ASHKELON, Israel (BP)—On Friday night, longtime Kentucky Baptist pastor and former Kentucky Baptist Convention staff member Alan Dodson walked on the beach in Ashkelon, Israel, as he met with U.S. ministry leaders planning future trips to the Holy Land.

Just a few hours later, a devastating barrage of 100 Hamas-launched rockets hit the city, beginning what many Middle East experts are calling the most serious conflict in the region since the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago this month.

Dodson now serves as the vice president for North American relations at an Israeli company specializing in Christian tours to Israel. Dodson and the people he was with are safe and unharmed, he said.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” Dodson said. “Pray that hostilities would end quickly. Many Israelis are lost and need to know the hope of the Gospel. The other side is in pervasive darkness. Pray for them as well.”

Dodson is among at least a half dozen groups of Baptists who were in Israel as the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, launched a surprise attack on Israel this weekend. In the attack, Hamas sent thousands of rockets and armed forces into Israel.

Ric Worshill, the executive director of the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship, noted the attack came on the last day of Sukkot, one of the holiest of days on the Jewish calendar. Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, is an eight-day festival that celebrates the harvest.

“It’s horrible,” Worshill said. “It’s just heartbreaking because this year has been the highest in anti-Semitism throughout the world since the Holocaust, and it’s really sad that they would pick the last day of a Jewish holiday to do all this barbaric stuff.”

Worshill asked Southern Baptists to unite in prayer for those involved in this conflict.

“We need to be one,” Worshill said. “We need to be one about everything. We need to be one about the Lord. We need to be one about politics. And we need to be one about being against the attacks of Satan in prayer. That’s the biggest thing I can say. There should be no division in the body of Christ. We, Southern Baptists, need to stick together.”

For such a time as this

Over the past five years, Texas Baptist Men has set up several feeding units in Israel, preparing for situations just like the one that is now unfolding.

John Hall, a spokesperson for TBM, said the ministry has been preparing for this moment since 2018 when it began a partnership in Israel. The group has multiple mobile kitchens in Israel, built specifically for situations like this. Volunteers are on the way to Israel to deliver food to people in need.

 “We know that there are two situations that create great need right now,” Hall said. “There are the communities that have been hit directly by the rockets and have lost their homes or cannot cook for themselves. But there are also entire communities that have spent much of their time inside, sheltering in bunkers. For safety’s sake, they don’t have access to a lot of food. They can’t really cook safely. So, we’re going to prepare meals for them and deliver them to them.”

Hall asked Christians to provide a “blanket of prayer” as TBM volunteers prepare to serve the hungry and displaced caused by the conflict in Israel.

“Pray for safety as we serve, as well as the safety of those that we’re serving,” Hall said. “Pray for peace. Pray for it to come swiftly and miraculously. Pray that needs are met, and we minister well.”

‘This is home for them’

Zach Terry, pastor of First Baptist Church of Fernandina Beach, Fla., arrived in Israel last week to lead a team of 54 people on a tour of Israel. Besides members of his church, he also has members of several other Southern Baptist churches in Florida and Georgia with him on the trip.

So far, Terry said the trip has stayed close to schedule despite the conflict. They’ve been able to see sites in Galilee, along with sites in Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, Masada and Jerusalem.

“When it first started, we were up near the Lebanon border, north of Galilee, right in the top areas,” Terry said. “We could throw a rock and hit Lebanon from some of the places we were at. Then, when we got word that it started, we started to kind of move away from Lebanon, move toward Jerusalem to see how it would develop and what the danger was.”

Jerusalem, he said, seemed like the safest location because their tour company owned a hotel there where they could stay if the situation worsened. He said Jerusalem has been fairly normal and quiet since they arrived.

Earlier on Oct. 9, Terry said the group heard one of the rockets got through Israel’s “Iron Dome,” and landed in Jerusalem. The Iron Dome is an Israeli air defense system. The group, he added, can also hear fighting in Gaza and see smoke on the horizon.

The plan was for the group to return to the states on Thursday, but they’ve been told it’s unlikely right now. They are trying to get at least some of the women back to the United States, but that has proved difficult.

Terry also urged Christians to pray.

“First, pray for the end of the conflict, that it would end peaceably, and quickly,” Terry said. “As far as our group is concerned, just pray that God uses our time here, that we’re able to be good representatives of the Lord.

“We’re trying to get out of here, but some of these other brothers aren’t able to. This is home for them. We’re very aware of that. We have a lot of brothers/sisters here in Israel. We’ve got brothers and sisters in Gaza. So, we just need to lift them up. And for everybody that’s involved, we don’t want any loss of life.”

Awakened by sirens

Just hours after Pastor Brent McDougal and his team from First Baptist Church of Knoxville, Tenn., arrived in Israel on Friday evening, they awoke to sounds of sirens in Tel Aviv. A missile struck a few miles from their hotel.

