BELTON—For several hours on a recent Saturday, a University of Mary Hardin-Baylor gymnasium was transformed into an artists’ paradise.

Vivica Villa, age 7 of Kempner, works on a painting at the Autism in Action art day held at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. (Photos by Sarah-Jane Sanders/UMHB)

From pencils and paint to canvas and cardboard puzzle pieces, children with autism expressed themselves through original artwork during an Autism in Action event, sponsored by the Student Government Association of Texas State Technical College in Waco.

As part of UMHB’s biannual Reaching Out community service program, several students joined in the day’s activities. Kelli Hearn and Allison Hulcy greeted children and distributed oversized puzzle pieces for family and friends to paint as well.

“We enjoy working with kids, loving on them,” Hearn said. “I love seeing them interact with their families. It’s a real sweet ministry.”

One child in 150 children will be diagnosed with autism, said Sarah-Jane Sanders, marketing and communications coordinator at Texas State Technical College.

“Often times, if you have an autistic kid in public, all the public sees is a rowdy kid,” Sanders said. “They operate differently than other people do. They can do so much more than people think they can, and we’d like to show the community that.”

Jeff Sutton, assistant director of campus activities at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor gives Teahla Logan, age 11 of Copperas Cove, cotton candy at the university’s Autism in Action art day.

Broderick Wilson, Student Government Association parliamentarian at the Waco school, said his autistic stepson inspired the idea behind the Autism in Action event.

“We knew that he was really interested in painting,” Wilson said. “He concentrates much more on painting than anything else.”

“Once an autistic child finds their niche, they stick with it,” he said. “It can really boost their self-esteem.”

Fourteen-year-old Ryan Padron found that niche nearly four years ago.

“My only favorite thing to do is draw,” Ryan said. “I feel great by drawing, like I’m a new person or famous.”

Ryan finds his inspirations in a small animation book featuring Naruto figures.

“It gives him the opportunity to show what he’s capable of,” said Mary Padron, Ryan’s mother.

“It just proves that even a child with a disability is capable of everything a normal child can do.

“These programs are great for kids. Every child will find their talent.”

All original artwork will be auctioned in April to help raise money to benefit the local and national autism organizations and to provide scholarships to graduating students transitioning to college.

FORT WORTH—Want to know what an association looks like? Don’t use a still camera, because the image and functions are constantly changing as associations try to be what the churches they serve need them to be, said Tarrant Baptist Association Director of Missions Tom Law. And to fit all the churches into the same window will take a wide-angle lens—a very wide-angle lens.

“I think the association we have been familiar with is going to change drastically over the next few years,” Law said. But change is nothing new for associations, he explained.

“When the first associations formed in the early 1600s, most were started for theological reasons,” Law said. “The associations helped them maintain theological integrity.”

From about 1925 until the late 20th century, the association served primarily as the communications mechanism for state and national conventions, he said. That’s still true to some extent, but fellowship also has become a major part of associations’ reason for being.

“I think we are seeing the churches change how they relate to one another and the conventions, and the associations are likewise going to have to change to remain relevant,” Law said. “That’s one of the things we’re struggling with. What is the association of the 21st century going to look like?”

Resourcer and orchestrator

As Law ponders the question, he starts with what he sees Tarrant Baptist Association as today—a resourcer and orchestrator.

“Really, we’re talking about knowing where the resources—the money, time and talents of people and organizations—are and pointing churches in the right direction,” he exlained.

“We’re trying to help churches know where the best sources are and how to pull those together to accomplish the things they see as their mission as a church.”

All of which has led to a new phenomenon, he noted.

“Associations are becoming galvanized around vision and around direction rather than geography,” Law said.

While most associations still maintain a geographical cohesion, Tarrant is one of several associations that is expanding. In addition to churches in Tarrant County, the association also counts as member churches Iglesia Eliacim in Matamoros, Mexico, International Baptist Church in Sofia, Bulgaria, and International Christian Fellowship in Portimao, Portugal.

Communication advancements have made the world a smaller place, Law said. When a click can send a message around the world instantaneously, geography becomes far less a factor.

Relationships

While there is not a geographic relationship, there is a more traditional kind of relationship that engendered the link with the association.

“All three are built on relationships with the pastor, but they have bought in to where they see us going as an association,” Law said.

While they may be farther away than the other churches that partner with the association, not much else is different in the way they interact.

“Our relationship with these churches is not much different than with the others. It’s built on communication, and that ebbs and flows depending on the leadership at the time,” Law said.

While that communication is largely through e-mail, leaders from the Matamoros church have come to Tarrant County the last three years to participate in Vacation Bible School and other leadership training.

Law regularly communicates with the two European churches about ways they and the Texas churches can partner together.

“They help us to think beyond ourselves, beyond the borders of Tarrant County,” he said. “We are helping our churches to broaden their perspective of what their role in the kingdom is, and having these churches involved helps our local churches to remember their responsibilities extend to the ends of the earth.”

