A spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board asserted “nothing has changed, and nothing is new” regarding its policy to grant church-starting funds only to state conventions that have affirmed the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.

However, the Baptist General Convention of Texas—which never endorsed the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message—received $300,000 annually for at least each of the last four years, with $200,000 per year earmarked for evangelism and $100,000 each year designated for church starting.

Ward Hayes, BGCT treasurer and chief financial officer, said, “NAMB has told us that these funds have no restrictions beyond those designations; however, we have only utilized the church-starting funds in support of Texas Baptist church sponsors that have adopted the 2000 BF&M.”

But on May 20, Executive Director Julio Guarneri reported to the BGCT Executive Board: “I have learned that NAMB will no longer fund any church starts of singly aligned BGCT churches in Texas. They will only fund churches in Texas who are affiliated with SBTC [the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention], either singly or dually.”

Guarneri noted BGCT-affiliated churches contributed $3.3 million to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions and $2.2 million to NAMB through the Cooperative Program.

Regarding the relationship between the BGCT and NAMB, the NAMB spokesman stated: “NAMB has a long-standing policy of only planting churches in partnership with state conventions that have affirmed the Baptist Faith and Message BFM 2000. NAMB has enjoyed a good relationship with BGCT for many years. Nothing has changed, and nothing is new about our policy.”

The agency spokesperson did not respond to an email request to clarify the seeming discrepancy between NAMB’s “long-standing policy” and its practice.

He did express appreciation for the financial support of BGCT churches, stating: “NAMB is grateful for what BGCT churches give to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and to the Cooperative Program. This is a way BGCT churches can impact the North American mission field beyond Texas. These funds are used to plant churches where they are most needed, fund compassion ministry efforts and to equip missionaries and churches with evangelism resources.”

Flat grants and Send Network agreements

Currently, NAMB provides church-starting funds to state conventions both through a flat grant and through Send Network agreements.

“In order to move more funding to regions outside the South, NAMB reduced funding to South state conventions in 2013 and began providing an annual $300,000 grant,” the NAMB spokesperson stated in an email to the Baptist Standard.

“Several South state conventions still receive funding through this model today. The funding can be used for evangelism, church revitalization and church planting.”

As a point of comparison, the adopted 2013 BGCT budget endorsed by the BGCT Executive Board and approved by messengers to the annual meeting anticipated $600,442 in funds from NAMB.

“NAMB has a long-standing policy, though, of only planting churches in partnership with state conventions that have affirmed the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. So, that restriction applies to our partnership with the Baptist General Convention of Texas,” the NAMB spokesperson stated.

From 2021 through 2024, the BGCT helped start 128 churches at a cost of $4.18 million—a bit more than $32,600 per church.

“We have used the $300,000—$100,000 per year over three years—from NAMB within the overall $4,180,090.92, which is the support for about nine churches,” said Tom Howe, associate director of Texas Baptists’ Center for Missional Engagement and director of church starting.

“All are singly aligned with BGCT. They are also SBC, but we do not plant SBTC churches or churches that are dually aligned with SBTC.”

NAMB partners with a reported 47,600 churches in its Send Network.

“Some South state conventions have asked NAMB to become more involved in church planting in their states, and this led to the development of Send Network church planting agreements,” the NAMB spokesperson stated. “Each of these agreements is customized to meet the specific needs of each state convention.”

Does NAMB count all BGCT church starts?

Last December, NAMB reported it had surpassed the 10,000 mark in terms of church planting since 2010, with 639 launched in 2022.

“Churches plant churches, and to help Southern Baptists have an accurate measure of their impact, NAMB tabulates the number of churches Southern Baptists plant every year,” the NAMB spokesperson said.

However, NAMB did not respond to a question about how many church starts in Texas it includes in its count—or a breakdown of how many are in partnership with the BGCT and how many are with the SBTC.

“NAMB does not release state-specific church plant information. We refer inquiries back to the particular state convention,” the agency spokesperson said.

“While we do not share financial information about our Send Network church planting agreements with specific states, the funding amount varies from year-to-year based on how many churches a state convention is involved with planting and how each of those plants assess on our Planting Projector, which helps determine the annual funding a NAMB-endorsed plant receives.”

He also noted: “NAMB can partner with a BGCT church to plant a church outside of Texas in collaboration with a state convention that affirms the BFM 2000. All NAMB-endorsed church planters must affirm BFM 2000.”

FORT WORTH (RNS)—Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary released more details about the attempted cover-up of a report about a sexual assault on campus that landed a former seminary staffer in federal court, charged with obstruction of justice.

In a statement May 29, David Dockery, president of Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, said Terri Stovall, the school’s dean of women, learned in November 2022 about an alleged sexual assault by a student.

She reported the assault to campus police—who took no action on the report, according to Dockery—and kept a record of her response.

A few months later, the student accused of the assault was arrested by an outside police department.

Make the report ‘go away’

Heath Woolman, then Dockery’s chief of staff, learned about Stovall’s document from November and allegedly told her to make it “go away,” according to Dockery’s statement.