The team, McDougal said, was on a pilgrimage to Israel to see some of the biblical sites in the country. They plan to leave on Oct. 20, but they currently can’t leave out of the airport in Tel Aviv. They are looking into backup plans for departing if the fighting continues to escalate and they need a quick escape.

“We are so thankful that Southern Baptists are a people of prayer,” McDougal said. “We’re grateful that people can be praying for us, not only for safety, but also for wisdom and making good decisions about continuing or finding the best way home.

“We would also ask that Southern Baptists would pray for those who are suffering in Israel on both sides. We are deeply saddened by the violence that we have heard about and grief that families are experiencing. It’s been eye-opening to be in the center of this conflict that has been going on for so many thousands of years.”

McDougal asked Southern Baptists, as they watch the events unfold in Israel, to renew their efforts to be peacemakers at home.

“The conflict here has been a great contrast to the ways in which we can be so divided in the United States,” McDougal said. “We believe that God’s people are called to be not only people of truth, but also people of peace. So, we hope that Southern Baptists can be renewed in their fervent prayers, and in their discipleship of the one who was called the Prince of Peace.”

Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., also has a team visiting Israel at this time. Everyone on the trip is safe according to an email from the church.

First Baptist Church of Loganville, Ga., has a team of 40 people in Israel right now.

Nine members of a Dallas Baptist University group on a Holy Land tour remained in Israel as of Oct. 9. The three students, three alumni and three DBU administrators were part of a larger group of 18 who originally were scheduled to end their fall break trip to the Holy Land on Oct. 7.

Trained Texas Baptist Men volunteers headed to Israel Oct. 8 after the nation erupted into warfare the day before, preparing to provide meals both for Israelis and Palestinians.

Hamas surprised Israel with a barrage of at least 2,200 rockets Oct. 7, as well as ground troops invading southern Israel. Israel responded by shooting missiles into Gaza, where Hamas is based.

TBM volunteers, working in a secure location, will cook meals for Palestinians and Israelis in affected neighborhoods.

“Our volunteers have been training for five years to serve food in Israel in the event of any type of humanitarian crisis,” said Mickey Lenamon, executive director/CEO of TBM.

“Everyone on that team feels called to serve. So, now we are all called to meet needs in rocket-ravaged neighborhoods.“

John-Travis Smith, who coordinates TBM ministry in Israel, said: “People caught in the middle of this conflict are hurting. They’re scared. And they’re hungry. TBM is seeking to meet their physical needs and provide a reminder that God loves them.”

The deployment is the latest in a growing partnership with Israel’s Emergency Volunteers Project. Since 2018, TBM and EVP have trained volunteers to provide meals during crises and disasters. TBM volunteers previously served Ukrainian refugees in Israel shortly after Russia invaded their home country.

“This is an incredibly difficult situation,” Smith said. “Please pray for peace. Pray for the safety of families living in the middle of a war. Pray for TBM volunteers who are deployed to help those in need.”

TBM is working in Israel at the request of EVP, because the Israel-based group learned about TBM expertise in disaster feeding responses. EVP has trained TBM volunteers in food preparation consistent with cultural expectations within Israel. All of the volunteers now headed to Israel have already been to Israel for food preparation training.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This article originally was posted Oct. 9. All members of the Dallas Baptist University group returned home safely from Israel on Oct. 11.

Nine members of a Dallas Baptist University group on a Holy Land tour remain in Israel, waiting to return home after the surprise attack by Hamas.

The multipronged attack on Southern Israel was far from where the group was located, but it disrupted their travel plans when airlines suspended all flights in and out of Israel.

The three students, three alumni and three DBU administrators were part of a larger group of 18 who originally were scheduled to end their fall break trip to the Holy Land on Oct. 7.

The group made alternative travel plans in response to airline cancellations over the weekend. Nine safely departed Israel, and the remaining nine expect to leave on Oct. 10 and arrive in Dallas the next day.

“All members of the group that are still in Israel are safe and accounted for,” the university announced.

Group leaders and DBU administrators are in communication with local contacts and U.S. government officials, and they are monitoring flight statuses.

“The leaders of the group continue to work tirelessly to ensure all individuals make it back to Dallas as quickly and safely as possible,” the university stated.

Jay Harley, DBU vice president for student affairs, is one of the three administrators still in Israel. In spite of the circumstances, he described the Holy Land trip as “transformative” for participants.

“Our group commented regularly that the visit to biblical and historical sites helped them more fully understand the background of the Bible,” Harley said. “Although we are certainly tired and ready to be home, our group is remaining in good spirits and are currently at a secure hotel.”

In addition to Harley, other administrators still in Israel are Brent Thomason, dean of the DBU Graduate School of Ministry, and Blake Killingsworth, dean of the Cook School of Leadership.

“Our thoughts and prayers have remained with our group and for this evolving conflict in Israel,” DBU President Adam Wright said. “We are praying our team home and have remained in constant contact with appropriate officials within the United States government regarding the safe return of our group.”

