The Baptist General Convention of Texas executive director search committee is asking Texas Baptists to pray daily for their work in the months ahead.

The committee also is encouraging Texas Baptist churches to participate in web-based regional listening sessions in November to help shape an executive director position profile.

The search committee held its first online meeting Aug. 28 to get acquainted, discuss its assignment and develop a general timeline for the search process, said David Mahfouz, chair of the search committee and pastor of First Baptist Church in Warren.

The committee is “in a season of prayer” and will meet in person for the first time Oct. 17-18 in Dallas, he said.

“We are in no rush to fill the role,” he added, noting David Hardage has committed to continue as executive director through the end of the year. “We will follow a very deliberate process to find the individual God is leading us to.”

Gary Cook, chancellor of Dallas Baptist University, delivered the devotional to the Aug. 28 online meeting. Cook described how DBU benefitted from enlisting individuals to pray daily for the university early in his time as its president, Mahfouz recalled.

“We are asking Texas Baptists to pray for us,” he said. “We are asking all Texas Baptists to enter into this season of prayer for the executive director search process.”

At its October meeting, the committee plans to look at data to learn more about who Texas Baptists are and to consider projections about the state’s future, Mahfouz said.

Scheduling listening sessions in November

In November, the committee will schedule a series of regional webinar-style listening sessions to “gather information from Texas Baptists that will assist the committee to develop a position profile,” he said.

The current position profile is more than a decade old and needs to be updated, he noted.

“We want to give every church possible the opportunity to provide feedback,” Mahfouz said. “We want to hear from everyone. We want to hear their hearts.”

An in-person listening session also may be held in conjunction with the BGCT annual meeting, and the committee will consider additional sessions if needed, he added.

After receiving input through the listening sessions, the committee will work through the end of the year to develop the executive director position profile, he explained.

“We plan to release the position profile for the next executive director and to then start receiving resumes in January,” he said. “We will then enter into a time of evaluating resumes and interviewing potential candidates who fit the job profile.”

Since Hardage will retire at the end of the year, and the committee will not begin receiving resumes until January, the BGCT Executive Board will consider a recommendation at its Sept. 19-20 meeting regarding leadership during the interim period, Mahfouz said.

Once the search committee selects its nominee for executive director, that person will be presented to the BGCT Executive Board for election.

“For now, we ask Texas Baptists to pray daily—for our committee, for our convention, and for revival to come to our state,” Mahfouz said.

In July, officers of the BGCT and its executive board named the search committee. The BGCT Executive Board chair and vice chair selected seven members of the board to serve on the committee, and the BGCT president and vice presidents chose eight at-large members of the search committee.

Yesenia Brunette, a graduate of Bangs High School, and Aishwarya Nigalye, a senior at Brownwood High School, participated in a four-week Summer Research Symposium at Howard Payne University. The students performed research with physical science department faculty and concluded their studies with a presentation to their families and HPU faculty, “Investigation into the Leaching of Microplastics from Food Containers.” Their project focused on determining if food containers could contaminate foodstuffs through routine usage.

The strength and conditioning education program at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor is the first in the country to receive accreditation from the Council of Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning. UMHB’s program is a concentration within the exercise physiology major. UMHB’s exercise physiology major follows the guidelines established by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the leading membership organization for thousands of elite strength coaches, personal trainers, and dedicated researchers and educators worldwide. Accreditation indicates compliance with the professional standards and guidelines of the Council of Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning. According to the official letter from the council, “By achieving initial accreditation, the program has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and demonstrated its commitment to offering a measurable, accountable program, and of the highest quality in preparation for students pursuing careers in strength and conditioning.”

The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty named Caitlin Childers Brown, who earned her Master of Divinity degree from Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, to its BJC Fellows Class of 2022. She is associate pastor of Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk, Va. BJC Fellows are young professionals united by a call to defend religious liberty. The 10-member 2022 cohort recently completed an intensive, five-day training seminar in Colonial Williamsburg, Va., designed to equip them in advocacy to protect faith freedom for all. The seminar explored the historical, legal and theological underpinnings of religious liberty.

Anniversary

130th for Caprock Plains Baptist Association. The association will observe the anniversary at its annual meeting, Oct. 23, at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview. Featured speakers are Victor Harkins, pastor of Shady Grove Baptist Church in Bessemer, Ala., and Gus Reyes, director of Hispanic partnerships at Dallas Baptist University.

