BaptistWay offers free Advent guide. BaptistWay Press is offering a free devotional for the Advent and Christmas seasons. The guide, a cooperative venture involving BaptistWay and the North American Baptist Fellowship of the Baptist World Alliance, is written by Baptist leaders from across North America and provides daily devotionals from Nov. 27 to Jan. 4. For more information or to download the devotional, visit www.bgct.org/baptistwaypress.

Baylor seniors seek to leave lasting legacy. This year’s senior class gift at Baylor University will light the fire of education—figuratively and literally. Students not only will contribute as a senior class gift to an endowed scholarship that provides for future Baylor students’ education, but also will pay tribute to Baylor’s heritage by supporting the addition of an eternal flame atop the Immortal Ten Memorial on campus. The senior class gift committee is asking each senior to give at least $25. When making their gift, students will have the option to designate it to benefit the scholarship or the eternal flame. The Immortal Ten Memorial commemorates 10 Baylor basketball players who were killed when a train collided with their bus in 1927.

BCFS expands transitional living program. Baptist Child & Family Services’ Preparation for Adult Living program has been awarded a contract through the Department of Family and Protective Services to expand its transitional living program to include all of South Texas. The new territory will serve the area between Corpus Christi, Laredo and Brownsville. This expansion will help more than 1,400 youths per year make the transition from foster care to independent living.

Churches endow Wayland scholarships. Two endowed scholarships were dedicated recently at churches to benefit Wayland Baptist University students. Friends and church members at First Baptist Church in San Antonio dedicated an endowed scholarship honoring Pastor Don Guthrie and his wife, Holly. The scholarship specifically benefits students at Wayland’s San Antonio campus. First Baptist Church in Dimmitt dedicated an endowed scholarship in memory of longtime member Clara Gladden. The scholarship is designated for a Hispanic Baptist ministerial student with an emphasis on pastoral or youth ministry.

Richardson woman will chair WMU Foundation. Sylvia DeLoach of First Baptist Church in Richardson was selected chair of the board for the Woman’s Missionary Union Foundation. DeLoach becomes the fifth person to chair the board of trustees of the 13-year-old Birmingham-based foundation. “I’m excited about the opportunity to serve as chair of the WMU Foundation board of trustees—a gifted, committed group of men and women whose hearts are focused on the support of missions,” DeLoach said. “For me, it’s not only a privilege and an honor to serve, but it also allows me new opportunities to support and encourage the work of WMU.” For 14 years, DeLoach served on the national WMU staff as children’s ministry consultant, Girls in Action specialist and—most recently before retiring in 2004—as missions innovator.

• Stephen Allen to First Church in Cranfills Gap as pastor.

• Lash Banks to Murphy Road Church in Plano as pastor.

• Jerry Barker to Calvary Church of Oak Cliff in Dallas as pastor from First Church in Falfurrias.

• Salvador Bernal to Iglesia Alpha Omega in Plainview as pastor.

• James Bond to First Church in Mineral Wells as intentional interim pastor.

• Mike Bryant to First Church in Beeville as youth minister.

• Mark Collins to First Church in Karnes City as interim pastor.

• Kerry Drake to Claytonville Church in Kress as pastor.

• Brad Elsom to First Church in Argyle as pastor.

• Rudy Fambrough has resigned as pastor of Ridgemont Church in Abilene.

• Tom Gillespie to Park Hills Church in Austin as associate pastor of worship and outreach.

• Todd Gray to Central Church in Italy as pastor from Larkspur Christian Fellowship in San Antonio.

• Brian Gunter to First Church in Evant as pastor.

• Kevin Hall to First Church in Marshall as pastor.

• Wade Holman to Choate Church in Kenedy as pastor.

• Hector Iracheta to Iglesia Nueva Vida in Pearsall as pastor.

• J.P. Jobe to Lake Cypress Springs Church in Scroggins as pastor.

• Gary Johnson to Grace Church in Friona as pastor.

• Jeff Mabry to Vigo Park Church in Vigo Park as pastor.

• Donald McCollum to Grace Memorial Church in Clifton as pastor from Providence Church in Hamilton.

• Jim Poe to Olden Church in Olden as pastor.

• Nathan Pruett to First Church in Oglesby as pastor.

• Jerry Reed to Willow Springs Church in Alvarado as pastor.

• Neill Trull to Calvary Church in Brownwood as pastor from Fielder Road Church in Arlington, where he was associate pastor.

• David Walker to First Church in Alvarado as interim minister of music.

• Claire Wall to First Church in La Grange as children’s intern.

• Jonathan Waller to First Church in Runge as youth.

• Steve Zornes to Old Moulton in Moulton as interim pastor.

• Don Piper, author of 90 Minutes in Heaven, will be the chapel speaker at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Dec. 3 at 11 a.m. Piper was declared dead as a result of an automobile accident in 1989, but twice was revived. During the time he was “dead,” he was given a glimpse of heaven, he claims.

• Dallas Baptist University has received a $300,000 gift from Wayne and Buena Stevenson to help finance construction of the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel. Longtime supporters of the school through a variety of avenues, he serves on the board of directors for Bill Glass Champions for Life Ministries and received an honorary doctor of humanities degree from DBU in 2006. She has served as a DBU trustee for seven years and was a 2004 recipient of the school’s Ruth Award. They are members of First Church in Plano.

