Posted: 8/06/04

Associations help pregnant women in need, one at a time

By Janelle Bagci

BGCT Summer Intern

Dallas and San Antonio Baptist associations are working together to help struggling pregnant women, one family at a time.

The associations have come together for the One by One program, which will connect trained mentors to mothers in need. Although still in the beginning stages, mentors will visit once a month and teach a basic parenting curriculum.

“We're really excited, because its given us the opportunity to collaborate with two major associations” and create a much-needed ministry, said Jana Whitworth, church and community minister for Dallas Baptist Association.

One by One, a ministry supported by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Missions Equipping Center and funded in part by the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, works with local obstetricians, pediatricians and hospitals to connect mentors with mothers in need. Mentors meet with mothers from their second term of pregnancy through their child's first year.

“One by One is an exciting collaboration that focuses on some of the most at-risk young people in our communities,” said Jim Young, director of the BGCT Missions Equipping Center.

Sizable grants from the Piper Foundation and Christ is My Salvation enabled One by One to launch a three-year study that evaluates the program's effectiveness in nine ZIP codes. If successful, One by One could spread to other cities.

“I believe One by One is needed as much as literacy is needed,” said Camille Simmons, coordinator of ministry missions for San Antonio Baptist Association.

Parenting programs for at-risk families have proven “instrumental in preventing child abuse,” she said. Child health care and immunizations are kept current and families are linked to a Christian support system.

The program is designed to mobilize large groups of volunteers in a church to do ministry in the church and community, Simmons said.

“It gives the local church long-term contact with a family” and an intentional friendship. “I call it the ultimate evangelism tool,” Simmons noted.

One by One began training mentors in April. Program coordinators aim for a mid-September party and prayer time to dedicate the One by One program and send out mentors to families.

One by One coordinators hope to have 50 mentors when they launch the program in the fall. They foresee the need for a Spanish version of curriculum.

Posted: 8/06/04

Study reveals Protestants becoming
minority religious group within U.S.

By Jonah D. King

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–Protestants could cease to be the majority religious group in the United States within the next year, and their numbers already may have dipped below 50 percent, a new study by the National Opinion Research Center says.

From 1972, when the University of Chicago-based NORC began its General Social Survey, until 1993, the Protestant share of the population remained constant, averaging 62.8 percent.

It then began to show a decline, reaching 52.4 percent in 2002.

The study attributed the decline to, among other things, the fact that fewer children were being raised in Protestant homes over the past four decades.

The share of people who said they were raised as Protestants dropped from 64.7 percent in 1972 to 55.7 percent in 2002.

Among people born after 1980, less than half said they were raised Protestant, suggesting the downward trend would continue.

The study found the retention rate for Protestants also fell over the years.

In the 20 years leading up to 1993, a steady 90 percent raised in Protestant households remained Protestants as adults.

That had dropped below 83 percent by the turn of the century.

But not all churches report a decline in their congregations.

Sherri Doty, statistician for the Assemblies of God, said between 1993 and 2003 the number of adherents grew 20 percent, as reported by local Assembly of God churches.

Increasing numbers of ethnic congregants contributed to the growth of the church, which had 2.7 million adherents in 2003, she said.

Immigration is another factor that has lowered the proportion of Protestants in the United States.

The study found that only 24.5 percent of immigrants are Protestant, but said, “while it helps to sustain the current decline, it cannot explain the start of the decline in the mid-1990s or its recent rapid rate.”

The NORC study conducted personal interviews with more than 2,650 respondents.

Posted: 8/06/04

Religious students' politics cross lines

By Jonah D. King

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–Strongly religious college students have conservative views on sex, abortion, gay rights and drugs, but more liberal views on gun control and the death penalty, a new study says.

The study by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute polled nearly 3,700 college juniors at 46 schools across the country, and found that one-fifth of college students are “highly religious.” A similar percentage said they have little interest in religion.

Those two groups have widely divergent views on a number of social issues, the study found. While 80 percent of the least religious students said they felt casual sex was acceptable, only 7 percent of the most religious students felt the same way.

The least religious students were more than three times as likely to support legalized abortion, while highly religious students were more than twice as likely to support laws prohibiting homosexual relationships.

But while highly religious students tend to be more conservative than less religious students on certain issues, they can be more liberal on other issues, the study found.

Compared to those with little or no religious interests, a higher percentage of highly religious students supported federal controls on handguns sales (75 percent to 70 percent) and they also were more likely to support abolition of the death penalty (38 percent to 23 percent).

