Posted: 12/03/04

Gypsy children receive more than education at Ruth School

By Carla Wynn & Peter Junker

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

BUCHAREST, Romania –On any given freezing winter day in southern Bucharest, Romania, children gleefully bound around the Ruth School's playground. These Roma (Gypsy) children might come from difficult circumstances, but while they are at the Ruth School, they are happy.

“Not every child (elsewhere) is happy to be in school. … That's a testimony to the work that's going on here,” said Andy Brockbank, executive director of Project Ruth, which oversees the Ruth School.

In addition to education, the school provides meals and hygiene programs through financial support from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Offering for Global Missions and a substantial volunteer force. Based on 1 Corinthians 3:9, this year's offering theme is “Together … Being the Presence of Christ.”

The offering goal is $6.1 million with a challenge goal of $6.3 million.

Among a citizenry that suffered greatly in Romania during the Cold War, the Roma usually got the worst of the worst. Their children were denied education, slandered as too unintelligent to be worth the effort.

The Ruth School began in 1994, with a dozen Romany children learning to read.

Ten years later, the school juggles fitting more than 160 children in seven grades into four classrooms. Grades one through four operate in the morning, and grades five through seven are held in the afternoon.

The Ruth School was aptly named by a child. “A girl from the church suggested that we should call it Ruth because Ruth was a foreigner, and she was welcomed by the people of God,” said Oti Binacui, pastor of the Romanian church that organized the school.

The Ruth School is a true partnership. The Romanian church of 400 members and an $800 per month budget could never fund the school. Likewise, it would have been difficult for Americans to start the school without Romanian help.

“Together, it's a wonderful example of both partnership and sharing the vision of reaching out for the lost and for the needy in this community,” Binacui said.

CBF Global Missions field personnel assist Project Ruth by ministering to the Roma's many physical, relational and spiritual needs.

Binacui emphasized: “I say to churches, it's not good just preaching to people. … You need to roll up sleeves and do something. This is what Jesus does.”

Posted: 12/03/04

HBU, BGCT reach understanding;
convention will reduce funding

HOUSTON–Houston Baptist University and the Baptist General Convention of Texas have agreed to a “memorandum of understanding” that maintains their long-standing relationship, but with reduced funding for the school.

The statement “clarifies the implications of the school's fraternal relationship with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention,” said Keith Bruce, the BGCT's coordinator of institutional ministries.

Prior to 2000, the BGCT selected the trustees for the 44-year-old university. But in May of that year, HBU trustees voted to create a self-perpetuating majority on their board.

The BGCT escrowed its annual contribution to the university, and both groups appointed representatives to seek reconciliation.

That process led to a “relationship agreement,” approved by the BGCT Executive Board and HBU trustees in September 2001 and ratified by messengers to the BGCT annual session that fall.

The primary points of agreement allowed the university to select 75 percent of its trustees but called for the university to maintain its “unique affiliation” with the BGCT and not to enter into a “formal relationship” with any other convention or denomination.

The BGCT then restored much of the funding it had withheld from the university.

But in 2003, HBU trustees affirmed a fraternal relationship with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, which formed in 1998 and is comprised primarily of churches that have split off of the BGCT.

That fall, messengers to the BGCT annual session approved a motion calling for the convention's Christian Education Coordinating Board to “evaluate fully the implications of Houston Baptist University entering into a relationship with another state convention and to clarify the status of the relationship. …”

The coordinating board voted Nov. 22, and the HBU board of trustees voted Nov. 23 to affirm the new document, which states both bodies agree to “continue observing all provisions” of the earlier agreement and spells out more clearly what some terms mean.

The statement acknowledges “a difference of opinion” in regard to the terms “unique affiliation” and “formal relationship” but affirms that both the HBU trustees and the coordinating board arrived at their respective interpretations with “integrity, careful thought, and with no intent whatsoever” to breach the previous HBU agreement.

