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for January 20

Not an easy way

• Mark 8:27-38

By Andrew Daugherty

Christ Church, Rockwall

All along, Mark’s Gospel has been concerned with the disclosure of Jesus’ identity through the accounting of his stories and deeds. Now, Jesus himself asks some questions of his disciples about this identity business. It is a pivotal point in Mark’s telling of Jesus’ story. Reality’s shadows in the shape of a cross lengthen over Jesus’ movement.

Mark moves to a more pointed personal exchange between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus’ first question is a rather mild one to the whole group. He asks, “Who do people say that I am?” (v. 27). Notice several disciples take a turn at this first question: “And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’” (v. 28).

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These were public opinions at the time about the 30-something year-old former carpenter from Nazareth. Jesus possessed the qualities of all of these prominent figures of Israel’s past. These were reasonable responses to all Jesus was saying and doing. The disciples would have been well aware of the popular perceptions of Jesus to the culture at-large. As Mark tells it, it sounds like many of the disciples want to “chime in” on a question they can answer easily.

This is a safer question, because isn’t it easier to answer for other people rather than for ourselves about exactly who Jesus is? We can quote rumors and reports about the latest controversial book on the sexuality of Jesus or speculate ad infinitum about the latest eschatological theory of a so-called prophecy expert telling the world that Jesus is going to literally return to planet earth but leave surviving sinners behind. We can complain eloquently about the misguided theological notions of people who believe differently than we do about biblical interpretation, women in ministry, homosexuality, denominational leadership, evangelism or social justice issues. With enough emotional distance, we can remain neutral observers in a philosophical debate rather than passionate participants in seeking to truly answer the next question with our lives as much as with our opinions: Who do you say that Jesus is?

This second question is the more difficult question to answer precisely because it is the most personal. “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 29). Like Peter, we can likely come up with some answers of our own: Lord, Messiah, Christ, Savior or Son of God. But beyond reciting the conventional titles we’ve learned from Scripture or Sunday school, what does our confession about Jesus really mean?

Like the reluctant disciples, our answers to the second question may not come as quickly or easily. Notice Peter is the only one who speaks up this time: “You are the Messiah” (v. 30).

This isn’t unusual for Peter. He has a habit of running his mouth before his mind is fully in gear. Yet his confession in response to the second question reveals something far deeper and more profound than all the answers given to the first. From all we know of Peter, his confession is not because he is spiritually superior to all other disciples. What he sees and names in Jesus is not because he is privy to classified information. Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah is because his life had been transformed by sharing a deep friendship with him. Peter understood who Jesus was after watching him work for the good of other people and listening to him proclaim the message of the kingdom of God.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells Peter he will build his church on the “Rock” of Peter’s confession. However, here in Mark, Jesus quickly begins to give a fuller definition of Peter’s confession about what it means to be the Messiah. Peter’s trouble does not come with saying rightly who Jesus is. It comes in living rightly the meaning of his confession.

Right away Jesus explains the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and rejection, be killed and after three days rise again (v. 31). Jesus’ candor about this reality leaves Peter in a state of shock. The notion of a suffering Messiah was unquestionably offensive.

Tom Long puts this into perspective: “Peter is like a man who has just been named campaign manager of a promising presidential candidate who astonishingly hears the candidate proclaim he can accomplish his goals only by being assassinated!”

Peter asks to have a word with Jesus, but barely has Peter said a word before Jesus rebukes him saying, “Get behind me Satan!” (v. 33). Though Peter confesses Jesus is the Messiah, he finds out what Jesus means by it is something far different than what he means by it.

Jesus sure doesn’t sugar-coat anything: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it (vv. 34-35).

Like Peter, we may tempted to believe religious faith protects us from suffering while promising security and success. If you can just name what you want, God will help you get there: “I want a spouse, power, riches. I want success, a good marriage, exciting sex. I want fulfillment. …” The problem is that the center of the universe is still “I.”

Jesus never minces words about how hard it’s going to be to follow the One Peter confessed as Messiah. He doesn’t give away prizes and gifts in order to attract a crowd to him. He doesn’t offer personal incentives for following him. Jesus’ agenda is not for us to merely find ourselves, but to first find God.

In the economy of God, finding life that really is life is the luxury of losing your life in the first place. Jesus wants to get through to us that such a life is not found in having things, but being somebody. He is clear that only by laying aside selfish preoccupations and self-centered motivations for personal fulfillment can a person really follow Jesus. It’s hardly a genius marketing strategy that promises people the good life.

But it is the plan for helping people discover the life well-lived. It won’t be easy or comfortable or convenient, but Jesus says it’s the only way to save our lives; to give them away for the sake of the gospel.

Who do you say Jesus is? The point-blank question posed to Peter is the same one still posed to us. If our answers are the same as his, we will live this confession not just with our lips but with our lives.