The churches outside the United States also are members in their local associations as well. “We’re not trying to take, we’re trying to add to their relationships and add another layer of connectedism,” Law said.

Whether the church is in Fort Worth, Arlington, Bedford or Sofia, Bulgaria, Law, said the association faces the same task.

“Our purpose is to help our churches as they are fulfilling the Great Commission. Our role is to let them know where the resources are to make that happen, challenge them with opportunities around the world for reaching the lost and encouraging them to be the churches God has called them to be,” he said.

• East Texas Baptist University will hold its annual writers’ conference June 6-7. Twenty-six topics will be covered during the conference. The cost of attending the Saturday conference is $70, with a $20 discount for high school and college students. Attendance at the preconference sessions on Friday costs an additional $25. Friday’s events begin at 3:30 p.m. and Saturday begins at 8:30 a.m. The registration deadline is May 30. A writing contest also will be held, with cash prizes to be awarded for short stories and personal essays. Deadline for entries is May 16. For more information, call (903) 923-2083.

David Sams	Kimi Sams
	Karla Turner

• Three people with Texas ties were among the 92 missionaries appointed by the International Mission Board in an April 9 ceremony at First Church in Sunnyvale. Appointees with Texas ties included David and Kimi Sams who will work in university ministry in South America. They previously served as missionaries in Puerto Rico. At the time of his appointment, Sams was administrative pastor at First Church in El Paso. They have two children—Jessika, 13, and Joshua, 6. Karla Turner will serve as a church planter in South America. A native of Freeport, she is a member of First Church in Houston.

• Sarah Moye and Betty Henry will become the first two women to receive leadership certificates in women’s ministry from the seminary extension department housed at Sabine Neches Baptist Area in a graduation ceremony May 6.

• Lauren Teel, a freshman a Howard Payne University, has been named the Lincoln-Douglas debate national champion in the novice category. She is the school’s first national champion debater. HPU also was named the third-place team overall in its division.

• Wallace Daniel Jr., professor of history at Baylor University, has been presented the Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year award. Daniel received $20,000, and will present a public lecture on an academic topic of his choosing this fall.

• Sheila Griffith, a teaching fellow at B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, will teach Greek at Kenya Baptist Theological College in Limuru, Kenya, during the May term.

• Contact teams are available to come to churches in preparation for the 20th anniversary season of “The Promise.” The Glen Rose musical advance teams will do as little as make a costumed announcement during services or as much as an entire service. Pastors wanting a team to come to their church should call (214) 364-5010.

Anniversaries

• Fellowship Missionary Church in Sherman, 15th, March 9. Gahlen Warren is pastor.

• Bobby Hawkins, 10th, as pastor of Mount Carmel Church in Tioga, April 26.

• Pilot Grove Church in Whitewright, 150th, May 4. A meal will follow the homecoming service held that morning. The Homegrown and Heaven Bound band also will perform. Don Hollister is pastor.

• First Church in Snyder, 125th, May 4-7. Sunday morning’s guest will be Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Seminary, and a meal will follow. Steve Hardin, executive pastor of The Village Church, will preach that evening. Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, will speak Monday evening. Jim Richards, president of the Southern Baptists of Texas, is the guest speaker for Tuesday. Chris Osborne, pastor of Central Church in Bryan, will preach Wednesday night. Music will be led by Rich Smith, and Luke Garrett also will perform. Russell Johnson is pastor.

• First Church in Tuleta, 60th, May 18. A coffee fellowship will begin at 9:45 a.m., with the service beginning at 10:30 a.m. Lunch will follow. People planning to attend the lunch are asked to call (361) 375-2949. Jack Allen is pastor.

Retiring

• Ray Vickrey, as pastor of Royal Lane Church in Dallas, May 31. He has served his present church 26 years and has been in ministry more than 50. He is a member of the Baylor University Athletic Hall of Fame for his track and field exploits, which include being a member of the 1956 440-yard relay team that equalled the then-world record and two years as Southwest Conference champion in the long jump. He was ordained to ministry by Memorial Church in Temple. In 1962, he began working at Baylor in student ministry, and in 1966, he became assistant director of the Baylor Alumni Association. Three years later, he was named executive director. During that time, he also served churches in McGregor and Troy as interim pastor. In 1978, he became minister of single adults at First Church in Richardson, and in 1981, moved to Royal Lane as pastor. He has served on the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and was vice president for Christian unity and interfaith relations of the Greater Dallas Community of Churches. He is a past-president of the Dallas Pastors’ Association. A retirement dinner is set for May 30, and the service on June 1 also will pay tribute to his contributions to the church. For more information, call (214) 361-2809.