DALLAS—Interfaith friendships promote peacemaking and provide the foundation for faith freedom to flourish, longtime Texas Baptist pastor Bob Roberts told participants at a 21Wilberforce event.

Roberts, who led Northwood Church in Keller three decades as its founding pastor, received the 2023 Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Award from 21Wilberforce for his work as cofounder of the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network.

The award is named for the former congressman from Virginia who authored the International Religious Freedom Act and was co-chair of the bipartisan congressional Human Rights Commission. Previous recipients include Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid; Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom; and Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi and his wife Gloria of Nigeria.

“Without compromising his own faith, God has used him to bring together people of diverse religious backgrounds,” Randel Everett, founding president of 21Wilberforce, said of Roberts.

John Gongwer, executive director of 21Wilberforce, pointed to Roberts as a person who exemplifies Christ’s Great Commandment and the Golden Rule.

“Bob has put himself in other people’s shoes and stood inside their circle of suffering,” Gongwer told the gathering at Dallas Baptist University.

Roberts characterized himself as an unlikely peacemaker and advocate for building friendships across religious lines. Growing up as a Southern Baptist “preacher’s kid” in “deep East Texas,” he said, his early ministry focused on a narrow view of evangelism.

“I wanted to be Billy Graham, preaching crusades and revivals. That’s what mattered—nothing else,” he said.

‘The power of relationships’

But as he came into contact with non-Christians from other faith backgrounds—and as he looked  to the Gospels and at the early church in the New Testament book of Acts—Roberts said he grew to understand “the power of relationships.”

“I think we know what it means to love nations and to love people groups. We know very little about what it means to love persons—to be in relationships,” he said.

Beginning with an exchange student from Vietnam who introduced him to high-ranking communist officials in her home country and continuing with Islamist warlords in Afghanistan, Roberts gained a new understanding of how to make an impact in the world by building unlikely friendships.

“The most significant work that you do will not be the work that you do in public where people see you, say things about you and recognize you,” Roberts said. “It will be what happens when no one else is looking—behind the scenes, building relationships with someone who can get you in a lot of trouble.”

Through relationships Northwood Church developed in Vietnam and Afghanistan, Roberts said, he learned about how Christians could make a difference by building schools and health care clinics in places otherwise closed to missionaries.

In the process, as Northwood Church made a long-term commitment to building relationships with people of other faith backgrounds, Roberts gained an expanded understanding of missions.

“A light went off in my mind. I realized missions is not a vocation for a handful of professional preachers like me. Missions is the call to every single person in the body of Christ,” he said. “You were born into a missions family. … It’s part of the family business.”

‘The right to own your own mind’

Through missions involvement in unlikely places, Roberts—recently named president of the Institute for Global Engagement—developed deep friendships with people from non-Christian religions who were serious about their own faith.

“I’m an exclusivist. Let me make that clear. I really believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. There’s no other way except through him,” he said.

“Having said that, why do we have to be mean about it? If we believe that, we ought to be the most loving people on the face of the earth. We’re not to compromise what we believe in the least, but be kind about it. Be loving about it.”

Roberts described religious freedom as “the public right to own your own mind.”

“I am not afraid of other religions,” he said, noting he spends 80 percent of his time now with non-Christians.

Muslim clerics who are good friends earnestly have tried to persuade him to accept their religion as true because they care about him, just as he has shared his faith with them, he said.

“Religious freedom is the first human right to protect the public. Without that human right to own your own mind, the other rights make no sense,” Roberts said.

See the image of God in others

Christians should advocate for the human rights and religious freedom of people from other faiths in places where they are minorities, he said.

When they do, it helps to protect the religious freedom of Christians in places where members of those faith groups are in the majority, he added.

“I came to believe a long time ago that the value of any faith is not just what it does for the adherents who follow it. The value of faith is measured best in the world by what value I bring to those who are outside my faith,” Roberts said.

“I want to be a blessing to Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, atheists, Hindus—I don’t care who they are. I don’t have to agree with them. I want them to know: ‘That guy loved me. That guy cared for me.’”

“You don’t have to compromise your faith. You just have to love people of other faiths,” Roberts concluded.

“We may be depraved, but there’s goodness in all of us if we are willing to see the image of God in someone. That’s my goal. May it be yours.”

Sixty families in rural northern Sierra Leone are reaping the benefits of a new cash crop, thanks to a ministry led by a Baylor University graduate and supported by the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering.

The families in the Tonko Limbo Chiefdom of Sierra Leone’s Kambia District are involved in a pilot project launched by Agraverse, an agricultural economic development program founded by Paul Conteh.

“We currently are working in one village. By next year, we hope to involve at least three of the nine villages in Tonko Limbo Chiefdom,” Conteh said.

The families—who traditionally were subsistence farmers, growing just enough food for household consumption—are harvesting peanuts as a cash crop.

Peanuts were selected for the pilot project because their value in Sierra Leone has “increased drastically” in the past year, and the soil in Tonko Limbo Chiefdom is particularly “welcoming” for peanut production, Conteh noted.