Retirement

Glenn Ward from Paluxy Baptist Association after 11 years as director of missions, effective Oct. 24. He previously was pastor 45 years, including 37 years at Acton Baptist Church, near Granbury.

RICHARDSON—More than 50 years ago, members of First Baptist Church in Richardson decided to make a global impact without leaving home. They committed to befriend internationals in their community and help them learn English.

The International Friends ministry began Nov. 13, 1969, under the direction of Mary Dickson, offering its first English-as-a-Second-Language classes with 11 teachers and 11 students.

In the decades since then, students from more than 75 countries—including some closed to traditional missions outreach—have benefitted from the services International Friends provides.

Through the years, more than 400 volunteers have offered instruction in conversational English, grammar, vocabulary, writing, current events and citizenship.

‘It brought the world to us’

Jo Hamner began working as a volunteer with International Friends soon after the program launched. After taking several years off to concentrate on her work as an elementary school ESL teacher, she returned to International Friends and has continued as a volunteer ever since then.

At age 9, she felt God calling her to missions, and she eventually went to Baylor University with the intention of preparing for missionary service. Hamner’s life took a different turn when she married and raised two children, but the International Friends ministry rekindled her early sense of calling to missions.

“When this started, it brought the world to us,” she said. “I can honestly say it is the thing I have enjoyed most in my Christian walk.”

Some International Friends students are Christians. Others come from Muslim, Buddhist or nonbelieving backgrounds.

“We never proselytize,” Hamner explained. However, when asked why they volunteer their time, teachers freely talk about how their love for God and God’s love for all people motivates them to serve.

Often, students involved in International Friends are most effective when it comes to sharing their faith with friends and family—both in the Richardson area and in their homelands.

A student at the nearby University of Texas at Dallas became a Christian through her involvement in International Friends. On the day she was baptized at First Baptist Church, several of her family and friends attended the worship service.

When her teacher asked if they also were Christians, the student smiled and said, “Not yet.”

Hamner recalled a student from a predominantly Muslim country in the Middle East who introduced her to her niece when the younger woman expressed an interest in Christianity. The student’s niece accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior, and she was baptized at First Baptist Church in Richardson, where she still is an active member.

The International Friends ministry makes available at no cost a Bible to students—either exclusively in their own language or printed alongside an English version of Scripture.

Charles Lake—who coordinates the Bible distribution—and his wife Joyce began working with International Friends in 2004 after being enlisted by former director Laura Ritchey.

“We were invited by the kind of person that nobody could say ‘no’ to,” he recalled.

Lake keeps careful inventory of Bibles and New Testaments in more than 50 languages. When International Friends was at its pre-pandemic peak, the ministry distributed about 100 copies of Scripture a year, he said.

Adapting to changing circumstances

Starla Willis has been involved with International Friends about two decades and became director in 2020. So, adapting the ministry in response to the COVID-19 pandemic consumed the early part of her tenure as its leader.

“COVID was definitely a challenge for us,” Willis said.

After about five decades of teaching and ministering essentially the same way, International Friends had to shift rapidly to online delivery of lessons, she noted.

After an extended period of online-only instruction, International Friends now offers in-person, online and hybrid classes. The online classes not only serve students in the Dallas area, but also have involved students from as far away as Brazil and China.

“COVID opened doors we didn’t even realize could open,” Willis said.

Ron Evans, missions pastor at First Baptist Church in Richardson, hopes to see additional doors open beyond the weekly International Friends classes at the church facility and even its online outreach.

“ESL is a fantastic tool to take the gospel to the nations,” he said.

Evans sees International Friends—which he calls “a longtime, staple, cornerstone ministry of the church”—as one of many ways the church can fulfill its vision: “to be a people who bring healing and wholeness to our community and beyond as we are being transformed by Jesus.”

Vision continues to expand

This summer, First Baptist Church sent missions team to the Rio Grande Valley to work with Vanessa Lerma, a Texas Baptists’ River Ministry missionary in the area, and area churches. Volunteers led backyard Bible clubs for children and youth and to minister to the children’s parents.

“We can begin to build relationships and earn the right to speak into their lives. At that point, sharing the gospel is a natural part of the conversation,” he said.