Deaths

• Andrew Seago, 89, Feb. 21 in Tacoma, Wash. A native of Big Sandy and a 1948 graduate of East Texas Baptist College, he was pastor of several churches in East and North Texas before spending the last 45 years as a Southern Baptist pastor in Washington. He and his wife, Doris, were foreign mission volunteers upon graduation from Southwestern Seminary but were rejected because Seago had a serious hearing problem. In response, the Seagos decided to find their own mission field and moved their belongings and five children to the Northwest. He served many churches in Washington and was pastor of North Auburn Church in Auburn, Wash., when he retired. He was preceded in death by his sister, Charlotte Long; and brothers, Alvin and Leslie. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Doris; sons, David, Howie and Billy; daughters, Dawn Seymour and Suzanne Benfield; and nine grandchildren.

• Bob Cullum, 75, Feb. 28 in San Antonio. He was a chaplain at San Antonio State Hospital 33 years. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Christi Johnson. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Shirley; daughters, Pam Condra and Barbara Masters; sisters, Beverly and Sally; and six grandchildren.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP) —Weary travelers stand alongside a river somewhere in South America’s Amazon Basin.

After three hours of trying to maneuver upstream by motorboat to a remote village, Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries grudgingly accept the realization that the day’s journey has ended.

A metal boat carrying Southern Baptist missionaries cruises up river to a remote village in the Amazon Basin. (Photo/IMB)

Shallow waters, exposed rocks, tree limbs and a rough current that nearly capsized the boat won’t allow them to go any farther.

Score a victory for the Amazon.

Thousands of miles of dense jungle create a daunting wall for Christians who want to take the gospel to this area. For some of the people groups in remote areas, their only hope to hear about Jesus is through faithful Christians praying the gospel message will reach them.

More than 400 people groups—roughly 26 million people—live in the Amazon Basin. Of that number, 270 people groups are less than 2 percent evangelical, with no IMB missionaries living among them.

About 85 of the people groups survive completely isolated, deep in the jungle. Some groups have been spotted only by satellite.

Two key factors keep these groups unreached by the gospel. The government prohibits missionaries from having access to them. And most of these groups live in areas considered too dangerous for outsiders.

Dangers include guerilla fighters, hostile tribes, poor flying conditions, crumbling or nonexistent roads and unpredictable waters.

Over the years, many missionaries have lost their lives attempting to take the gospel to these isolated peoples.

One of the most well-known incidents occurred in 1956—recounted in the 2006 movie, The End of the Spear—when a group of Huaorani Indians in eastern Ecuador killed Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming and their missionary jungle pilot, Nate Saint.

But not all was lost among the Huaorani.

“When (those five missionaries) died, it really raised up a host of prayer warriors (who) began to pray for the Huaorani,” said Russ Bare, an IMB missionary and Texas native who leads work among indigenous people in Ecuador.

“Today, we have many Huaorani believers. There is power when God’s people pray.”

Many Southern Baptists are joining other Christians globally in prayer and fasting for world evangelization on Pentecost Sunday, May 11.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)—Pat Townsend admits she’s living outside her comfort zone.

Between the bugs, mud and freezing showers, Townsend, a missionary with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board’s Masters Program, admits it could take her awhile to adjust to life in and around the Amazon Basin of South America.

A boy peers around the corner of his house in the Amazon Basin. Some children live in isolated areas where outsiders cannot reach them. Their only hope to hear about Jesus is through the prayers of faithful Christians for the gospel to reach their villages. (Photo/IMB)

“The bugs haven’t been as bad as I anticipated,” Townsend, 56, said. “I’ve asked people to pray for me about the bugs.”

Townsend and her husband, Mike, 59, left the comforts of retirement and their home in Mississippi to work among the southern Shuar people for two to three years. Fewer than 2 percent of these 15,000 people are evangelical Christians.

Religion for many southern Shuar blends worshipping spirits with Catholicism. Some Christian workers say that’s an all-too-common practice among indigenous people groups of South America.

“They will take some of the classic religion (Catholicism) and then mix it with their own (animistic) beliefs,” said Russ Bare, who leads indigenous work in Ecuador. “And then you just get a hodgepodge of mixed-up beliefs.”

Couples like the Townsends are a godsend to Bare.

“I think it’s great that people with good health, in this part of their lives, would make themselves available to go to someplace like the Amazon Basin to reach a people like the southern Shuar with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

During their first days among the Shuar, the Townsends explored the territory. They took boat rides up and down the river to nearby villages and they hiked up to one of the waterfalls.

For the Shuar, waterfalls have an unusual purpose.

Evaristo, president of several Shuar villages, noted many of his people go to waterfalls to take hallucinogenic drugs to see visions they believe will reveal more about their god or gods.

Fortunately, the southern Shuar live in areas where missionaries like the Townsends can reveal the God of the Bible to them.

Mike Townsend, however, admits it will take more than a missionary presence to change the hearts of the southern Shuar.

“For anybody to be successful with the Shuar, God will have to work” among them, he said. “The Holy Spirit will have to do some things for them to see and understand he is the true and one God. I trust he will do that.”