Posted: 1/11/08

Single mother finds stability
& purpose thanks to Gracewood

By Bill Martin

Children At Heart Ministries

HOUSTON—Standing at a microphone under a spreading oak tree in a northwest Houston neighborhood, Claudia Cardenas told a crowd of strangers about her transformation—with God’s help—from “couch surfer” to motivated single mother.

As she talked, observers noted God’s hand in her journey from foster child to homeless mother to a success story in the making.

Cardenas told her story at the groundbreaking for a new campus for Gracewood, Children At Heart’s ministry to single mothers. She spoke on behalf of all of the mothers and children who have been helped by the ministry—as well as those who will benefit from the 6,800-square-foot home being built through a partnership with HomeAid Houston, a project of the Greater Houston Homebuilders Association.

“I’ve always had goals, but never felt they were attainable,” she said. “I never had the opportunity to sit back and choose. Now, thanks to Gracewood, I know anything is possible. My self-esteem has gone up a lot, and my relationship with God is so good.”

Claudia Cardenas and her sons, Malyk (left) and Anthony (right), found new hope thanks to Gracewood.

“To hear Claudia tell her very personal story of transformation and deliverance—and tell how Gracewood helped her and will help others like her—was very moving for everyone who was there,” Gracewood Executive Director Debbie Rippstein said.

As she described it, Cardenas’ story involved a heart-breaking trip from foster child to single mother to the edge of homelessness. Nor was it easy for her sons, Anthony, now 10, and Malyk, 9. But today, she said, God’s purpose is much clearer.

“For a long time, I questioned God,” Cardenas said. “Why did I have to go through this? I always felt I was a failure and it wasn’t a very good feeling. But God has given me a strong heart and a strong personality to deal with a lot of things. Now I understand my purpose, why I am here.”

Cardenas puts her “been there, done that” experience to good purpose in her job mentoring youth through Child Protective Services in Houston. Eventually, she wants to have her own business helping former foster children like herself.

“There are three of us in the CPS office who aged out of foster care,” she explained. “Young girls come to us to talk. We say the same things they hear from their case managers, but because we have been through it, maybe they listen to us better.”

Cardenas grew up in a large, mostly disconnected family—“nine of us total that I know of.” When she was 5, Cardenas’ mother abandoned the family. At age 9, she moved to Houston from Brownsville with her father but spent most of her childhood in foster homes. She mostly lived on her own from the time she was 12 years old, in and out of shelters, foster homes, runaway facilities, on the street, occasionally living with family members.

She bore two sons from two relationships, but the boys’ fathers no longer are involved with the children’s lives. Along the way, she encountered a series of evictions from apartments, continuing problems with debt and bouts of homelessness. She hit rock bottom last spring.

“For about two months before I came to Gracewood, we were moving around, couch surfing with friends and family members,” she said. “We were being a burden to whoever we stayed with.

“Every day, the boys would see me pick up the phone and call around to see where we could stay that night,” she added, becoming tearful at the memory. “They would ask where we would sleep. It was hard because I didn’t always have answers for them. Sometimes we drove to shelters and were turned down because they didn’t have space, so we would go down a list of friends and family, calling them until we found somewhere to stay.”

Finally, she learned word-of-mouth about Gracewood.

“It has brought so much stability to our lives,” she says. “After we had our interview, my oldest son said, ‘This is our home, Mom.’ The boys aren’t so stressed out about where we are going to sleep or what we are going to do for food.”

Cardenas notes now she has the luxury of being able to make positive choices for herself and her sons. And, as good as Gracewood has been for her, it has been equally positive for Anthony and Malyk.

“When they first arrived, we all fell in love with the boys,” Gracewood Program Coordinator Roy Garcia said. “One of the things that has really impressed me has been the development of the relationship and the bonding between Claudia and her kids.”

“It used to be rush, rush, rush, get ready for work, get ready for school, and I didn’t really feel like I was available to them,” Cardenas said. “Now we have sit-down dinners where we actually talk.”

With all the stability Gracewood has brought to her life, along with the ability to dream about the future, Cardenas feels most blessed by the knowledge that her boys will have a much different upbringing than she did.

“I know they have had a life where they have been exposed to a lot and had to learn responsibilities at a very young age,” she says. “We have had a hard time, but we have made it through that. With God’s help, I know that anything is possible.”

Claudia has already started to give back. At her church, she won a $500 gift card during a Christmas drawing. Rather than use it for herself, she gave it to her sister to help defray expenses associated with a cochlear implant her sister’s daughter will soon receive.

“A ministry like ours is blessed to be able to help mothers whose lives have been shattered by poor choices or because of the actions of others. The children are often innocent victims who get dragged through poverty and homelessness,” Rippstein said.

“Claudia and her boys have been through some bad times, but today their story is one of good news, healing and redemption. Because a few people reached out to help her, her future has never been brighter.”