• Baylor University broke ground Nov. 15 on the Jay and Jenny Allison Indoor Football Practice Facility. The facility is expected to be completed by the start of preseason camp next August.

• Houston Baptist University’s alumni association has recognized two alumni and one HBU staff member for their contributions to the school. Francis Bui received the Meritorious Service Alumnus Award. He has served on the HBU Alumni Board of Directors since 2002, chaired homecoming, the graduation cookout and the Husky Hustle 5K Fun Run. Mike Reinfeldt received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. In his 28th season with the National Football League, he is in his second season as executive vice president and general manager of the Tennessee Titans. He was an All-Pro safety for the Oilers/Titans franchise from 1976 to 1983. Clay Porter, director of instructional television at HBU, received the Hallmark Award, which honors an HBU faculty or staff member who is particularly supportive of HBU alumni.

• Abilene Association honored several individuals and a church at its annual meeting. Bill and June Dent, members of First Church in Abilene, were named laypersons of the year. Joel Tobey, pastor of Elmwood Church, was named bivocational minister of the year. L.W. Hutchinson, pastor of Mount Sinai Church, was named pastor of the year. Fort Phantom Church, where Bill Dickson is pastor, was named church of the year. Shirley Stewart of the ABA staff was named staff member of the year.

Anniversaries

• First Church in Chappell Hill, 25th, Dec. 7. Joe McCannon, founding pastor, will speak in the morning service. Chet Priddy will lead a memorial time during that service. Former Pastor Charles Matejowsky will lead a lunch and afternoon program. David Beckworth is pastor.

• Justin Horton, fifth as student minister at Second Church in Corpus Christi, Dec. 14.

Retiring

• Carolyn Shapard, as minister to adults at Wilshire Church in Dallas, Dec. 31. She has served more than 10 years, and was ordained in 2005.

Deaths

• Ed Laux, 90, Oct. 11, in Dallas. Laux was pastor of Williams Memorial Church in Ravenna, First Church in McGregor and Pioneer Drive Church in Abilene, and then he began a 23-year career with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, heading up the convention’s Training Union division. A member of Wilshire Church in Dallas more than 45 years, he was known for writing notes and letters of encouragement. He is survived by his wife, Dot; and sister, Anabel Schmidt.

• Buddy Reed, 70, Oct. 21 in Waco. He was pastor of College Street Church in Beaumont, Mertens Church in Mertens, First Church in Salado, Tanglewood Church in Jasper, First Church in Robinson and Bruceville Church in Bruceville. The Bruceville Church honored him in 1997 with the title of pastor emeritus. He served Waco Association as moderator and evangelism director. At the time of his death, he was a member of Cottonwood Church in Lorena. He is survived by his wife of almost 52 years, Marcell; son, David; daughters, Susan Fletcher and Rebecca Nickell; brother, Bruce; step-brother, John; and 11 grandchildren.

• Raymond Sanders, 81, Nov. 3 in Westminster, Colo. A 1958 Howard Payne University graduate, he was a long-time minister along the Rio Grande. Prior to that, he was pastor of Central Church in Brownwood, where he was ordained in 1958; First Church in Fort Hancock; and First Church in Van Horn. After completing language studies at Mexican Baptist Bible Institute in San Antonio, he and his wife became Texas River Ministry missionaries. In 1969, he became director of missions for Big Bend Association, where he served until his retirement in 1990. His last 10 years as director of missions, he added to his responsibilities the directorship of the Sul Ross University Baptist Student Ministry. While serving along the Rio Grande, he started 16 churches. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jan, earlier this year. He is survived by his daughters, Brenda Sanders and Kathy Beach; sons, Larry and Kenneth; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

• Ann Baker, 78, Nov. 8 in Dallas, after an 18-month battle with cancer. A Howard Payne University graduate, she was honored as one of the school’s outstanding alumni. The wife of Dick Baker, she supported him in his ministry as a music evangelist, as well as when he was minister of music at Birchman Avenue Church in Fort Worth from 1951 to 1957 and later at Prestonwood Church in Dallas from 1978 to 1992. She is survived by her husband of 57 years; son, Paul; daughter, Lori Ann Simmons; brother, James Self; and four grandchildren.

• Lucy Thomas, 77, Nov. 10 in Dallas. She was the wife and ministry partner of J.V. Thomas, a church-starting pioneer in the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1979, she and her family were one of seven families to found Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall. She is survived by her husband of 59 years; daughter, Teresa; sons, Terry and Tim; one sister; and one brother; 11 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

• Winfred Walker, 78, Nov. 12 in Dumas. Walker attended Hardin-Simmons University before transferring to Wayland Baptist University. He began his ministry at age 18, serving as pastor of pastor of a church in Wastella. He served almost 50 years as either pastor, associate pastor, or music and education director. He served churches in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico. He served Texas congregations in Tahoka, Sweetwater, Pampa, Perryton, Amarillo, Morse and Sunray. At the time of his death, he was a member of First Church in Dumas. He was preceded in death by his brother, David, and sister, Alice Terry. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Mary Jane; son, James; daughters, Margaret Parsons and Janet Walker; brother, Don; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Event

• Tim Zimmerman and The King’s Brass will perform with the 200-plus member Tallowood Church choir in the church’s annual Christmas music concert, “A Festival of Carols,” Dec. 5-7. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday. There is no admission charge, and tickets are not required.