FORT WORTH (ABP)—Brett Younger, pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, survived a vote to fire him last month but is leaving the church anyway—to become associate professor of preaching at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta.

Broadway Baptist Church has been embroiled for months in a public controversy over homosexuality and other issues. The congregation approved a compromise Feb. 24 intended to end controversy over whether gay couples in the church should be pictured alongside other families in a new church directory. Some members objected to having those photos included, saying that would move from simply welcoming homosexual individuals— which Broadway has done quietly for years—to affirming their lifestyle.

Although the membership approved the compromise, which eliminated family and individual photos, the controversy ballooned into a dispute over Younger’s overall leadership. A group of disgruntled Broadway members later submitted a petition to force a vote declaring the church’s pulpit vacant.

Survived a vote

Younger asked church leaders to schedule the vote, and members voted 499-237 against firing their pastor of nearly seven years.

The two-thirds favorable vote was not enough to quell the controversy, however, and some members have left the church.

McAfee announced Younger’s appointment April 17, effective July 1. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been an instructor or visiting professor at Southern Seminary, Midwestern Baptist Seminary, Manhattan Christian College, and McAfee. He has been a pastor in Texas, Kentucky, Indiana and Kansas.

New ministry

“I am honored by the invitation to join the McAfee School of Theology and I’m delighted to join such an outstanding faculty,” Younger said. “I feel like the Spirit is leading me to this new ministry.

“I’m also sad at leaving Broadway, the church has taught me so much about following Christ, and it is one of my hopes in this new ministry I can teach young people to lead their congregations to be as faithful as Broadway has been.”

DALLAS—A committee has been formed to study the long-range future of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Stephen Hatfield, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lewisville, and Andy Pittman, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lufkin, will jointly chair the committee.

The Future Focus Committee, created as a result of a motion during the BGCT annual meeting, will look at the convention’s resources and relationships in an effort “to sharpen our focus to see what we do well and improve upon it,” Hatfield said.

Pittman added the committee is comprised of people who represent the diversity of Texas Baptist life.

New paradigm 

“What I want to do is cast a vision for a new paradigm for state conventions not only in Texas but all over the nation,” Pittman said. “If we live in a post-denominational age, we can’t continue to base our future on a model that we’ve based our state and national convention on for the past 80 years.”

The committee grew out of a motion introduced at the BGCT annual meeting in Amarillo by Ed Jackson, a layman from First Baptist Church in Garland called on the BGCT president and Executive Board chairman to appoint a committee to consider a “shared vision” for the BGCT for 2020.

His initial motion called on the committee to bring interim reports to the Executive Board at its February, May and September meetings and bring a final report to the 2008 BGCT annual meeting. It also charged the committee to address the relationship between the BGCT and its institutions, set priorities, study changing missions strategies and analyze “the impact of innovation on our ministries and the sustainability of all programs.”

Philip Wise of Lubbock, chair of the committee on convention business, brought a substitute motion that was approved by messengers to the annual meeting.

Final report in 2009

The substitute motion stated: “I move that the officers of the BGCT and the officers of the Executive Board appoint a study committee of no more than 25 member to consider the shared vision of the BGCT. The committee would meet after the new executive director has been selected and make reports to the Executive Board at their regularly scheduled meetings. A final report will be made no later than the 2009 annual meeting.

“The committee will study, analyze and project income for the BGCT and address relationships between the BGCT and its institutions. The purpose of the committee is to determine the best use of resources to win Texas and the world to Jesus Christ and to encourage and support the ministries to which God has called us.”

Jackson was named to the committee. Other members are:

• Paul Armes, president of Wayland Baptist University

• Randy Babin, Soda Lake Baptist Association director of missions

• JoAnna Berry, vice president of South Texas Children’s Home Family Ministry and International Childcare

• Russell Dilday, chancellor of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute and longtime Texas Baptist leader

• Michael Evans, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield

• Elizabeth Hanna, chair of the BGCT Executive Board’s finance subcommittee

• Jeff Harris, pastor of GracePoint Church in San Antonio

• Frankie Harvey of Nacogdoches Bible Fellowship in Nacogdoches

• Jeane Law of First Baptist Church in Lubbock

• Peter Leong, pastor of Southwest Chinese Baptist Church in Stafford

• David Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church in Canyon

• Tom Lyles of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler

• Rene Maciel, president of Baptist University of the Americas

• Gary Morgan, pastor of Cowboy Church of Ellis County in Waxahachie

• Joseph Parker, pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Austin

• Fred Roach of The Heights Baptist Church in Richardson

• Taylor Sandlin, pastor of Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo

• Bob Schmeltekopf, retired director of missions

• Noe Trevino, BGCT church starter

• Steve Vernon, pastor of First Baptist Church in Levelland

• Mark Wingfield, associate pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas

With additional reporting by Managing Editor Ken Camp

SAN ANTONIO—Unity and equipping Christians for evangelism and discipleship took the spotlight at a regional Hispanic Baptist Convocation of the Laity gathering in San Antonio.