Posted: 1/11/08

Mentors provide hope for
at-risk elementary school students

By Analiz González

Buckner International

DALLAS—Brad Schwall is a celebrity at Dan D. Rogers Elementary School—at least among the students.

Schwall, director of the Kids Hope USA collaboration between Park Cities Baptist Church and the Dallas elementary school, connects at-risk children with Park Cities mentors.

When he walks down the school’s hallways, little heads pop out of classrooms, and little hands tug at his jacket to ask the same question he’s heard dozens of times: “Have you found me a mentor?”

Kids Hope USA is a national program connecting at-risk children and church members through mentorship relationships. The children are taken out of the classroom one hour a week to meet with their mentors one-on-one. Buckner International works with Kids Hope to recruit churches.

For three years, Park Cities has worked at Dan D. Rogers Elementary. One of the many friendships that have developed through it is the one between Brenda Richardson and Irving Casados.

Richardson met Irving, now in fourth grade, when he was only 7. After several mentoring sessions in which the two worked on homework, played games or talked, she invited him to a children’s sports camp.

Richardson met Irving’s mother at the camp. After that, she invited the family to visit them at Park Cities, where they have all become members. And Eloy Casados, Irving’s father, said his wife recently was baptized at the church.

“We’ve always believed in God, but we were never very close to him,” Casados said. “My kids are learning about what is good. My kids want to please God.”

Casados acknowledged he and his family felt out of place when they first walked into the North Dallas church. Everything was in English. Everyone was white.

“But a nice Anglo lady sat next to my wife and translated everything,” he added. “And we decided to keep coming.”

Now, Irving is doing a lot better in school, he added.

“Before he started being mentored, Irving had problems concentrating. He would read and not process what he read and listen but not process what he heard,” Casados said.

Richardson and her husband are invited to the family’s birthday parties, and they sometimes come by to take the three Casados children out for ice cream.

Yolanda Rodriguez, principal at Dan D. Rogers, said the program targets at-risk children in order to pull them out of that situation.

With 30 children on the mentorship program and 23 still on the waiting list, Rodriguez said she is thrilled about the program.

“It’s one of those things where you think, ‘OK, why doesn’t every school do this?’” she said. “I’ve been working in Dallas Independent School District for 32 years and I’ve never seen any mentorship program to this extent—having one mentor continue through the years, working with one specific child. They help them get into magnet middle schools, a lot of times following them through graduation.”

Kids Hope USA mentors commit to meeting with a child for one year, but they can re-commit and mentor that child through fifth grade.

Another set of mentorship relationships have developed in the collaboration between Fort Worth Presbyterian and Oakmont Elementary School. Steve Fults, coordinator of ministry at Fort Worth Presbyterian, also mentors for Kids Hope USA.

“How many times do busy parents promise something and don’t go through for their kids?” Fults said. “We want to go through with our commitments at Kids Hope because if we don’t, we are telling the kid, ‘You can’t trust people.’ When I come see the kid I mentor, I take out my cell and tell him, ‘Will you turn this off for me?’ After our hour is over, I tell him, ‘OK, turn it on for me again.’ My phone is only off during that hour. It is on all the rest of the day. Even at night I keep it on.”

Lane Poole, school counselor for Oakmont Elementary, said the children being mentored often don’t have a constant adult influence in their lives.

“I hook the kids up with Louanne Mason (the Kids Hope USA director at Fort Worth Presbyterian) and see the benefits and reap the rewards of their behavior improvements,” Poole said. “They take a lot of the burden off me. Some of the problems I’d normally have I don’t have because of them.”

Mason, who’s directed the Kids Hope USA collaboration for Forth Worth Presbyterian since it started two years ago, said she’s witnessed several testimonies first hand.

“In one case, a child’s mom was going through chemo and the mentor talked him through his mother’s therapy,” Mason said. “The mentor helped prepare the child. The family may not have been able to do that because they were panicked.

And because a lot of the children in the program come from single-parent homes, Kids Hope USA provides the extra support they need.

“At Fort Worth Presbyterian, we have a lot of male volunteers and there is a lot of need for that because these kids come from homes without male role models,” she said. “They need someone with whom they can do boy things.”

Not all Kids Hope volunteers are mentors. They also include prayer partners, who commit to praying for the child and their mentor, and substitutes who attend mentoring sessions when the mentor can’t meet with the child.

Iglesia Getsemani in Fort Worth is one of only seven non-white churches in the national program. There are 415 churches total. Getsemani serves at Cesar Chavez Elementary, a pre-kindergarten-through-second-grade school where the student population is about 91 percent Hispanic.

Elizabeth Vasquez, principal at Cesar Chavez, said her students benefit from having role models who look like them. Some at-risk students don’t know a lot of English, and they need a bilingual volunteer with whom they can communicate clearly.

