ROUND ROCK—Most people who meet Angela Richardson have trouble connecting her up-beat, breezy attitude to her role as a foster mother-turned-adoptive mother who cares for three emotionally wounded children.

Richardson welcomes the challenge, but she resists any suggestion she’s special.

“I don’t feel comfortable when people call me a hero,” she said. “I was willing, and I showed up. God did the rest.”

Last year, Angela Richardson opened her home to two sisters and a brother who had endured severe abuse and neglect. In February, she adopted the three siblings. (PHOTO/Children at Heart Ministries)

In 2006, a friend at church introduced Richardson to Children at Heart Ministries’ STARRY foster care program. Richardson attended an orientation meeting and was hooked.

In February 2009, she received a phone call about two sisters and a brother who needed a temporary home. The siblings—ages 2, 3 and 7—had been severely abused and neglected by their parents.

“The shape they were in was worse that I could imagine and like nothing that I had ever seen,” she said.

For months, Richardson comforted the children through screaming, crying night terrors. And, although her hugs took much longer to be returned, she held them and encouraged them each and every day.

“My son wouldn’t hug. He would cower or hide. And my youngest daughter would just stand there like a rag doll,” she said.

“It was very sad, but I knew they would come to trust me eventually.”

Trust didn’t come easily. The children disliked police and feared most adults. But in time, they opened up to their foster mother, eventually disclosing even more details about their harrowing ordeals, Richardson said.

“One time, I had to go into the bathroom and cry after a conversation we had,” she said. “Their situation was so much worse than anyone knows.”

On Feb. 12, Richardson officially adopted all three, marking the end of one journey but the beginning of another.

Each day means untangling knots left behind by the children’s former lives.

“I tell them all the time that my job is to keep them safe, love them and be here for them,” Richardson said.

“I have learned through this process to be more flexible and rely on my faith.

“My faith is what really brought me through, because this tested me emotionally, spiritually and in every way possible.”

Richardson encourages prospective foster parents to attend an orientation session and talk to other foster parents to find out why they open their homes to foster children.

“Why do they do something that’s completely counterintuitive to our culture?” she said.

“Out there, it is about self and what can I get out of it. This is very much about what you can give back. You will hear foster parents say, ‘I did this to help them, and it’s amazing how God uses some of these children to actually help you.’”

LUBBOCK—Evangelism opportunities may not be right under every Christian’s nose, but they’re probably not much further than that—possibly even in the house next door.

In a state where about 11 million people indicate they have no connection with a church, Texas Baptist ministers indicate evangelism opportunities are abundant. If statistics prove true, odds are, a Christian has at least one neighbor who is not a Christ-follower.

Despite the reality that Texas is a mission field in need of people willing to share their faith, nationwide surveys repeatedly have reported fewer than 10 percent of Christians regularly share their faith. Some cite fear of rejection as the reason for not evangelizing. Others believe they don’t have enough knowledge to share their faith. Still others indicate they simply do not know any non-Christians.

Jim Brown, pastor of Monterrey Baptist Church in Lubbock, said Christians need to remember the Great Commission calls Christians to take the gospel to their neighbors, as well as to the ends of the earth.

“Right here before me is an opportunity Jesus is giving me to reach somebody,” Brown said. “You just have to look around your neighborhood. There are people everywhere.”

Students from the Baptist Student Ministry at Angelina College pray with a man during a mission trip to Galveston. (BGCT FILE PHOTO)

Monterrey Baptist Church has used an effort called “four by four” to refocus its local evangelism efforts. The campaign encourages Christians to identify four individuals or families in their social sphere who they believe do not attend church and write their names on a note card. Christians then are urged to pray for those people at least four times a week, invest in those people’s lives at least four times a year and invite them to at least four church opportunities a year.

The approach is simple, Brown said, but it’s been effective. The church baptized more people this year than last year, including some people who were directly influenced by the “four by four” effort. Adults are trying to share their faith. Students have connected with it, surveying their classmates and recognizing them as people with whom they can build a relationship.