Baldemar Borrego, president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, stressed the importance of promoting unity among Hispanic Baptists.

A mariachi group from South San Filadelphia Baptist Church in San Antonio lead in worship at a regional gathering of the Hispanic Baptist Convocation of the Laity. (Photos by Carrie Joynton)

“We are one brotherhood,” Borrego said. He emphasized depending on God for the individual, inner change necessary to “make a difference in the city.”

Growth in evangelism and discipleship has been a primary focus of the Hispanic Baptist Convocation of the Laity, said Rolando Lopez, associate director of missions for San Antonio Baptist Association.

Lopez urged participants at the San Antonio meeting to be effective missionaries and penetrate their communities with the gospel. He stressed the Hispanic Baptist Convocation of the Laity’s central goal is to enhance the equipping ministry of church leaders.

Leadership

“We want to make men aware that they are leaders in their congregations…and to take leadership in their churches,” Lopez said.

Baldemar Borrego (left), president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, and Rolando Lopez, associate director of missions for San Antonio Baptist Association were among the key speakers at a regional meeting of the Hispanic Baptist Convocation of the Laity in San Antonio.

The Hispanic Convocation of the Laity grew out of Hispanic Texas Baptist Men, but the small-group workshops on church leadership and unit offered at a regional meeting in San Antonio included one geared toward women—evidence of a growing women’s ministry movement.

September meeting

The Hispanic Baptist Convocation of the Laity’s statewide meeting in September will focus on helping “pastors and churches help train the laity,” said Noah Rodríguez, local coordinator and church administrator at Primera Iglesia Bautista in San Antonio.

“One of the best things about these convocations is in the area of forming unity and communications,” he said.

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP)—Faced with “worrisome” financial challenges, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond will downsize its faculty and staff, the school’s president announced.

Four full-time professors and at least three administrative staff members will be let go in an effort to reduce costs, said seminary President Ron Crawford, who was elected to his position about a year ago. Though he did not release the names of the professors to be dismissed, Crawford said he has communicated with each one, and the school is offering severance packages that exceed a full year’s salary and full personnel benefits.

The 19-year old seminary is burdened with a $6 million debt and faces a significant deficit in its budget this year—about $450,000 out of an overall budget of $3.6 million, Crawford said in a statement distributed to the school’s alumni and supporters.

“Our immediate fiscal challenge is related to the capital campaign that was completed last summer as I became BTSR’s president,” he said. “The campaign included the purchase of two buildings along with two unanticipated financial challenges: significant debt and a payroll that overreaches annual revenues.”

BTSR, which enrolls about 160 students, currently employs 15 full-time professors and about 16 administrative staff, including the president and dean of the faculty. About 14 visiting and adjunct faculty members also teach classes.

The school’s campus is adjacent to Union Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian institution, and the seminary owns buildings that once housed Union’s Presbyterian School of Christian Education.

At a meeting in mid-March, BTSR’s board of trustees asked Crawford to devise a downsizing plan and present it at a called trustee meeting in late April. The president informed the seminary community of the developments at a March 28 meeting of faculty, staff and students.

“Once the downsizing is complete we will be left with a tenured faculty member in each of the disciplines we have traditionally covered, with the exception of one, where a visiting professor will be employed,” said Crawford. “With nine full-time faculty members, at least three visiting professors and other adjunct faculty members, we will continue to have a profoundly strong faculty.”

Crawford also said that the reduced faculty will have less impact on BTSR than it would on most seminaries. The school is part of the Richmond Theological Consortium, which includes Union Seminary and its School of Christian Education, as well as the school of theology at nearby Virginia Union University, a historically African-American Baptist institution. Students in the consortium’s schools may take courses at any of the institutions for no additional cost.

“On the administrative side, we are losing three and a half positions,” Crawford said. “Our idea is to replace full-time support staff with part-time students. We’ll train the students on the business inner-workings of a nonprofit, church environment. It should be a win-win.”

Founded in 1989, BTSR was one of the first institutions established by moderates who began leaving the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s and 90s. Though a number of other moderate seminaries and divinity schools have sprouted since then, many former Southern Baptists still retain passion for the first one, and Crawford is counting on that to get BTSR through the financial strain.

“I continue to say, ‘The future of BTSR is very bright, the short-term is worrisome,’” he noted. “BTSR will survive and, eventually, thrive. We fully anticipate going through a few very lean years. We will use the time to restructure and refocus our efforts on responding to the challenge of providing theological education in a 21st century world.”

A college girl approached two young boys fighting over a soccer ball in the Mexico orphanage she was visiting, asking why they weren’t sharing.

“I don’t want to share because he doesn’t ever give me anything,” one answered.