College women reported higher levels of spirituality and religiousness in the study than did college men.

Women reported more than 150 percent more commitment to religion and spirituality and half as much religious skepticism as men.

To determine their level of religiosity, students were asked whether they attended religious services, read sacred texts or joined a religious organization on campus.

Posted: 8/06/04

Texas Tidbits

Carroll Institute starts classes. The B.H. Carroll Theological Institute started its first fall semester Aug. 2, offering 30 courses at churches in the Houston, San Antonio, Bryan-College Station, Dallas-Fort Worth areas. The schedule features two eight-week terms in the fall–Alpha running from Aug. 2 to Sept. 25, and Emmanuel from Sept. 27 to Nov. 20. Beginning Aug. 30, the institute also will offer seven on-line, on-demand courses. The curriculum is divided into four learning clusters: Scripture and witness, faith and heritage, ministry and formation, and worship and mission. For registration and enrollment information, visit www.bhcti.org; phone (817) 274-4284; e-mail admin@bhcti.org; or mail to 120 E. Abram St., Arlington 76010.

Baylor regents approve graduate programs. Baylor University regents have approved new graduate programs in exercise, nutrition and preventive health; theological studies; and engineering. The department of health, human performance and recreation in Baylor's School of Education will offer a doctor of philosophy program in exercise, nutrition and preventive health–one of the first such multidisciplinary doctoral programs in the United States. Regents also approved a master of theological studies degree at Truett Theological Seminary. The graduate program will provide a basic foundation in biblical and theological disciplines, while allowing students to combine theological studies with other Baylor graduate degrees in social work, music, education, business administration and law. Baylor's engineering department will offer eight joint bachelor's/master's degree programs in electrical, computer, biomedical and mechanical engineering.

Incomplete annuals mailed. The Baptist General Convention of Texas began mailing copies of the 2003 BGCT Annual to churches last week before staff discovered 48 pages were missing from some of the books. The printer left out pages 186-234 in about 10 percent of the annuals, said Rand Jenkins, director of BGCT's creative services office. The missing pages include statistical information about BGCT institutions. Churches that receive an incomplete annual should contact Shirley Smith via e-mail at ssmith@bgct.org and a new one will be sent to them.

DBU creates Vaughn Scholarship. An endowed scholarship has been created at Dallas Baptist University in memory of Charlotte Vaughn, a longtime supporter of the university and alumna of Decatur Baptist College, DBU's institutional predecessor. Students in the College of Education pursuing a degree in education with a focus on special education will be eligible for this scholarship. Vaughn, a member of Royal Oaks Baptist Church in Dallas, died in March at age 93.

CBF, Buckner sponsor Kenya trip. Buckner Baptist Benevolences and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship are jointly sponsoring a mission trip to Kenya Dec. 1-12. The ministry focus will be the boys and girls of the Baptist Children's Center in Nairobi, Kenya. Buckner President Ken Hall and CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal will lead the mission trip. A two-day visit to the world-famed Maasai Mara game park is covered in the all-inclusive trip cost of $2,900. A non-refundable $250 deposit is due by Sept. 1 with payments of $1,325 due on Oct. 1 and Nov. 1. Buckner will host an orientation session Sept. 28, but a video of the event will be mailed to anyone unable to attend the orientation. For additional information or to register for the trip, either contact CBF at (770) 220-1600 or volunteer@thefellowship.info, or contact Buckner Orphan Care International at (214) 758-8055 or orphancare@buckner.org.

UMHB schedules Welcome Week. About 900 freshmen and transfer student are expected to attend Welcome Week at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, beginning Aug. 21. Fall classes start Aug. 25, and night classes begin Aug. 30.

Posted: 8/06/04

TOGETHER:
BWA blesses Baptists from Texas

We had breakfast in Seoul, South Korea, with a Baptist missionary from Nagaland who serves in Cambodia. His bright smile and winsome personality blessed us as we talked about mission strategy and rejoiced in the work of our Baptist family around the world.

I learned 90 percent of the population in Nagaland–a province of India–is Christian, and almost all the Christians are Baptists. When American and Canadian Baptists first came to the area in the late 19th century, they reached the tribes by starting schools and caring for the people. The tribesmen were headhunters who counted severed heads as trophies of their dominance. But they no longer are warlike people. Their hearts have found their place in the love of God and gospel of Christ. Now these self-supporting Baptist churches send missionaries to people in other parts of the world. The Nagaland Baptist Church Council is one of 211 Baptist conventions that work in cooperation with the Baptist World Alliance.