At the time, all staff had been informed that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the Southern Baptist Convention’s handling of sexual abuse and any documents about sexual abuse had been subpoenaed, Dockery said. The alleged assault was not reported to federal officials.

Dockery said Woolman denied telling Stovall to destroy the document, a claim initially backed up by Matt Queen, another seminary staffer.

“In a follow-up conversation concerning what was said to Stovall, Woolman provided me assurance that he did not instruct her to make the document ‘go away,’” Dockery said.

When Queen changed his story in the summer of 2023, he was placed on administrative leave. He has been charged with allegedly lying to the FBI and creating false notes to back his initial claim that he knew nothing about an order to destroy the document.

Woolman left the seminary in the spring of 2023 and is now pastor of Fruit Cove Baptist Church in St. Johns, Fla.

Queen, who was suspended by his church this weekend, has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. Woolman did not respond to a request for comment at Fruit Cove Baptist.

Dockery commends Stovall

Dockery praised Stovall for her actions and said the school is continuing to cooperate with federal officials. He also said the school’s chief of police from 2022 is no longer at the school.

“This episode is a matter of deep regret to me. I am, however, grateful that several employees in whom I placed great trust acted responsibly, especially Terri Stovall,” Dockery said. “I commend the service and integrity of these employees.”

Woolman’s alleged actions were first reported by The Tennessean newspaper. The Tennessean reported Woolman had boasted about the thoroughness of his church’s vetting of him as a candidate when he was first hired in 2023 as pastor.

“They have looked for every skeleton in every closet,” Woolman told the congregation, according to The Tennessean. “I don’t have any skeletons in any closets, and I was still scared they would find skeletons in closets.”

In his statement, Dockery said he had recommended Woolman as a pastoral candidate last year.

“If asked to provide the same recommendation today, and based on information received subsequent to that time, I would not be able to provide the same recommendation,” he said.

Latest episode of bad news for seminary

Few details have been made public about the scope of the Department of Justice’s investigation into the SBC and its entities. That investigation was launched after the release of a report from Guidepost Solutions showing SBC leaders had mistreated abuse survivors for years, denied responsibility for the actions of local churches and downplayed the number of sexual abuse cases in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

SBC leaders have pledged in the past to cooperate with the investigation. The denomination’s Executive Committee also cited the Justice Department investigation for helping drive up its legal costs in recent years.

Earlier this year, the SBC’s Executive Committee announced the Department of Justice investigation into the committee was ended, leading to confusion. The Executive Committee later issued a statement saying the DOJ’s investigation into the SBC and its entities remains open.

Queen’s indictment and Dockery’s subsequent statement are the latest episodes of bad news for Southwestern, once one of the nation’s largest seminaries and now a struggling institution.

The school’s former president, Adam Greenway, is currently suing the school for defamation.

Greenway’s predecessor, Paige Patterson, was fired in 2018 after allegedly mishandling sexual abuse at another school.

Last year, officials at the Fort Worth seminary announced past leaders had overspent by $140 million over two decades, putting the school’s finances in a precarious spot.

Nancy Layne Russell, longtime Texas Baptist church musician, died May 24 in Lubbock after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 76. She was born Aug. 13, 1947, in Bellmead. After graduating from La Vega High School, she went on to Baylor University, where she graduated in 1969 with a degree in secondary education. She served as the director of curriculum and instruction for Dublin Independent School District and was a beloved high school English and speech teacher at Pecos Barstow Toyah Independent School District and Bellville Independent School District. She served as organist and pianist at multiple churches, including First Baptist Church in Lubbock, First Baptist Church in Stephenville and First Baptist Church in Pecos. For more than two decades, she also was organist for Paisano Baptist Encampment. She found great joy in raising monarch butterflies in her backyard, which was a certified Monarch Waystation, teaching piano to her grandchildren and creating jewelry. She also delighted in serving as a volunteer at Covenant Health, sharing her culinary creations and staying in touch with friends on Facebook. Her daily walks around Miller Park were a cherished routine. She was preceded in death by her parents, Dudley and Lora Lee Layne, and her siblings, Bobbie Layne Alleman and Sara Jo Watkins. She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Roger Russell; sons Sean Russell and Alan Russell; and grandchildren Noah and Lilly Russell. A celebration of life service is scheduled at 11 a.m. on June 1 at First Baptist Church in Lubbock. In lieu of flowers, the family requests gifts to the Joe Arrington Cancer Center.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (RNS)—A North Carolina Baptist church has suspended its pastor after he was indicted on allegations of giving false records to the FBI.

Matt Queen, a former professor and administrator at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice last week with attempting to interfere with a grand jury investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention’s handling of sexual abuse. He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

Queen is pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC, a role he was named to in February. But on May 27, Friendly Avenue said Queen had been placed on administrative leave. He has not preached since May 19, the Sunday before his indictment was announced by DOJ.

“The actions alleged in the indictment oppose the moral values of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church, and we condemn all forms of sexual abuse,” the church said in a statement.