“The hunger offering gave us the funds for us to purchase seeds,” Conteh said, adding the offering also helped with logistics.

Agraverse focuses on working with families rather than individuals.

“We don’t want our intervention to disturb or distort the unique family bonds in the communities,” he explained.

Putting community development principles to work

Agraverse applies principles of community development Conteh learned as a Master of Social Work student at Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.

While attending the Evangelical College of Theology in Sierra Leone, Conteh became acquainted with Restore Hope, an international ministry directed by Cindy Wiles of First Baptist Church in Arlington.

From Restore Hope personnel, he learned about Baylor University and its School of Social Work. Conteh said he recognized the graduate program at Baylor would help him develop the “skills, knowledge and networks” that would enable him to return to Sierra Leone where he could minister to his own people.

“I got back home during the time when the Ebola crisis was almost coming to an end,” he recalled. “So, I was actively involved in the post-Ebola recovery process.”

Conteh worked with Restore Hope in Sierra Leone and then with the Princess Promise Foundation, a McKinney-based organization that offers Christ-centered care for vulnerable girls in Sierra Leone, before he founded Agraverse.

“During my time with Restore Hope, I also was teaching a course at the University of Sierra Leone on social research,” Conteh said. “These two platforms gave me the opportunity to spend more time in rural Sierra Leone. I was quite amazed at the vast unused land in terms of agricultural productivity.”

About 75 percent of arable land in Sierra Leone remains uncultivated, and the country imports the vast majority of the food it consumes.

Conteh began talking with people in farming communities to learn more about why so much fertile land was not being used to its full potential.

He discovered the villagers knew plenty about farming, but they needed help in economic development—marketing and selling their crops in other parts of the country.

“The irony is that they are educating us,” he said. “We went in with a learning mentality.”

Families in the area had been farming for generations, and they already knew the best techniques for growing crops on the available land. They needed help in obtaining seeds and then in transporting and marketing what they grew to other parts of the country, he explained.

Economically and environmentally sustainable

Agraverse emphasizes both economically sustainable and environmentally sustainable models.

“It’s 100 percent organic farming,” he said.

An economic development model that emphasizes cash crops to provide family income offers an attractive alternative to villagers who otherwise might engage in illegal logging, he noted.

As Agraverse began the pilot project in Tonko Limbo Chiefdom, Conteh soon determined the necessity of working not only with Baptists, but also other evangelical Christians in the area. The pilot program works in partnership with Baptist, Wesleyan and United Methodist churches.

“We went in with the mindset saying: ‘It’s OK. Let’s unify the body of Christ for the good of the community,’” he said. “We are at least breaking down some denominational lines.”

Agraverse relied on local churches to recommend specific families to participate in the pilot project.

Local churches, community leaders and program participants have exercised “creative freedom” in regard to how they shaped the program to make it their own, with limited intervention from Agraverse, Conteh noted.

Food and farming as a mission vehicle

While the region is predominantly Muslim, along with some Christians and a few traditional Animists, Agraverse received no resistance, he noted.

“We communicated our faith clearly,” Conteh said. “It was not a problem for us to practice our faith in the meetings and help recipients understand these gifts were given by the body of Christ.”

Conteh described the initial harvest as “bountiful,” and he looks forward to expanding the project next year not only to include additional villages, but also to experiment with other crops.

He also hopes to continue his own education. At some point, he hopes to return to Baylor to enroll in Truett Theological Seminary’s Master of Arts in Theology, Ecology and Food Justice degree program.

 “I want to ensure I have the tools, knowledge and skillset to pour into these farmers,” Conteh said.

He wants to lead Agraverse not only to improve the economic conditions of farm families and allow them to grow quality crops that compete in the national market, but also be able to equip churches in Sierra Leone for ministries focused on agricultural and economic development.

“I want to see Agraverse teaching churches how to use food and farming as a mission vehicle,” he said. “Above all, I want Agraverse to help bring people to the saving grace of Christ Jesus.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—On the same day Pope Francis issued a new call for climate change action, a group of mostly mainline Protestant and Jewish leaders launched a seven-year campaign to advocate for meaningful climate solutions.

“One Home One Future” is the latest multifaith effort intended to engage congregations in caring for the Earth.

But a new survey released by the Public Religion Research Institute suggests that work won’t be easy.

Beliefs on the severity of climate change have not shifted much among religious traditions over the past decade and few religious Americans view climate change as a crisis, according to the PRRI study published Oct. 4.

Overall, 27 percent of Americans say climate change is a crisis, just a few percentage points up from 23 percent in 2014. Among the nation’s religious groups, beliefs on the severity of climate change have not shifted significantly. In fact, among white evangelicals the view that the Earth is in crisis actually dropped—from 13 percent in 2014 to 8 percent today.