“We’re just trying to change the DNA of our church, … the way our people think of the Great Commission,” Brown said. “We really want to make them more aware of the Great Commission. This seems to be a way that works.”

Perspective and purpose are keys for doing evangelism effectively, said Scott Willingham, local church evangelism director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Christians need to be conscious of seeking opportunities to share their faith, he said.

As part of Project Jerusalem at First Baptist Church in Garland, members deliver packets of information about their church and New Testaments to about 400 homes near the downtown church campus.

“When we’re intentional about looking for something, we’re more likely to see it and take advantage of it,” Willingham said. “It’s true in many aspects of life, and it’s true in evangelism. If we’re purposeful about living our lives for Christ and seeking opportunities to share the gospel, we can more easily recognize the opportunities that God sends our way.”

God brought community residents to Primera Baptist Church in Mission when a few youth began attending Wednesday events. Eli Sanchez, then youth minister and current pastor of the church, noticed the young people were interested in skateboarding. His recognition of their interests changed the congregation forever.

“We really didn’t know anything about skateboarding,” Sanchez said. “That really wasn’t our model for church. But we began to change that.”

The church began constructing skateboard ramps for young people in the neighborhood. The youth in the church did much of the work, which encouraged them to take pride in the skate park they were building. It gave them ownership of it and encouraged them to invite their friends.

More and more youth came. Church members built relationships with the skateboarders and their parents, coupling skateboarding and efforts to share the gospel. The congregation built the only air-conditioned skate park in the Rio Grande Valley and held skateboarding competitions that included Christian testimonies and gospel presentations.

During a recent skateboarding competition that was part of ValleyReach—a Texas Baptist effort to share the gospel throughout the Valley before the BGCT annual meeting—10 young people made decisions for Christ and 15 others asked for prayer.

Christians need to remember the Great Commission calls Christians to take the gospel to their neighbors, as well as to the ends of the earth.

“Those skaters came for a reason and for a purpose,” Sanchez said. “They kicked it off. Those four turned into eight. Those turned into 20. In a year, we had 200.”

Bacon Heights Baptist Church in Lubbock is seeking to foster a similar connection with its community. For several years, the congregation planned to move south of the city and unintentionally became disconnected from the community around it. After a series of events delayed the move, the church sensed God’s calling to stay in its current location.

That meant the congregation needed to rededicate itself to its community, particularly within its ZIP code. For one year, church members prayer-walked every block of the area, asking God to guide them and lead them to a person of peace on each block.

Pastor Jerry Joplin encouraged church members in the ZIP code to lead the focused outreach, believing they would be the most effective missionaries there because they live there.

After a year of prayer, the congregation increased intentional efforts to build relationships with people in the area. It has engaged the three elementary schools, volunteering to feed teachers and paint walls.

The church still is early in its efforts to reconnect with the neighborhood, Joplin said. But the church is committed to making a difference for Christ in its ZIP code.

“We have turned the corner in having a passion and having compassion, seeing the fields are white for harvest,” Joplin said.

Willingham praised the way Brown, Sanchez and Joplin allowed God to guide them and their churches to see their neighbors as Christ does—people God loves and with whom he wants a relationship.

“A church that reaches out to its neighbors begins with leadership,” Willingham said. “It takes leadership like Jerry, it takes leadership like Eli, it takes leadership like Jim to help people, ministers who are committed to sharing the gospel. When God’s people are led to a biblical vision, they begin to live a biblical lifestyle that impacts that the lives of others.”

Thirty-one students who completed Chaplain University, a training program offered by Christian Resort Ministries International, have been endorsed and qualified for service in RV parks and other recreational settings throughout the United States.

Christian Resort Ministries requires lay chaplains, who apply for assignment without any formal training at a Bible college or seminary, to complete 30 hours of training within their first 18 months.

All new chaplains receive 40 hours of Hands on Ministry training developed by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, with an additional 12 hours of division-specific chaplaincy training taught by division managers at Chaplain University. 