“Dr. Queen has committed to resolve this matter responsibly, and we support his full cooperation with the authorities. To this end, Dr. Queen is on administrative leave from his pastoral responsibilities. He will step away to devote his attention to his family and to assist authorities in their inquiry.”

Few details have been made public about the federal government’s 2-year-old investigation into the SBC, which began after the release of a report by the third-party investigation firm Guidepost showing denominational leaders had mistreated abuse survivors for years and sought to downplay the extent of abuse in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

SBC leaders pledged to cooperate fully with federal law enforcement. As part of the investigation, SBC entities such as Southwestern Seminary were required to report any case of abuse to the Department of Justice.

Alleged failure to follow the rules of investigation

However, when a student was arrested on allegations of sexual abuse in the fall of 2023, the seminary reported the incident to police but not the FBI.

When a seminary staffer subsequently wrote a report noting the FBI had not been notified, a seminary leader allegedly told the staffer to destroy the report. Queen allegedly was at the meeting when this conversation took place but told the FBI he had not heard any comment about destroying the document. He produced notes to that effect, which the FBI claims had been faked.

But, Queen told a grand jury he heard a seminary leader say the document should be destroyed, according to the DOJ.

“The notes prepared by Dr. Queen cited in the accusation were true to his best recollection and did not contain false information,” said Sam Schmidt, Queen’s attorney, in a statement. “Dr. Queen testified truthfully before the Grand Jury.”

Southwestern Seminary said Queen was suspended after the school learned of his alleged actions. The school also has stated all employees involved in the allegations in the DOJ indictment are no longer with the school.

The Tennessean in Nashville reported May 29 a Florida pastor—whom the newspaper identified as Heath Woolman, former chief of staff at Southwestern Seminary—also was implicated in a conspiracy to destroy evidence, but he has not been charged at this point.

Baptist University of the Américas received a $1.2 million grant from Lilly Endowment to help establish Proclama—a program designed to equip Hispanic pastors with the skills necessary for compelling preaching. The effort is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Compelling Preaching Initiative. The aim of the initiative is to foster and support preaching that better inspires, encourages and guides people to come to know and love God and to live out their Christian faith more fully. Proclama will provide pastors with resources to enhance their ministerial capabilities. Through collaborative group sessions, pastors will cultivate engaging preaching practices. Proclama’s curriculum is crafted to empower pastors with competencies honed through collaborative peer learning dynamics. This program not only will refine preaching styles, but also will equip pastors to connect meaningfully with diverse audiences and communities. These communities—which grapple with bilingualism, serve diverse generations of immigrants and navigate evolving cultural dynamics—will find Proclama a vital resource for their spiritual journey. “This generous support will be pivotal to the success of our Proclama program. We are truly grateful for God’s faithfulness,” said Abe Jaquez, president and CEO of BUA. “We eagerly anticipate witnessing the impact this initiative will have on our pastors and the diverse communities they serve.”

Houston Christian University board of trustees approved a $60 million budget for construction of the Sherry and Jim Smith Engineering, Science and Nursing Complex at its May 21 quarterly meeting. The multi-million-dollar complex is named in honor of Sherry and Jim Smith, longtime HCU supporters who donated a $20 million lead gift to the project, making it the largest single donation received in the university’s history. “The HCU board of trustees approval of the financing plan for the new Sherry and Jim Smith Engineering, Science and Nursing Complex marks a day of historic significance for the university,” said HCU President Robert Sloan. “These new academic facilities … have long been the greatest facility need for HCU.” Construction on the complex will begin in January 2025, with completion slated in time for the start of classes in the fall 2026 semester, Sloan said. The new state-of-the art building will enable the university to prepare students for high-demand professions such as data science, statistics, cybersecurity, computer science, registered nursing and kinesiology. The estimated 71,000-sq.-ft., three-story building will provide the Linda Dunham School of Nursing and the College of Science & Engineering with consolidated space, including science laboratories, classrooms, instructional and state-of-the-art simulation labs, makerspace/capstone learning environments, and faculty and administrative offices.

Wayland Baptist University’s newly formed Advancement Council made a $1 million pledge to the university’s $18 million Thrive Campaign. The pledge was announced during the Advancement Council’s May 18 meeting and brings the campaign’s total funds raised to $14.5 million. Under the leadership of President Bobby Hall, Wayland’s Thrive Campaign continues to gain momentum. The campaign aims to foster academic excellence, enhance recruitment efforts, improve campus facilities and bolster athletics across the institution. For more information about the Thrive Campaign, visit https://www.wbu.edu/thrive_campaign.htm or contact Wayland’s Office of Advancement.