Ordained

• Carl Reimold to the ministry at Elmont Church in Van Alstyne.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (ABP) — Economic hard times are putting pressure on charities scrambling to meet rising need this Thanksgiving.

"I wouldn't call it a pinch. I would call it Jaws of Life," Dan Shorter, who co-directs a "Feed the Hungry" program at The Village Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Fla., described the impact of lagging donations, rising costs and increased demand.

"We've been doing this for 21 years and we've never had harder times," Shorter said in a telephone interview. "We've never seen such widespread need."

Shorter said the ministry fed and average of 850 families a month from January through October but expects to feed more than 3,000 for Thanksgiving. He said he has had to pay five times as much for food compared to last year.

"We're basically broke," he said. "We may have to cancel Christmas this year."

Demand has jumped 

Mission Arlington , a ministry of First Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, says demand for food assistance has jumped 9 percent in the last couple of months. Last year Mission Arlington provided food for about 17,000 people on Thanksgiving Day. This year, because of economic troubles affecting everyone, the ministry is expecting the need for help to increase.

"We'll be feeding probably 20,000 people," Mission Arlington Executive Director Tillie Burgin said. It takes about 4,500 turkeys to feed that many people, and as of Wednesday Burgin said it looked like there would be enough food for Thanksgiving Day.

"We are doing great," she said of food donations. "We're just blessed."

Burgin said she didn't want people to stop giving, however. "We've got Christmas and lot's more to do," she said. "We won't have any left over, that's for sure." She said people wanting to make a last-minute contribution can call 817-277-6620.

Steve Poole, minister of music and worship at Oak Grove Baptist Church in Bel Air, Md., said his congregation has been feeling the effects of economic struggles, including an increase in its food ministries.

Poole said mission groups typically prepare Thanksgiving baskets of food for families in need. Last year the congregation set a goal to provide 75 baskets to families to commemorate the church's 75th anniversary.

Turning families away 

"It was actually a little difficult to find that many families within our church that needed the help," Poole said. "This year we had to start turning families away after we reached one hundred requests."

Poole said the church's benevolence committee has more requests each week than they can handle. "People are feeling the pain of the economic downturn, but God continues to bless our church with the provisions to fulfill His calling for our church," he said.

Shorter said it "will take an act of God" for his Florida congregation to meet its goal of helping 4,000 families and giving toys to 3,000 needy kids at Christmas. Economic forces of the first 11 months of the year "haven't pinched us," he said. "They have crushed us."

In an effort to stretch resources, he said the ministry — unlike previous years — is not handing out turkeys this Thanksgiving, but rather giving families chicken and pork patties.

"No one's happy about it," Shorter said, but he can feed three families chicken or pork for the cost of one turkey.

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)—International Mission Board missionaries and church partners have distributed nearly three tons of rice and beans to more than 300 homeless families in the Congo in recent days.

In the last few weeks, 250,000 people in the West African country have fled their homes, and many others have lost their lives in the wake of ongoing conflict. More than 400,000 displaced people are believed to be living in and around the city of Goma on the country’s eastern border.

“The people are pretty frustrated … malnourished,” said missionary Rusty Pugh, who helped with the relief effort through the Southern Baptist World Hunger Funds, including a project in May when 100 families received food.

No money to buy food 

“There is food that is available to buy, but the people don’t have the money to buy (it) right now.”

Tensions in the Congo have continued to rise throughout the year since a peace agreement between the government and the rebel leader Laurant Nkunda fell through. In August, fighting broke out near a few of the displacement camps. Some relief efforts were temporarily disrupted.

When fighting “got within four kilometers of Goma, the U.N. was forced to quit feeding people in different camps,” Pugh said. “The good news is things have calmed down (and) the U.N. is feeding again and able to get food back into those camps. We were able to do something to carry some of them over until the U.N. came back in.”

Getting relief to the people has not been easy for Pugh and his wife Debbie. The Congo, which is a third the size of the United States, has less than 4,000 miles of paved roads. To get to Goma, the Pughs have to fly from the western edge of the country to the eastern edge.

Right now, the Pughs are the only IMB personnel in the country. Originally from Decatur, Ga., they minister among the Yamsi people in Kinshasa, the nation’s capital. They plan to return to Goma in December to work with pastors.

Evangelizing in the midst of war 

“These pastors have a dream of going into the mountains and evangelizing the rebels,” said Pugh, noting that there is a strong Muslim presence on the eastern side of the country. “We’re going back for a week to do some training with these pastors to try to help them get prepared.”

Although the situation remains volatile, local pastors remain optimistic that lives will be changed for Christ as a result of the crisis.

“I’m asking these guys, ‘What do you all want to do about the project in December?’“ said Pugh, adding that the question was met with strange looks.

“Aren’t you still coming?” they asked.

“These guys have real guns,” Pugh responded. “They’re using them right now.”

“Don’t they still need Jesus?” one pastor responded. Pugh agreed.