“Fifty-five percent of the kids in this school district are Hispanic,” said Buckner Kids Hope Coordinator Richard Roman. “We need more males, and we need more minorities to volunteer.”

Julio Guarneri, pastor of Getsemani, said the lack of minority-church involvement may be related to a lack of funds in those congregations.

“A lot of ethnic churches are still struggling for survival,” Guarneri said. “When the churches address programs like this, they may feel threatened by time and money. But it is a minimal cost for the long-term impact. This is where we need to be now, rather than coming in and doing crisis intervention in the future.”

Celia Ramirez, director of Kids Hope Getsemani, said many adults don’t realize that children have needs that they can meet.

“At-risk kids have odds against them to succeed,” Ramirez said. “I see them as often falling through the cracks. But Kids Hope can help us pull them out of that. We want to help them in academics. We want to believe in them so they can believe in themselves. We want them to learn to read, so that later, they can read to learn.”

For more information about Kids Hope USA, contact Richard Roman at HYPERLINK "mailto:rroman@buckner.org" rroman@buckner.org.

Posted: 1/11/08

SBC surveying churches
about Cooperative Program

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Southern Baptist Convention is surveying its affiliated churches about the primary giving channel for the SBC and state conventions in an effort that could lead to changes in the way Southern Baptists support missions.

The survey asks church leaders about their thoughts on the Cooperative Program, how often they speak about it in their churches, their financial relationship with their state convention and what they think the Cooperative Program supports.

“I hope BGCT churches that receive this survey will take the time to respond because the Cooperative Program is critical to the future of Baptist work in Texas and around the country,” said Ferrell Foster, communications director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.

The questionnaire, which is due back to the SBC by the end of January, comes at a time when giving through the Cooperative Program is slightly up, but the percentage of funds that churches are giving from their budgets to the giving channel continues to drop, according to Bob Rogers, SBC vice president for Cooperative Program.

The survey will help convention leaders understand better how churches view the Cooperative Program, Rogers said.

“We really want to hear what churches have to say, what their perceptions are about the Cooperative Program, unfiltered,” he said.

Survey results will be compiled, analyzed and disseminated to state conventions that have churches affiliated with the SBC. The information will play a key role in determining Southern Baptist giving options and how those options are promoted.

Rogers noted the information will be used to help Southern Baptists fund mission and ministry efforts around the globe as effectively as possible.

The Cooperative Program was developed by the SBC and state conventions as a means for accomplishing kingdom work, Foster said.

The largest portion of Cooperative Program funds generally remain in each state, the remainder is used for national and worldwide efforts. While some BGCT churches direct their worldwide Cooperative Program funds to ministries of the BGCT and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, most direct their Cooperative Program funds to SBC ministries.

Posted: 1/11/08

Displaced Kenyans in Uganda
receive help from Baptist World Aid

WASHINGTON (BWA)—Kenyans in Uganda who fled the rioting in their country have received assistance from Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance.

The aid from the international Baptist organization was granted after an appeal from Hillary Wafula, a Baptist pastor in the border town of Busia, Uganda, where 1,700 Kenyan refugees are housed in an elementary school.

Another 2,500 displaced Kenyans are in the Ugandan town of Malaba, which also borders Kenya, and an estimated 3,000 are in several villages bordering the two east African countries. Five thousand displaced people are on the Kenyan side of the town of Busia, “who can cross any time” into Uganda, Wafula said.

In his letter to Alex Wanyama, general secretary for the Baptist Union of Uganda, Wafula said, “One pastor who is hosting a number of Kenyans is overwhelmed by the number and the debts he is making to make them survive.”

He also reported, “A good number of Kenyans are residing with friends, relatives and well-wishers in border villages in Uganda, which is an unbearably heavy burden on the Ugandans.”

The needs of the displaced Kenyans include food, medicine, shelter, and sanitation. “The Baptist churches in Busia and Malaba are appealing to our mother organization, Baptist Union of Uganda, and partners, to intervene and help the overwhelming burden we are experiencing in our homes and at churches,” Wafula requested.

Riots broke out in Kenya, a previously stable democracy with the largest economy in East Africa, following a disputed general election Dec. 27. The violence, sparked by the election results that declared incumbent president Mwai Kibaki as the winner, but which were rejected by the main opposition challenger, Raila Odinga, has left more than 500 people dead and approximately 255,000 displaced.

Tensions reportedly remain high in Kenya.

BWAid sent $5,000 to Uganda to assist the displaced Kenyans. This follows $10,000 that was sent a few days earlier to the All Africa Baptist Fellowship for relief efforts in Kenya.

Donations to the Kenyan relief effort may be made to Baptist World Aid’s Emergency Response Fund at www.bwanet.org/bwaid.

Posted: 1/10/08

Racetracks unite in push for slot machines

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

AUSTIN—Pari-mutuel racetrack owners have come together to make another push for being able to install slot machines at their sites.