Chaplains also are required to complete six hours of continuing education annually.

In addition, chaplains are trained in NOVA disaster response, suicide intervention and first-responder intervention, said Dennis Maloney, general director of Christian Resort Ministries International.

Students attend Chaplain University, a training program offered by Christian Resort Ministries International.

“We want our chaplains to be equipped to be the finest they can be and be able to bring the word of the saving grace of Jesus Christ to those who don’t know and who know him. … Jesus clearly states, in Acts 1:8, we need to be his witness in Jerusalem, and all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Resort ministry in RV parks, campgrounds and resorts spans all the requirements in the Acts passage,” Maloney said.

Christian Resort Ministries has endorsed chaplains who serve in 25 Texas resorts, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley.

Chaplain University is a three- phase teaching process over three years and is offered in the Branson, Mo, area each year in the fall.

For more information about resort chaplaincy, visit www.crmintl.org.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS)—The archaic sounds that fill the historic former church sanctuary echo, hauntingly, like a whispering ghost from the past.

Inside the 1902 building that once housed Second Presbyterian Church, the elaborate archways bounce back the sound of Sacred Harp singing.

It’s a style of music that once dominated rural evangelical religion, in the days before the Civil War and church organs, when a capella singing was the norm. It’s never entirely died out, in part because of people like Tim Cook.

“It was once common throughout the South,” said Cook, a shape-note singing aficionado who brought his lessons to the former church that’s now part of the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus.

Cook’s group of more than a dozen interested singers sat facing Cook as the song leader, holding wide-page hymnbooks filled with notes in the shapes of open and solid squares, diamonds, triangles and ovals.

Throughout the 1800s, the mournful harmonious sounds of a capella shape-note singing reverberated in churches throughout the South. It’s now experiencing a renaissance of sorts in Sacred Harp songbooks and conventions. But while Sacred Harp singing has surged, the more-complicated seven-shape-note Alabama Christian Harmony singing struggles to stay alive.

“We certainly don’t want it to die out,” said Emily Creel of Burleson, Ala., who carries on her family’s generations-long love affair with the music. “We do it to promote the heritage and tradition of the music.”

The Internet has helped create a revival for shape-note singing, connecting singers and bringing them together for events across the country.

Cook says having the notes in different shapes makes it easier to read and sing the music in four-part harmony.

Participants sing the actual note sounds first: “fa” for triangle shape notes, “sol” for oval, “la” for square and “mi” for diamond-shape notes. Then they sing it with the lyrics.

The combination of archaic harmonies and old-style lyrics can be jolting to outsiders. To others, it’s addictive. Many of the shape-note songs were written by English composers such as Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley, set to old English dance tunes and carried from churches in rural England by colonial settlers.

The tradition was carried to the South, where many churches continued the shape-note a capella singing of the hymns with complex harmonies. The songs may have archaic, cryptic names such as “Old Hundred,” better known in many hymnbooks as “The Doxology.” “Amazing Grace” appears in shape-note books as “New Britain.”

When pianos and organs became common in churches, a capella singing began to disappear, along with the complicated harmonies in the old hymnbooks.

Cook took up shape-note singing after moving from Michigan to Atlanta in 1995, and now he teaches it and leads singings.

“I’ve always like to sing a capella, four-part harmony,” Cook said. “When I heard this the first time, I said, ‘That is the voice of heaven.’”

—Greg Garrison writes for The Birmingham News in Birmingham, Ala.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —While performing concerts around the country, Dove Award-winning recording artist Mark Schultz often shares his testimony and personal story of adoption in hopes of raising awareness for orphan care and helping young families recognize this desperate need.

“It must have been so hard for my biological mother to give birth to a baby and say with tears in her eyes: ‘There’s so much I want to give you that I can’t. So, I’m going to love you by giving you to someone who can take care of you,’” Schultz said. 

“That’s amazing to me, and every day I’m grateful for the parents who adopted me when I was two weeks old and helped me to become the person I am today.”