Re-affirming a unique affiliation with BGCT, the university will maintain its fraternal relationship with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention but will “give priority” to ministries of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the state's largest Baptist group, the memorandum says.

“Activities or programs which are directly funded or administered by BGCT, such as Baptist Student Ministry or in-service guidance, shall be conducted as prescribed by the BGCT and coordinated with” the coordinating board.

On the other hand, the coordinating board affirms HBU's “desire to reach out to its entire constituency” and to engage those constituencies through programs and ministries, including accepting scholarships.

Escrowed funds totaling about $200,000 will be released to the university. But about half of the amount will be designated to minority scholarships and to support the Baptist Student Ministry on campus, Bruce said.

Another category of BGCT funding for the school, however, will continue to be withheld from HBU.

A “block grant” of about $600,000 that was temporarily suspended in 2001 in response to HBU's unilateral action to change its trustee selection process will now be withheld indefinitely “in light of HBU's fraternal relationship” with the competing state convention, the memorandum says.

The coordinating board will continue to “encourage and evaluate HBU's relationship with the BGCT through its ongoing institutional review process,” the document says.

Future funding of the university is tied to HBU's “continuing adherence” to the earlier agreement and the memorandum of understanding.

A key provision of the earlier agreement also cited in the memorandum states HBU will elect “only trustees who have affirmed a commitment to carrying out the purposes and mission of HBU in cooperation with the BGCT. …”

The agreement has no “direct impact” on other BGCT-affiliated institutions, but it does send a strong signal to them, Bruce said.

“It signals to our institutions how much we value their relationship with the BGCT but also that there are concerns we have, and there are parameters on any association they might have with other entities,” he explained.

Posted: 12/03/04

Plainview layman establishes ministry
to take a bite out of world hunger

By Zach Crook

Wayland Baptist Trail Blazer

Jesus' words recorded in Matthew 25 about ministry to “the least of these,” along with the heartfelt cry of a Mexican Indian woman, led J.B. Roberts of First Baptist Church in Plainview to create a hunger-fighting nonprofit organization.

Seven years ago, Roberts attended a Plainview Rotary Club meeting where Eloisa Moya spoke. Moya, a Tarahumara Indian, explained that her people in the Sierra Madre Mountains of northern Mexico were starving due to drought and resultant crop failure.

The hunger had become so bad, parents were taking their children out of school and sending them to a local dump to scavenge through the garbage and find food for the family to eat.

Moved by the story, Roberts responded by establishing Hunger Plus–a nondenominational, nonprofit organization designed not only to feed hungry people around the world, but also to provide them with the means to become self-sufficient.

While the organization's board is comprised of Rotarians, Hunger Plus is not directly related to the Rotary Club.

However, with 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide, they provide the majority of the funding to keep Hunger Plus going.

Roberts said he hopes more Christians, especially Baptists, will get involved with the organization.

“Ephesians 2:10 is my favorite verse,” Roberts said. “It says, 'we are God's workmanship,' and that means it is our responsibility to help those in need. Sometimes Baptists act like works are such a bad thing, but they aren't. We are saved through faith only, but then we are commanded to do the Lord's work. … What motivates me and all the volunteers is the Lord and those needy people.”

From the initial project of helping the Tarahumaras, Hunger Plus has grown to include projects on every continent except Antarctica.

Hunger Plus has given more than 50 million servings of food to hungry people.

And food is not the only answer for Hunger Plus. Leaders of the organization also want to help people in need become self- sufficient. One way they do this is by providing solar-powered stoves that enable people to cook in areas that lack fuel, electricity and even wood to build a fire.

Often, Hunger Plus works with local aid groups to help the hungry.

One is in Mexico, where Hunger Plus agreed to provide one meal a day to the Tarahumara children if the local Catholic school would agree to educate them for half a day. This keeps the children out of the dump, and it helps them get the education they need to provide for their families later in life.

Roberts spends much of his free time traveling around the world to talk about the benefits of Hunger Plus to anyone who is willing to listen, including lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

But for all his efforts, 40,000 children a day still die of hunger, and Roberts desperately wants to change that.