Texans for Economic Development, which represents track owners, breeders and others in the racing industry has $1 million set aside for campaign contributions in the 2008 legislative races. Another $2 million is set aside for lobbying effort.

Track owners have said that the inclusion of slot machines will produce the revenue necessary for pari-mutuel racetracks to survive. Presently 14 racetracks have been licensed, but only eight of them are operational. The Corpus Christi Greyhound Racetrack recently decided to shut down for at least a year.

Rob Kohler, a consultant on gambling issues for the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission, said if racetracks need to create revenue with slot machines, they are working on a flawed business model.

Racetracks need to focus on improving their product, not expanding gambling options to bring in more money, he said. If slot machines were installed, revenue would increase, Kohler believes, but it would be people coming to the casino, not bet on horses.

“They advertise it as this is all about horse racing, but it’s really not,” Kohler said.

Kohler noted that the inclusion of slot machines—called video lottery terminals by gambling proponents—at pari-mutuel racetracks would put money in track owners’ pockets but pull it out of the local economy. Ninety percent of people who spend money at casinos live within 30 miles of the facility.

“There’s a set amount of money out there,” Kohler said. “When you have something like this out there, which is basically like a vacuum cleaner for local dollars, it’s going to hurt you in the pocketbook.”

Posted: 1/10/08

Bible Studies for Life Series for January 20

Breakthrough in justice

• Psalm 7:1-17

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

Small towns have the reputation of having a hot grapevine. They have the reputation of being the kind of places where everyone knows everyone else’s business, and that is partly true.

But they are no different than large cities. Even the largest metropolitan areas are made up of smaller communities of people—work, church, school—just to name a few. The rumor mill can certainly grind hot and heavy in each of these places. A rumor can quickly run rampant, take on a life of its own and destroy the character and reputation of the target of that rumor. At one time or another, all of us have been on the receiving end of this kind of treatment.

We can relate at least in part to David in Psalm 7. While David certainly had his share of battle and people physically pursuing him, this pursuit seems to be of a different sort. David is taking his case before God. The scene is that of a courtroom with God as the judge. False charges have been brought against David which could be his undoing if they can be substantiated. His enemies are not out to get him with swords, but with words.

I have been keeping up with the Roger Clemens saga recently. I don’t know if Clemens is guilty or innocent of using steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. I don’t know that it really matters; the damage has been done. Clemens has gone from being the greatest pitcher of this generation and perhaps one of the best of all time to a person of suspect character. No matter the outcome, there always will be questions about the manner in which he achieved his success. And it was all done with words.

David was in the same boat as Clemens, but the stakes were much higher. David takes the right steps in arguing his case. The first thing he does is go to God. The second thing he does is declare his innocence. He declares to God that if he has done these things then let him suffer the consequences.

This is not idle talk. David offers everything if he is not innocent. Verse 5 spells out the consequences of his guilt, one translation says, “… let him trample my life onto the earth, and let him lay my glory onto the dust.” David offers in his defense not only the destruction of his body but his capacity to be in relationship with God.

David’s call ultimately is one for justice. His call in verse 6 for God to arise, to rise up and awake lead to the culmination of David’s desire—for God to enact his justice. Psalm 7 specifically is a cry for justice in this specific setting, but it is not the only time in the Psalms when the psalmists cry for justice—“Why do the wicked prosper and the innocent suffer?” While David calls on God for justice in this situation, God turns the tables on us and calls for us to do justice.

The call for God’s people to be just and to do justice rings throughout the whole of the Bible. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident and pointed than in Amos and Micah. God says in Amos 5:23-24, “Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” He also asks in Micah 6:8, “… but what does the Lord require of you but do justice and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Both of these passages are representative of God’s call to justice for his people.

The question must be asked, “What does it mean to do justice?” Micah in particular gives us some indication of what that means. He gives several examples of the failure to do justice: the powerful oppress the powerless, laborers are exploited and the court system is corrupt.

Injustice particularly is centered upon the images of those who cannot help themselves being taken advantage of by those with power. It is the picture of the schoolyard bullies attacking those who cannot defend themselves, the only difference is that it is on a larger scale. To do justice means to work for the establishment of equity for all, especially the powerless.

This lesson coincides with the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. It usually is focused on opposition to abortion which certainly is accurate. But sanctity means holiness; it means for us to recognize the worth of all people in all stages and places of life. To value the sanctity of human life involves focusing on the dignity of all people regardless of their place in society.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:16, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view …” This gives us some insight into God’s desire for justice, to view people in the manner of who they can become in Christ rather than what we can get from them.