In time, Evans hopes First Baptist Church can help churches in the Rio Grande Valley develop ESL programs similar to International Friends.

In its 50-plus-year history, First Baptist’s International Friends ministry has provided classes that served international students at area colleges and skilled high-tech workers drawn to Richardson’s Telecom Corridor. International Friends also has ministered to refugees who resettled in the Dallas area—notably the Vietnamese “boat people” who fled Vietnam beginning in the mid-1970s.

But Evans wants to see First Baptist minister even more effectively to refugees who are resettling in the region by developing apartment-based ESL ministries.

“For some, entering the church building is a barrier. I’d like to see us move beyond the four walls of the church, in addition to what we do through International Friends,” he said.

At this point, First Baptist is seeking to develop relationships and train teams who can take what the church has learned through its longstanding International Friends ministry and minister where many newly arrived internationals live.

“We hope to go out into the community and do ESL in a different way,” he said. “We want to build off of our 50-plus-year experience and add to what we do through International Friends.”

This article originally appeared in the summer 2022 issue of CommonCall magazine. 

Kerfoot Pollock Walker Jr. of Tyler, Christian physician and international missions volunteer, died Aug. 21. He was 92. He was born Jan. 27, 1930, in Huntington to Kerfoot and Nell Walker. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hardin-Simmons University in 1951. He earned his Doctorate of Medicine from Southwestern Medical School in Dallas in 1955. His post-graduate internship was at the University of Alabama Medical School and at the Hillman Clinics in Birmingham, Ala. He served as a doctor in the U.S. Navy Reserve from 1956 to 1962. He and Marietta Crowder married on June 29, 1957. The Walkers both finished their internal medicine specialty residencies at Dallas Veterans Hospital. They moved to Tyler in 1960, where he began his private internal medicine practice. He retired from private practice in 1978 to become medical director of the Tyler-Smith County Public Health Department, where he served until 1996. The Walkers applied to the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board in their early 30s, only to be turned down because they were “too old.” Thus began a lifetime of volunteer Christian mission service. In 1960, the Walkers joined Green Acres Baptist Church, where he taught high school Sunday school, served as a deacon and sang in the choir for more than half a century. He planned the church’s first youth mission trip and led many others. He developed the church’s Belize evangelism plan. The Walkers taught Vacation Bible School, provided free medical service, cared for refugees and provided pastors to train other pastors for more than 50 years in more than 30 countries. Beginning with a trip to what is now Belize in 1969, Walker worked with missionaries and fell in love with the Mayan people in the Toledo District. For the next five decades, the Walkers journeyed to the region two to four times a year to provide free medical treatment in remote jungle villages. In 1991, the couple served with Texas Baptist Men at a Kurdish refugee camp in northern Iraq. He also served in Bosnia, Albania and Lebanon. Walker opened The Way of Life, which includes several halfway houses that care for men who are ex-convicts and those struggling with various addictions, helping them to get clean, stay clean, get jobs and change their lives for the better. The original location in Tyler—the Walker House—is named for him. He served as an advisor to YWAM, Calvary Commission, Global Outreach, Chief Cornerstone, Way of Life, Belize missions, Grace Community Church, Living Alternatives and Amigos Internacionales. He was preceded in death by his wife Marietta in 2015. He is survived by son Pete and wife Vicki, daughter Amy and husband James, and son Chris and wife Tracy, all of Tyler; 11 grandchildren: three great-grandchildren; and a sister, Hestermae Nixon of Bullard. The family suggests memorial donations may be made to Bethesda Health Clinic, 409 W Ferguson St., Tyler, TX 75702; Living Alternatives, PO Box 131466, Tyler, TX 75713-1466; Chief Cornerstone, Inc., 8612 Auburn Drive, Tyler, TX 75703, or to another charity.

Matt McClure to First Woodway Baptist Church, near Waco, as youth pastor from First Baptist Church in Tulsa, Okla., where he was minister to students.

Stephen Summers to Northside Baptist Church in Victoria as worship pastor.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—The National Association of Evangelicals unveiled a sweeping report on global climate change, laying out what its authors call the “biblical basis” for environmental activism to spur fellow evangelicals to address the planetary environmental crisis.

“Creation, although groaning under the fall, is still intended to bless us. However, for too many in this world, the beach isn’t about sunscreen and bodysurfing but is a daily reminder of rising tides and failed fishing,” reads the introduction of the report, penned by NAE President Walter Kim.