Schultz hopes that having his songs featured on national television programs such as 48 Hours and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will provide opportunities to spark conversations with non-Christians and lead them into a relationship with Christ.

His latest album, Come Alive, is a collection of songs that explore life’s greatest joys and toughest challenges while celebrating God’s presence in every moment.

“I would hope that as people listen to these songs and identify with the struggles, that they would know that God is the same through the struggles as he is during the triumphant moments,” Schultz said. ”His love and faithfulness never change.”

Desiring to help make a difference in the lives of orphans, Schultz went on a 3,500-mile bicycle ride across America in 2007, which raised more than $250,000. 

As a strong advocate for adoption, Schultz and his wife, Kate, who is a doctor, are considering adopting children with special needs.

“My wife came home one day from the hospital and brought up the subject,” Schultz explained. ”She asked me what I thought about adopting children with special needs, even children that the doctors believed would only live a short time on this earth. She lovingly said that caring for children in this situation is something we should consider and pray about for our future. 

“She shared: ‘Before they go to heaven, I want them to experience what a great Christmas is like, what a great birthday is like and most importantly, let them know they are loved well on this earth—before they get to heaven and are held in the arms of God.’ The more I thought about it, I realized that as Christians, we are called to love. If that means loving a baby that will be here seven minutes or 70 years, it’s showing love that makes a difference.”

MADISON, Ala. (RNS)—For the entire lifetime of his daughter, Joey Karr smiled into her eyes. Then the infant, who couldn’t overcome a fatal form of dwarfism, died in his wife’s arms as their other three children patted their sister.

Photographer Kelly Clark Baugher caught that lifetime of love in photos—images now sacred with the weight of life and loss that the death of a baby brings.

Joey Karr shares a lifetime of love with his daughter, Janie Beth, after she is unhooked from life support. The family was photographed as part of the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep project. (PHOTO/RNS/Courtesy Kelly Clark Baugher)

Baugher is one of a small but devoted number of professional photographers who volunteer their time at hospitals to take pictures of heartbreakingly short-lived joy.

A Colorado-based group, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, sends professional photographers—if the families request them—to record their child’s brief life.

“It’s one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever done,” Baugher said as she looked through photos from more than 60 families she and photographer Mary Ellen Pollard have served.

“It’s almost as though time slows down in that room. I will never forget the feeling. I felt God in that room.”

She refers to the hospital rooms where parents sit with an infant that was stillborn or has been disconnected from life support when death has become the kindest option. The photographers stay at the periphery, quietly working without a flash as they record the fleeting moments.

The idea is macabre only for people who haven’t lived through it, said Ken and Amy Salter, who became the parents of twin boys born last fall, one of whom died after months in neonatal intensive care. They agreed to have their last minutes photographed when nurses suggested they call Baugher.

“The photographs are a lasting comfort,” said Amy Salter, who now volunteers as a parent coordinator for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. “Yes, it was difficult, but to have pictures, to remember the little smile he makes, his little fuzzy head—it’s priceless.”

The photographers make a CD of the photographs after they edit the photos, giving parents finished pictures with the calm sheen of magazine shots. Parents can choose to print them or look at them—or not. Many find themselves returning to them often for a quiet space of remembering and weeping, Salter said.

Nurses who have assisted families going through such a wrenching time have seen how the photos become, later, a source of comfort as people thread the long valley of grief.

“Pictures, as well as clothing, footprints, handprints, stuffed animals and blankets are tangible reminders to these families of the precious little life they have lost,” said Ashley Ray, a nurse in Huntsville, Ala., who works with bereaved parents.

“It is so awesome to be able to offer these families professional photos of their sweet babies.”

For the photographers, it’s a ministry, Mary Ellen Pollard said.

“I had my son two months early, and he is still with us on this side of heaven,” Pollard said. “He spent two months in the NICU. We were told he was not going to survive, but our son went home. Beside us, there was a family whose daughter didn’t. I needed to do something to give back.”

The photographs help to make the lifetime of their daughter real, said Joey and Michelle Karr, who lost their daughter, Janie Beth.