No religious group topped one-third of respondents agreeing climate change is a crisis. American Jews were the most likely to say so at 32 percent, followed by 31 percent of Hispanic Catholics, 22 percent of white mainline Protestants, 20 percent of white Catholics, 19 percent of Black Protestants and 16 percent of Hispanic Protestants who say there’s a climate crisis.

The survey of 5,192 adults in all 50 states, conducted online June 8-28, 2023, shows that despite growing climate calamities, American opinions have not moved dramatically.

“The fact that it remained unchanged was pretty remarkable to me,” said Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI. “It’s just really concerning,”

So far in 2023, the United States has had 23 separate weather and climate disasters that cost more than $1 billion each in damage, The New York Times reported. Those include Hurricane Idalia in Florida and the wildfires in Hawaii, which are believed to have killed 97 people. August 2023 was the planet’s hottest month in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 174-year record.

About half of evangelicals see climate change as natural pattern

While religious Americans mostly agree that climate change is caused by human activity, such as burning fossil fuels, here too there are exceptions. Nearly half of white evangelicals—49 percent—believe climate change is caused by natural patterns in the environment.

To a great extent, these unyielding views of the climate crisis may be shaped by politics. Evangelicals and Latter-day Saints, who overall don’t see climate change as a crisis, are stalwart Republicans, a party that has resisted acknowledging climate change.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee in 2024, has called the settled science of climate change a “hoax.”

“I’m not at all surprised to find that white evangelicals and Latter-day Saints tend to be the least likely to think that climate change is caused by humans or see any sort of policy to address it, because we know that the Republican Party’s official position has often denied climate change, and it’s certainly not advocating for policies that mitigate climate change effects,” Deckman said.

The survey found that fewer than 3 in 10 Republicans (28 percent) believe climate change is caused by human activity. Fully half of Republicans believe climate change is caused by natural changes in the environment and an additional 20 percent think there’s no solid evidence for climate change. By comparison, 83 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of independents believe climate change is caused by human activity.

In stark contrast to religious Americans, the religiously unaffiliated increasingly view the Earth as being in crisis. Among this group, often referred to as “nones,” that view grew 10 percentage points, from 33 percent in 2014 to 43 percent in 2023.

At the same time, the theological notion that God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of society appears to be waning. Fewer than half of white evangelicals subscribe to this belief and far lower numbers of other religious groups do.

Religious groups are now more likely to believe that individuals are required by God to take care of or be good stewards of the Earth, the survey found.

Pope Francis issued a stark reminder about the effects of climate change. He warned that “the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.”

In an update to “Laudato Si’,” the pope’s pioneering 2015 encyclical that rang a clear alarm bell about the climate, Pope Francis asserted that “despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident.”

And he took direct aim at the United States, for “irresponsible lifestyle(s)” causing irreparable harm to the planet.”

The PRRI survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percentage points.

Baylor University will serve as the originating site for the 2024 Collegiate Day of Prayer broadcast. The Collegiate Day of Prayer is an evening worship and prayer service focused on college-aged students, traditionally held on a university campus and live-streamed around the world. The broadcast will air at 7 p.m. Feb. 29 from the Baylor campus and will be arranged in cooperation with local churches and college ministry leaders. The Collegiate Day of Prayer organization operates as a coalition of collegiate ministries and church networks and is led by a representative steering team of these partner organizations. “Baylor University is humbled to serve as a conduit for Christians from around the state, nation and world to connect in prayer as a part of the 2024 Collegiate Day of Prayer, and we look forward to showcasing the beautiful diversity of the kingdom of God in this global moment,” said Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone. “We believe college-aged students near and far will be strengthened and encouraged during this season of prayer.” In addition to the evening broadcast, which will be primarily focused on Baylor students, Waco-area churches and college ministries have committed to praying together in advance of the broadcast as well. Churches and college ministries will join “Last Thursdays,” a Collegiate Day of Prayer tradition in which believers gather on the same day each month to intercede for the nation’s college-aged students. Also, Waco-area congregations will work though the Collegiate Day of Prayer’s 40-day prayer guide, which is available in digital formats. Baylor also will offer ways for members of the Baylor Family to get involved, such as organizing prayer sessions, promoting the evening broadcast and including the Collegiate Day of Prayer in the university’s longstanding Parents in Prayer program.

Wayland Baptist University named Timothy Pierce as dean of its School of Christian Studies. He assumes his new role in January. Currently, Pierce is associate professor of Christian studies at East Texas Baptist University and bivocational pastor of Port Caddo Baptist Church in Marshall. He earned his undergraduate degree in religion from Wayland and his Master of Theology and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife Kristy have three children—Lauren, Will and Jonathan.

Howard Payne University appointed Michael Rosato as dean of the university’s School of Education and professor of education. Rosato returned to HPU prior to the beginning of the fall 2023 semester, having served at the university from 2006 to 2015 before going to Houston Baptist University. At HBU—now Houston Christian University—he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs, as well as professor of education. Rosato holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carson-Newman University, a Master of Education degree from Texas Wesleyan University and a Doctor of Education degree from Indiana University.