“Instead of a gulp of fresh air from a lush forest, too many children take a deep breath only to gasp with the toxic air that has irritated their lungs.”

Biblical case for creation care

But the authors admit persuading evangelicals is no small task, considering the religious group historically has been one of the demographics most resistant to action on the issue.

The nearly 50-page report was released Aug. 29. Titled “Loving the Least of These: Addressing a Changing Environment,” it opens with a section that insists protecting the environment is a biblical mandate.

“The Bible does not tell us anything directly about how to evaluate scientific reports or how to respond to a changing environment, but it does give several helpful principles: Care for creation, love our neighbors and witness to the world,” the report reads.

The authors go on to cite passages such as Genesis 2:15 (“God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it”), Matthew 22 (“Love your neighbor as yourself”) and Deuteronomy 15 (“Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart”).

“We worship God by caring for creation,” the report reads.

Another section outlines the basic science behind climate change, but the report, produced in partnership with the NAE’s humanitarian arm World Relief, returns often to the real-world impacts of climate change, such as how air pollution created by fossil fuels can have negative outcomes for children’s health or disproportionately affect the poor.

Kim suggested the emphasis on lived experiences, which are often tied to churches or evangelical organizations, is by design.

“One of the things that you’ll see in this document is not simply scientific information, though that is there, or biblical argumentation, although that is there, but you also hear stories of actual impact on communities,” he said in an interview.

‘Understand the human dimension’

Real-world examples help readers “understand the human dimension of the impact of climate change,” he explained.

“I think people of faith responded very deeply, because we’re wired to follow in the footsteps of Jesus of loving God and loving our neighbor.”

Dorothy Boorse, a biology professor at Gordon College and the chief author of the report, agreed.

“One of the things that can be true for evangelicals is they have a very deep desire to care for others, and they often have a deep spirit of hospitality,” she said.

Appealing to concerns about health and care for children, Boorse said, can “spark an imagination” in evangelicals that climate change is “not different from other problems in the world that we feel committed to care about, such as education, food availability or disaster relief.”

The focus on persuasion may be the result of necessity. The NAE has spoken out on environmental issues before (the new report functions as an update of a similar document published in 2011). But while mainline Protestant Christian groups and Pope Francis have repeatedly signaled the urgency of addressing climate change, many prominent evangelical leaders have suggested the opposite.

White evangelicals least likely to agree

Last year, Franklin Graham, son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, dismissed climate change as “nothing new” in a Facebook post and compared it to biblical instances of extreme weather—such as the flood in Genesis or the years of famine and drought in Egypt—that are depicted as acts of God.

The result often has been a religious community resistant to acknowledging the source of the issue, much less acting to prevent it. In a Pew Research survey conducted in January, white evangelicals were the religious group least likely to agree that human activity contributes to climate change, with only 54 percent saying humanity contributed a great deal or some to the trend. By comparison, 72 percent of white nonevangelicals, 73 percent of white Catholics, 81 percent of Black Protestants and 86 percent of Hispanic Catholics said so.

But as Boorse points out in the report, there has been some movement since the 2011 report was published, particularly among young evangelicals: A year after that document was unveiled, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action was founded.

“One huge pattern that I observed is that young evangelicals are very concerned about the environment,” said Boorse, who sits on the advisory board of Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. “There’s an entrenchment of certain ways of thinking that just takes a long time to change.”

Rising global sea level points to urgency

Activists say the change can’t come soon enough. In addition to ongoing droughts in various parts of the world, the NAE report was unveiled the same day as news broke that, given the current pace of climate change, 3.3 percent of the Greenland ice sheet—around 110 trillion tons of ice—is slated to melt into the sea, raising global sea levels nearly a foot between now and 2100.

Asked if she was hopeful the report and similar efforts could urge evangelicals to muster their resources and help prevent further environmental calamities, Boorse acknowledged she often is frustrated by fellow faithful who espouse baseless conspiracy theories about climate change or express open hostility to science in general.

“That has been very challenging for me in my professional life,” she said. “But I feel God has privileged me with the task of speaking to a group of people that I know and love, and trying, consistently, to talk about this as a real phenomenon—and it needs our attention.”

For Boorse, the necessity of the work—and the tenets of her faith—sustain her for the fight ahead.

