TYLER—This summer, mission plans at First Baptist Church in Tyler were guided by a Starr.

Sarah Starr, school librarian and former church librarian, led the church to become involved with Books for the Border, a literacy program in the Rio Grande Valley.

While attending the 2007 Baptist General Convention of Texas’ church librarians’ conference, Starr first became acquainted with Books for the Border, a collaboration of Literacy ConneXus, churches, and community groups who together make a significant impact on Texas children and families stuck in poverty because of unmet literacy needs.

A video showing the Books for the Border pilot project caught her attention, and she questioned Lester Meriwether, executive director of Literacy ConneXus, about the program.

“I had never heard of it, but I was amazed by the potential this ministry opportunity holds,” Starr said. “The idea of breaking the cycle of poverty through literacy makes perfect sense to me as a teacher, mother and librarian.

“I know that God uses books to change lives. If children learn to enjoy reading and have a positive experience with books, they usually go on to excel in school and are motivated to finish. I knew there were people in my church who would be happy to build some bookshelves, and I was confident we could easily collect children’s books and Bibles. It just seemed so simple—a need I could help meet. I couldn’t wait to get my church family involved in this.”

Forty-six people representing 10 families from First Baptist Church in Tyler followed Starr’s lead and traveled this summer to facilitate a Family Literacy Fiesta at Primera Iglesia Bautista in Rio Grande City, about 40 miles northwest of McAllen.

Starr’s husband, Michael, was moved by the way the children from First Baptist Church in Tyler became engaged in the mission work so willingly, with no reluctance.

“Our children, Elizabeth, 14, Emily, 11, and Matthew, 7, along with all of the other youth and children in our group, worked extremely hard to meet the needs of the people we came to serve,” he said.

“They had no reservations at all about offering friendship and kindness to each child with whom they came in contact, despite the language barrier and other cultural differences. Matthew and several other young boys and teenagers worked very hard to paint the house of a family in need in scorching heat over 100 degrees. Overall, the blessing I received from getting to see these young people serve Jesus Christ by helping others was much greater than anything I ever imagined.”

Moving last summer to Tyler from Missouri, Kerry and Paula Bickerstaff are fairly new members to First Baptist Church. No one in their family had ever participated in a mission trip, but the Bickerstaffs were eager to expose their 10-year-old daughter, Bailey, to a different culture. They are confident she discovered ways she can make a difference in someone’s life and affirm the blessing that the Rio Grande City families were to all of them.

Jeff Hunter, a pediatric ophthalmologist, and his wife, Kelley, traveled from Tyler with their four children, ages 17, 16, 12 and 10. Every year their family participates in a mission trip, but the Rio Grande City experience was especially significant to them. Although life in Starr County, the poorest county in Texas, does not begin to compare to poverty in Third World countries, Hunter wanted his children to see American poverty first-hand. He also wants his children not to fear different cultures and situations—to be risk-takers for Christ. 

In January 2008, an advance team from First Baptist in Tyler including Associate Pastor and Family Minister Scott Wylie and Sarah Starr arrived in Rio Grande City to plan a Books for the Border event. 

Once there, they believed God began to expand their vision for literacy ministry in the area. Primera Iglesia Bautista Pastor Osdy Luna told them of an orphanage in Camargo, Mexico, that desperately needed a library. As the team members visited with pastors and community representatives in the area, additional ideas for mission service surfaced—offering day camps at a local park and at First Baptist Church, San Isidro, and painting houses in a poor neighborhood.

“Books for the Border is not a cookie-cutter program,” Meriwether explained. “Its aim is to work with parents and families with literacy needs as is necessary and appropriate for each community, always working with the infrastructure that exists.”

Four components are: 

• Seeking input from local people for selection of books, participation in decorating bookshelves and other matters.

• Linking the family reading fair to local literacy efforts.

• Providing connections for follow-up and evaluation.

• Encouraging long-term commitment to the community by mission groups from outside the area. 

“Beyond these essentials, churches can create unique ways of incorporating these basics through the Holy Spirit’s leading,” Meriwether said.

Dale Sawyer of Tyler led the construction of the bookcases months before the trip.  After a donor provided lumber for the three-foot by four-foot bookcases, Sawyer and his friend Bob McCollum helped cut them out. A shop class at Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler constructed the 63 bookcases, later given to 63 families. 