The Korea Baptist Convention is another. BWA President Billy Kim, the founding pastor of the 20,000-member Central Baptist Church of Suwon, is “Mr. Baptist” in Korea. He translated for Billy Graham in a great Korean crusade in the '70s, and he knows and encourages many of his nation's spiritual, business and political leaders.

When I preached at his church recently, I was struck by the miracle of God in bringing the Korean people to Christ over the past 100 years. They have known grievous persecution. But they have learned to depend on God, give generously and pray earnestly. Korean Christians pray early every morning and have all-night prayer meetings most every Friday. God has blessed the extraordinary faith, hard work and spiritual desire that marks the lives of so many Korean Christians.

As we attended the BWA General Council in Seoul, we were encouraged by the partnership in the gospel we find with our Baptist brothers and sisters of the world. We were reminded again that mission work is effective. When people go to bear witness and live among those who need Christ, God uses that to bring people to salvation.

I yearn for hundreds of Texas Baptists to experience personally the joy of being part of this great worldwide Baptist family. The BWA centennial anniversary will be held in Birmingham, England, July 27-31, 2005. Pastors and directors of missions across Texas are putting together groups to attend the celebration, and the BGCT has worked with travel agents to develop tours. One proposal is a 13-day tour for $2,995, but the price could vary somewhat. If you can't spend that much time or money, there will be other less-expensive options. This could be the trip of a lifetime, filled with visits to historic British and Baptist sites, brimming with inspiration and gratitude for the fellowship we share with our Baptist brothers and sisters who have–often in the most trying circumstances–experienced so much of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For information on putting together a group tour, please call Becky Bridges at (214) 828-5232, e-mail bridges@bgct.org or write her at 333 N. Washington, Dallas 75246.

Texas Baptists will be fully represented when Baptists from around the world gather next year. They look forward to meeting you, and your life will be enriched deeply by meeting them.

We are loved.

Posted: 8/06/04

Welfare overhaul needed, group says

By Kevin Eckstrom

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–A coalition of Christian and Jewish groups urged Congress to stop keeping welfare alive with temporary extensions and instead move to a long-term overhaul of the program.

Ten mainline Protestant churches were joined by anti-hunger groups, Jewish organizations and a Catholic social justice group to urge a five-year reauthorization of the 1996 welfare law.

“Congress is denying the states the certainty of funding and clarity of program direction that they need to operate their programs most effectively,” said a recent letter to senators from the Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs.

Temporary Aid to Needy Families originally was set to expire in September 2002. Unable to reach agreement, Congress has passed seven temporary extensions. The most recent, in late June, funds the program at current levels through Sept. 30.

The House has passed one version that increases weekly work requirements for welfare recipients from 30 to 40 hours per week and provides marriage incentives.

The Senate version proposes a 34-hour work week but adds increased money for child care. That measure has not reached the Senate floor because of disputes on whether to include an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7 per hour.

“We are extremely disappointed that Congress has not yet passed a long-term reauthorization to strengthen the program so families can move out of poverty,” said the letter., which was signed by the Washington offices of American Baptist Churches USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Friends Committee on National Legislation, the National Council of Churches and NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby, among others.

Posted: 8/06/04

Mission Arlington nurtures, trains
next generation of missionaries

By Sarah Farris

BGCT Summer Intern

WACO–Mission Arlington's outreach extends far beyond the city limits.

The community ministry's goal is to nurture a new generation of missionaries for worldwide service, Director Jim Burgin said.

“Through Mission Arlington, God is raising up kids to be missionaries,” Burgin told the Texas Leadership Conference, sponsored by Woman's Missionary Union of Texas.

About 90 vocational missionaries were trained at Mission Arlington, he said.

About half serve throughout the United States, and the rest work in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, and one works with an unreached people group.

Every Mission Arlington volunteer who has interviewed with the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board has been appointed, he noted.

In addition, 28,000 people from 26 states have come for a week-long mission immersion experience.

For instance, volunteers from a church in Lexington, Ky., spent a week at Mission Arlington.

When they returned home, they immediately launched a similar ministry to help people in their community, he said.

Burgin grew up on the mission field in South Korea, and his mother, Tillie, founded Mission Arlington.