“The one time Janie Beth opened her eyes, Kelly happened to catch that on film. I never even noticed she was taking a picture,” Joey Karr said.

But Baugher noticed the moment when the tiny face peers up at her father from his arms.

“It’s like she looked right into his soul,” Baugher said,

—Kay Campbell writes for The Huntsville Times in Huntsville, Ala.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —For almost 30 years, Michael W. Smith has been taking listeners on a musical journey into the heart of worship while delivering powerful messages about grace, love and redemption through his songs.

As one of the most popular contemporary Christian musicians, Smith has amassed an impressive catalog of achievements. His 21 albums have garnered multiple honors, including an American Music Award, three Grammy Awards, 44 Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association and 33 No. 1 radio hits. In addition, he holds 16 gold, seven platinum and two double-platinum albums for career sales approaching 15 million. In 2009, he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

He also has scored several film projects and has been featured by a variety of media outlets including FOX and Friends, Hannity and Colmes, USA Today, Newsweek, NBC’s Today Show and Nightly News, Larry King Live, Good Morning America and many others. But Smith has remained committed to shining the spotlight on God. 

In addition to his music, Smith desires to create platforms that would reach out and help those in need. He established Rocketown in his hometown of Nashville, which serves as a safe place for young people to enjoy music and for artists to be discovered. 

He also raises awareness for a variety of mission organizations, including Compassion International and Samaritan’s Purse.  Following the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Smith traveled to Haiti with Samaritan’s Purse. He also co-wrote the song, “Come Together Now,” and gathered a community of artists to record the song to benefit Haiti relief efforts.

His tours consistently rank among the best-attended in the country, and he doesn’t miss a beat sharing the gospel with audiences.

His newest album, Wonder, chronicles songs about life’s most heart-wrenching moments, as well as the unexpected joys.

“I hope that these songs will help people to realize that they can get through whatever situation they are dealing with, if they trust in God,” Smith said.

“Even in the midst of adversities, just anchor down. Don’t cover it up with an addiction, but instead, trust in God’s promises and know that he will never forsake you. The ultimate goal is for these songs to lead people to believe in Jesus and accept God’s promises. If that happens, praise God, because I think it would allow a lot of people to be victorious and be able to finish well in this journey called life.”

This is a busy season in Smith’s life. This fall, he is on the “Make a Difference Tour” with speaker/author Max Lucado and musicians Third Day, TobyMac and Jason Gray. Immediately following this tour, he will join Franklin Graham’s Festival in Latvia and then embark on a tour in Hungary, Austria and Romania. 

In December, he will sing Christmas carols with symphony orchestras around the country. He will appear with the Dallas Symphony at the Meyerson Nov. 30-Dec. 1, and perform at Second Baptist Church in Houston Dec. 10.

While dealing with the demands of a hectic touring schedule, Smith emphasizes the importance of limiting distractions so he can spend time in God’s word. 

“There’s so much going on these days and so many distractions, especially with cell phones, computers and the Internet,” Smith said. 

“God continues to teach me the importance of just being still and being in awe of his creation. When I look up at the sky, I can’t help but think, ‘God is so awesome.’ 

“For me, the key to focusing on Christ and dwelling in his presence is removing all those distractions and finding a place where I can be alone and read his word. Sometimes that means turning the cell phone off, going to a park or someplace quiet and just spending some time reflecting on his glory.”

As the years pass by, Smith continues to be amazed and humbled by God leading this musical journey.

“I’m still amazed that I get to be part of building the kingdom through this gift that God has given me,” Smith said. 

“It’s something that I love to do and it’s changing the world a little bit, which blows my mind. Someone recently came up to me out of the blue and said they accepted Christ at one of my concerts 20 years ago. I thought that was incredible. 

“Another time, a man shared about a time when he was going to commit suicide and already had the gun loaded. By God’s divine intervention, just as this man was about the pull the trigger, he happened to hear one of my songs which addressed the issue of suicide and realized he couldn’t go through with taking his life. That man ended up giving his life to the Lord, and now, he’s married with a family. That story right there is worth my whole career.”