“An odd number, you would think,” Sawyer noted. “Originally, we were supposed to have 65 bookcases, but God knew just the amount we needed.”
Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley is the poorest county in Texas and one of the 20 poorest counties in the United States, as identified by Together for Hope, the rural poverty initiative of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. 

Many adults in the county cannot read or write in English but can read in Spanish. Parents at the Family Literacy Fiesta received information about English-as-a-Second- Language classes and adult basic reading offered in their area.

More than 300 people attended a two-hour Family Literacy Fiesta at Primera Iglesia Bautista’s fellowship hall, courtyard and even the street within one block of the church. The children participated in games, face-painting, and storytime. The fiesta began with a brief church service in Spanish.
Children and families from First Baptist in Tyler had primed and painted the bookcases in bright solid colors before the trip. Fiesta children added painted designs or stickers to personalize them. 

Each family was given one bookcase, and each child could pick out four books to take home as the start of a family library. While one group painted bookcases, others participated in games or enjoyed hot dogs and snow cones on the hot June afternoon. At a given signal, families moved to a new area for a different activity.

First Baptist Tyler’s downtown campus borders a large Hispanic neighborhood, so ministry to Hispanic families was familiar to this congregation. The church sponsors a Hispanic preschool, Ninos de Promesa, which is directed by Lisa Massar, wife of Pastor Michael Massar. She was part of the mission trip to Rio Grande City and read stories in English and Spanish to the families at the fiesta.

The Tyler church also offers ESL classes to adults and supports an Hispanic congregation which meets on church property. Starr is hoping that the members who were unable to come on the mission trip will participate in a future Books for the Border event in Tyler for the families of Ninos de Promesa.

Starr and members of her church already are thinking about where they might go next summer. With seven of the nation’s poorest counties in the Texas Rio Grande Valley, there is work for many churches to do, she noted. Books for the Border is a vital piece in reducing poverty and its root causes such as illiteracy in these counties along the Texas/Mexico border.

“This was a great experience for everyone involved. The relationships we built with each other and with Starr County Christians are eternal,” Starr concluded. “We did not end illiteracy or poverty with this one trip, but I know there’s a good chance we made a difference in a child’s life. And who knows how God will use that one.”

FRISCO (ABP)—Dellanna West O’Brien, who led the Southern Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union through some of its most trying times, died Sept. 7 at age 75.

She suffered what WMU officials described as “a massive cerebral bleed” Sept. 4 after falling and hitting her head at her home in Frisco, north of Dallas. She died three days later with her husband, Bill, and their three children at her side.

O’Brien served as executive director of the Southern Baptist Convention women’s auxiliary for a decade before retiring in 1999. WMU—which is governed independently and receives no funding from the denomination—had been challenged by many of the fundamentalists who took control of the SBC during that period.

“Dellanna led Woman’s Missionary Union through difficult times, and she faced opposition and personal difficulties head-on and successfully,” said Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler, who preceded O’Brien as WMU head.

Crumpler noted O’Brien continued to lead the organization after suffering a stroke in 1998. She described O’Brien as a “true friend, wife, mother, missionary, educator, mentor, leader and over-comer.”

“Dellanna O’Brien is one of the most amazing women I have ever known,” said Wanda Lee, O’Brien’s successor at WMU. “She possessed a deep love for the Lord and her family, and made countless sacrifices as she led WMU through 10 challenging years in our denomination. I will remember her as a great friend, leader, educator, innovator, and loving wife and mother—but, most of all, as a humble and diligent servant of Christ and his mission.”

During O’Brien’s tenure, WMU developed several new programs, including Christian Women’s Job Corps, to assist women with economic and other challenges. The WMU Foundation also was formed, and WMU opened its first development office under O’Brien. The agency combined its Baptist Women and Baptist Young Women organizations to form Women on Mission.

O’Brien also led WMU to assume responsibility for Pure Water, Pure Love—a ministry that provides water filters and purification systems to missionaries.

“She had the ability to anticipate the future and its consequences and was willing to take risks for what she believed to be right,” said June Whitlow, who served as WMU’s associate executive under O’Brien. “Dellanna made a positive difference in the lives of people around the world.”

O’Brien was the author or co-author of several books, including Timeless Virtues: Lessons in Character for Women and Choosing a Future for U.S. Missions.