Students in East Texas Baptist University’s Teague School of Nursing recently received the Polly Cargill Nursing Scholarship, awarded by brothers Jerry and Jack Cargill in partnership with ETBU. Students Alison Carrion, Brittany Denton, Ta’Lena Johnson, Meleni Luviano, Bailey Munch, Noah Pecory, Abigail Powell, Meredith Salazar, Angela Sanchez, Kennedy Tucker and Brianna Younger each were awarded a Polly Cargill Nursing Scholarship. Jerry and Jack Cargill awarded a special scholarship this year to ETBU junior nursing major Joseph Maique in honor of former nurse and a longtime friend of the Cargill family, the late Patty Smith.

Student government organizations at Baylor University and Texas Christian University formalized their decades-long rivalry. Baylor’s Student Senate and TCU’s House of Student Representatives unanimously passed a joint resolution to recognize the rivalry. In creating the resolution, both student government organizations agreed on the importance of longevity, tradition and sportsmanship. Baylor and TCU first met on the football field in 1899. The Nov. 18 Baylor-TCU game will mark the 119th matchup between the schools, making it the most-played college football rivalry series in the state. The joint resolution outlines each student body’s desire to recognize the annual football game as a protected rivalry game, to commit to playing one another, and to commemorate it with honor. Lily Davis, Baylor student body external vice president, called the formalizing of the rivalry “an endeavor that honors the past, shapes the future and celebrates the present.”

Howard Payne University junior Emily Moran of Coleman is the second HPU student to be accepted into the Joint Admission Medical Program. Moran came to HPU to study biomedical science in preparation for medical school, with the ultimate goal of becoming a surgeon. The Joint Admission Medical Program helps undergraduate students who want to enter the medical field by preparing them for medical school. The state-funded program provides Texas students with academic and financial support through scholarships, summer internship experiences, dedicated mentoring and comprehensive preparation for the Medical College Admission Test. Moran recently finished a summer internship at the University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine.

East Texas Baptist University hosted a luncheon celebrating the achievements of 17 paraprofessionals from Marshall Independent School District enrolled in the MavPATH program. MavPATH is an initiative that paves the way for these individuals to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in education from ETBU with a focus in elementary education. The MavPATH program serves as a bridge, allowing district paraprofessionals to gain job-embedded classroom experience as they work toward their college degree through ETBU, all while pursuing teacher certification. The school district covers tuition and course fees for each student in the program. Paraprofessionals commit to full-time educational service during their college enrollment and as teachers in the district upon completion of their undergraduate degree in education. “With this revolutionary teacher training model established and effectively working, we are thankful for the support of the school district board and administrative leadership and excited about the program’s success,” ETBU President J. Blair Blackburn said.

Anniversary

150th for First Baptist Church in Schulenburg. David Thompson is pastor.

120th for Oplin Baptist Church in Clyde. Joe Boney is pastor.

NASHVILLE (BP)—A group commissioned to study cooperation in the Southern Baptist Convention will use subgroups to study Southern Baptist documents and processes, as well as gathering insights from local, state and national sources.

Psalm 77 will serve as background for guidance in the process, said Chair Jared Wellman, pastor of Tate Springs Baptist Church in Arlington, in the 20-member cooperation group’s first online update.

An emphasis is placed on verse 11, he wrote, which reads, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.”

“This verse underscores the theme of finding hope and solace in God by reflecting on His faithfulness and power, even in the midst of present difficulties,” Wellman stated.

In addition to updates, the cooperation group website includes articles and columns for context.

 “The website is simple, featuring just a few pages: a contact page, a page displaying the names and faces of the group, and a page for Southern Baptists to access updates related to our work on their behalf,” Wellman told Baptist Press.

“Additionally, we have included the motion’s text on the landing page, and we are closely following its wording to guide our efforts, as it reflects the language adopted by the messengers.

“Our aim is to keep everyone well-informed about our work and direction so that they can be prayerfully prepared for June 2024.”

One subgroup will focus on Article 3 of the SBC Constitution and the Baptist Faith and Message, while another will concentrate on Bylaw 8 and the SBC Credentials Committee.

An ad hoc group comprising those from the first two groups will reach out to Southern Baptists on the local, state and national levels for feedback on the topic of cooperation.

“Those groups will meet regularly,” the update said. The full group will then reconvene “to bring recommendations that have been thoroughly studied.”

The Cooperation Group will use a four-stage approach in bringing its final recommendations in Indianapolis:

• Research (September-December)
• Recommendations (January-March)
• Refinement (April-May)
• Resolution (June).

All updates will be communicated through the website.

The cooperation group’s formation grew out of a motion at the SBC annual meeting in New Orleans calling for the study of what it means for churches to be “in friendly cooperation on questions of faith and practice.”

SBC President Bart Barber announced in August Wellman would lead the group. He named the remaining members last month.