Pugh asks Baptists to pray that God will call other missionaries to help with the more than 300 people groups in the county. With less than 2 percent of the people in these groups claiming to be evangelicals, the need is great, he added.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—In the midst Afghanistan—where armed conflict and oppressive poverty make every day a struggle for survival—some women and their families have found deliverance thanks to WorldCrafts.

WorldCrafts, a fair trade, nonprofit ministry of national Woman’s Missionary Union, is helping to give Afghan families an expectation of a life beyond their impoverished conditions through a partnership with an artisan group comprised of women who make jewelry, mosaics, clothing and accessories.

The artisan group of about a dozen women sellwill their handmade products through WorldCrafts, and they use the proceeds to pay for healthcare and education for themselves and their families.

“I am very happy that we will soon start a literacy class here,” one woman said.

Forced to drop out of school at age 10 due to illness, she is unable to read or write. She currently lives with her mother, single sister, two brothers, and her brothers’ wives and children.

Her father died when she was 11, and she and her sisters were forbidden to marry before her brothers. At age 28, she is deemed too old to marry. But she discovers freedom in her ability to work.

“It is very good for me to have my own money,” she said. “I can provide everything for myself without asking my brother. Now I can even help my brother, and I put my nephew in school.”

In Afghanistan, young women learn early the constraints of financial oppression. A 15-year-old ninth grader resides in her paternal grandfather’s home with her mother, father, three sisters, three uncles and her uncles’ wives. Between her health problems and her mother’s, she and her family often wondered if they would have enough money for medical treatments and school.

But the young girl, who dreams of becoming a geologist, finds some solace in her job as an artisan with WorldCrafts.

“My father is currently unemployed. I use the money I earn to go to school and to help my father provide for the family,” she said.

A 32-year-old artisan says her immediate goal is to finish the 12th grade, but she dreams of eventually completing graduate school. Despite hardships, like her husband being injured in an accident, she continues her work.

An artisan group of about a dozen women sell their handmade products through WorldCrafts, and they use the proceeds to pay for healthcare and education for themselves and their families.

“I have children going to school, and my husband is unemployed,” she stated, “The job is a big help for me.”

She wants her three children to be educated, as well. Perhaps, through her job as an artisan, she can see her dreams for herself and her family come to fruition.

For each of these women, and the others like them, working for WorldCrafts not only has given them a glimpse of life outside of continuous war and poverty, but also allowed them a chance to achieve it.

As the group’s leader said: “We all are very happy with this job. It helps us to forget our family problems for the hours that we are working together, laughing and talking. When we are together, we talk and learn what is going on in the world.

“Being together makes us brave and gives us courage to fight for our rights. When we see that our children are happy that we have money to put them in school and buy clothes for them, it makes us happy. Thanks be to God for giving us this job. Thanks to the people who try to provide work for us.”

Since 1996, WorldCrafts has imported handmade crafts from artisans worldwide, providing them and their families with hope and income for food, shelter, education, and medicine.

WorldCrafts works with 70 different artisan groups in 38 countries and has expanded its product line to about 370 quality items. Visit the WorldCrafts website, www.WorldCraftsVillage.com, for more information.

Any so-called gospel that fails to take seriously Jesus’ proclamation of good news to the poor lacks authenticity, Nathan George decided a few years ago. And that belief led him to found Trade as One—a company that helps poor and marginalized workers by bringing together markets and missions.

And as a primary provider of Good News Goods, members of some Baptist churches note the company is offering an avenue where they can do Christmas shopping with a clear conscience.

George grew up in India and in various parts of the Middle East as a missionary kid, while his parents served with Operation Mobilization. But in spite of his Christian upbringing, after about 15 years in business with telecommunications and software companies, he felt something lacking in his understanding of the call to discipleship.

A Cambodian woman makes a bag sold by Trade as One in Good News Goods markets, as well as online. (PHOTOS courtesy of Trade as One)

“Five or six years ago, I began reexamining the call of the gospel,” he said. In the process, he became captivated with Jesus’ declaration that he came to preach good news to the poor.

“I wanted to know how business, the kingdom of God and good news to the poor could all fit together,” he said. “God’s heart beats for the poor.”

George came to the conclusion God created human beings for meaningful work.

“The absence of work is a missions issue,” he determined. And helping disenfranchised people find purpose in their labor and giving them the ability to provide for themselves and their families are ways Christians can contribute to “restoration of the Eden vision.”

George and his wife, Catherine, discovered multiple small businesses in developing nations that were providing jobs with fair wages, but those businesses needed someone to help connect them to potential buyers in the affluent West.

The Georges began operating a market for those goods once a month through the 200-member Baptist church they attended in Cranleigh, about 40 miles south of London. Through that “low-profile, regular presence,” they raised awareness about fair trade in their community and sold about $15,000 a year in goods, George said.

Women in Togo stir pot to make shea butter, the key ingredient in a moisturizer sold by Trade as One through church-based Good News Goods markets and online.

In time, the couple felt God’s call to make that avocation their fulltime job, and they relocated to Santa Cruz, Calif. They built Trade as One around fair trade practices—no slave labor or child labor, safe workplaces, fair wages to workers, environmental sustainability and profit to producers rather than middlemen.

Trade as One works with 62 producer groups in 28 nations throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. The company only does business with producers that are fair trade-certified or with whom Trade as One or a trusted organization such as World Vision has direct knowledge.