Born July 20, 1933, in Wichita Falls, O’Brien earned her bachelor’s degree from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene in 1953 and worked as an elementary school teacher until 1963. She and her family served as SBC Foreign Mission Board missionaries in Indonesia the next nine years.

Upon returning to the United States, O’Brien pursued graduate studies and received a master’s degree in education from Texas Christian University in 1972 and a doctorate in education from Virginia Tech in 1983. She also holds honorary degrees from Hardin-Simmons University, University of Richmond in Virginia, and Judson College in Alabama.

Prior to her post at WMU, she served as president of the International Family and Children’s Educational Services, a non-profit organization she founded to provide educational-testing services for missionary kids.

She is survived by her husband, Bill, three children and six grandchildren. Bill O’Brien served as an executive with the Foreign Mission Board and, later, as a missions professor.

Memorials be sent to the WMU Foundation, 100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242; or the Dellanna O'Brien Chair for the School of Social Work at Baylor University, c/o WMU Foundation, 100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242.

Johnny Pierce and Robert Marus contributed to this story.

SOUTH HOUSTON—In spite of threatening thunderstorms, more than 100 volunteers from Templo Bautista of South Houston, First Baptist Church of South Houston, Fellowship Church of Houston and Buckner Children & Family Services of Houston sponsored a back-to-school fiesta for elementary age students in South Houston.

The event—which attracted 218 people from the community—represented the first cooperative venture in many years by two congregations with a shared history. First Baptist Church of South Houston launched Templo Bautista as a Hispanic mission about 60 years ago.

“This began when our missions committee met earlier this year and invited Buckner and leaders from Templo Bautista to come meet with us,” said Pastor Manuel Longoria Jr. of First Baptist Church of South Houston.

“Felipe Garza, Jon Hogg and Marilyn Garcia from Buckner and some leaders from Templo Bautista also joined us that night. I shared the need for us to be more effective in reaching and ministering to our community. Demographics show we have over 395,000 people living within a five-mile radius of us. No single church is going to reach such a vast and diverse community alone. We must cooperate and be more effective for the sake of God’s kingdom.

“After that initial meeting, I was called by Templo Bautista’s Miguel Angel Cruz and Mary Ann Somma-García about meeting to pray and plan an event to bless our community. They came up with the idea for the fiesta, and it grew from there. It was Templo Bautista’s initiative. First Baptist and Buckner were delighted to come alongside and partner with Templo Bautista in it. Later, Fellowship Church also joined in to help make the event a success.”

Marilyn Garcia, church mobilization coordinator for Buckner Children & Family Services in Houston and a member of Fellowship Church of Houston said: “I really feel like we are here as the body of Christ to minister to those we do not know. By having three churches come together, we are able to see the community’s needs and then try to meet those needs more effectively.”

Mary Ann Somma-García of Templo Bautista led in organizing and directing the Fiesta.

“I felt that everyone working together was great. As we came together, the three churches were supporting and uplifting each other as we ministered to the community,” she said. “I feel it is the beginning of something special that God is doing in our community, in South Houston. I feel like God has more for us to do together in South Houston cooperatively.”

“Even the rain was sent by God. The rain provided a captive audience as people sought shelter in the chapel. They heard the music and the gospel being presented. God did that, because we had not planned it that way.”

The fiesta offered a number of activities and services, including live music, games, balloon art, two moonwalks and face painting, as well as free haircuts and free hot dogs, popcorn and snow cones. Children were also able to tour a police patrol car and a fire truck and visit with police officers and firefighters from South Houston.

Adults were able to participate in a community-needs survey; blood pressure, vision and glucose screenings; and receive a free health gift bag. Volunteers distributed 114 backpacks filled with school supplies to children. Another 28 backpacks with school supplies were sent to the two elementary schools in the neighborhood, where nurses or counselors can give them to needy students.

Representatives from Buckner’s Children and Family Services, The Bridge Shelter and a nutrition specialist also had booths with information for the families.

GORI, Georgia (BP)—Families displaced by fighting in the Black Sea Republic of Georgia are expressing gratitude for a feeding ministry Texas Baptist relief workers are conducting in Gori.

A seven-member Texas Baptist Men disaster relief team cooked hot meals for about 2,000 people who have taken refuge in 18 kindergarten buildings in Gori, a team member reported.