Posted:1/10/08

Explore the Bible Series for January 20

God wants us to value everyone

• Genesis 1:27, 9:6; Matthew 5:21-22, 22:36-40; Mark 10:46-52

By Donald Raney

First Baptist Church, Petersburg

Pick up a newspaper in any town on any given day and you almost certainly will find numerous stories dealing with the need for welfare reform or universal health care, instances of discrimination or hate crimes, and debates over abortion and the death penalty.

Most often in private discussions or political deliberations, these issues are treated in isolation. Yet a closer look shows they are related. Each of these issues is based on the value we attach to individuals or groups. We may claim to place a high value on human life, but our actions or attitudes, particularly toward those who may be different than us, often prove that value is conditional.

From beginning to end, however, the Bible makes it clear God places the same high value on all people and calls on his followers to do the same and to demonstrate that through action. On this day set aside for focusing on the sanctity of human life, it is good to remember all the ways we can devalue life and commit ourselves to promoting the inherent value of all human life.

Honor everyone (Genesis 1:27, 9:6)

There are few verses in the opening chapters of Genesis that have sparked more discussion than Genesis 1:27. What does it mean to say that humanity was created in the image of God? There are widespread opinions concerning what aspects of humanity reflect the divine image. Is it our ability to reason, our sense of spirituality, our self awareness, or something else?

Whatever it might be, it seems clear it is that creation in God’s image that makes humanity distinct within all creation. It also is clear that divine image is present in all people. Genesis 1:27 specifically and directly connects the image of God to the creation of both male and female so neither can claim place of privilege and both would be equally honored as bearing unique aspects of God’s image.

Following the account of the flood, the writer of Genesis once again refers to the divine image within humanity. Many have debated whether Genesis 9:6 provides divine sanction of capital punishment. Whatever one’s position on the subject might be, it is important to note why this verse appears to call for such a penalty. It is not for revenge or even as a crime deterrent. It is because murder is an act against the image of God in another person.

This fact should guide every instance where human life is taken. Consider the case of Cain. He was apparently unrepentant about killing his own brother, yet God did not kill him. In fact, God granted Cain special protection. God is not interested in vengeance, but is keenly interested in protecting the divine image in humanity, and calls on his followers to honor all people as bearers of that image.

Respect everyone (Matthew 5:21-22)

When many people consider the sanctity of human life, they most often think of issues related to life and death, such as abortion or euthanasia. While those topics should certainly be included, they can blind us to other related issues. If we limit the discussion to these life and death matters, it is easy to affirm our support for the sanctity of life since we would never be involved in or support such actions.

But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pointed out the real issue is much deeper in the human heart. Jesus knew all actions toward others begin with an attitude and following Christ’s example calls us to go beyond avoiding certain behaviors to acknowledging and removing those attitudes.

How often have we allowed words or actions to be prompted by anger which resulted from hurt feelings or a wounded ego? If we fail to recognize and deal with those hurts, they can lead to anger which can lead us into disregard or even contempt for another person, and once the relationship is broken, Satan has an opening through which he can attack all areas of our lives (Ephesians 4:26-27). As we seek to uphold the sanctity of human life, we must commit to maintaining a high respect for others in which we regard them as God does.

Love everyone (Matthew 22:36-40)

On a number of occasions, people came to Jesus seeking his opinion concerning the law. On one occasion, a Pharisee asked Jesus what he considered the most important commandment. Jesus did not respond by pointing to one of the Ten Commandments or one of the ceremonial requirements. In fact, his response did not refer to any specific action. He said the greatest commandment was to love.

1 John 4:8 tells us God is love. It is not some quality or emotion God possesses. God defines what love is, and he calls us to be channels of that character. Yet that love should never be confined to those who look like, think like, or act like us. Matthew 5:43-48 teaches we are to love even those who hate us. And in doing so, we must remember love is a verb which is only real when it motivates action on behalf of another. If we claim to revere the sanctity of life, that must mean all life, and in order to demonstrate that, we must exercise an active love for everyone.

Value everyone (Mark 10:46-52)

God values all human life. He created us in His image and desires that we fully enjoy life as He intended it. He calls on all those who call themselves His followers to place a similar value on the lives of others. The story of blind Bartimaeus illustrates how we are to do this in at least two important ways. First, it is significant that we know this man’s name. The Bible does not record the names of several people whom the world would see as important—the pharaoh in Exodus and the emperor of Rome are two examples. Yet we know the name of this simple blind beggar (like we know the names of the Hebrew midwives in Exodus). There is perhaps no simpler way to show that we value someone else than by calling them by name. This is especially meaningful in relation to those people who are not normally in our “social circles.” Second, Jesus stopped what he was doing, journeying to Jerusalem for Passover, in order to meet the need of a common beggar. After so many others had demanded his attention and help for many months, Jesus did not respond with, “What do you want?” I quietly asked, “What can I do for you?” Do you hear the compassionate desire to help in that question?

We demonstrate the value we place on the lives of others by our willingness to have our agendas and schedules interrupted to meet the needs of someone else.