“It's like the starfish story where, after the tide comes in, thousands of starfish are left on the beach to die. A caring soul starts picking them up one by one and throwing them back into the ocean,” Roberts said.

“We try to help out as many people as we can, but there are still starving people everywhere.”

For more information, visit www.hungerplus.org.

Posted: 12/03/04

Baptist volunteers spend Thanksgiving holiday serving Irving

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Baptist Standard

IRVING–For more than a decade, members of Oak View Baptist Church in Irving have spent Thanksgiving “Serving Irving.”

Other congregations including Willow Bend Church in Plano and Irving Baptist Fellowship helped with this year's effort, which donated more than 2,000 traditional Thanksgiving meals to 17 apartment complexes throughout the city.

The meals consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, fruit salad and a slice of pie.

This year's outreach was coordinated by Jim Gerlach, Oak View's assistant pastor, and Sergio Matassa, Oak View's minister of missions. “Serving Irving is a great way to meet people in the community and show them we care,” he said.

Six teams of volunteers helped with the project.

The promotion team delivered door-knocker flyers in the area around each serving site to let people know of the event.

The pie-baking team baked more than 100 pies of assorted flavors.

The packaging team gathered the supplies that were used at each serving location.

The cooking team began food preparation on Wednesday evening and finished Thursday morning.

The serving team consisted of 150 volunteers who served the food.

The set-up team loaded tables and chairs and distributed them to the various sites.

“Serving Irving is very helpful to many people out there that have a need, and we can show them that our church cares,” volunteer Barry Newman said. “It's also a great opportunity for young people in our church to understand how to serve and reach out to the community.”

Another volunteer, Nick Kendall, a student at Texas A&M University who was home for the holidays, said, “It is an honor to serve within my church and community.”

All ages volunteer to help with Serving Irving, and many make it a tradition. For several years, David and Becky Staley have been the “chefs” for the service project, and it has taught their daughters Emily and Allison valuable lessons about helping others.

“I like helping people,” 6-year-old Emily said. “Not everyone has a family, and we get to help them.”

“I think some people need a little extra help during the holidays,” 8-year-old Allison said.

Along with providing Thanksgiving meals, the ministry also provides food for the soul.

Volunteers passed out gospel tracts and had opportunities to tell other people about Jesus Christ.

“By helping with Serving Irving, we get to show Christ's love to others,” volunteer Lynn Andrews said.

“I'm thankful that our church serves the community in this way, and I think it shows that our church members have a servant's heart. Everyone was pitching in and giving of themselves.”

Posted: 12/03/04

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM

BGCT frustration

I walked away from the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in San Antonio very frustrated this year. We all know much has happened in our great state over the past few years, but the weight of these issues seemed to press heavily on me and many I spoke with during the convention. It seems as if the BGCT has become its own worst enemy.

I was frustrated because in a time when it would seem there is a great need to draw our Texas Baptist churches together in unity, the BGCT has chosen to further fan the flames of separation.

I was frustrated that the desire to further study the constitution changes was not heard by the leadership, who simply offered up the promise of future actions to get what they wanted passed that day. The voice of the churches will grow even weaker while the voice of the BGCT “powers that be” will be even louder.

I was frustrated that for the second year the BGCT elected a person who is basically a convention employee. At a minimum, this gives the impression of a conflict of interest. To appoint a person who serves in the BGCT organization only works to further remove the church from the process of ministry and governance of the BGCT.

I am disappointed that politics and a corporate business attitude seem to be replacing the ministry of the BGCT.

Bob Alderman

Rio Grande City

Caregiver needs

I was interested in the story on the BGCT workshop led by Wesley Wells regarding Alzheimer's disease (Nov. 15).

I am a past 24/7 caregiver to my wife, who has Alzheimer's. I ended my 24/7 caregiver status when I finally had to place her in a nursing home.