“We are really starting to ramp up the relief operation,” he said. “Many of these people have not had a hot meal in more than three weeks.”
As people receive the meals, they thank the volunteers profusely, the team member said.

“One lady just could not stop saying, ‘Thank you,’” he said. “One man was crying as he accepted the food.”

One woman who lives near the local Baptist church came to where the volunteers are working and asked for some soup, the team member said. She took it back to her apartment in an old paint bucket. Touched by the fact that she had nothing better to carry the soup in, one of the team members found a teapot near the church, cleaned it up, filled it with soup and took it to the lady’s apartment.

The Texas team left Aug. 27 to set up the feeding operation and are expected to be joined by a seven-member team from the Kentucky Baptist Convention scheduled to depart Sept. 4 and a 10-member team from the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma leaving Sept. 7, according to Jim Brown, U.S. director of Baptist Global Response, a Southern Baptist international relief and development organization.

Each team is expected to be on the ground roughly 10 days, Brown said. Before the Texas team leaves, a total of 24 Southern Baptist specialists will be in Georgia at the same time.

The responsibility of cooking for refugees housed in the kindergarten buildings is expected to be turned over to the Italian Red Cross, the team member noted. When that happens, Baptists will turn their attention to converting a building shell owned by the church into a soup kitchen for the refugees.

Dealing with the multitude of details involved in conducting a relief effort has been difficult, but it is worth it to see the joy and hope in people’s eyes, the team member said.

“It’s an adventure, but it’s been challenging,” he said. “God is stretching our faith and showing himself faithful. We’re looking forward to seeing what God will do here.”

Relief workers on the ground in Gori asked for prayer on several counts.

“Please pray for logistics. We’ve had some interesting dealings with other humanitarian aid organizations,” the team member said. “And pray the good relationships with the Georgian government and the Georgian Red Cross would continue.

“We’d also ask people to pray for the delivery of food,” he added. “Delivering food to the 18 kindergartens today was kind of challenging. If we also start feeding at the private homes where refugees are staying, that difficulty could easily multiply.”

KWAZULU-NATAL, South Africa—How many healing memories can $1.8 million buy for AIDS orphans?

It’s a question Children’s Emergency Relief International hopes to answer over the next three years through its Sinomlando/Memory Box Project partnership, based in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The Sinomlando project, named for the Zulu word meaning “we have a history,” is an ambitious effort that aims to lift the veil of silence that hangs over most families of people with AIDS. It is funded by a United States Agency for International Development grant as part of the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief.

According to the South Africa National Department of Health, the province of KwaZulu-Natal has the highest prevalence of people living with HIV—16.5 percent—in a country that has one of the highest rates in the world at just under 11 percent.

“Even more tragic are the numbers for women coming into antenatal care clinics” in the province, said Kevin Dinnin, president of Baptist Child & Family Services, CERI’s parent organization.

“Among women 15 to 24, the infection rate is 39.1 percent. Since this group has the highest fertility rate, the natural and tragic result is increasing numbers of orphans.”

A recent UNICEF report, based on 2005 statistics, estimates 1.2 million South African children have lost at least one parent to AIDS, and hundreds of thousands have lost both.

The Sinomlando project aims to keep hope alive in the eyes of AID orphans in South Africa. BCFS/CERI Photo

South African children, as a sign of respect, do not often or assertively ask questions of adults. That reluctance drapes another level of cultural silence over people with AIDS, CERI officials note.

“Often, the children are the primary caregivers to their parents during the illness. So, when their parents die, they think they have not cared for them well enough,” said CERI Executive Director Dearing Garner. “They often become depressed, drop out of school and display similar signs of emotional struggle.”

One significant South African response to the pandemic has been developed and refined by Philippe Denis, a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg and director of the Sinomlando Centre for Oral History and Memory Work in Africa. It entails the use of “memory boxes”—an oral history response in which children have the opportunity to hear their family’s stories within the confines of a safe place. Never Too Small To Remember, a book edited by Denis, describes the process and methodology of memory work.

“The purpose of the memory box is to develop resilience in orphans and vulnerable children, more particularly, those who are affected or infected by HIV/AIDS,” Denis explained. “Memory work is a form of psycho-social support to (the orphaned and vulnerable children) … which creates space for the caregivers to explain the history of the family to the children—a history which is often silenced because of grief, stigma and other reasons. This allows the children to make sense of their own history, however painful it may be. As they start to deal with their grief, they learn to cope better with their situation. Their chances of doing well at school and living a successful life are significantly enhanced.”