“We buy from suppliers in-country and pay them up front to provide them working capital,” George explained.

Products fall into two categories. Consumable goods include coffee, tea, rice, olive oil, lotions and cosmetics. Non-consumable goods include scarves, handmade jewelry, bags, bowls and rugs.

“We won’t sell products that people don’t need,” George said. “Spending habits and stewardship are discipleship issues.”

Americans spend more on cosmetics and Europeans more on ice cream than it would cost to provide education and sanitation for the 2 billion people who go without both, he noted.

Trade as One has no storefronts. It sells through individuals who host home parties, through direct Internet commerce and through partnerships with churches that take orders or sell products.

The company recently entered into a close working relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission through its Good News Goods initiative.

Fair-trade items made available through Trade as One.

Good News Goods enlists churches to serve as host sites for one-day or weekend fair trade markets or as trading posts where people in the congregation and the surrounding community can order fair trade consumable goods on an ongoing basis.

Trade as One serves as the primary provider for Good News Goods. Another is WorldCrafts, a nonprofit ministry related to Woman’s Missionary Union that imports handcrafts from 38 countries and markets them in the United States. Good News Goods also will work directly with developmental ministries related to the Baptist World Alliance and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

In addition to providing buyers with quality goods and producers with fair compensation for their work, 10 percent of sales from products purchased in Good News Goods markets in BGCT-affiliated churches directly benefits the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger.

While the initiative officially launches in January, Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and First Baptist Church in Austin piloted Good News Goods events recently, in time for church members to shop for Christmas presents.

“People were surprised by the quality and variety of the products,” said Mindy Logsdon, minister of missions at Wilshire Baptist.

Because the church is in the middle of a construction project, the Good News Goods market had to be divided into three venues in different parts of the facility. Wilshire volunteers staffed each site, explaining the stories behind the products, showing a video provided by Trade as One and operating a point-of-sales machine.

In a single Sunday-morning event that was not advertised outside the church’s membership, Wilshire sold $5,555.54 in goods.

“When you do something that’s a little out of the ordinary, there’s always someone who doesn’t like it. But I honestly didn’t hear any negative feedback,” Logsdon said.

“What I heard was how glad people were to be able to buy fair trade products—to spend their money on products without having to worry about the use of child labor and to know the people who produced them received fair wages.”

CLC Director Suzii Paynter presented the idea of a Good News Goods market to her Sunday school class at First Baptist in Austin. Steve Mines, an attorney who grew up as a missionary kid in Argentina, took the lead in contacting Trade as One and organizing the event.

“We did not have much time to advertise this to the church. It made it into one church newsletter and a short, short video clip in worship. The following week, I held my breath, wondering if our folks would support it,” Pastor Roger Paynter said.

On the day of the market, a Trade as One representative spoke briefly at the close of the Sunday morning worship service. He explained that the sale of Good News Goods products would—in part—provide employment for young women in developing nations, allowing them the opportunity to escape from the sex trade industry.

“In a matter of a few hours, our church purchased $11,000 in fair trade products, shocking the folks from Trade as One with our generous response,” the pastor said, noting it was Trade As One’s second-highest one-day total in sales.

Members told him they appreciated the opportunity to purchase quality items and make a difference in someone’s life at the same time. First Baptist plans to set up an ongoing trading post where people can subscribe to consumable goods on a regular basis, Paynter added.

“I have long contended that the church frustrates people who want to act on their faith but have very few, tangible outlets. I think that part of the success of Habitat for Humanity is that people can literally put their faith in action, pick up a hammer, see a result. Good News Goods has the same appeal,” he said.

“You purchase a beautiful, unusual item while helping a woman or child find a chance to move out of the horrors of the sex-slave industry and you do it with an organization rooted in Christ. What could be better?”

For more information, visit www.goodnewsgoods.com or www.tradeasone.com.

DALLAS—Buckner Children & Family Services will affiliate with the Oklahoma-based Dillon International child placement agency effective Jan. 1, dramatically increasing Buckner’s capability to offer international adoption services.

“This immediately doubles our capacity for placing children and offers the potential of exponential expansion and growth,” Buckner Children & Family Services President Albert Reyes said.

Buckner has placed about 4,000 children in more than 120 years; Dillon has placed 5,500 children in the last 36 years.

Buckner’s board of trustees approved the affiliation Nov. 21, following an earlier unanimous vote by the Dillon board.

The agreement calls for existing Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services’ international and domestic adoption programs to join Dillon’s program and operate with the Dillon name under the umbrella of Buckner International. Adoption services will be headquartered in Tulsa, Okla.

Dillon Executive Director Deniese Dillon—who will become vice president for adoptions with Buckner Children & Family Services—stressed the connection of the two Christian agencies provides greater strengths to both.

"Seeking God's will" 

“We have been seeking God’s will for ways Dillon International could provide even more ministry to children around the world,” said Dillon, who co-founded the agency with her husband, Jerry.

“We’ve had close ties to Buckner and their leadership for many years. Their mission to help orphans and underserved children on a global scale has also been our mission and heart since we started our ministry.”

Reyes said he was “thrilled” about the affiliation. “There is no more respected name among Christian adoption agencies than Dillon International. They are internationally known for their ability to serve families and the heart with which they do it.”