One of the things we as Christians do is focus our prayers on the diseased person who has Alzheimer's. Believe it or not, they are not usually the person who is most in need of prayer. It is, in fact, the caregiver.

The diseased person is in the process of losing the cares and worries of the world, but the caregiver is picking up all the cares and worries that were once shared by a couple.

I discovered after placing my wife in a nursing home that I had, in fact, been depressed, and recovery began right after placing her in the nursing home.

I felt the reason I didn't feel peppy and happy and energetic as in the past had something to do with age (66) but soon realized that was not the case. I actually found out what it was like to wake up rested and ready to take on the day.

So, my suggestion in dealing with these situations is to reach out at every opportunity to the caregiver and be sure to include the caregiver in your prayers and on your prayer lists. They really need it.

Jay Sorrell

Pearsall

Justifiable war

Charles Reed seems to claim President Bush is immoral for going “to war against the people of Iraq” (Nov. 22). One might remember that during World War II we went to war with Germany, and they did not provoke us, and yet all historians will agree that was the good and right thing to do.

Reed claims Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Can anyone tell me what qualifies as WMD? It seems any weapon that can cause mass damage is a WMD. So, if that is the correct definition, then, yeah, I think they had WMDs.

Oh, and citing Kofi Annan as a good source for condemning the war, the recent headlines seem to suggest that he has some moral failings and shouldn't be quoted as a possible expert on the war in Iraq. Seems his hands, or at the very least his son's hands, were dipping into the goody wagon.

Peace would not have come to Europe had we not gone to war against Germany and Japan. And yet Hitler did nothing to us. Saddam did nothing to us, and yet our going in to Iraq has so far shown us his evil ways, comparable to Hitler.

Does one really think the oil for food deals would have stopped on their own? Would Saddam have just stopped being the tyrant that he is? War is sometimes necessary.

Pray for peace. Pray for justice, too.

Bob Cheatheam

Mason

Bush's supporters

The so-called conservatives of the Southern Baptist Convention who voted for George W. Bush voted to re-elect as president of the United States someone they would not have supported had he been running, instead, for the presidency of the SBC.

In a recent New York Times interview, Bush said, “I do not necessarily believe every word (of the Bible) is literally true.” Bush would have been labeled a theological liberal and unfit for the SBC presidency.

Just before the election, Bush said he favored civil unions (not gay-marriage?) for homosexuals so they could enjoy the legal benefits married couples have.

Bush allowed federal funding for some embryonic stem-cell research–giving tax dollars to study human life that had been created and destroyed for that purpose.

Bush repeatedly has said he favors the creation of a Palestinian state. That conflicts with the unbiblical, yet fervently held, beliefs of the dispensationalists now controlling the SBC.

Bush has maintained the belief that “Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship the same God.”

I know SBC supporters think Bush now owes them everything they want. But remember, Bush also needed the support of Republicans like pro-choice, pro-gay and pro-gun-control Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwar-zenegger. I'll bet they expect some things from Bush, too.

Don't forget the Chinese proverb: “Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it.”

Mark Johnson

Macon, Ga.

Monopoly on truth

Leslie Hight and others have written about “social issues” (Nov. 22). Maybe our focus is misplaced.

Selectively picking and choosing only the sins that seem the most abominable limits our witness for God. Focusing all our attention on any single issue–whether it is same-sex marriage, abortion or others–limits what others see of the God we love and serve.

They notice that we are quick to say what God is against. Can they also notice what we say God is about?

The gospels tell of someone who changed the world through love, compassion and care. The command for us to follow his example doesn't include condemning others because their beliefs differ from ours.

A monopoly on the truth builds walls, not bridges. Christ was a bridge builder.

Scott Presnall

Waxahachie

Worship & 'us'

Clell Wright's emphases on worship (Nov. 22) holds much promise to help church leaders in an area of primary responsibility. But to say worship “is not about us” speaks only half a truth.

Yes, worship does not serve us. But when worship is authentic, does it not enable us? Does God really need our worship, or do we not need to worship, and if so, is not worship in part about us?