“One key feature of the program is the closure encounter, which occurs after a minimum of seven visits to a family by a trained memory worker, during which time a seriously ill or dying parent relates to the children the family’s history as well as any arrangements for the children’s future care in a warm and reassuring manner,” Garner added.

“The children are encouraged to ask questions, and the extended family is involved as much as possible. The entire exchange is tape-recorded or written so the children have a record to which they can refer later. The tape or transcript goes into a memory box, created by the family, along with mementos, photographs, letters and other emotionally important items.”

Memory box work is not merely a psychosocial response for those grieving or dying, noted Scott Houser, volunteer national director for CERI in South Africa.

“Ideally, memory work should become a feature of any and all homes and families, in that it encourages family members to tell and preserve their life history, much as many Americans wish they knew their grandparents or great-grandparents life stories.”

CERI’s partnership with Sinomlando is consistent with CERI’s philosophy of supporting overseas programs initiated, developed and led by local partners instead of automatically assuming it’s imperative to import American “solutions,” Garner said.

“Sinomlando has wanted to scale up its memory program for some time now. To that end, it has modified what used to be a 10-month part-time capacity building training program down to three months full-time. One aim of the three-year project is to train 135 memory trainers, 45 each year, in three groups of 15.”

The first group of 15, all from the Eastern Cape of South Africa, began their three-month training in mid-July.

Each graduate immediately will begin training others, who will train others in turn. After three years of the CERI-Sinomlando collaboration, organizers hope memory boxes will be the treasured possessions of more than 3,500 orphans. Even more importantly, the training will continue to spread even after the project ends.

“Sinomlando’s full-time staff consists of four South Africans, two Zimbabweans and a Belgian who has spent the greatest part of his working life in South Africa. They work in close cooperation with Houser, an employee of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship with whom he works in South Africa as a regional coordinator. Houser, who grew up in Kenya and Tanzania, has lived in South Africa since 1989. 

“We plead guilty to having a bias toward helping hurting children. We are grateful God has opened yet another avenue for BCFS/CERI to do just that,” Dinnin concluded.

“Children who go through the memory box process are often affirmed by their parents. It is common for dying parents to bless their children by pointing out their individual strengths to them and encouraging them to finish school.”

Additional information about the Sinomlando Center is available at www.sinomlando.org.za Information also is available on the Internet at www.bcfs.net and www.cerikids.org .

BELTON—Jerry Bawcom has announced plans to step down as president of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at the end of this school year.

The executive committee of the school’s board of trustees unanimously passed a resolution to name Bawcom chancellor of the university after he retires as president.

Jerry Bawcom

Bawcom, 64, was named the 18th president of UMHB Feb. 1, 1991.  During his tenure, enrollment grew from fewer than 1,700 students to more than 2,700, the university’s budget increased five-fold, and its endowment more than tripled.

Bawcom made “an extraordinary impact on this university and this community,” said Andy Davis, chair of the UMHB board of trustees. 

“The growth and reputation of this university under his leadership has provided a tremendous foundation for the future,” Davis said. “I have been privileged to serve and work with him for nearly all of his 18 years at this fine university.”

In comments to faculty and staff, Bawcom said: “No university president could be as blessed or as privileged as I have been to serve you and UMHB.   I see only more success in the future, and I firmly believe that this is an exciting time to be at Mary Hardin-Baylor.”

During Bawcom’s tenure as president:

• Average SAT scores for entering freshman increased from 890 in 1991 to 1024 in 2008. 
 
• Ranking in U.S.News & World Report: Best Colleges rose from tier 3 to tier 1.

• UMHB added four master’s degree programs and one doctoral program.

• The university’s budget increased from $11.4 million in 1991 to $55 million for 2008-09.

• Total endowment increased from $18.4 million in 1991 to $60 million in 2008.

• The campus grew from about 100 acres to more than 250 acres.

• Construction of 12 residence halls and apartment buildings has increased the housing capacity from about 400 to 1,300.

Bawcom’s tenure also marked a period of expansion to academic, administrative and recreational facilities, including the Mabee Student Center, Townsend Memorial Library, York Science Hall, Parker Academic Center, Crusader Sports Complex and Mayborn Campus Center.