“I’ve decided to be hopeful,” she said. “I think everybody has to, or you’d never get anything done.”

Texas Baptist leaders are joining the Uvalde Ministerial Alliance in calling churches across the state to participate in a time of prayer on Sunday, Sept. 4, for the community’s families and children as they prepare for the first day of school on Sept. 6.

The call to prayer is in response to the mass shooting on May 24, when 19 students and two teachers were fatally shot at Robb Elementary School.

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District delayed the first day of school to Sept. 6, but as students and teachers prepare to return to school, worries over safety, grief and student development remain.

“The [Uvalde Ministerial] Alliance is urging churches to pray for the people that are grieving. It’s a process, and the whole city [was affected],” said Rolando Rodriguez, director of Texas Baptists en Español.

Families who were affected directly will need particularly high levels of support during this time, he added.

Since the tragedy at Robb Elementary School, Rodriguez has been involved with local Uvalde churches in planning long-term care strategies. In partnership with Pastor Neftali Barboza of Iglesia Bautista Nueva Jerico, he hosted a training event for children’s ministers the weekend immediately following the mass shooting.

Recently, Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director David Hardage met with pastors and church leaders to discuss how Texas Baptists can continue best supporting the churches and community.

The Uvalde Ministerial Alliance hopes churches will join them in praying for all of the families affected, as well as children and teachers returning to school. Churches also are encouraged to pray for the Uvalde authorities as they make decisions, particularly those regarding safety and security.

Carlos Gutierrez, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Uvalde, agreed, saying only God can bring healing to the community.

“There are so many things that we as human beings cannot do, that we cannot accomplish. In fact, we rely totally on God to get through so many things, and there are so many things that only God can do for the church, for our communities, for the families,” Gutierrez said.

PLAINVIEW—A tear of joy ran down Mariia Syzonekno’s cheek when the 19-year-old freshman from Dnipro, Ukraine, walked into Gates Hall to begin her journey through Wayland Baptist University.

But just getting to the university may have been the hardest part.

“I have no words, I think,” she said. “I am so excited about how it happened. I can’t imagine that this has happened to me.”

Having traveled from her home in eastern Ukraine to Poland before making her way to the United States and specifically Plainview, Mariia was greeted at the door by Debbie Stennett, coordinator of international student affairs.

She received a Wayland T-shirt and a bouquet of sunflowers and yellow roses. Stennett explained the sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine, and the yellow rose is symbolic of Texas.

Flanked by Sherman and Tammy Aten, the Wayland alumni who connected her with the university, Mariia was also welcomed by Shaney Brewer, director of undergraduate admissions, and Coralyn Dillard, director of health services, along with the admissions office staff.

Couple helped student fulfill her dream

The impromptu welcome was the culmination of a years-long effort by the Atens to help Mariia come to the United States to study. The couple’s international music ministry brought them into contact seven years ago with the student. Her father, Sergei Dnipro, is pastor of Central Baptist Church in Dnipro.

“They have become kind of our adopted family,” Sherman Aten said.

About three years ago, Mariia mentioned to the Atens that she would like to study in the United States, so they went to work trying to make that happen. In fall 2019, she was accepted to another university, but she never made it there.

“COVID hit, and things just started to dwindle,” Aten recalled.

The pandemic would not be the only setback. Mariia remembers the night that bombs began to fall—first at the airport and then closer to her home in Ukraine’s fourth largest city. It looked like her dream of studying in the United States would be a casualty of the war.

But a meeting the Atens held with Bobby Hall, president of Wayland Baptist University, changed all of that.

“I didn’t try Wayland,” Aten admitted. “But I talked to Bobby Hall a few months ago and told him what was happening. He said, ‘We would love to make something happen.’ He and Dr. (Claude) Lusk (Wayland’s senior vice president of operations and student life) have made this incredible thing happen. So, that’s why she is here.”

“We have long been so proud of the international music ministry of our alumni, Tammy and Sherman Aten,” Hall said. “In conversation with them about Sherman becoming a Wayland trustee, they made me aware of Mariia’s circumstance in war-torn Ukraine, and we discussed how we might work together to bring her to Wayland.

“The Atens’ lengthy ministry in Ukraine coupled with their dedication and that of others has brought us to this day, and we praise the Lord that Mariia is now safely with us here in Plainview.”