The other looked down at his hands. “That’s because I don’t have anything.”

University of North Texas students from the Baptist Student Ministry used spring break as an opportunity to go on a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico. The 27 students and adults worked alongside Borderland Calvary Chapel in San Benito and the orphanage Refugio Internacional de los Ninos. The team led a series of Vacation Bible Schools and distributed rice and beans to impoverished neighborhoods.

Chris Newby said that such a trip was a welcome alternative to the standard college vacation hot spots. “I wanted to do something new with my spring break,” Newby said.

This was the second time for the North Texas BSM to serve in this part of Reynosa with Pastor Eduardo Hernandez of Borderland Calvary Chapel.

“Last year, the trip was so fulfilling and memorable for students,” BSM Director James Quesenberry said. “It was almost natural to go back and do the same thing this year.”

Quesenberry said that the group hopes to continue serving in the same area in order to build relationships with the communities and churches over time.

“The idea behind it is, we want [our students] to be able to see what it’s like to partner with other Christians and other churches,” Quesenberry said. “Hopefully, [we will] be able to see growth and change in areas and build momentum trip after trip.”

For some of the students, like NT sophomore Yandira Tenorio, it was their first encounter on the mission field. “Even though I had no experience, I just knew that He called me and said, ‘You need to be my messenger,’” Tenorio said. “Sure I had fears and doubts of my abilities, but I had to remind myself that it’s not me – God works in and through me.”

Conversely, NT sophomore Brandon Falk, had been on previous mission trips and was left unimpressed – until this opportunity.

“I wasn’t planning on going on another mission trip but when I found out that we were passing out rice and beans and going to an orphanage, I decided to go,” Falk said, “It was actually doing what Jesus said – showing people love – feeding the hungry and visiting orphans. God wants us to provide for His children and we’re God’s hands – the extension of God to this world.”

Monday and Tuesday mornings and afternoons the group was at Refugio Internacional de los Ninos, where students led a VBS and sang songs in Spanish, in an effort to show the children Christ’s love.

Six fluent Spanish-speaking students helped ease the language barrier, however many of the other NT students could speak limited to no Spanish. For this reason, the majority of the communication was outside of translators and communication was shown simply through loving the kids with play, hugs, and smiles.

“Many of them were too young to understand,” Tenorio, one of the fluent translators said. “So we had to show them Christ’s love.” And within those shared interactions, Tenorio was able to see more than simple smiles from a child, but the beauty of the Creator as well.

“In the orphanage, just being with those kids, God put a huge love in my heart for them,” Tenorio said. “By seeing their smiles and their eyes sparkle so beautifully, I could just see Christ’s love and God’s beauty in them.”

According to Falk, the unveiling of beauty has been a typical reaction to service in his experience. “Everything around you becomes more beautiful when you’re doing God’s will,” he said. “You appreciate people more when you’re ministering to them and the people you’re ministering with are more beautiful. They shine, but in a very literal way.”

Upon the group’s arrival at the orphanage, BSM intern Stephanie Gates said she did notice some remnants of their trip last year through the call of recollected names and knowing gazes. “Those kids remembered us and that’s huge,” Gates said. “It’s so important to invest in those kids and let them know that we come back because they are important to us.”

A couple hours each day was reserved to pass out bags of rice and beans in different destitute neighborhoods. Each Spanish-speaker led a small group that went door to door with a slightly different goal than last year’s distribution, said NT senior Liand Cotto – “more quality than quantity.”

“Last year we tried to help more families by giving out more rice and beans,” Cotto said. “This year the rice and beans were more of a gift to give the families after we had really talked and invested in their lives.”

One such investment occurred when NT freshman Brittney Bell was able to share a life-story that related to a Hispanic woman dealing with a difficult situation. “I was able to take something that was so American and make it so Mexican,” Bell said. “I was able to see how Christ is multicultural – He knows no boundaries, no borders, language, love or location.”

Tenorio, as a translator, said she also had an opportunity to see God overcome language barriers when going door to door. “The first day was hard because I usually don’t speak Spanish every day,” Tenorio said. “But I noticed how God reassured me that it was going to be ok. Even though no people were saved right on the spot, I planted a seed and God was glorified through that.”

For encouragement, Tenorio said she held fast to Galatians 6:9. “I would repeat it to myself constantly,” she said. “‘Let us not become weary for at His proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.’ So I never felt like any day was a failure because I wasn’t giving up.”

Gates said a ministry such as passing out rice and beans gave the group an opportunity to be the “hands, feet and mouth” of the undersized neighboring church with which they were serving, Borderland Calvary Chapel in Reynosa.

“With such a small congregation, they were unable to meet the physical needs of the community,” Gates said. “So through us knocking on doors, saying hello, and passing out food we were able to open up opportunities for Pastor Ed to fulfill spiritual needs and strengthen his ministry in Reynosa. That’s a great picture of the body of Christ. Christ met physical needs, emotional needs, and spiritual needs.”