Buckner International President Ken Hall said the joining of the two entities “marries Dillon’s outstanding reputation in the international adoption field with Buckner International’s global reputation for humanitarian aid work among orphans and at-risk children. Together, we will be able to serve children and families in so many ways.”

Combination of services 

Reyes explained the new affiliation brings together Buckner’s international and domestic adoption programs with Dillon’s international adoption, post-adoption programs, and humanitarian services.

Buckner, founded in 1879 in Dallas, recorded its first adoption in 1884 and has placed more than 4,000 children in homes through adoption. The agency began offering international adoption services in 1995 for families in all 50 states and currently offers adoption services in Russia, China and Ethiopia. Buckner also has a comprehensive domestic adoption program for families living in Texas that includes domestic infant adoption, foster-to-adopt, post-adoption services, birthparent services and adoptions of state-placed children.

Dillon International is a licensed, not-for-profit child placement agency that has specialized in international adoption since 1972. Originally founded to meet the needs of South Korean orphans, the agency has since expanded to include adoption and humanitarian aid services in India, Guatemala, Haiti, China, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Ethiopia.

“They already are in countries where we’ve been wanting to go,” Reyes said.

Dillon serves families from offices in St. Louis, Mo.; Tustin, Calif.; Little Rock and Fayetteville, Ark.; Richmond, Ind; Kansas City, Kans.; and the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The agency, which has placed more than 5,500 children, also has volunteer adoptive families across the United States who serve as agency information and resource representatives to families.

For more information, go to www.buckner.org or www.dillonadopt.org .

Tennessee Baptists approve Africa mission. Messengers to the 134th annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention approved a new missions partnership with West Africa and adopted a $39 million budget. Executive Director James Porch presented West Africa as a new missions partnership region for Tennessee Baptists. Tennessee Baptists recently ended a 10-year partnership with Baptists in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and currently has an ongoing partnership in Malta. Roger Haun, associate regional leader for West Africa, International Mission Board, Richmond, Va., invited Tennessee Baptists to "return to the place where you pioneered partnership missions 25 years ago." Haun referred to the project adopted by the Tennessee Baptist Convention with Burkina Faso—now Upper Volta—the first missions partnership between a state convention and an overseas area. Messengers also approved a $39 million budget, an increase of $500,000 or 1.3 percent over the current budget.

Illinois Baptists increase CP giving. Messengers to the annual meeting of the Illinois Baptist State Association voted to increase Cooperative Program giving for the second year in a row. The increase was included in the $9.1 million budget, a 2.2 percent increase over the current budget. The 2009 Cooperative Program budget of $6.85 million increases the percentage forwarded for national and international missions from 43 percent to 43.25 percent.

California Baptists affirm Proposition 8. Messengers to the California Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution affirming the passage of Proposition 8—an amendment to the state constitution that restricts marriage to the union of a man and a woman. The resolution expressed gratitude to the ProtectMarriage.com coalition that “spearheaded the effort to restore and protect biblical, traditional marriage in California and throughout our nation.” The resolution also stated the convention “strongly encourages its churches and their members to pray for, promote and uphold the biblical model of marriage.” Proposition 8 passed 52 to 48 percent on Election Day, reversing a California Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. Opponents have filed suit with the same court, seeking to have the proposition invalidated.

American Baptist missions faces budget shortfall. The board of American Baptists' National Ministries met recently to consider cuts to cover a $1 million gap between the organization's income and expenses. National Ministries Executive Director Aidsand Wright-Riggins attributed a continuing decline in mission giving to “job losses, home foreclosures and a decline in personal-investment wealth” resulting from a bad national economy. Michaele Birdsall, National Ministries' treasurer and CFO, said the organization is “not in financial crisis” but cautioned that continuing to rely on unrestricted reserve funds to balance the budget is “unsustainable.” Leaders hope to develop a plan to bring expenses in line with income within three to five years without tapping reserve funds. National Ministries has responsibility for the evangelism, social-justice, discipleship and mission work of the American Baptist Churches USA. The organization works with more than 1,300 mission partners who minister as chaplains and pastoral counselors, refugee sponsors, directors of Christian centers, volunteers and church planters across the United States and Puerto Rico.

S.C. Baptists adopt multiple resolutions. Messengers to the 188th annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention in Columbia Nov. 11-12 approved a $34 million operating budget, adopted a new five-year spiritual emphasis called “Experience Kingdom Life” and passed a slate of resolutions. The 2009 operating budget reflects a $300,000 increase, about 1 percent, over the previous year, and a continuing allocation of 60 percent for South Carolina missions and ministry and 40 percent for Southern Baptist Convention national and international outreach. Resolutions decried the secularization of Christmas, called for renewed emphasis on family worship in homes, expressed concern for persecuted Christians worldwide, affirmed the work of disaster relief volunteers and called on state legislators to “pass a law that ensures efforts to sustain and protect life for infants born alive, especially those infants who survive an attempted abortion.” There were 1,000 registered messengers at the annual meeting, making it the least-attended meeting since 1953, when 818 messengers were present.