GAINESVILLE—A number of Baptist groups have come together to bring health care to a Mexican community where there is none.

The people of El Arenal, in the state of Jalisco, have to drive three hours to Guadalajara for medical care. When that information came to Pastor Juvel Garcia and his wife, Silvia, of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Gainesville, they decided something needed to be done.

Mrs. Garcia, who practiced medicine in Mexico, said she learned of the need when she went to Mexico last year. “They told me they had a big problem without medical assistance,” she said.

She learned many who made the trip to Guadalajara waited as long as three days to be seen in the emergency room. Many gave up and made the long drive back to El Arenal without ever seeing a doctor.

“The idea emerged to begin a medical facility in El Arenal,” she continued. “We want to give medical resources to the people who have no money.”

The Garcias also stressed the clinic will be a place for people to hear the gospel. “One of the purposes is evangelism. If people come to the clinic for a medical consultation, they can also wait 20 minutes to hear about Christ,” Mrs. Garcia said.

Baylor Health Care System’s Faith in Action Initiatives is helping that idea become a reality. Baylor Health Care is donating four hospital beds, two stretchers, an neonatal incubator, two wheel chairs, desks, file cabinets, lobby chairs and other equipment.

“This fits perfectly with the purposes of the Faith in Action Initiatives office,” Director Don Sewell said. “It deals with getting the strengths and assets of Baylor Health Care System outside our walls to those who need it most.”

The donated items will have a “second life” at the Mexican clinic, he added.

They are stored in a Gainesville warehouse now, waiting for clearance from the Mexican government.

The Garcias are being helped on this side of the Rio Grande by Hands in Service Ministries. Officially, the hospital equipment from Baylor was donated to the nonprofit organization. Hands in Service, in turn, will donate the medical equipment to Manos Hermanos, a Mexican nonprofit lay organization that will give the equipment to the clinic in El Arenal.

The Mexico-Americano Baptist Hospital in Guadalajara will have an ongoing relationship with the clinic.

“It’s a whole lot of people in the Baptist family working together to bring health care to people who have none,” Sewell said.

DALLAS (ABP)—One of the Southern Baptist Convention’s most historic and prominent congregations officially has embarked—with four simultaneous Oct. 30 building implosions—on what it is calling the biggest church renovation-and-expansion project in modern history.

Members of First Baptist Church of Dallas joined dignitaries gathered to observe the demolition of the buildings, which stood on land the congregation will use for a $115 million project to build a new, modern sanctuary and recreate the church's historic campus.

“The last time anyone has seen this view of our church was 1927,” said First Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress. “And now, we are seeing the sanctuary in a whole new light.”

“This is a very positive (thing) for the city of Dallas,” said Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, who attends First Baptist Church.

“The best part of the story is yet to come. This change is a new gateway into an important part of Dallas. It will give the entire downtown area a different feel.”

Demolition experts used 450 pounds of dynamite to bring down the church’s Burt Building—which dated from 1927—as well as its Christian Education Building, Ruth Ray Hunt Building and Veal Building.

Those structures—some of which originally had been built as office buildings that the church acquired and converted—soon will be joined by the Truett and Mary C buildings, to be demolished by wrecking ball.

Once debris is cleared, construction will begin on a facility that includes a glass-enclosed sanctuary seating 3,000 as well as educational facilities and a large public green space surrounding a cross-topped fountain.

The project is one of several massive building projects ongoing or recently completed in downtown Dallas, and church officials expect it to be completed in time for Easter 2013.

“As I look around downtown, I see spectacular temples of commerce, culture and government—many new, some restored to former glory, and all intended to stand for generations,” Jeffress said. “The kingdom of God needs a home to equal them—a spiritual oasis in the middle of downtown.”

Demolition experts took special care to shield the church’s historic sanctuary from potential blast damage by boarding up its stained-glass windows and erecting a massive earthen berm to prevent pieces of debris from bouncing off the street and damaging the sanctuary. The ornate worship hall—much of which dates to 1890—served as home base for two legendary Baptist pastors, the late W.A. Criswell and George W. Truett.