Some say worship without prayer is incomplete–that prayer is its essence. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he emphasized the wonder of our relationship with the Father (isn't that for us?), called us to hallow God's name–meaning his being. Then do not the words, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth” not require one's surrender to the rule of God in daily living?

Focused on God and his purpose, worship blesses the worshipper who reaffirms that God's will is to be done in his or her life without question.

Is not the authenticity of our worship judged by how it leads us to express our love of God with mind, heart and soul and our neighbors as ourselves when we leave (live out?) our worship experience?

Isn't this why worship holds first place in a church's life and why in its fullest expression begins with our focus on God but also includes enabling us as well–making it in part about us?

D. Leslie Hill

Lexington, Ky.

What do you think? Submit letters for Texas Baptist Forum via e-mail to marvknox@baptiststandard.com or regular mail at Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267. Letters must be no longer than 250 words. They may be edited to accommodate space.

Posted: 12/03/04

Yarnell declines Louisiana College presidency

PINEVILLE, La. (ABP)–Almost two months to the day after Louisiana College trustees elected Texas educator Malcolm Yarnell as president of the school, he declined the position because of an ongoing controversy over governance and accreditation of the Baptist college.

“After accepting the presidency at Louisiana College, governance issues which would significantly impact my ability to lead the school were fully disclosed during the subsequent negotiations over the contract which the board of trustees desired,” Yarnell said in a Nov. 23 e-mail. Because of irreconcilable differences with trustees over those issues of governance, he said, he changed his mind about the presidency.

Yarnell will remain as an administrator and professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

“Although the trustee chairman and the executive committee and I have sought in good faith to resolve these issues to our mutual satisfaction, we have been unable to arrive at a 'meeting of the minds.' As a result, I have withdrawn my name from consideration as president,” he wrote.

The same search committee that recommended Yarnell will continue to function, according to school officials.

“The search committee plans to be very prayerful and deliberate, seeking the leadership of God's Holy Spirit as we continue the search process,” said Bill Hudson of Rayne, La., chairman of the college's board.

Trustee officers met at the school on the day Yarnell sent his e-mail. “Members of the search committee and the new (trustee) executive committee met today, and we have recommitted ourselves to conduct the search in a spirit of unity as we continue the process of seeking the next president of Louisiana College,” said Ed Tarpley of Pineville, chair of the presidential search committee.

Hudson and Tarpley also voiced confidence in the future of the school, despite the turn of events. “We respect his wishes to withdraw from the presidency of Louisiana College,” Hudson said. “We are confident that God, in his sovereignty, already knows who will be the next president of Louisiana College.”

However, there is a significant accrediting hurdle for the school to clear. A visiting team from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools visited the college's campus in September. After the visit, the team issued a report, citing concerns about governance and administration at the school and the status of academic freedom.

College trustees responded to the report Nov. 14, pledging several actions to bring the school more into line with the agency's guidelines. They include better education of trustees on their appropriate role, and the re-integration of the faculty in development of policies affecting academic freedom.

Posted: 12/03/04

	Mission Arlington volunteers serve 10,000 families (Top) Mission Arlington Director Tillie Burgin shows volunteers Bonnie Reilly and Jacob Fielder where to go for their assignment. Reiley and Fielder prepared and served food for one of Mission Arlington's four community dinner locations. (Left) Mission Arlington volunteer Tasha Martinez delivers prepared meals to Emma Ramos and her family. More than 2,000 volunteers provided 10,000 families with food this Thanksgiving. (Bottom, left) Joseph Mitchell (left) and Shelton Markham (right) fill boxes with turkeys, stuffing, chicken broth and other Thanksgiving necessities. Each box carried a gospel message. Volunteers prepared and delivered both turkey baskets and hot meals. For more information, visit the Mission Arlington website at www.missionarlington.org (Photos by Cassie Tatum Hart)

Posted: 12/03/04

Mobile medical clinic will meet
healthcare needs in southern San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO–Baptist Child & Family Services, in partnership with Baptist Hospital System's Southeast Baptist Hospital, has moved to meet an urgent need on San Antonio's South Side.