For 17 years, he pointed out, thousands of people have come through Mission Arlington's doors seeking food, money for bills, clothing, medical aid, crisis intervention, help during the holidays and spiritual aid offered by the urban missionaries.

By meeting the physical needs of the poor in Arlington, the organization gets a chance to share God's love, Burgin explained.

Each week, 254 Mission Arlington-related congregations meet, generally under the leadership of lay pastors.

Many evolved from Bible studies and still meet in the living rooms of apartments.

Posted: 8/06/04

Women challenged to invest time in the lives of poor families

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

WACO–As a child participating in a mission group, Diana Lewis visited a family living in a chicken house.

“I never forgot that,” she told the Texas Leadership Conference, a training event sponsored by Woman's Missionary Union of Texas.

Lewis serves as missionary in Arkansas with the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board, helping people who live in poverty. She described her ministry as being to “people who live with holes in their walls.”

Lewis prefers the term “people in poverty” to the more tradition “poor people” in describing those with whom she works.

“We're all rich in some ways. We're all poor in some ways,” she said. “Some of the richest people I know haven't had indoor plumbing, but they love the Lord.”

Ministry to people in poverty is “very slow work, is very hard work,” Lewis said. “There isn't any way you can meet every need.” Rather “you must be available to them, be a friend to them,” and a long-term commitment is needed.

Before ministering to people in poverty, “examine your attitudes,” Lewis said. People in need, like others, do not always spend their money wisely. A judgmental attitude must be avoided.

“There are going to be people who are hard to deal with,” she said. But try to imagine what their lives will be like if they come to Christ.

Poverty, of course, is not limited to Arkansas. In a workshop about Project HELP, WMU's effort against poverty, Patty Villareal said one in eight Americans live in poverty, and “around the world poverty has a tight grip on people.”

Texas has the eighth-highest poverty rate in the nation, with about 15.2 percent of Texans falling below the poverty line, she noted.

“Here's what's real, and here's what's going on outside our doors, said Villareal, consultant for the BGCT Missions Equipping Center. “We must address this somehow … and break the cycle of poverty.”

“It's time to refocus” and remember the importance of ministering to the poor that is reflected in Scripture, she added.

WMU's Project HELP will mark its 10th anniversary with a special “A Bag, a Buck and a Bible” emphasis Feb. 13, 2005.

Baptists will be encouraged to contribute a bag or box of food for local ministries, money for national projects and Bibles for distribution.

But Villareal encouraged participants in her workshop to “not be content with a sack and a tract mentality.”

Relationships are needed. she insisted.

“Pledge a year to invest in the lives of a family,” she said, suggesting family-to-family ministry. “I encourage you not just to think about the immediate.”

Diana Lewis, a Southern Baptist North American Mission Board missionary in Arkansas, speaks about mission work with the poor and hungry in her state during a workshop in Waco.

Posted: 8/06/04

Missionaries bring light to 'heart of darkness'

By Sarah Farris

Texas Baptist Communications

WACO–Texas Baptists do not have to go far to find “world-class lostness,” Missionaries William and Orpha Ortega told the Texas Leadership Conference.

In Mexico and Central America, only one person in 10 is an evangelical Christian, they noted.

Although the Roman Catholic Church dominates the region, the church in Latin America is mixed with pagan religions, idolatry and belief in redemption through works, they asserted.

Orpha Ortega

A large portion of southeast Mexico is called “the heart of darkness,” the couple said. Fewer than 2 percent of the residents in the heart-shaped region are evangelical Christians.

“People think they must go far, but open your eyes,” William Ortega said during the missions training conference, sponsored by Woman's Missionary Union of Texas.

The populations of Alaska, Arkansas, South Carolina, Colorado, Wyoming, Maine, Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi and Washington, D.C., combined make up the number of non-believers in Mexico City alone, said the Ortega's oldest daughter, Vasti.

The population of the city is nearly 27.5 million, but only about 250,000 are evangelical Christians.

The Mexican area with the highest percentage of Christians–Chiapas, with 14 percent –is the region with the highest amount of Christian persecution in Mexico.

According to the Open Doors world watch list, this area ranks 30th globally in persecution. Christians in Chiapas have been jailed, and some of their homes have been burned, Ortega said.

The National Baptist Convention of Mexico has set goals of 10,000 Baptist churches with 1 percent of the nation's population on the membership rolls and ministering among 10 unreached indigenous people groups in Mexico and 10 unreached people groups internationally, the Ortegas said.