‘The Lord was putting it all together’

Mariia was overwhelmed by her journey to Plainview as well as how God brought everything together.

“It is amazing, and I am so excited about how it happened,” she said. “I can’t imagine that this has happened with me. I was so excited when Sherman wrote me an email that Wayland Baptist University wanted to invite me. I do not have the words to explain what I thought.”

Equally amazing is her recent journey. Mariia was supposed to travel to Kyiv to secure the papers necessary to come to the United States, but that trip became impossible. An alternate plan was developed and carefully executed.

“Like clockwork, the Lord was putting it all together,” Aten said. “Mariia would have to get to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw.”

With her father not permitted to leave the country and her mother remaining behind to care for her younger sibling, Mariia had to make it to Poland on her own. She embarked on her journey more than a week before her arriving in the United States.

“She had to take a bus trip to Warsaw,” Aten explained. “It was a 17-hour trip to the border, traveling over horrible roads. The roads were already so unbelievable. I can’t imagine what they were like after being bombed.”

She faced another setback when she reached Poland.

“She made it to the border, but there was a 10-hour delay there,” Aten said. “We don’t know what that was about, but she did make it to Warsaw for her appointment.”

The next miracle was a smooth appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw.

“Her visa was accepted and approved, “Aten said. “She had to wait a couple of days for her passport.”

Mariia had never flown before. Her inaugural flight took her from Poland to Paris, to Minneapolis to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. That’s where the Atens picked her up, but even that was a challenge. The Metroplex received more than nine inches of rain, causing street flooding. Through the storms, they drove to the Atens’ home in Granbury.

After a few hours to recover from jetlag, they began the last leg of Mariia’s journey. They drove to Plainview, where she was greeted Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 23.

“It’s just amazing,” the student said.

“We had been working on this for two and a half years, but it wasn’t going to happen until people like Dr. Hall, Claude Lusk and Debbie Stennett stepped in,” Aten said. “It’s all about God’s timing.”

Phillip Hamilton is communications manager at Wayland Baptist University.

Advocates for human rights and religious freedom marked the fifth anniversary of the genocidal campaign against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims by calling for an end to military rule in the nation.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared earlier this year the atrocities committed by the Burmese military against the Rohingya people of Myanmar—beginning in October 2016—constitute “crimes against humanity and genocide.”

Violence intensified—and expanded to include other religious minorities—after the Burmese military, also known as the Tatmadaw, staged a coup in February 2021 that has claimed more than 2,000 lives.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on Aug. 25 called for accountability by the military junta, and the United Kingdom announced it will join in a genocide case against the Burmese army at the International Court of Justice.

“The Biden administration took a pivotal step in recognizing the Burmese authorities’ violent actions against the Rohingya as genocide and crimes against humanity,”  Commissioner Stephen Schneck stated. “We urge the United States government to actively support multilateral efforts to hold the Tatmadaw and other Burmese officials accountable through the international legal system.”

Three pending cases are intended to hold the Burmese authorities accountable for their actions against the Rohingya. In February, the National Unity Government—Burma’s shadow government opposing the ruling military junta—accepted the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. In July, the international court rejected the Tatmadaw’s objections against one of those cases, brought by The Gambia, allowing the court to proceed trying the case.

Commissioner Eric Ueland said the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom “reiterates its recommendation to the U.S. government to increase engagement with multilateral and regional partners … to stem ongoing religious freedom violations and promote accountability.”

“We call on the U.S. State Department and Congress to hold the perpetrators accountable immediately so the Rohingya can return back to Burma,” Ueland said.

In addition to declaring its intention to join in the International Court of Justice genocide case against the Tatmadaw, the United Kingdom also announced it would implement additional sanctions to target military-linked businesses to Myanmar.

Foreign ministers of the United States and the United Kingdom joined the European Union and the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in issuing a statement Aug. 25 calling on the international community to “help to ensure justice for Rohingya victims, support host communities, and foster conditions that will allow for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return to their communities.”

At its annual gathering in Birmingham, Ala., in July, the Baptist World Alliance general council adopted a resolution condemning the military coup that led to “a campaign of terror and violence” in Myanmar. The resolution called for “the establishment of a true democracy that respects the rights of religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar.

“Since the coup, the military has terrorized communities in Kachin, Karen, Kayah State, Chin State and Sagaing Region by burning villages, destroying churches, and detaining pastors and religious leaders,” the resolution stated.