Posted: 1/10/08

Christians in Kenya administer
aid as unrest continues

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (ABP)—Still-simmering violence sparked by disputed elections in Kenya continues to affect Baptist organizations and missionaries in the previously stable nation.

Gunfire erupted Jan. 7 in Limuru, a small town less than half a mile from Kenya Baptist Theological College. Several people were killed and almost 200 young men were arrested in the melee, according to Don Ashley, a professor of religion at Wayland Baptist University. The Texas-based university’s Kenya campus is housed at the theological school.

The incident was one of the latest manifestations of unrest that began Dec. 30 after official results of a controversial presidential election were announced. President Mwai Kibaki was re-elected over rival Raila Odinga, but Odinga’s supporters—many of them from a different ethnic group than Kibaki—alleged fraud.

At least 600 people have been killed and more than a quarter of a million displaced, according to official reports. Locals have said the violence is Kenya’s most chaotic period since the nation won independence from the United Kingdom in 1963. Intermittent fighting between Kibaki’s dominant Kikuyu tribe and other minority groups—especially Odinga’s Luo—have caused considerable tension.

Claude Nikondeha, who trains new pastors in Kenya through a group called Amahoro Africa, said the most shocking thing about the uproar is that Kenya had been one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most stable nations, but now it is as treacherous as some of its most infamous neighbors, such as Congo and Sudan.

“To see neighbors going after each other, and policemen not helping—you read that these things happened in Rwanda, but you never think you’re going to see it or witness it,” he said, referring to the horrific 1994 tribal dispute that led to the worst genocide since World War II. “The last thing you think is that it’s going to happen in my country, but then it happens in your face.”

Christians there are planning humanitarian aid efforts and adjusting travel and education schedules to compensate for the situation.

Aaron and Kaarli Sundsmo embarked Jan. 9 with pastor Edward Simiyu leading a caravan to get relief supplies from Nairobi to the western city of Eldoret.

Aaron Sundsmo, an American who has lived in Kenya two years, said his caravan will wind through the areas that have witnessed the most extreme fighting in order to deliver food, blankets, clothes and medicine. Simiyu, the team leader of Nairobi’s City Harvest Ministries, and the Sundsmos also plan to spend time with the gangs of youth manning checkpoints on the roads. The gangs have reportedly been attacking and killing people of opposing ethnic groups.

In Eldoret, Sundsmo said, the smell of dead bodies pervades everything—since there are no government services, people are left to die in the streets. The death toll of 600 may be a low estimate, he said, because rural areas have no government assistance in gathering and counting bodies.

But leaders of minority tribes say they have resorted to violence because their requests for the justice that would maintain peace have historically “been swept under the rug,” Sundsmo said.

“They’re saying they’re willing to die in some of these demonstrations,” he said. “They’re saying that what they need to do for Kenya and for their children is that if they don’t stand up and disallow this election and say we need an honest election and a government that will represent all Kenyans fairly, and if we don’t hand that over to our children, then we can’t live with ourselves. And we’re willing to do what it takes to see justice.

“And these are Christians who have been leaders in churches. So that makes it difficult.”

Sundsmo said virtually everyone in Kenya believes the elections were rigged. Indeed, the U.S. envoy, Jendayi Frazer, told the Associated Press that “there was rigging,” although she did not blame either Kibaki or Odinga. “I mean, there were problems with the vote counting process,” she said. “Both the parties could have rigged.”

A recount is not feasible, since many individual ballots have already been tainted or destroyed and, according to Kenya’s Constitution, recounts must be conducted within 72 hours of the election. Contesting the election in the courts is also risky, Sundsmo said, since “all of the judges have been hand-picked by Kibaki.” Instead, some have called for a transitional government that would work for six months or so to help organize a complete re-election.

Nikondeha said Kenya’s economy cannot support the considerable expense of staging a re-election and noted that Kibaki and Odinga are working instead to create a unity government, with Kibaki acting as president and Odinga as prime minister.

The ethnic tensions in the conflict are running deep. But Sam Harrell, a worker for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, wrote in a Jan. 8 newsletter that understanding the scenario either as purely “ethnic” or purely “political” is “to miss the mark.”

“The shallow characterization of our current scenario as ‘darkest Africa again rearing its head’ is both demeaning and ignorant,” said Harrell, who has been based in Nairobi with his wife, Melody, since 1999.

“Our current state has to do with a mixture of issues now escaping from Pandora’s box, including unresolved land disputes, ethnic divisions fanned by opportunistic politics, an insulated and entrenched elite, abject poverty, failed religion, self-serving foreign policy on the part of Western countries that have varied vested interests in this part of the world, and last-gasp efforts of the ‘big man’ mentality whose era we hope is on its way out in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Harrell echoed Sundsmo’s estimate that the dead numbered more than official reports.