Mexico City Baptist missionaries have created a program called City-Takers to help achieve this task.

The strategy is “to cast the vision through presentations and media, mobilize national church planting teams, equip the church planting teams and start new churches that will multiply themselves.”

The organization relies on short-term missionaries, dedicated to Mexico missions from four months to two years. New missionaries are assigned to specific duties based on their individual talents and experience.

Short-term missionaries also are involved in the mobilization of the Christian church in Mexico.

A mobilized church, the Ortegas said, prays specifically, gives sacrificially and goes strategically.

Baptist Nursing Fellowship elects officers Texas Baptist Nursing Fellowship officers, elected during the Woman's Missionary Union Texas Leadership Conference are: (l-r) First Vice President Melba Wilkerson from First Baptist Church of Henderson, President Linda Garner of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Second Vice President Lupe Koch of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Fort Worth, Secretary/Treasurer RaNon Caraway from First Baptist Church in Brady and Nominating Committee Chairperson Anne Morrison of Macedonia Baptist Church in San Antonio.

Posted: 8/06/04

WMU speakers challenge women to be followers of Christ

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

WACO–The parade of speakers at the Texas Leadership Conference spanned several generations. They included missionaries, the children of missionaries and just regular Texas Baptists. But all spoke of following Christ in missions.

The theme of this year's conference, sponsored by Woman's Missionary Union of Texas, was “Christ Followers,” and the program illustrated the varied ways people follow Jesus.

Christ followers are servants, said Wanda Lee, executive director of national WMU. They are ordinary people who heard and listened closely when Jesus said: “Take up your cross and follow me.”

“He issued an invitation to follow him all the way, all the time,” Lee said.

Jesus is asking for a “sold-out commitment,” she added. “I suspect there are those days when it would be easier to just pack it up and go home.”

Amanda Perez (left) of Lubbock receives the Sybil Bentley Dove Award from Wanda Lee, executive director of national Woman's Missionary Union. Perez, whose three sons joined her on stage, received the award and scholarship because of her involvement in Christian Women's Job Corps, first as a participant and now as a volunteer. She is the second participant from her Lubbock CWJC group to recieve the national honor.

But Jesus set a different example, she noted. “He never gave up, no matter what the difficulty.”

Elaine Tate, a member of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, said the involvement in missions by her 7-year-old daughter, Kathryn, shows there is “no age limit or requirement for Christian service.” Kathryn has taken dinner to children at Buckner Baptist Benevolences homes.

Diana Lewis, a missionary in Arkansas, told of her work with people living in poverty. “I believe low-income people are our most unreached people group.” She encouraged participants to “study and learn about the poor where you live.”

Carolyn Woods, a member of the Texas WMU African-American advisory council, spoke about efforts to revive mission work in African-American churches, particularly through the Sisters Who Care women's program.

“There are opportunities out there for all of us,” she said. “We must go beyond the walls of our churches, get out in the community and do kingdom work.”

William and Orpha Ortega, missionaries in Mexico City, said Mexican Baptists have set a goal to plant 10,000 churches by 2010.

“It is a window of opportunity for the Baptist General Convention of Texas to work side by side (with Baptists in Mexico) … to reach Mexico for Jesus Christ,” Ortega said.

He challenged Texas Baptists to seize the opportunity to share in gospel with people in a neighboring nation who live in spiritual darkness.

Kay Parks, a former missionary to an unreached people group in southeast Asia, said she “began to realize it would take a mighty act of God” for the people to understand the gospel. Prayers eventually led to physical and emotional healing.

Cindy Gaskins, a pastor's wife serving with an international church in Hong Kong, told of a young woman who helped the ministry there.

“People of the nations smell the fragrance of Christ in her life,” Gaskins said.

Linda Gibson, missionary to Thailand, told how Jesus used simple objects to communicate truth and how that principle helped Thailand. She used things like balloons and stamped envelopes to share Christ with a people group who are gifted at crafting silver jewelry.

Nancy and Bruce Muskrat, missionaries to Argentina, are professors of church music in Buenos Aires. They perform classical music concerts that serve as tools for evangelism. In many cases, they noted, concerts have led to the creation of small group Bible studies.

Their adult daughter, Amy, said she wouldn't trade her experience as a missionary kid “for anything in the world.”