Florida Baptists narrowly elect president. Messengers to the Florida Baptist State Convention elected a president by a dozen votes during their 147th annual meeting at First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland. John Cross, 45, pastor of South Biscayne Church in North Port, was elected president of the Florida Baptist State Convention with 357 votes over 345 cast for Richard Powell, pastor of McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers. The election marked the first contested election for president in the state convention since 1999.

Blizzard cuts short Dakota convention. A blizzard shortened business at the 25th annual meeting of the Dakota Baptist Convention. Weather warnings kept attendance at the annual meeting down to about 75, about 40 fewer than last year, and news of worse weather to come led to the decision to trim the gathering by about five hours. “We wanted to get everyone home safely,” said Jim Hamilton, executive director of the Dakota Baptist Convention. “Under our blizzard conditions, I’m happy with the attendance.”

Oklahoma Baptists elect Native American president. Emerson Falls, pastor of Glorieta Baptist Church in Oklahoma City and a member of the Sac and Fox and Choctaw tribes, was elected as the first Native American president of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma at the convention’s annual meeting. Messengers chose Falls over Doug Melton, pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, by a narrow 243-203 vote. Anthony Jordan, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, said Falls “represents not only the ethnic diversity of Oklahoma Baptists but also the continued openness of our people to give every person regardless of ethnicity a place at the leadership table.”

IMB trustees hear cautionary financial report. The potential effects of investment losses, a weakened dollar and flattened giving to the Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering could have a significant impact on the International Mission Board’s work next year, trustees learned at their recent meeting in Houston. Economic pressures forced board members to approve a budget for 2009 that includes no room to exceed the total number of missionaries currently under appointment.The $319.8 million budget approved by trustees marks a $15 million increase over 2008 expenditures, $10 million of which will be used to offset the rising cost of support for missionaries already on the field. Southern Baptists gave a record $150.4 million to the Lottie Moon offering in 2007; the goal for 2008 is $170 million.

W. Virginia Baptists support marriage amendment. Messengers to the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists passed a resolution at their annual meeting calling on church members to support an amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The resolution called on members to “affirm the historic, legal, and reasonable definition of marriage by supporting and promoting an amendment to the state constitution.” The resolution said changing the definition of marriage has “devastating moral, spiritual, economic, and social effects on the whole society.” Messengers resolved to “strongly encourage Christians throughout West Virginia to engage in the civic process in defense of marriage and in support of the government's leadership in defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

Chick-fil-A founder honored. Baptist layman Truett Cathy, founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, was named the 2008 winner of the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. Cathy, 87, has led his company to donate more than $100 million since 1967, when the first Chick-fil-A opened in Atlanta, with an emphasis on educational scholarships and foster care. Cathy, a longtime member of First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Ga., has based his business on Christian principles. His 1,400 Chick-fil-A restaurants, including the mall sites, all close on Sundays, even though fast-food restaurants traditionally do 20 percent of their business on that day. Cathy will donate the cash award that accompanied the Simon Prize to two Union City, Ga., organizations—Christian City, a foster care facility, and Southwest Christian Care, an organization that provides respite care.

WASHINGTON (ABP) — Two Baptists were among 24 prominent Christian leaders recently signing an open letter to President Bush calling for action against anti-Christian violence in India.

Daniel Vestal of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and William Shaw of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., joined other religious leaders from historic church bodies including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and mainline Protestant, evangelical, Pentecostal and African-American church bodies asking the president to urge India's prime minister to enforce religious freedom guarantees in India's Constitution.

Recently Bush signed a U.S.-India nuclear trade agreement with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying it indicated that "nations that follow the path to democracy and responsible behavior will find a friend in the United States."

In light of that, the leaders urged the president to hold India accountable for stopping violence carried out by extremist Hindu mobs that started in Orissa and has spread to six other states. Reports indicate that more than 60 people have been killed and 50,000 people have fled their homes, with many still in hiding.

The Nov. 7 letter said the attacks, targeting mainly poor Christians, amount to "religious cleansing" of Christians and other minorities.

The letter called on the president to "insist, in the strongest terms, that these reprehensible groups and the assenting local government agencies be brought into conformity with India's rule of law."

"Only if India agrees and acts with goodwill toward all its citizens will it continue to be viewed as a responsible global partner worthy of a place on the world stage with other democratic nations," the letter concluded.

In October Neville Callam, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, wrote a letter to the Indian prime minister about "the grim situation facing Christians in Oriss" and urging the Indian leader "to intervene, in the best traditions of the Indian sub-continent, to bring relief to the people suffering in Orissa."

–Bob Allen is senior writer at Associated Baptist Press.

MANSFIELD (ABP)—Patrick Moses has a long commute from his home in Mansfield to his job with Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. But that hasn’t stopped Moses from starting and growing Antioch Baptist Church.

Moses describes Mansfield as rapidly growing, upwardly mobile and “extremely progressive.” Many families in the community are not connected to any church, he noted.

Moses’ strategy is to use e-mails and text messaging as a means to attract people who don’t attend church regularly. Most of the church’s electronic contacts come from two Antioch church members who operate a local barbershop.

Antioch held its first worship service in December 2007, targeting families moving into the Mansfield/South Arlington/Grand Prairie area. It has quickly become a close-knit fellowship with several families vacationing together in Washington, D.C., this past summer. A tour of colleges is planned this fall so that children and teenagers in the congregation will have the opportunity to visit the campuses of all colleges in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

Antioch was launched with support from the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, several African-American Baptist churches in the region and a group of pastors who serve as mentors to Moses.