The Meyer Christian Studies Center is set for dedication Oct. 9.

Other construction projects have included the expansion of the front campus entrance, renovations to every building on campus, additional sidewalks and parking spaces, new intramural fields, parks and common areas.

Under Bawcom’s leadership, UMHB moved from NAIA to NCAA Division III athletic competition, and the school has competed for multiple national championships.

UMHB won the 2000 women’s golf championship, and the football program has won the ASC Conference championship three consecutive years. With the conclusion of the 2007-08 school year, the athletic teams had the most successful year in the school’s history with 11 of the university’s 12 teams advancing to the playoffs and three teams winning conference championships.

Texas Baptist Men disaster relief volunteers are feeding thousands of people who fled the Gulf Coast in anticipation of Hurricane Gustav, and Baptist Child & Family Services is providing shelter for evacuees with special needs.

TBM is serving across the state. The disaster relief unit from Smith Baptist Association is in Lufkin, the Gregg Baptist Association unit is in Longview, the Dallas Baptist Association unit is in Marshall, and the TBM Disaster Relief Mobile unit—the 18-wheel tractor-trailer rig with the greatest capacity for emergency food service—is at First Baptist Church in Bryan.

As of late Aug. 31, the disaster relief teams had prepared more than 7,500 meals for evacuees and volunteers helping evacuees. Eight shower units positioned strategically across the state also have been working. A security unit also is at work to protect equipment and resources.

All TBM feeding units are on alert, meaning volunteers assigned to those units are prepared to minister within 24 hours of being called upon.

“It’s like we’re waiting on the shoe to fall,” said Gary Smith, TBM volunteer disaster relief coordinator. “We ramped up. We expected a lot of need, but to this point it has not happened—though a significant rain event still could take place.”

In San Antonio, Baptist Child & Family Services is sheltering about 290 evacuees with special needs, and the number is expected to rise. The group can shelter as many as 5,000 people with special needs across the state if needed.

BCFS-related shelters include Trinity Baptist Church, Shearer Hills Baptist Church, Park Hills Baptist Church and Alamo Heights Christian Church in San Antonio. Colonial Hills Baptist Church is open in Tyler.

“BCFS was given the role of caring for medical special needs evacuees in Texas because of our experience in caring for society’s most vulnerable,” said Haley Smith, a spokesperson for the agency.

“We view this as just another opportunity to impact the world the world for Christ. We are so thankful for our partner churches who serve as shelters and make it possible for us to take on this role.”

Churches listed as Red Cross shelters include First Baptist Church in Tyler, First Baptist Church in Bryan, First Baptist Church in Marshall and Fredonia Hill Baptist Church in Nacogdoches.

Memorial Baptist Church has evacuated its high-risk patients, but it remains open. Buckner International has evacuated its retirement and children’s homes in Beaumont.

Baptist General Convention of Texas Disaster Relief Coordinator Susan Ater is helping connect resources with other resources and people with shelters.

TBM’s response is part of a larger effort by Southern Baptist disaster relief. The group’s requests for feeding capacity has now doubled from 310,000 meals per day to more than 600,000.  More than 100 Southern Baptist disaster relief feeding units have been put on alert to mobilize along the Gulf Coast states.

Disaster relief is supported by designated gifts. To support Texas Baptist disaster relief, visit www.texasbaptistmen.org or www.bgct.org.

As Gulf Coast residents prepared for the onslaught of Hurricane Gustav, Texas Baptists geared up for ministry.

Four Texas Baptist Men feeding teams were activated to serve in the state as the initial wave of people began evacuating southern Louisiana.

The Disaster Relief Unit from Smith Baptist Association was slated for deployment Aug. 30 to serve at Harmony Hill Baptist Church in Lufkin. The Gregg Baptist Association unit was prepared to serve in Longview. The Dallas Baptist Association unit was scheduled to travel Aug. 30 to Marshall.

The statewide TBM Disaster Relief Mobile Unit was en route to Bryan, where it was to set up at First Baptist Church.

All TBM feeding units were placed on alert, meaning they are prepared to minister within 24 hours of being called upon.

TBM’s response is part of a larger effort by Southern Baptist disaster relief. The group’s requests for feeding capacity doubled from 310,000 meals per day to more than 600,000 as Gustav gained momentum.