Hardin-Simmons University student Maya Morell recently received the Texas Academy of Science Award for her research. Her award-winning research centered around zebra mussels—an invasive species—and how the species would affect Taylor County if they entered its lakes. The research included measuring the lakes where zebra mussels have sprung up, observing what conditions allow zebra mussels to thrive, and if lakes in Taylor County are at risk of harboring the invasive species. “As our city grows, it’s crucial to be aware of the potential environmental issues that might impact the quality of our lakes and recreational opportunities,” she said. Morell expressed gratitude to the faculty of HSU who helped her with her proposal—including how to draft a professional paper, networking in the scientific community and acquiring resources for her project. “In addition,” she added, “they gave me all the emotional support I needed to power through extensive research.” Morell is a biology major in the Holland School of Sciences and Mathematics. After she graduates from HSU, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in marine biology to pursue her dream of researching coral reef restoration and conservation. “Coral reef depletion is a serious concern for our ocean education. I hope to learn more about the ins and outs of research and become a part of a great team to understand how we can preserve our coral reefs.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The item about BUA was edited after it originally was published to correct the amount of the grant.

Four deacons from Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas recently spent two weeks in Ukraine, helping a Christian ministry there convert shipping containers into housing for displaced people.

Team leader Randall Harris and three other volunteers—James Barclay, John Reeves and Danny Parham—worked with New Life Christian Mission near Odesa to turn 40-foot shipping containers into basic living quarters. The ministry is providing simple housing for people displaced by the Russian war on Ukraine, as well as the local homeless population.

When it is completed, New Life’s “container city” will house about 160 people, Harris said. In addition to more than 40 containers that will be retrofitted as living quarters, other containers will be converted into shower, laundry and toilet facilities.

In the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Harris and Barclay served in November 2022 with Texas Baptist Men—now Texans on Mission—at a distribution center for refugees in Chelm, Poland.

Of the 6 million refugees who fled from Ukraine to other countries after the Russian invasion, about 1 million relocated to Poland. TBM volunteers in Chelm helped unload truckloads of supplies, sort the items and then load them into vans that delivered hundreds of tons of food and other necessities to shelters across Poland and into Ukraine.

“When I first heard reports about how the Russians were launching attacks on soft targets, intentionally hurting civilians in Ukraine, it made me angry,” Harris said. “But instead of just being enraged and frustrated about it, I found out how we could do something positive about it.”

‘Looking for ways to help rebuild Ukraine’

So, after the rewarding experience of working in Poland, Harris responded affirmatively when Rand Jenkins at Texans on Mission told him about another opportunity to serve people in Ukraine through a ministry partner in the region.

“Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Texans on Mission volunteers have been providing help, hope and healing to those displaced. This recent trip to Ukraine with church members from Cliff Temple is a part of an ongoing effort to help rebuild the lives through local churches and ministries,” said Jenkins, chief strategy officer for Texans on Mission.

Cliff Temple provided the volunteers who served in Ukraine financial support, prayer and encouragement, Harris noted.

New Life Christian Mission—which also operates a home for 84 mothers and children—is “looking for ways to help rebuild Ukraine,” Harris said.

Working under the guidance of a Ukrainian foreman, the four Texas volunteers worked on four shipping containers during their two-week mission trip. So far, 10 containers have been turned into living quarters for displaced people.

Currently, those who live and work on the New Life Christian Mission compound gather beneath a large tent for worship, but the ministry plans to construct a permanent church building in the future, Harris noted.

‘The hands and feet of Christ in Ukraine’

While the volunteers’ labor was valuable, their ministry of presence was appreciated even more by the people they encountered, Harris said.

“They were so impressed that we were willing to come to Ukraine. Just being there—the fact that Americans came to be with them—meant so much. There was just an outpouring of appreciation,” he said.

“It was so fulfilling for us to be able to go and help any way we could. God put it on our hearts to help the people there.”

The Cliff Temple team’s trip to Ukraine was part of an ongoing effort by Texans on Mission to support the work of ministry partners in the region, Jenkins explained.

“We have several more trips to the area this year as we continue working and gathering leaders to garner information for an effective and unified Christian response. Our partners are doing great ministry from building homes, outfitting shipping containers as living quarters, feeding people, building wheelchair ramps, rebuilding churches, and constructing and distributing children’s jackets to villages and orphanages—all while demonstrating Christ’s love,” Jenkins said.

Texans on Mission volunteers currently are providing disaster relief at multiple sites throughout Texas—as well as internationally—as an expression of the group’s commitment to “meeting human needs wherever God leads,” he added.

“Our volunteers are the hands and feet of Christ in Ukraine, surrounding countries and dozens of nations worldwide—and especially in our home state, where we are actively serving in numerous cities after the spring storms,” Jenkins said.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Three people—a Haitian man and an American couple who all worked for a Christian mission organization—were killed by gang members near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on May 23.

The group reportedly had been kidnapped earlier in the evening after leaving a youth event hosted at a church.

Natalie and Davy Lloyd moved from Oklahoma to Haiti in 2022 to work for Missions in Haiti, Inc. The third person killed was the Haitian director of the organization, Jude Montis.

Davy’s parents, David and Alicia Lloyd, who founded the organization in 2000, shared the news of their death in a Facebook post around 2 a.m. Friday, saying the couple had been shot by gang members around 9 p.m.

“We are devastated,” wrote the couple in their post.

Natalie’s father, Missouri Representative Ben Baker (R), shared the news on Facebook with a picture of the couple, expressing his grief and asking for prayers.

“My heart is broken in a thousand pieces,” Baker posted.