“Over the years, we have become accustomed to occasional flare-ups of violence,” he said. “This, however, is on a scale we have not witnessed before. The turmoil is tearing at the fabric of the country. It will be a long time in recovery, especially the social fabric.”

Harrell said he and his family plan to remain in the country for the time being. Their ministry is still effective, and they’re currently assessing how to give practical aid to the people affected by the violence, he said.

The most pressing current needs of Kenyans are basic—food, clean water and medical supplies. Safe escort for people trying to leave villages is in high demand as well, said Simiyu, who works with AIDS patients in the slums of Nairobi.

“People still can’t travel freely, and hundreds are still holed up in the villages for fear of being attacked and killed at those (check)points,” he said via e-mail, adding that he has been involved in conflict mediation before “but not to level of risk that this poses.”

He said the Sundsmos “are, of course, risking even more as Americans, but they are a gracious gift to me in this exercise and may actually help put a neutral face to me and help me cross tribal lines that may otherwise demand my life.”

Aaron Sundsmo, on the other hand, said Simiyu was at greater risk than he.

“Frankly, they haven’t been targeting international people as much,” he said. “This is where my wife and I felt that our white skin and our American citizenship are really a help. We are not being targeted.

“Pastor Edward is from the Luo tribe. For the first half of the trip, he could be very much at risk. So he’s putting himself at great risk.”

Sundsmo urged Christians in the United States to keep pushing for an international focus in dealing with international poverty.

“I have not heard of any of the presidential candidates taking about this at all,” he said. “Putting that on the agenda—how do we address these sorts of concerns, which come out of poverty? That’s something that I hope the next president pays more attention to.”

Locally, Nikondeha and his colleagues at Amahoro Africa continue to work against the prevailing opinion that violence will accomplish what traditional channels of power have not.

Anything that involves violence is not a solution, he tells people. If anything, it causes more problems, especially for the poor. The solution, he says, is to become involved in the political system.

“The church needs to be involved in both prayer but also in voting and in the whole political process,” he said. “And (Christians) should start studying politics and getting involved in political parties to make a change. Those people who want to see change, they need to be involved in the political process. God will honor that.”

“Africa still has a long journey of this road of democracy, but we’re not going to get there by fighting. We’ll get there by pushing and pushing and speaking the truth.”

Posted: 1/08/08

Wayland classes in Kenya
will proceed as scheduled

LIMURU, Kenya—In spite of reports of violence about two-thirds of a mile from Kenya Baptist Theological College, Wayland Baptist University will begins regularly scheduled classes there Jan. 14.

Gunfire erupted Jan. 7 in Limuru, Kenya, a small town approximately 1 kilometer from the campus. Don Ashley, associate professor of religion at Wayland, said several people were killed and almost 200 young men were arrested in the melee.

Ashley and his family traveled to Kenya prior to Christmas. He will teach in the upcoming term in Wayland’s Kenya program. While the violence has shaken his family, they are currently safe at the Kenya Baptist Theological College campus, he reported.

A major problem in recent days had been lack of supplies, but Ashley said supply lines have reopened, although it remains difficult to get food, water and fuel. While the campus has sufficient supplies, officials there have stopped accepting refugees for fear of running out.

Rick Shaw, director of the Wayland project in Kenya, is scheduled to travel to Kenya Jan. 11. Having spent 12 years on the mission field in Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo serving with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Shaw said this type of violence comes with the territory.

“There are shootings all the time,” he said. “It’s never welcome, but you kind of get used to it.”

Shaw plans to spend about a month in Kenya, assessing the program and its needs. Shaw has been in close contact with administrators at Kenya Baptist Theological College who have advised him it is safe to continue classes as planned.

Posted: 1/08/08

Pinkston named Texas WMU interim director

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—Nina Pinkston has been named interim executive director-treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas.

Texas WMU President Nelda Taylor said Pinkston was selected for the position because of her strong administrative skills, as well as her passion for mission work in Texas and around the globe.

“Nina is a strong missions leader,” Taylor said. “She is a praying woman who has been on the mission field, so she understands the missionary heart. She has a world perspective and a heart for Texas.”

Pinkston and her husband, Glen, served as religious education consultants for the European Baptist Convention. In that position, they helped churches in 24 countries strengthen their Sunday school programs, stewardship efforts, deacon ministries, children’s ministries and WMU.

Pinkston, a member of Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, recently completed a four-year stint as vice president of Texas WMU. As interim executive director, she hopes to stimulate interest in mission work.

“I believe that God is asking WMU of Texas to step out and lead others to reach the lost in Texas, and I would ask WMU leaders throughout our great state to join me in that task,” she said.

Pinkston holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University and a master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Carolyn Porterfield resigned the post of Texas WMU executive director-treasurer in October. The Texas WMU personnel committee is searching for the next executive director.