CBF signed an official covenant of partnership with Antioch at this year’s General Assembly in Memphis. While there are some financial aspects to the partnership, it also involves connecting Moses with other CBF church planters in Texas and beyond.

The church will hold a “block party” soon, sponsored by BGCT, as another way to connect people with Antioch.

Moses earned a bachelor of arts in political science and a master of public administration degree from Southern University. He was ordained in June 2005, just before he graduated from Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School with a master of divinity degree. He was introduced to CBF while attending Greater Saint Stephen’s First Baptist Church in Fort Worth, a connection that helped him become a CBF leadership scholar.

Moses is an 18-year federal employee, having worked in several government agencies in the Fort Worth area. In May, he was recruited to serve in a position in Washington, D.C., with the Department of Homeland Security. He is responsible for the law enforcement and physical security of federal facilities located in the Washington metropolitan area.

Moses’ wife, Ronda, is director of social services at Life Care Center of Haltom, and recently earned a bachelor of social work at Texas Woman’s University. She is a part of the ministry team at Antioch.

“I love transforming people and I feel called to doing a church start,” Moses said. “It is exciting to watch God create a new church.”

ROANOKE, Va. (ABP)—The Baptist General Association of Virginia, acknowledging an uncertain economic environment, approved a reduced budget for 2009 during a quiet annual meeting that drew about 1,200 people.

About the only fireworks during the meeting in Roanoke were provided by featured speaker Tony Campolo, who spoke out against California’s recently passed ban on same-sex marriage.

Messengers also elected a retired public-school administrator as president and adopted constitutional amendments that increase the amount of contributions necessary for churches to affiliate with the state association.

The 2009 budget of $13.8 million is $560,000 less than this year’s $14,360,000 total. Budget committee Chairman Tom McCann said officials project 2008 receipts will be lower than this year’s expected revenue.

“It’s not rational to propose a budget that is more than we’re actually receiving right now,” McCann said.

Bloomer elected president 

Jeff Bloomer, a member of Culpeper (Va.) Baptist Church, was elected president without opposition. Bloomer, who had been serving as first vice president, has been an administrator for more than 40 years in Virginia’s public schools and colleges.

Tim Madison, pastor of Madison Heights (Va.) Baptist Church, was elected first vice president and Richard Childress, pastor of Franklin (Va.) Baptist Church, second vice president. Fred Anderson, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, was elected to his 28th term as BGAV’s clerk.

The constitutional changes establish new financial criteria for affiliation, requiring a minimum annual contribution of $500 from every member church. Previously a contribution of any amount would qualify a church for membership and allow it two representatives, or messengers, at the annual meeting. The changes also increase the amounts necessary to receive additional messengers, up to a total of 15.

Dick Bidwell, the BGAV parliamentarian who presented the constitutional changes, said the increases are necessary because of the growing costs of providing services to affiliated churches. He noted the BGAV supplements churches’ ministerial pension plans at about $300 annually per minister. In addition, the Virginia Baptist Mission Board each year distributes about $360 in resources and other information to every church, he said.

Bidwell said that 200 of the BGAV’s 1,400 churches contributed less than $500 in 2007, and another 199 churches gave nothing. “That’s the rationale for this amendment,” he said.

Tony Campolo: Welcome poor, Muslims, gays 

They also heard impassioned addresses from Campolo, the popular Baptist author, speaker and sociologist. He interpreted the meeting’s theme of “Who Is My Neighbor?” by appealing to Virginia Baptists to welcome the poor, Muslims and gays.

In his thematic addresses, Campolo said Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan changed “the whole concept of ‘neighbor.’”

“The Samaritans were those who were considered spiritually unclean, abominations in the eyes of God,” he said.

Some of today’s “Samaritans,” said Campolo, are the poor, Muslims and gays.

“The only description that’s given (in Scripture) of Judgment Day is how we respond to the needs of the poor and the oppressed,” he said, referring to Matthew 25. “Jesus said, ‘You can’t have a personal, transforming relationship with me (Christ) unless you have a personal relationship with the poor and oppressed.’”

Muslims, he added, also have not been treated like neighbors in the United States.

“And of course the big one right now—are gays and lesbians our neighbors?” he asked.

Campolo said that, while he is “a conservative on the issue” of homosexuality, he opposed California’s recently adopted Proposition 8. The amendment to the California Constitution upends a court ruling that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples.

“I believe that same-gender erotic behavior is contrary to the teaching of God,” he said. “You might ask, ‘If you believe that way, didn’t people like you and me win (with Proposition 8)?’ What did we win? …I’ll tell you what we won. We won tens of thousands of gays and lesbians parading up and down the streets of San Francisco and New York and L.A. screaming against the church, seeing the church as enemy.”

“I don’t know how we’re going to reach these brothers and sisters,” he said, “but I’m an evangelical and I’m going to win them to Christ. … And we’re not going to win them to Christ if we keep sending them bad messages, and we’ve sent them a bad message. I think the decision in California was in agreement with how I believe, but sometimes you’ve got to consider the person before you bang them over the head with your principles.”