A $250,000 mobile medical clinic will take medical care to people in some of San Antonio's neediest communities early in January 2005. The 45-foot vehicle will make prenatal and postnatal care available to women and children in southeast Bexar County and parts of Wilson County.

“The mobile medical clinic will make a daily improvement to the health of women and children in neighborhoods where the greatest need for this charitable care exists for free prenatal care, well-baby checkups and other clinic services,” said Kevin Dinnin, president and chief executive officer of Baptist Child & Family Services. “We are very pleased that Southeast Baptist Hospital has agreed to provide the clinical support for the mobile health unit.”

Southeast Baptist Hospital CEO Rick Marsh sees the mobile health unit as an extension of the hospital.

“The mobile medical clinic allows us to expand our reach into the community we serve, bringing vital prenatal care to moms who might not otherwise even see a doctor during their entire pregnancy” said Marsh. “So we are excited to be a part of such a wonderful community resource.”

Funds to purchase the mobile medical clinic were made possible due to a donation by members of the Baptist Health Services Foundation's associates council.

The council designated the proceeds of their annual Candlelight Ball this year to fund the mobile clinic. In support of the foundation's vision, Baptist Health System pledged a $100,000 sponsorship of the gala.

"We are familiar with the many healthcare needs in our community, and in keeping with our mission statement of strengthening and perpetuating not-for-profit healthcare, we were excited to be able to donate the proceeds of the Candlelight Ball for the mobile health unit," noted Nancy Torgerson, chairman of the associates council. "We felt privileged to partner with the BCFS, having seen their success in helping people live healthier lives, and to play a part in such an important gift to San Antonio."

“This gift demonstrates the best kind of caring,” Dinnin added. “The associates council members who selected this project have a deep sense of the value of reaching out to help others–a sense that is rooted in the Judeo-Christian values that guide their organization.

“BCFS operates a similar unit in the Laredo area, so we have seen how this kind of mobile medical unit has improved the health of women and children in rural South Texas. Now the people of San Antonio will see how a mobile clinic can improve the health of families right here in our back yard.”

George Gaston, vice president of ministry for Baptist Health System, said the clinic fulfills the system's mission of healing, teaching and Christian service.

“As a hospital system, we work to improve people's health in our five hospitals every day,” he said.

“But as a faith-based institution, that alone is not enough. We felt called to make this substantial gift to help enable the foundation and Baptist Child & Family Services to continue their not-for-profit missions of improving health.”

The clinic will be equipped with two complete examination rooms, an intake reception area, a laboratory, and a TV/VCR for educational purposes.

It will be available on certain days in a set location and will travel on other days.

Posted: 12/03/04

Seminary attorney clarifies trustee statement

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary attorney Don Richard recently issued a letter to Southern Baptist Convention attorneys, providing documentation about sole membership language approved by seminary trustees during a closed executive session in mid-October.

Previously, the exact nature of the actions taken in the closed session was unclear, even though the trustees publicly released two motions they had approved.

The news is significant, observers noted, because it signals the seminary's compliance with the request by SBC messengers at the 2004 annual meeting that the seminary adopt sole membership at their October meeting by amending the seminary's charter.

Richard also indicated trustees had abandoned interest in offering alternatives.

Seminary President Chuck Kelley previously stated that other options would be placed before messengers next June.

"When the trustees of NOBTS met in executive session and voted on this matter, all of the trustees had before them several proposed charter amendments," Richard wrote in the letter, which was addressed to SBC attorney Jim Guenther. "All proposed charter amendments were rejected with the exception of the proposed charter amendment sent to the seminary by the Executive Committee of the SBC several years ago."

Richard noted the seminary also intends to repeat previously expressed concerns about polity and Louisiana law when the amended charter is presented for consideration at the 2005 SBC annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

The language adopted during the New Orleans Seminary trustee's executive session is the “exact charter that was proposed” by the SBC Executive Committee, Richard said.