The resolution offered support for “the November 2021 call of the United Nations Security Council for an immediate end to the violence” and prayers for “Baptists and other Christians ministering in persecuted communities and among displaced persons.”

Last September, the Tatmadaw shot and killed Cung Biak Hum, a Baptist minister in Thantlang who was helping a member of his church extinguish a fire after the man’s home was set ablaze during military attacks.

About three months later, Salai Ngwe Kyar, a pastor in the village of Thet Kei Taung and a student at the Asho Chin Baptist Seminary in Pyay Township, died from injuries sustained during a military interrogation in Magway Region.

FLOWER MOUND (BP)—The Village Church announced Aug. 28 that lead pastor Matt Chandler will take a leave of absence from teaching and preaching following his admission to “inappropriate messaging” with a woman on Instagram.

Chandler admitted the messaging was “unguarded and unwise” though the messages were neither “romantic nor sexual” in nature, but the “frequency and familiarity” was not wise for someone in his position.

Chandler said the church’s elders determined his “inability to see this for what it was revealed something not right and unhealthy,” adding that The Village “cannot be a place that does not hold its pastors and elders accountable.”

Chandler agreed to the elders’ suggestion that he take the leave of absence and admitted to feeling “embarrassed and stupid.” He affirmed the leave of absence was both “disciplinary” and “developmentally caring” for his family and the church.

Chandler has served the 5,000-member church as pastor since 2002. He also has served as president of Acts 29, one of the largest church-planting networks in North America, since 2012. The Village Church is aligned with both the Acts 29 network and the Southern Baptist Convention. It also is uniquely affiliated with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Chandler has made several appearances at SBC annual meetings and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission events. Most recently, he was part of a late-night panel discussion hosted by 9Marks at the 2022 SBC annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

During a session held in conjunction with the 2019 SBC annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala., Chandler told a group his “imperfect church” takes seriously allegations of sexual misconduct or abuse.

At the time, The Village Church was dealing with allegations surrounding a former minister who was accused of sexual molestation at a church camp six years earlier. He outlined the steps church leaders took when allegations came to light.

In 2020, the Dallas County District Attorney’s office moved to dismiss charges against the former minister, saying, “The complainant cannot and has not positively identified defendant as the person who committed this offense.”

Additional information provided by Managing Editor Ken Camp. 

Elmin Kimbol Howell Jr., founding director of Texas Baptists’ River Ministry along the Texas-Mexico border, died Aug. 29 at Elysian Fields, near Marshall. He was 92.

During his nearly 30 years with River Ministry, Baptists started 670 churches along the Rio Grande, formed two associations of churches, launched six children’s homes and began 67 healthcare clinics in Mexico.

Howell coordinated the work of more than 10,000 volunteers a year and developed a field staff of 45 consultants. He worked with about 900 summer missionaries, many of whom went on to serve as international missionaries or denominational leaders.

Life characterized by missions and ministry

William M. Pinson Jr., executive director emeritus of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, called Howell “the embodiment of effort to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment of Christ.”

“Evangelism and ministry combined in a magnificent way characterized his life,” Pinson said.

“I thank God for my every remembrance of Elmin—his deep devotion to Christ, ready smile, amazing creativity, outstanding leadership and quiet humility in the midst of the huge mission’s success story of the River Ministry. He met challenging circumstances, setbacks and crises in a steady, unruffled way that inspired others.”

Pinson affirmed words Charles McLaughlin, longtime director of the BGCT State Missions Commission, wrote about Howell, saying he “served with dignity, effectiveness and Christian statesmanship.”

“Heaven is more populated and the world is a better place where the Rio Grande flows and far beyond due to the life and ministry of Elmin Howell,” Pinson said.

Kathy Hillman, former president of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas and a former BGCT president, reflected on Howell’s widespread and long-lasting influence.

“Only God knows how many individuals, families and churches Elmin Howell impacted through Texas Baptists’ River Ministry and how many ripples continue,” Hillman said.

Hillman first met Howell when she was a high school student. As an adult she participated in three River Ministry trips, heard Howell speak numerous times at missions events and became a friend.

“Always, Elmin Howell sewed truth with love, stitched visions with wisdom, and wrapped others in quilts of encouragement,” she said.