GORDON (BP)—Albert Oliveira came to the United States from Brazil in 2010 on a student visa, graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, began serving as pastor of a growing church, married and started a family.

But he and his wife, a German citizen, would need green cards to remain in the United States and allow Oliveira to continue his pastorate at First Baptist Church in Gordon.

In the middle of their application journey in April, the U.S. government unexpectedly changed the rules and effectively added years to their wait. The R1 nonimmigrant religious worker visas he and his wife hold will expire before they can even apply for green cards under the new process.

“Now we’re just trapped in a limbo,” Oliveira told Baptist Press.

The Oliveiras and their American-born toddler have little chance of legally remaining in the U.S. past February 2024, having already exhausted more than three of the five years their R1 visa will be active.

“It’s just a longer wait that exceeds what we are allowed to stay here legally. Attorneys themselves say we would have to leave the country at the end of the five years,” Oliveira said. “Basically, the whole religious worker category is useless. You’d have to go to another category to even have a chance of staying in the U.S.”

Caught in the middle when rules changed

Oliveira and his family are among thousands. Churches, ministries and attorneys are advocating for change.

The U.S. government issued 6,300 nonimmigrant religious visas in 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic when applications slacked, and issued 5,900 in 2022, the American Immigration Lawyers Association reported.

“What is really disappointing to us is the egregious nature of it, is that they provided no advance notice to people,” said Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, director of government relations for the lawyers’ association.  “… [T]hings changed overnight, significantly.”

For years, a limited number of immigrant visas have been available annually, with a per country limit of 7 percent of the total allotment. Only a portion of the total visas are reserved for religious workers, described as EB-4 (employment-based category 4) applicants.

In March 2023, the U.S. government deemed it had been allotting immigrant visas incorrectly for seven years to residents from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala in a way that created lengthy backlogs for applicants from the three countries known as the Northern Triangle.

The change would be corrected the next month, the government said, resulting in the creation of severe backlogs for religious workers and others in the EB-4 category from all countries.

Dalal-Dheini expects the change to create an 11-year backlog for the most recent EB-4 applicants in a line she described in July as 105,267 applicants long and growing. Until recently, the EB-4 category for all countries except Mexico and the Northern Triangle had been current, she said.

The change “without sufficient notice is unlawful and must be immediately rectified,” Dalal-Dheini said in a July 31 letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

In the letter, the AILA advocated a range of administrative fixes to the problem, including granting deferred action for some applications, eliminating certain waiting periods, extending employment authorization for certain applicants, and codifying protections for special immigrant juveniles who are also included in the EB-4 category.

“It creates a lot of stress and anxiety for people who are here and thought they had a plan, not only for the religious workers themselves, but the people they serve,” Dalal-Dheini said. “There are a number of people who are impacted, and I know the religious groups in the community have gotten active.”

Lawsuit filed

In April, the Society of the Divine Word joined a multi-denominational group of about 20 churches, missions and religious denominations in challenging the change. Suing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, plaintiffs claimed violations of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Immigration and Naturalization Act, and other missteps.

The plaintiffs said they exercise and advance their religious beliefs by employing foreign-born ministers and international religious workers, and requested a summary judgment, but the district court in Northern Illinois instead dismissed the case July 23.

Short of leaving the country, Oliveira sees only one option available—applying for a visa under a different category, EB-2 (employment based second preference). Among requirements in the EB-2 category is the stipulation that employers pay a certain minimum salary, a requirement which Oliveira said might be a burden for some churches.

“I do believe that it does hurt the religious freedom because the church is independent, and we shouldn’t be at the mercy of the government to tell how long their pastor should be, and who their pastor should be, or how much they should be making,” Oliveira said.

“The church is growing. It’s healthy, and the gospel is being shared. And the church really is feeling burdened that they (might lose) the pastor that has been part of such a journey with them.”

Since Oliveira began serving First Baptist Gordon in 2022, Sunday worship attendance has grown from around 20 to more than 150, he said. The church has hired an attorney to help Oliveira through the visa application process.

“It has caused our church much burden financially. It has caused me a lot of emotional burden because I’m here, not knowing where to go [in the] next year and a half,” he said. “My wife is from one country, I’m from another, and my son is from this country. So wherever we go, we’re going to have to figure out the immigration of that country.”

The Oliveiras would prefer to stay put.

“I love this country,” he said. “This is a second home for me, my wife, and a first home for our son. But my perception is that the people are silent about those that are trying to come to the U.S. legally.”

Recently, Texas Governor Greg Abbott met with various religious leaders across the state via a teleconference advocating for Texas churches to declare October 15 “School Choice Sunday,” and urged them to promote “school choice” from the pulpit. Regardless of one’s view on the legislative proposal, a call from a government authority to intervene in Sunday worship goes beyond what any church body should accept or condone.