“However, the trustees passed a further motion which directs the executive committee of NOBTS and undersigned counsel to draft reservations which were expressed by the trustees for presentation for the 2005 convention once they are finally approved by the NOBTS executive committee in December of 2004.”

Posted: 12/03/04

On the Move

Jim Anderson to First Church in Caddo Mills as pastor.

David Askins has resigned as pastor of Fairview Church in Greenville.

Jack Bodenhamer to Trinity Church in Sweetwater as youth minister from First Church in Comanche, where he was a youth ministry intern.

John Brothers has resigned as minister of students and recreation at First Church in El Paso.

Phil Colquitt to Aspendale Encampment as administrator of camping ministries.

Kim Cook to First Church in El Paso as interim minister to students.

James Egan to First Church in Post as pastor from Harvest Church in Lawton, Okla.

E.L. Harris to Greater Saint James Church in Lubbock from Macedonia Church in Quanah and New Hope Church in Vernon.

Scott Hensley to First Church in O'Donnell as pastor from Calvary Church in Tulia.

Darrell Horn to Coastal Plains Area as executive director.

Kirk Jones has resigned as pastor of First Church in Greenville.

Clayton Ledbetter to Grace Temple Church in Denton as minister of music from First Church in Argyle.

Dan Lewis has resigned as youth minister at First Church in Sherman.

Ricardo Macias to Alfa Y Omega as pastor from Iglesia Calvario in Lubbock.

Bill Roe to Bosque Association as director of missions.

Chris Smith to Memorial Church in Denton as youth minister.

Terry Snow to First Church in Tom Bean as children's minister.

Posted: 12/03/04

Central Texas Christians give record
amount to Operation Christmas Child

By Terri Jo Ryan

Special to the Baptist Standard

WACO–A record number of shoeboxes filled with small gifts were collected recently at Highland Baptist Church, the final stop in Central Texas for presents intended for Operation Christmas Child.

Ominous skies and a river of rainwater in the streets didn't stop the appointed rounds of the dozens of helpers gathering a mountain of brightly wrapped gifts–12,354 of them–for children on the other side of the globe.

Students, faculty and staff at Baylor University contributed almost 1,000 boxes at 12 campus drop-off locations this season for Operation Christmas Child, a 25-percent increase in the number of gifts gathered on campus in 2003, according to the university ministries office.

This leg of the journey for the Texas-sent presents, part of the international collection of gift boxes for needy youngsters for Operation Christmas Child, is by far the easiest, said area coordinator Marti Dietrick.

Samaritan's Purse, the Christian missionary organization behind Operation Christmas Child, employs a wide variety of means to get the goodie-laden shoeboxes into the hands of orphans and other poor children. Planes, trains, buses, helicopters, cargo ships, canoes, dog sleds, mules and even camels are used to transport the boxes to their intended recipients half a world away.

In 2000, Waco-area residents sent out 5,217 boxes for processing, more than double the 1999 total of 2,400, she said. The 2003 total was 11,123 boxes, down slightly from the 2002 total.

“We had gotten spoiled there because it kept doubling for a few years,” Dietrick said.

Dietrick and almost two-dozen helpers at Highland Baptist Church accepted packages from nine relay stations throughout Central Texas, cataloging where they came from. It is a popular project with Sunday schools, church youth groups and secular classrooms, she said.

Volunteers like the Hardeman sisters–Saralyn, 13, and Elizabeth, 14–packed them into the large cardboard cartons for shipment to one of six regional centers in the United States.

“Our mom volunteers for everything,” said Elizabeth, a ninth-grader at Texas Christian Academy. She and seventh-grader Saralyn already were on their Thanksgiving holiday from school, and used their break to help others. Their only “payment,” Saralyn said, was a T-shirt and free candy. But Elizabeth was quick to remind her sister their reward is a heavenly one.

“When we get tired, we just think about who will be getting these gifts on the other side,” said Elizabeth. “Somebody else's Christmas will be blessed by it.”