“I’ve never felt this kind of pain. Most of you know my daughter and son-in-law Davy and Natalie Lloyd are full time missionaries in Haiti. They were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed. They went to Heaven together.”

The three victims had just left the youth event when they were ambushed “by a gang of 3 trucks full of guys,” according to a post shared on the organization’s Facebook page before their deaths were confirmed.

“Their lives are in danger. I have been trying all my contacts to get a police armored car there to evacuate them out to safety but can’t get anyone to do so,” read the post, whose author is unclear.

Missions in Haiti serves children

Missions in Haiti, an evangelistic organization, offers a number of services for children, including two permanent residence homes, a school and a bakery.

“We believe the doors are still open for Haiti’s children to be changed by the Gospel,” reads the organization’s website.

The organization runs a “House of Compassion” near Port-au-Prince, where 36 children live, and the “Good Hope Boys Home,” which can house up to 25. It also runs the Bon Espoir school (Good Hope School), a church and a bakery that employs adults who previously were raised in Missions in Haiti facilities and provides bread for its residential centers.

While many schools have been forced to close due to the gang violence, Missions in Haiti had remained open.

In a May 2023 update to the website, the organization called their area “relatively calm,” saying the gang leader in their area controlled one of the “nicer gangs” in Haiti.

“This gang works to keep the ‘bad guys’ out of our area, and we pray that they will continue to be strong enough to keep some semblance of peace in this area,” according to the site.

Missionaries targeted by kidnappers

An increasing number of Christian missionaries working in Haiti have been the target of kidnappings perpetrated by gang members. The criminal groups rely on kidnappings to make money through ransoms. UNICEF reported an increase in the number of abductions since 2023, noting that women and children were most at risk of being kidnapped.

In October of 2021, a group of 17 Christian Aid Ministries missionaries—16 Americans and one Canadian—were kidnapped by gangs. Twelve escaped, and the others were later freed.

In the past few years, the country has plunged into turmoil, aggravated by the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. In the months following the president’s assassination, armed gangs vying for control of the capital banded together and took advantage of the political unrest.

After Moïse’s death, the government was run by Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose legitimacy was heavily contested through street protests, until he resigned in April of this year. A transitional council was named to lead the country after Henry’s departure.

The gangs now control 90 percent of the capital and have blocked several roads into Port-au-Prince and the city’s main port, stalling the flow of goods into the country. Since January, gang violence has killed or injured 2,500 and displaced 35,000, according to the United Nations.

In March, the country experienced a spike in violence when gang members freed thousands of inmates jailed in the capital’s two largest prisons.

A peacekeeping mission led by Kenyan police officers, including officers from Chile, Jamaica, Grenada, Burundi, Nigeria and others, is set to arrive in Port-au-Prince this week to help Haitian police fight the gangs. A total of 1,000 Kenyan police officers will be deployed.

After civil war forced a school for refugee children in Sudan to close, the Texas Baptist Eritrean church that founded it has launched another similar school in Uganda.

In 2012, Gospel Light Eritrean Baptist Church in Dallas founded Tesfa Eritrea—Hope of Eritrea—in Sudan to serve children in a refugee camp.

“There were a lot of refugees from Eritrea. It was a big mission field there,” said Ahferom Akilas, a missions leader at Gospel Light Eritrean Baptist Church.

Due to the pervasive influence of the Orthodox Church in the area, starting an evangelical church in the region was difficult, Akilas said.

However, parents of all backgrounds were eager to send their children to school—even an explicitly Christian school, he noted.

The school opened with 450 students and 17 teachers, Akilas said. The next year, student enrollment doubled, and the school employed 30 teachers.

As the school grew, not only did many of the students come to faith in Christ, but many of their family members also made personal faith commitments to Jesus, Akilas noted.

At its peak, the school had an enrollment of 2,500 students, from pre-kindergarten through high school.

“We didn’t have enough space, and we actually had to turn some students away,” Akilas said.

Funds from the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering enabled the school to offer nutritious meals to the students, as well as provide books and other basic supplies.

Civil war in Sudan created crisis

Everything changed in mid-April 2023, when conflict between rival factions of the military government in Sudan escalated to civil war.

Many schools and hospitals closed. A humanitarian crisis ensued, with about 25 million people needing aid, including 14 million children.

The civil war internally displaced more than 6.7 million people in Sudan, and more than 2 million fled the country as refugees.

A core group of the Tesfa Eritrea teachers and some students relocated to Uganda.

With help from Gospel Light Eritrean Baptist Church, the school relaunched in Kampala with a modest enrollment of 30 students.

Because schools—including Christian schools—are more common in Uganda than in Sudan, Akilas acknowledged the school in Uganda is unlikely to grow to the same size as the Sudanese school before the civil war.

However, he sees a school specifically for refugee children—with their shared backgrounds and unique needs—as filling a niche and serving an important need in Uganda.

In addition to Eritrean refugee children, the school has the potential to provide an education for refugee children from Ethiopia, Somalia and other African nations, he noted.