More than 100 Southern Baptist disaster relief feeding units were put on alert to mobilize along the Gulf Coast states within a day or two after hurricane’s landfall.

Meanwhile, the Texas Governor’s Division of Emergency Management assigned the task of emergency care for medical special-needs evacuees to Baptist Child & Family Services.  

The San Antonio-based agency will provide and be ready to operate medical special-needs shelters across San Antonio as early as Sunday evening, Aug. 31.  BCFS also will have a task force on standby, ready to bring relief anywhere from Brownsville to Beaumont/Port Arthur.

Medical special-needs shelters temporarily house people who do not fit in the massive general population shelters because they need basic medical attention such as a caregiver, medical support or monitoring, or possess extensive equipment needs.  They also include individuals with an acute illness or considered mentally fragile.

BCFS has responsibility for staffing and managing medical special-needs shelters anytime there is a mass evacuation to San Antonio—an automatic event when a major hurricane hits the Texas coast.  BCFS and its partner churches are prepared to care for up to 5,000 people.

“One of the greatest weaknesses exposed by Hurricane Katrina was the lack of planning and preparedness to care for the very people who are most vulnerable,” said BCFS President Kevin Dinnin.  

“Yet most organizations have been afraid to care for medical special-needs evacuees and turned them away, either out of fear or lack of knowledge.  BCFS was chosen to take on this task due to our past experience in caring for people considered society’s most vulnerable.”

Based on reports by Texas Baptist Communications, Baptist Press and Baptist Child & Family Services

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas Associate Executive Director Search Committee will nominate Steve Vernon, pastor of First Baptist Church in Levelland, to serve as the convention’s associate executive director/missions coordinator.

The BGCT Executive Board will vote on Vernon during its Sept. 29-30 meeting in Dallas.

Steve Vernon

Vernon, who has been pastor of the Levelland church since 1991, has served in many roles on Texas Baptist boards and committees.

He is the immediate past president of the BGCT and also served terms as first and second vice president. He currently is on the BGCT Future Focus Committee and Wayland Baptist University board of trustees.

If elected, Vernon will coordinate the work of the BGCT Executive Board staff and will work with staff, churches and ministry partners to coordinate and implement a comprehensive strategic mission plan for the BGCT, according to an e-mail sent to the BGCT Executive Board.

Prior to serving at First Baptist Church in Levelland, Vernon was pastor of First Baptist Church in Panhandle from 1983 to 1991. He also previously was pastor of First Baptist Church in Kress and First Baptist Church in Ames, Okla.

Vernon, a native of Happy, ministered in various positions at Tower Baptist Church in White Settlement, Spring Baptist Church in Waco and First Baptist Church in Happy.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He and his wife, Donna, have three children and two grandchildren.

LAKE JACKSON—A youth team from The Lighthouse—a Baptist church in Lake Jackson—helped a small church in England share the light of Christ’s love.

Answering the call of Jim Martin, a member of Lighthouse who was serving St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Skegness, England, as interim pastor, the youth spent two weeks working to show the small church there what a team of American youth could accomplish in a short time.

David and Francine Stoltenberg led the team that also included four youth from The Lighthouse—Michael Moody, Shelby Koffler, Ashley Krogstad and Hannah Stoltenberg—a Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated mission congregation.

The youth performed a variety of tasks, from manual labor to leading in worship. The first day on the job, the youth helped the church members clear the “rubbish tip” behind the church in preparation for turning it into a memorial prayer garden. They helped dig up the soil, removed rocks, roots and trash, and transformed the area into a blank canvas for the garden project. All the labor was completed in the rain—naturally, since they were in England.

They also traveled to the nearby community of Burgh le Marsh and led a school assembly, during which the performed a marionette rendition of Moses in Pharaoh’s court.

They also helped the small church in that community with their children’s and younger-youth programs.

At St. Paul’s, the group sang, offered their testimonies, and Hannah danced in the worship service. That service “was an especially healing and encouraging time for many church members,” Martin said.

In addition to interacting with the local youth in fun activities, they also engaged them in serious spiritual discussions, something Martin said was unusual for the youth of England.

The American youth also worked on the church building itself—sanding, cleaning, painting and general manual labor.

The trip grew out of a challenge from Lighthouse Pastor Dan Baugh, Stoltenberg said.