Wednesday and Thursday evenings the team held a VBS at Borderland Calvary for the local children in Reynosa. Through interaction with the children, Newby said he found a new means of communication that did not require any Spanish knowledge – and it came in the form of his newfound nickname ‘caballito’ (little horse).

“The last night of VBS I really wanted to focus on one kid – a little girl named Leslie,” Newby said. “And all she wanted to do was get on my shoulders and ride around.” However, he said that through countless horse-back rides he was able to communicate something a bit more profound.

“Through translation I found out that Leslie really cared that I was there,” Newby said. “She really loved me and appreciated that I helping and focusing on her. I wanted her to realize how much Christ loved her.” After two days with Leslie, Newby said that he was just picking up and leaving without a second thought was not an option.

“At that point I realized that I can’t just stop there, talking to her just in Mexico,” he said, “but also keeping in constant communication through letters and pictures from the week. I want to show her how to pursue something more than what she has there in Mexico.” It’s this kind of personal ministry that Newby said he finds most effective.

“First you get to know them and then get a chance to talk to them about God,” he said. “He’s more like just a storybook character to them than a Savior at that age. But if they realize how much I love Christ, and what he’s done for me, hopefully in some way I’ve planted a seed and they realize how much Christ loves them.”

Instead of the construction of homes, the goal for this trip was instead, the construction of hearts that know the Father – a type of ministry that relies heavily on faith, Gates said. “On many mission trips, you go, build a house, and see the progress. When you’re done you see the finished project,” Gates said. “But this trip was not like that at all.”

While a trip such as this may not have the structure of a building, it has the benefits of dealing with God’s people and investing in lives in a different way than lumber and nails.

“Each conversation is a chance for God to move in someone’s life, but we never get to see the end result,” she said. “The gospel tells us to go out and preach the good news and then to trust that God is in control of that. At the end of the day, without particularly seeing any progress, we are able to glorify God by being faithful to the call He has placed on our lives.”

Now as the group has returned to the University of North Texas, the real question is not only how their ministry this spring break changed the people they came into contact with, but also how it has changed the students themselves.

“I find that spending time with the kids and seeing the devastation with poverty has really changed my life,” Newby said. “Now I realize that as a poor, broke, college student I have it pretty good compared to people I’ve seen in Mexico this week.”

According to Tenorio, the root intention for this mission trip, and all of the life lessons learned there from, can be traced back to those first two boys fighting over the soccer ball at the orphanage.

“It broke my heart but I know that I was put there during that situation so that I could reassure that little boy that he has Christ’s love,” Tenorio said. “He may not have material possessions but he has the greatest gift. None of those material possessions put together could surpass Christ’s love.”

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND—During Spring Break, more than 50,000 college students from across the nation travel to South Padre Island to party, drink incredible amounts of alcohol, have sex and indulge in worldly passions. 

But this spring break, 375 Christian students came from universities and colleges from Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Missouri to bring the light of the gospel into that darkness.

The students hoped to share their faith with spring break vacationers through servant evangelism. They served free pancakes each morning at Island Baptist Church and every night in front of a bar, gave fee van rides around the island every night, spent time with students on the beach every afternoon, handed out free sunscreen and prayed in the all-night prayer room during a weeklong Beach Reach event.

“If you watch TV or the media, you would think this generation is utterly lost,” said Buddy Young, coordinator for Beach Reach and director of Baptist Student Ministries at West Texas A&M University. “And I would agree, except for a remnant of students who want to see their generation reached for Christ.” 

The Beach Reach ministry consisted of five teams that ran 40 vans in five different shifts each night.  Texas Baptist Men volunteers prepared the pancake meals.

The efforts were rewarded as Beach Reach volunteers gave 8,414 van rides, provided 6,500 people with pancakes and saw 68 people accept Christ as Savior. Overall, Beach Reachers were able to serve 21,063 people.

“The goal of this week wasn’t to convert people, but to further the kingdom of God and to let God’s glory shine through people,” said Stella Almblade, a senior at the University of Arizona.

Almblade went on to say that she had many opportunities to share the reason for this ministry through the free van rides. 

“Many people were grateful just to have a free ride,” Almblade said.  “When they said that, I would tell them why we were here. It was such an easy way to bridge the conversation to other spiritual beliefs and who they thought Jesus was and what they thought about the Bible.”

To prepare to share their faith boldly, students met five weeks prior to Beach Reach to train in personal evangelism and pray for God’s blessings.

“I just wanted to see him do something ridiculous, to see him do something bigger, and he did,” said Richard Benavides, a senior at Texas A&M University in Kingsville.

In one instance, Benavides shared the gospel and led a prayer for salvation in Spanish. 

“I don’t really know enough Spanish to do that,” Benavides said. “I believe God’s Spirit came down like in Acts chapter two. It was tripped out.”