Boxes that arrived un-wrapped were given their holiday trappings by a team of volunteers, including Kay Dunham, 72, of Washington, Ill. She and her husband, Julius, 74, came specifically to Central Texas to work on Operation Christmas Child, she said. It's just a coincidence that they have a daughter, teacher Karla Morris of Woodway, to visit for Thanksgiving when this chore is through, she added.

“My fingers are nubs,” Kay Dunham said, about three hours into her eight-hour shift.

When Dietrick's own children –Nathaniel, 16; Rebecca, 12; and Ethan, 10–pack their shoeboxes, they include personal letters and pictures of themselves for the recipients. After Christmas 2001, they got “thank you” notes from the recipient in the Philippines, and the following year from a teenaged girl in Kosovo.

Dietrick said she first became involved in Operation Christmas Child 10 years ago by packing a single box. The next year, she encouraged her play group to do it, and by 1996, she was talking her church into taking on the leadership role in the community for the shoe box drive.

Although the shoe boxes laden with goodies are headed primarily to the children of the Third World–Asia, Africa, the Middle and Far East–some actually will be delivered a lot closer to home, Dietrick said.

Some Native American reservations in the West are on the list. Australia, another “sending country” like the United States, also keeps a portion for its indigenous population, aborigines, as well.

Calling itself the “world's largest children's Christmas project,” Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan's Purse, a nonprofit organization run by Franklin Graham.

Since 1993, more than 31 million shoeboxes valued at more than $610 million have been distributed to about 100 countries.

Posted: 12/03/04

Prayer partnership sparks revival, DOM says

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Prayer is connecting Texas Baptists with Christians from New England to the Rocky Mountains, and it is bringing revival with it, firsthand observers report.

Churches in the San Felipe and Colorado Baptist associations, which make up Coastal Plains Baptist Area, have connected with Christians in New England and Colorado through prayer-based partnerships.

San Felipe Association is partnered with Southeast New England Baptist Association, and Colorado Association is partnering with Arkansas Valley Baptist Association in the state of Colorado.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas and its Texas Partnerships Resource Center facilitated both relationships.

Rather than launching the partnerships with mission projects, Harold Sellers, director of missions for the Coastal Plains Baptist Area, started by pairing at least one Texas church with each congregation in the New England and Colorado associations.

Leaders communicate prayer requests, needs and praises to each other at least once a month, Sellers said.

From there, a relationship has developed naturally.

Ministers from Colorado Baptist Association in Texas sent their pictures to leaders in the Arkansas Valley Baptist Association in Colorado.

The communication and prayer have been encouraging, Colorado and New England directors of missions said.

There are fewer churches in these areas than in Texas, and ministers are not as well connected, he explained.

“We have some churches here where it is 45 to 50 miles to the next Southern Baptist church,” said Frank Cornelius, director of missions for the Arkansas Valley Baptist Association in southeastern Colorado. “The pastors get lonely.”

“It is such a source of encouragement to know people are praying for each other,” said Rafael Hernandez, director of missions for the Southeast New England Baptist Association, which includes Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut.

Communication helps each side know the other's needs, Sellers said. Then each party has set out to assist the other.

San Felipe Association helped put together the first youth camp for Southeast New England Association in several years. Later, the Texas churches donated money to help New Englanders turn a church into an associational office.

Texas ministers consoled a family with Colorado state ties after the loss of a loved one. Texas Baptists also have done several projects in Colorado.

Baptists from New England and Colorado have helped Texas churches by sharing ideas about ministries that worked for them. Colorado Christians also repaired facilities at the Baptist encampment at Palacios last year.

“It's been a true partnership,” Cornelius said. “We've done a lot together.”

The relationships have brought revival to Coastal Plains Baptist Area, Sellers said. Churches allowed God to work in their ministry because it was based in prayer, he emphasized.

“I think one of our greatest needs today is revival,” he said. “I think that always starts with prayer.”