Once the new sanctuary is completed, the historic building will continue to be used for weddings, funerals and other special services.

Church officials say they already have pledges secured to cover the project’s price tag.

DALLAS—Baptist Standard Publishing is building a $5 million community— FaithVillage, an interactive Internet presence designed to provide high-quality Christian resources and a social network to serve 20 million evangelicals ages 18 to 44.

The site will provide a single location where users can access:

• A social media platform with personal pages, groups, forums and blogs.

• News, information and other articles.

• Video, music, podcasts and Web-based seminars.

• A digital marketplace that will feature books, music, ministry resources, Christian gifts and other merchandise from vendors, as well as user-generated content.

The site’s unique design—a street scene with buildings such as “Grove Theater” for video resources and “City Pod Studios” for audio—provides users a visual sense of visiting a physical community where they can enter buildings to find a wide array of content.

“The driving vision for FaithVillage.com is to provide a vibrant online community that expands personal faith, fosters robust sharing of ministry resources and deepens collaboration among vital Christian causes,” said Brad Russell, senior editor and chief operating officer of the new venture.

Through the social media platform, users will be able to reserve their own “lofts,” where they interact online with other users in a safe, secure environment free from offensive ads or unwelcome comments common on some social media sites.

Churches will be able to use the platform to create user groups for Bible studies and discipleship and collaborative groups for missions and ministry teams and committees, as well as providing their members a safe and enjoyable place for social networking.

FaithVillage will enable ministries, institutions and nonprofit organizations a vehicle to connect with global online audiences and network with like-minded ministry partners.

The idea for FaithVillage grew out of the Baptist Standard’s desire to inform, inspire and engage the rising generation of Christian leaders, said Marv Knox, editor of the Standard and publisher of FaithVillage.

“We became open to broadening the vision of the Baptist Standard as we faced the disappointing truth that traditional newspapers are not reaching a young audience,” Knox said. “Our staff and our board of directors began to ask, ‘What can we do to meet the needs of young adults?’”

The Standard conducted nationwide research of evangelical Christians ages 18 to 44 to explore how they use the Internet, how they practice their faith and how those two factors intersect. Additional research involved looking at evangelical Christian sites already on the Internet.

The Standard discovered a potential market of 20 million young evangelicals—and found that what those Christian young adults said would be helpful and what they would like to find online does not exist in any single, easy-to-navigate location on the Web.

Among respondents, 82 percent said they belong to social media sites. Half said they had visited a faith-oriented site in the previous six months, but half said they were not satisfied with available Christian websites.

Those findings led to the development of the FaithVillage concept—an idea that will require $5 million to become reality.

“Because we receive no Cooperative Program funds, we are raising the money to build out the site and operate it for three years until it can become self-sustaining,” Knox said.

To date, $1.1 million has been raised, including a $1 million gift from the Christ is Our Salvation Foundation, founded by Paul and Katy Piper, and another significant gift from an anonymous donor.

“Our board believes in this so deeply, and is so convinced now is the time to move forward, that it authorized a $2.1 million loan from our reserves to build FaithVillage now,” Knox said. “We will continue to raise money to repay that loan.”

While the audience for FaithVillage reaches beyond Texas Baptist life and the scope of the site extends beyond traditional journalism, the Baptist Standard remains committed to its 122-year-old mission as the news journal of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Knox emphasized.

“The news operation is not going away,” he said. “That’s a commitment that reaches back more than five generations. One of the buildings in FaithVillage will be the newsstand, and the Baptist Standard will be featured prominently there, along with other news sources.

“Beyond that, we will continue to provide the news through multiple avenues of delivery, including the Standard’s own website, apart from FaithVillage.”