“The pastor said, ‘I want a whole lot of you to go out on the mission field this year.’ And I knew he was talking to me. I had never been on a mission trip, and I knew I was being spoken to,” he said.

Not only was it his first trip, but it was also the first international experience for the youth as well.

“This was a good first trip, because the people there spoke the same language so our kids didn’t have a language barrier to deal with,” Stoltenberg said.

The trip demanded hard work from the students—not only in England, but also before they left Texas, he added. Each had earned $500 to make the trip.

At times, Stoltenberg acknowledged, he wondered at the efficiency of traveling around the world to do missions.

“You kind of wonder, ‘Why do we spend all this money to send people to go on the mission field?’ For me, this being my first mission trip, that was answered. You take hope, you take joy, you take encouragement, you take peace. You can’t box that up and ship it,” Stoltenberg said.

The experience also gave the youth a spiritual strength they may not have realized before.

“They were capable I knew before we left. I knew they could do whatever we wanted them to. But on this trip, they led out; they took the reins. They now know they can do whatever they need to do,” he said.

Baugh also saw a difference in the youth upon their return.

“One of the most exciting things to me as a pastor is their attitudes since they’ve been back,” he said.

“They’ve decided they don’t have to go to England. They can do the same thing here.”

LIEPZIG, Germany—As the Baptist world’s youth gathered for worship, they were led with a Texas twang.

The Texas Baptist All-State Choir and Band—a select group of Texas Baptists’ finest young musicians—recently returned home after a series of concerts in Germany, including performing during the Baptist World Alliance Youth Conference in Liepzig.

Baptist General Convention of Texas  Music and Worship Director Tim Studstill, who led the group, said the trip enabled students to use their gifts to spread the gospel in Germany and better understand how God is working around the globe.

The Texas students were able to hear voices of young people singing in different languages blend into a beautiful harmony, Studstill said.

The youth conference provided a glimpse of what heaven will sound and look like, with believers from opposite sides of the planet bonding and encouraging each other, he observed.

“As I look at the students as they walk into some of the historic churches, see different styles of architecture, experience unfamiliar food and meet people from all over the world, it is sometimes hard for me to contain my emotions,” Studstill said during the trip. “We have a great group of students representing Texas Baptists.”

Lindsay Clark of First Baptist Church in Baytown indicated the trip helped her see the common struggles and joys Baptists face around the world.
“This is a totally amazing experience,” she said.

“I’ve been blessed to be able to be here and meet so many brothers and sisters in Christ from all over, and it’s just amazing to know they all have the same struggles. It’s really cool that God’s shown me all of these things here in Germany.”

The trip included performances in several German churches, including the historic Castle Church in Wittenberg where Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses, which launched the Protestant Reformation in 1517. The students took in the history and reflected on the depth and history of Christianity.

The Texas Baptist All-State Choir and Band recently returned home after a series of concerts in Germany, including performing during the Baptist World Alliance Youth Conference in Liepzig.

Hannah Hoover of First Baptist Church in Port Lavaca said singing in such historic locales “gives me chill bumps.”

“To be in places where historical acts of our faith occurred, while praising our Lord with music, is a priceless opportunity,” she said during the trip.

While Germany impacted the students, group sponsor Staci Dillahunty of Calvary Baptist Church in Dumas said they also affected the Germans. The normally reserved audience quickly warmed up to the Texans.

“I wish you all could have been at the church yesterday to hear your students sing and play,” she said during the trip.

“It was a wonderful concert in a beautiful setting, but more than that, it was truly a worship experience.

“We saw Germans who do not normally clap in church stand up, clap and stomp their feet in demand for an encore. They were touched by the music, and we were overwhelmed with the positive reception.”

With additional reporting by Rex Campbell, Texas Baptist Communications.

DALLAS—A seven-member Texas Baptist Men disaster relief team is bound for the Republic of Georgia to feed people affected by the fighting there.

The team will help set up a kitchen and feed people in Gori, Georgia.

Russian troops that recently moved into the country have pulled back to a position six miles outside Gori and continue to control access to Georgia’s key port at Poti, according to the AFP news service.

Russians also are manning positions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two provinces that have sought independence from Georgia. The Russians also have left “peacekeepers” in a buffer zone they created inside Georgia.

To support the emergency food service effort, send checks designated “disaster relief” to Texas Baptist Men, 5351 Catron, Dallas 75227.