It is out of bounds for any representative of the government to co-opt a Sunday morning time of worship. A government’s request for churches to join a legislative agenda violates the conscience concerning religious liberty and the separation of church and state. Churches that too closely entwine with political affairs hamper both their Christian witness and citizenship responsibilities. Texas Baptists remain committed to the separation of church and state. Government should not interfere with the free exercise of religion, and no religion should depend on public tax dollars for support.

We encourage all citizens, including church members, to be informed on the various proposals before the state, and we also encourage all churches to protect their autonomy from interference by the state.

As the current and former Executive Directors of the Executive Board of the BGCT and joined by the current and former presidents of the convention, we offer our prayers and encouragement to Baptists in Texas and all citizens of goodwill to honor the separation of church and state while seeking the flourishing of all people made in the image of their Creator.

Executive Directors

Julio Guarneri (executive director-elect) *

David Hardage

Randel Everett

Charles Wade *

William M. Pinson Jr.

Presidents

Ronny Marriott

Julio Guarneri *

Michael Evans

Danny Reeves

René Maciel

Kathy Hillman

Jerry Carlisle

Victor Rodriguez

David Lowrie

Joy Fenner

Steve Vernon

Michael Bell

Albert Reyes

Ken Hall

Clyde Glazener

Charles Wade*

Richard Maples

Joel Gregory

* Served as BGCT president prior to becoming executive director.

Texas Baptist Men sent more than 30,000 bottles of water and sports drinks to a suburb of New Orleans as salt water threatens the drinking supply of several parishes in Southeast Louisiana.

A TBM truck left Dallas Saturday for Bethlehem Baptist Church in Braithwaite, La., and church members unloaded the water on Sunday afternoon after worship, said Rupert Robbins, associate director of TBM disaster relief.

On Monday, the church distributed the water to more than 200 area families, said Pastor Michael Jiles of Bethlehem Baptist Church. The church spread the word quickly to the people of Plaquemine Parish using social media, the church’s electronic sign and word of mouth.

“Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts,” the pastor said of TBM’s support. “Thank God for you considering us.”

The water problem is caused by saltwater working its way up the Mississippi River. Braithwaite is an unincorporated community on the banks of the river, about 25 miles south of New Orleans.

The water in Braithwaite is drinkable now, the pastor said, but saltwater already is in the water supply of some communities south of town.

“The Mississippi River’s flow has declined due to drought that is impacting the river and the water that flows into it from the Ohio River,” The Hill reported. “As a result, saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico is able to push its way toward Louisianans.”

Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief made TBM aware of the water situation. TBM then connected with Bethlehem Baptist through contacts with the National Baptist Convention of America, said Rand Jenkins, TBM’s chief strategy officer.

“This is our first time to collaborate with this important convention, and we are excited about future possibilities,” Jenkins said.

National Baptists mobilized volunteers at the Louisiana church to complete the handoff of needed water.

Terry White, executive secretary and treasurer of the NBCA Home Mission Board, thanked TBM for its response to the situation in Louisiana.

“We’re looking forward to doing even more together, he added.

David Wells, director of TBM disaster relief, praised the effort of both TBM and Bethlehem Church volunteers. On the TBM side, “‘it was a quick turnaround, and our volunteers just did a wonderful job,” Wells said.

Then, in Louisiana, “the church people showed up in a big way, unloading the truck quickly so it could return to Texas,” he said.

The TBM truck carried two pallet jacks along with the water. Church volunteers manned one jack in the truck, bringing the pallets to the lift gate, and others operated the jack storing the water and sports drinks.

“I’m just thankful we have volunteers who will step up at a moment’s notice, follow the Lord’s leadership and serve those in need,” Wells said. “It’s no surprise, but it always makes me thankful.”

Texas Baptist Men Discipleship brought a global cultural movement into the church to help participants move toward a more vibrant, calling-driven faith through the Escape Room Mission Experience.

“It’s an experience that helps participants escape from a lifeless faith and move into a faith built on calling, mission and purpose,” said Preston Cave, TBM missions and discipleship coordinator. “It can also be used by both students and adults.”

Escape rooms have gained popularity in recent years. They involve teams of players using clues to solve puzzles and complete tasks to accomplish a goal in a set amount of time. Teams may be trying to escape from rooms or—as with the Mission Experience—working together toward a specific goal.

“The goal of this experience is to help people escape from routine, non-biblical ways of doing church,” Cave said. “Our theme is Rebuild the Church, and we promote this by showing individuals a path toward a true life calling.”

Cave has led the experience in more than 80 churches, but it can be led by anyone.

“Everything needed for the Mission Experience is contained in a duffle bag that can be shipped to a church or ministry that would like to use it,” he said.

To date, more than 7,500 students have gone through the experience.

The Escape Room Mission Experience takes no longer than 55 minutes, Cave said, but most groups finish in 45-minutes.

“The goal is to discover four words that reveal hidden codes to progress players through the experience,” he said. “At the end, each participant will be given a small Blueprints for Life book that explains the gospel in a simple, yet engaging way.”