And the evangelistic vision that motivated Gospel Light Eritrean Baptist Church to start a school in Sudan also guides the school in Uganda.

“We want to see people saved,” Akilas said. “We want students and their families to come to know Christ.”

HIDALGO, México (BP) – Más de 150 bautistas forzados a abandonar sus hogares debido a su fe están protestando contra un plan del gobierno local que les permite regresar a casa solamente si pagan a sus perseguidores $9,026, dijo CSW (anteriormente Solidaridad Cristiana Mundial) el 16 de mayo.

Bajo el plan ofrecido por la ciudad de Huejutla de los Reyes, los miembros de la Iglesia Bautista La Gran Comisión pagarían la multa colectiva (150,000 pesos mexicanos) a los mismos líderes católicos romanos de la comunidad que los forzaron a abandonar sus hogares y propiedades, dijo CSW, y continuarían sufriendo restricciones a la libertad religiosa impuestas bajo la Ley de Usos y Costumbres.

A tres familias se les seguiría prohibiendo la entrada a sus hogares, y los líderes de la comunidad católica romana no se enfrentarían a ninguna sanción.

El pastor de la Iglesia Bautista La Gran Comisión, Rogelio Hernández Baltazar y el líder de la iglesia, Nicolás Hernández Solórzano, protestaron contra el plan del gobierno en una conferencia de prensa celebrada el 15 de mayo. Las familias desplazadas, inicialmente refugiadas en el edificio de la Presidencia Municipal, han sido trasladadas a otro lugar y dependen de las donaciones de la comunidad y de la ayuda de las iglesias locales para obtener alimentos y agua.

Anna Lee Stangl, responsable de abogacía de CSW, calificó el plan de “indefendible”.

“Al impulsar este acuerdo ilegal, se hacen cómplices de las continuas y atroces violaciones de la libertad de religión o creencias en Coamila y Rancho Nuevo”, dijo Stangl en un comunicado de prensa. “Esto es inaceptable en un país democrático como México, que garantiza la libertad de religión o creencia para todos en su constitución y en las convenciones internacionales de derechos humanos de las que forma parte”.

Los bautistas se vieron obligados el 26 de abril a huir de sus hogares en Coamila y Rancho Nuevo, comunidades indígenas de habla náhuatl en Hidalgo, después de que los líderes de la aldea les cortaran la electricidad, vandalizaran y bloquearan el acceso a algunas de sus casas y de la iglesia, y apostaran guardias en los puntos de entrada de cada aldea.

Los desplazados, que en un principio eran 139, pasaron de 150 al incluir a los que estaban trabajando fuera de las aldeas el 26 de abril y a los que no se permitió regresar a sus hogares.

CSW instó a los gobiernos estatal y federal de Hidalgo a intervenir urgentemente “para dejar claro que la libertad de religión o creencia se extiende a todos, incluso en el municipio de Huejutla de los Reyes, independientemente de su identidad etnolingüística y de su religión o creencia”.

A pesar de la garantía de la libertad religiosa en la Constitución Mexicana, un sistema jurídico dual permite a las comunidades indígenas locales regirse por la Ley de Usos y Costumbres. Estas leyes, que varían según el pueblo y las costumbres, se explotan a menudo contra las minorías religiosas, según han denunciado varios grupos de vigilancia de la libertad religiosa.

Las violaciones se han intensificado en los pueblos desde el 2015, dijo CSW, con las autoridades locales en repetidas ocasiones tratando de obligar a los bautistas a participar en festivales religiosos católicos romanos. Las autoridades locales han intentado obligar a los miembros de la iglesia a apoyar monetariamente los eventos católicos y a participar activamente en actos de culto.

Los protestantes de varios pueblos de Hidalgo también se han enfrentado a fuertes palizas, falta de acceso a atención médica, detención arbitraria, discriminación laboral y confiscación de propiedades. A los niños de minorías religiosas se les ha impedido desde 2018 asistir a la escuela local.

Hidalgo tiene uno de los números más altos de estos casos en México, dijo CSW, y el gobierno local se niega a citar las acciones como violaciones a la libertad religiosa.

El Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos, la Comisión de Libertad Religiosa Internacional de Estados Unidos y el organismo de vigilancia de la persecución Open Doors han informado que las leyes aduaneras y de uso han llevado a la persecución de las minorías religiosas en México.

Open Doors situó a México en el puesto 37 de su lista de los 50 países donde los cristianos sufren más persecución.

https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/espanol/indefendible-150-bautistas-expulsados-de-mexico-se-enfrentan-a-una-multa-ilegal-para-regresar-a-su-pais/

NEW YORK (BP)—Former Southwestern Seminary interim provost Matthew Queen issued a statement through his attorney May 22 asserting his innocence of federal charges brought through a Department of Justice investigation.

Queen issued his statement to Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., where he has served as pastor since February after having most recently been an evangelism professor at Southwestern.

“I fully cooperated with this investigation and have pleaded not guilty to the charge against me,” he said. “As a Christian, a (former) seminary professor, and now a pastor, my integrity is everything to me and I will cling to that integrity and seek to be vindicated by God and man.