Being involved in her parents' ministry provided a rich cultural experience and the chance to travel to churches and lead in worship, she noted.

Baptists from at least nine nations and people groups, including two national women's leaders from Korea, attended Texas Leadership Conference this year.

“We are a glimpsing a bit of heaven,” said Carolyn Porterfield, executive director of Texas WMU. “God really does love the whole world.”

Posted: 8/06/04

Use 'basics' to involve families in missions

WACO–The key to getting families involved in missions is to “just make a start” and stick to the basics, a veteran missions volunteer told a Woman's Missionary Union training conference.

“You can use the basic things you already know and make them something special,” Suzy Wall of Hereford said during a workshop titled “Hats Off to Families on Mission” during the Texas Leadership Conference in Waco.

Wall, who will serve as a mission volunteer at the Olympics in Athens, Greece, gave participants several ideas for getting families involved.

Take your family and another family to a park in the afternoon and string beads. Other children at the park will want to join the activity.

Cook food, such as cookies, and take it to a children's or nursing home for a holiday, but check with the facility ahead of time. Have children help with both baking and delivery.

Help cook and serve at a soup kitchen.

“Seeing people in need teaches (children) so much,” Wall said.

Buy and take birthday party decorations to a family that cannot afford any. Take them to the parents and let them use them.

“Single mothers desperately need help,” she said.

Enlist teenage boys to change oil in someone's car.

Go by on Thursday to determine the type of oil and filter needed and let the person know you'll be back on Saturday to change them, she suggested.

Provide babysitting for a single mom who may just want to spend some time alone reading a book or taking a bubble bath.

Repair the home of a disabled person and prepare a picnic on the lawn for lunch.

Volunteer to be a “prayer warrior” in a Bible study group.

Make balloons for children attending associational summer camps.

Make a garden and share the vegetables with the elderly. "

There are a lot of people who enjoy that, but they can't do that anymore," Wall said.

Posted: 8/06/04

God chooses people for special tasks,
but only uses the available, Bible teacher says

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO–God chooses certain people as his instruments for particular times and purposes but can use them only when they make themselves available, a Bible study leader told the Texas Leadership Conference.

Gaynor Yancey, director of the baccalaureate program in Baylor University's School of Social Work, taught a Bible study on the conference theme, “Christ Followers.” Woman's Missionary Union of Texas sponsored the annual missions training event on the Baylor campus.

Yancey focused on four women in Scripture whom God used to meet special needs–Queen Esther; Mary, the mother of Jesus; and Mary and Martha of Bethany.

The Old Testament book of Esther is peculiar among the Scriptures in that God never is mentioned by name. “But Esther was significant to God's plan, and we can see God's fingerprints literally all over Esther's life,” Yancey noted.

God allowed Esther to become queen of Persia so the Jews would have an advocate before the king when a law was passed that could have resulted in their extermination, she said.

She pointed to two key phrases spoken by Esther's relative, Mordecai. He suggested to Esther that she had been elevated to royal position “for such a time as this.” And he told her if she remained silent, “relief and delivery” for the Jews would come from somewhere else.

Yancey, who served 25 years with the Southern Baptist Convention's Home Mission Board in inner-city Philadelphia, urged the women in her seminar to ask themselves if God had brought them to a place of influence at a particular time to set right some injustice or meet an urgent human need.

“God has a plan for your life and mine,” she said. “If we don't follow that plan, God will use someone else. But the needs will be met.”

Turning to the New Testament, Yancey pointed to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as God's chosen instrument for a one-of-a-kind task.

She stressed the angel's words to Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God.” And she challenged Texas Baptist women to echo Mary's words, “I am the Lord's servant.”

Yancey urged the women to say in response to God: “If you are calling me to ministry to this person, if you are calling me to meet the needs of this group, if you are calling me to help with this organization or this committee, may it be to me as you have said.”

Yancey also briefly examined Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus.

Their household–three single adult siblings–was not typical for that time, she observed. But their home became a much-needed “place of safety” for Jesus during his Judaean ministry–due in part to Martha's spiritual gift of hospitality and in part to Mary's attentive devotion to Jesus.

As a university professor, Yancey observed that many of her most dedicated Christian students understand what Mary knew–the importance of spending time with Jesus.

She noted some of her students set aside time on their daily planners for Bible study, prayer, journaling and reflection, and they treat that time as inviolable.

“In order to be effective instruments of God, we have to have time when we draw aside and experience Jesus,” she said.