Late in the week, Benavides met a girl from New York on the beach and had a conversation with her about Christ. 

“She was worried we were going to become the Bible-thumpers, but we got to show her love instead of judgment,” Benavides said. “A lot of what we are doing is breaking down walls built by generations of legalism and judgment.” 

Seeing “how much God himself loves each one of those very drunk partiers, how much God wants to do in them” broke Benavides heart, he testified.

“It opened my eyes to how each one of them is important, just as important as those of us wearing Beach Reach shirts.”

 On the last day of Beach Reach, all 375 of the Beach Reach workers gathered on the island’s main beach. They rushed into the waves of the Gulf of Mexico to attract attention to the baptism service for those who had accepted Christ that week. Twenty-three students were baptized.

One of the prayers of the leaders involved in Beach Reach is that the students who participate will catch a vision to reach their peers and verbally share the gospel when they return to their campuses. 

“We have a generation of students who are not sharing their faith verbally,” Young said. “They share their faith through music or t-shirts, but not verbally. It’s always been our goal at Beach Reach to train, mobilize and empower students to verbally share their faith.”   

Because Beach Reach is based on students reaching students from their own campuses, it is necessary for other universities and students to become involved with this ministry, Young continued.

Many Spring Breakers at South Padre are from universities in Oklahoma or are African-American or Hispanic.  The best way to reach these groups would be to have more African American or Hispanic believers and college ministries from Oklahoma coming to share the gospel, he said.

Since the beginning of Beach Reach in 1980, more than 5,000 Christian students have been trained in personal evangelism, and at least 3,000 people have accepted Christ.

CUTLINES

Buddy Young (left), Baptist Student Ministries director at West Texas A&M University, baptizes a new Christian in the Gulf of Mexico during Beach Reach. (Photos by John Hall/BGCT)

 A Beach Reach volunteer from the Baptist Student Ministries at Texas Tech works the phones during the evangelistic outreach on South Padre Island.

A Beach Reach volunteer prays for God’s blessing on the servant evangelism efforts of fellow students.

BELTON—Nearly 3,000 teens and young adults gathered on the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor campus Easter weekend, setting record attendance for Congreso, a gathering of Hispanic Texas Baptists.

“This is the biggest Congreso we have ever had,” said Angie Tello, Baptist General Convention of Texas Hispanic evangelism events coordinator. “I’m a little surprised that so many teenagers spent their Easter vacation here, but it shows just how dedicated today’s youth are to the Lord.”

They came on charter buses, passenger vans, and caravans of trucks and cars, packing the university’s Mayborn Campus Center. During the three-day event, every breakout session was filled to capacity. At one point, 300 students from 22 congregations committed to an afternoon of missions projects in the area.

For BGCT Hispanic Evangelism Director Frank Palos, it was evident from the start this would be a Congreso for the record books.

“On the first night, we ran out of decision cards,” Palos said. “The hallways were filled, and I couldn’t even get into the building.” 

More than 200 spiritual decisions

By the end of the weekend, more than 200 students made spiritual decisions, including at least 48 young people who made first-time professions of faith in Christ. Many of those who made spiritual decisions described a need for healing in their lives and families. They spoke of craving God.

“I think we are in the midst of a spiritual awakening among our youth,” Palos said. “In the schools—that is where God is moving.” 

Many students present had to raise funds to attend the event, Palos noted, pointing out the average Hispanic Texas Baptist church has 50 members with 15 to 20 young people in attendance.

“Those small churches don’t have the funds to send all their kids to Congreso. The best many of them can do is provide a van or some sort of transportation,” he said.

Even so, it didn’t hold the youth back from giving when the offering baskets were passed. During the event, nearly $6,000 was raised for scholarships.

“Students are very generous,” Palos said. “I’m not surprised that they gave so willingly. They look at other students at Congreso and in their community as family. And we help family when they need it.”

Bands, including Obtain Paradise, Blind 1:11, The Grace Project, The Cockrell Hill Band and Sand Stone, provided the event with a ready-made soundtrack, pumping up the crowd for the 45 seminars geared toward teens from seventh grade and beyond. All were combined to drive home the message of this year’s Congreso—to live an elevated existence.

To the next level

“This year, we were challenged as a staff to move to the next level, and that is what we wanted to pass along to the students,” Palos said. “We want them to live a higher life for Christ.”        

Dallas evangelist Cesar Oviedo drove home that message. On the last day, he reminded the teens to walk differently than when they first arrived.

“You will always be surrounded by people, but we as Christians have to be different,” he said. “When you leave this place, you will be walking at a higher level than you have ever walked before. That’s powerful.” 

At one point, Wayne Shuffield, director of the BGCT Missions, Evangelism and Ministry Team, urged participants to walk with power in Jesus.

“Let’s go show people who Jesus is by the way we talk, live and act,” he said. “Every day is filled with choices. Make the choice to be one of God’s soldiers.”