“Until that day, I do not intend to comment or discuss this matter further. I covet your prayers for me and my family. Thank you.”

Queen had served as an associate pastor at Friendly Avenue before accepting a role at Southwestern in 2010.

He was charged with withholding from federal investigators his knowledge of a document about an allegation of sexual abuse connected to Southwestern. Furthermore, investigators said, Queen knowingly provided false information in the form of a notebook.

In his statement, Queen said he was interviewed about his recollection of “a conversation of interest to investigators” at which he was present.

In a separate statement, his attorney said the meeting had been scheduled to discuss a matter separate from the document about the allegation.

“Dr. Queen has never seen the contents of the document and became aware of the general nature of the contents of the letter, i.e., about the rape accusation, at a later time,” said attorney Sam A. Schmidt.

That later time was when charges were filed against his client, Schmidt clarified, adding a defense of the notebook provided by Queen to investigators.

“The notes prepared by Dr. Queen cited in the accusation were true to his best recollection and did not contain false information,” he said. “Dr. Queen testified truthfully before the Grand Jury.”

NAZARETH, Israel (BP)—As a 15-year-old high school student in Nazareth, Arab Christian Yasmeen Mazzawi wanted to learn the history of the Jews she met volunteering as a paramedic with Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical services.

Her decision to visit Auschwitz with a team of Magen David Adom volunteers challenged her friendships with Muslim and Christian classmates at Nazareth Baptist School, founded by Southern Baptist missionaries in 1935.

As her classmates and even teachers ostracized her, Mazzawi responded by embarking on a successful campaign to spread cross-cultural understanding among Israel’s diverse population of Jews, Christians, Arabs, Muslims and others. She spoke at nongovernmental organizations, schools and youth camps across Israel, and utilized social media.

“To bridge between Arabs and Jews, to me that was a huge success. They understood that after they met the people, the Jewish people, they are just like us,” Mazzawi said of her classmates.

“What connects us at the end of the day is values. Christians by themselves are different. I think this is the beauty of the world, that we are different. It’s like this mosaic, and each one brings his added value and his own beauty to this world.”

‘All of us work together to save lives’

Her Christian faith and love of humanity drive her continued commitment to cross-cultural understanding during the Israel-Hamas War.

Volunteering with Magen David Adom, she treats soldiers and civilians injured on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, combat overshadowed by the center of the war in Gaza.

“Arabs and Jews, all of us work together to save lives,” Mazzawi said, describing MDA forces composed of Arabs, Christians, Jews, Muslims and Bedouins from very diverse backgrounds. “We are very dedicated and we love what we do.”

She believes rising antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attack on Southern Israel stems from a lack of understanding. Particularly on U.S. college campuses, where students called for divestiture from Israel and freedom for Palestine, she believes scholarly conversations could have eased tensions.

“I grew up on values. We grew up loving the other, accepting the other,” Mazzawi said. “If you try maybe to talk to one another, I’m pretty sure a huge percentage of these people will maybe not change their minds, but they can step back and maybe understand from the beginning.”

‘We have to be united’

On Oct. 7, Mazzawi had planned to travel to Mannheim Business School in Germany, where she completed her studies in November, but the attack changed her plans.

“I stayed here in Israel in case there was anything I could help with. I stayed with my Jewish friends, and Arab friends were in the South,” she said.

“We have to be here together, especially these days. We have to be united. We have to show that we are different here in Israel. We are diverse, but at the end of the day, we’re together, and we have to put politics away.”

Many of her friends in Southern Israel were killed in the attack, and others were taken hostage.

“What happened here in Israel was horrible. We found ourselves for two weeks going from home to home, to friends, staying with them and strengthening them,” she said of her family. “It was a really hard time.”

God ‘brought me here to make a difference’

She relies on her faith and fellow Magen David Adom volunteers for strength and resilience in war, leading paramedic teams into danger as others run for cover. Teams of paramedics systemically treat the most severe cases first, whether soldiers or civilians.

“There’s always this fear. When we go to the borders, it’s dangerous, and I have to make sure everyone’s safe,” Mazzawi said. “We have to separate our minds from our hearts. We have to do everything we can to save lives. It’s not easy, but we know how to do it well. We are very dedicated and we love what we do.

“Military teams are ready. We know how to deal with these situations. It’s very amazing if I zoom out and look at the scene. It’s just amazing how you see everyone working together.”

She encourages others to look beyond politics and learn Israel’s history and contemporary culture.

“Many people have lack of knowledge about Jews and Israel. They are talking about politics, but many in Israel don’t agree with politics,” she said. “Many Jews and Arabs don’t agree with the current situation in Israel.

“At the end of the day, Israel is an amazing country. People here want to live in peace. People here love one another.”

She finds comfort in her belief that God is in control, and her hope for a brighter future.

“My faith, it helps me with the fear,” she said. “I have this belief that our Heavenly Father is with us, and I believe he brought me here to make a difference. Things happen for a reason at the end of the day.”