Josue Valerio, missions team director for Texas Baptists, said Howell “lived out his faith and calling” through missions, particularly “serving and sharing God’s love.”

“He was passionate about serving the Lord and neighbors in need,” Valerio said. “He loved people on both sides of the border. Even in his retirement, Elmin was always ready to pray, give and help the population of our borderland with Mexico.”

Toby Druin, former editor of the Baptist Standard and Howell’s frequent hunting companion, said: “Elmin Howell became one of my closest friends some 35 years ago
through our mutual love for hunting. He was a turkey caller without peer.

“But if there was anything he loved more than hunting and calling in a gobbler, it was his Lord, his wife Betty and their family, and the Texas Baptist River Ministry. Every time we were together, I got an update on all of them. Elmin nurtured the River Ministry to life, and it was his consuming passion ’til the day he died.”

Long legacy of ministry

Howell was born Feb. 2, 1930, in Kerens to Elmin Kimbol Howell Sr. and Ruby Leigh Wright Howell. He attended Navarro Junior College in Corsicana and completed his undergraduate education at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. He earned a Master of Arts degree from George Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn., and participated in graduate study at the University of Colorado at Boulder and at Pan American University in Edinburg.

He and Betty Kelton married on Feb. 13, 1955, in Abilene. Early in his career, he was a teacher and coach.

Later, he led mission and recreation programs at First Baptist Church in Beaumont and First Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., and he was recreation director for the Nashville Baptist Association.

On May 15, 1968, he became coordinator—later director—of River Ministry for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Early in his retirement, he served three years as president of the board of directors for Mission East Dallas Medical Clinic, a ministry of Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church, where the Howells were longtime members.

In 2007, Howell received the W. Winfred Moore Award for Lifetime Ministry Achievement from Baylor University and the Baptist Standard. A decade later, the BGCT presented him Texas Baptists’ Legacy Award.

He was preceded in death by a brother, James Douglas Howell.

He is survived by his wife Betty Kelton Howell; daughter Kimberly Howell Todaro and husband John; son Paul S. Howell and wife Amy; grandchildren Zachary O’Dell, Benjamin O’Dell and Brannan K. Howell; one step-grandson; five great-grandchildren; half-brothers Ben Howell and Chris Howell; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas. A graveside service will follow at 3 p.m. in Kerens.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Texas Baptists’ River Ministry.

This article originally was posted at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 29.  It was revised at 8:15 p.m. the same day to include information about funeral arrangements.

DALLAS—A matter of hours set Dallas-Fort Worth region homeowners back years as more than 14 inches of rain drenched low-lying areas. Texas Baptist Men disaster relief volunteers are helping to clear the way back.

A once-in-every-1,000-years-rain turned homes along creeks and rivers into swamps, ruining sheetrock, furniture, flooring and more. AccuWeather estimates the storms caused between $4.5 and $6 billion in damage, making it one of the costliest storms in Texas history.

Shortly after the storm, the TBM Collin County flood recovery team was removing all that was damaged in a home in southeast Dallas.

“There was about three feet of water in here,” team leader Art Brandenburg said. “They’ve lost nearly everything.”

The home is the first of a series of homes TBM volunteers will clean out after the storms. When the teams are finished working at a location, the home will be dry and disinfected so homeowners can rebuild their property—and their lives.

“Floods like this put people in positions they can’t dig out of on their own,” said David Wells, TBM disaster relief director. “By working alongside homeowners, TBM teams accelerate the recovery process and save people thousands of dollars. Together, we help people see better days are ahead.”

In many ways, the Collin County flood recovery team exemplifies the year for TBM disaster relief. Earlier this month, many of these same volunteers were cleaning out flooded homes in Jackson, Ky., after another once-in-1,000-year rain that killed more than 35 people.

TBM disaster relief teams responded to more disasters in the first six months of 2022 than all of last year. Volunteers have responded to seven tornados, five wildfires, two floods, the school shooting in Uvalde and the refugee crisis created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“God calls his people to minister to the hurting,” Wells said. “That call has led TBM volunteers around the world and to our own backyard.

“No matter where we’re serving, we’re doing so with the same goal: to share the love of God with people living through their most difficult days.”

To support TBM disaster relief ministries financially, send a check designated for disaster relief to Texas Baptist Men, 5351 Catron Dr., Dallas, TX 75227 or click here to give online.