The public launch for FaithVillage is scheduled in October 2011, Russell said. Partner churches, organizations and individuals who enlist as “FaithVillage Fans” will be invited to test the site late next summer. Reservations for “loft space,” will be available about that same time, he added, but prospective content or merchant partners should make contact now. For more information, e-mail brussell@faithvillage.com or call (214) 630-4571, ext. 15.

MARSHALL—East Texas Baptist University biology major Lauren Charron had the sought-after opportunity to conduct undergraduate research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. But the summer internship almost didn’t materialize.

“I had applied to eight different summer research programs and was denied acceptance,” said Charron, a senior from Grand Prairie.

Haley Banks

Lauren Charron

“I was disappointed, but I knew that God had great plans for me. I surrendered to and trusted him with my summer.”

She landed her research position after a phone call and conversation with the dean of the UT Southwestern Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences.

“I sent her my resume and transcript, which she forwarded to the principal investigator in the immunology lab,” she said.

“I was offered the position and became part of the summer undergraduate research fellowship program.”

Charron wants to become a biomedical researcher—an interest that grew from personal experience.

“My mother has Crohn’s disease, which is an autoimmune disease,” she said.

“Seeing how this disease has affected her life has pushed me to go into research so that I can hopefully find a way for people with autoimmune diseases to be able to live full and healthy lives.”

Charron found her Christian faith challenged and strengthened by the internship.

“Being from a small Baptist school, I am able to openly and frequently talk about the love of my Savior and the many things with which he has blessed me. However, in my experience this summer, I found that most people do not believe in God. Some even looked down on those who do have faith, because they believe that if you have science you do not need God,” she said.

Another ETBU biology major, Haley Banks of Palestine, worked in a research internship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. It marked her second consecutive summer working at M.D. Anderson.

“The goal of the project that I was working on was to discover the mutational status of DNA,” said Banks, who hopes to become a pediatric cancer researcher.

“ETBU has prepared me for graduate-level research. The education that I am receiving at ETBU has helped me understand the context of what was happening in the lab I worked in.”

Charron said, “In graduate school you have to learn things on your own. I have had classes at ETBU that have made me think critically, thus pushing me to find information on my own.”

Charron and Banks both noted the benefits of the summer internships.

“I now have a brief understanding of what my life will look like during the lab years of graduate school as well as the career I hope to pursue,” Charron said.

Banks added, “This experience has not only been humbling and eye opening, but I have gained a new respect for how hard doctors and nurses work to find a cure for cancer.”

Charon plans to graduate in May and hopes to attend UT Southwestern Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences.

Banks has been invited back next summer to M.D. Anderson to continue her research.

DALLAS—Parents of Dallas Baptist University students had the opportunity to see for themselves what their children have learned about servant leadership—and join in service alongside them—during Family Weekend.

More than 350 students, parents and family members took part in the DBU 2010 Family Weekend, and more than 60 joined members of the DBU staff for a Saturday-morning service project at Mission Arlington.

“I think it’s important for the parents to see another glimpse of the value DBU places on serving the community and sharing the gospel,” said Christy Gandy, director of global missions at DBU and coordinator of the Family Weekend service project.

After a morning on the DBU campus spent getting to know members of the Student Life staff and meeting DBU professors, the students and their families loaded buses and headed for Mission Arlington.

After Mission Arlington founder Tillie Burgin and her son, Jim, greeted the team, volunteers went to work clearing out storage rooms to make space for the upcoming Christmas season.

“It was nice to be able to be together and work together and serve the Lord,” said Hannah Cheves, a freshman from San Antonio.

Growing up as the youngest of three children in a close-knit Christian household, Cheves noted how different her experience at college had been compared to her older siblings who attended large state schools.

“When my parents took my brother to college, the school basically told them, ‘Your child is 18, and you have no say in their lives now,’” Cheves explained. “But at DBU, everything is so family-oriented. Kids are not pressured to kick their parents out of their lives so quickly.”

At the end of their time at Mission Arlington, the team met for prayer and headed back to campus, having experienced more than just typical college life.

“It was great to be together as a family,” Cheves said, “and to work together and serve the Lord.”

–Sally Waller contributed to this article.