(RNS)—Since taking the pulpit at Legacy Baptist Church in Coolidge, Ariz., Pastor Rob Hudelson has not shied away from hot-button political issues, including disputing the results of the 2020 election.

His taste for politicking has expressed itself in his two campaigns for state representative.

Recently on X, formerly Twitter, Hudelson responded to a post from the conspiracy-minded journalist Lara Logan about recent arrests of Jan. 6 rioters with a post that read: “Marxism will not be something that is debated … only taken by force. It cannot win in the battlefield of ideas.”

That kind of rhetoric has earned Hudelson’s church an “A” rating from MyChurchFinder, a 6-month-old online directory that promises to connect Americans to “biblically sound” congregations across the country.

‘Biblically sound’ ratings

MyChurchFinder sends surveys to pastors nationwide and assigns a letter grade to their church based on their answers. To receive an A rating, pastors must demonstrate that they lead a “biblically sound, culturally aware & non-socialistic legislatively active church.”

Failing to meet any of the above criteria earns a church a “WNR”—Would Not Recommend.

The vast majority of the 270 churches in the directory received an A rating. Twenty-eight churches received B ratings, one church received a C, and three received “WNR.”

MyChurchFinder’s rating system rewards pastors who thumb their noses at the concept of separation of church and state and believe patriotism, politics and Christianity are inextricably, biblically linked.

The site is run by a Texas automobile executive, Roger Elswick, through his organization, the Eleven Six Institute, which describes its mission as “ensuring the Church becomes and remains, not only the conscience of the Government, but also the moral guide to legislation and the moral standard for all Government.”

The directory was co-founded by Neil Mammen, who is also listed as a speaker MyChurchFinder makes available.

Mammen, author of the self-published 2012 book Jesus Is Involved in Politics!: Why Aren’t You? Why Isn’t Your Church, gave an interview earlier this year to American Family News, a publication of the Christian fundamentalist American Family Association. In the interview, he stressed the importance of people being in “good churches” in an election year.

“Bad churches,” he said, are “just propping up the decay of America.”

Neither Elswick nor Mammen responded to requests for comment.

Mammen told American Family News a church’s A rating means “you are not only biblically sound, but you’re also culturally aware; you know and you preach about how abortion is bad and how CRT [critical race theory] is bad, but the most important part of that is then you do something about it.”

Conservative advocacy organization Turning Point USA, whose faith-based arm has endorsed MyChurchFinder, has been on a similar mission of late.

Turning Point’s founder, Charlie Kirk, has teamed up with far-right Christian nationalist pastor Lance Wallnau to turn churches in swing states such as Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia into “campaign powerhouses,” Rolling Stone magazine reported earlier this year.

Liberty Pastors, another organization that has endorsed MyChurchFinder, is dedicated to “training” pastors “to think Biblically in every area of life—including the realms of civil government, economics, human sexuality, charity, and family.”

And, the organization touts high-profile instructors such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Act for America founder Brigitte Gabriel.

MyChurchFinder identifies congregations that have become members of Liberty Pastors.

Familiar Christian nationalist names

For those who follow Christian nationalist pastors, a few familiar names pop up in MyChurchFinder’s directory. “Patriot Churches,” a network founded by Ken Peters with locations in Knoxville and Lenoir City, Tenn., and Spokane, Wash., all have A grades.

Peters’ mini empire began with the “Church at Planned Parenthood” in Spokane, which previously used members of the Proud Boys as security.

Another is the Ekklesia church in Pomona, Calif., whose pastor has deep ties to the Proud Boys and other far-right groups in Southern California. On Fire Ministries, in Spokane, run by former Washington state Rep. Matt Shea, is also in the directory.

In 2019, Washington legislative investigators concluded Shea had “participated in an act of domestic terrorism” when he “planned, engaged in, and promoted a total of three armed conflicts of political violence against the United States government” between 2014 and 2016—including armed standoffs in Nevada and Oregon that involved members of the Bundy family and an armed conflict with the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department in Priest River, Idaho.

On Fire Ministries came under scrutiny in 2022 when it turned out two members of white nationalist group Patriot Front were affiliated with the church. A pastor from On Fire Ministries later denounced Patriot Front as “racist.”

While the MyChurchFinder list is by no means comprehensive (notable absences include Sean Feucht’s congregation, Let Us Worship), the 270 churches that are rated offer some insight into geographical hot spots for Christian nationalist congregations.

Alaska, Maine and Vermont do not appear at all on the list, but some other states appear to be overrepresented. An extensive report by the Public Religion Research Institute published earlier this year found sympathy for Christian nationalism was most prevalent in conservative rural states.

But MyChurchFinder lists 40 churches in California, the most of any state, despite PRRI finding just 22 percent of Californians sympathize with or adhere to Christian nationalism.

PRRI also found support for Christian nationalism was “strongly correlated” with voting for Donald Trump in 2020. But of the more than 200 A-rated churches where county-level election data was available, 60 percent were in counties that went red for Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

More than a third were in counties that voted for Biden. And of the at least 133 churches located in pro-Trump counties, a third were adjacent to a blue county.

This story was reported with support from the Stiefel Freethought Foundation.