The Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs heard public testimony May 5 on a bill calling for the Texas Lottery to be abolished.

“There is no way to reorganize, restructure or restore the integrity of the government-run Texas Lottery,” said Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, who introduced SB 1988. Hall’s bill calls for the abolition of the Texas Lottery, effective Jan. 1, 2026.

In presenting his bill—which the Senate Committee on State Affairs left pending—Hall laid out a detailed recounting of how the Texas Lottery Commission in recent years failed to abide by state laws.

Without legislative approval, the commission changed rules to enable “a private/public syndicated crime partnership” to “engage in a criminal conspiracy to defraud Texans,” he asserted.

‘Serious breach of trust’

“I and those who know the details even as they continue to evolve are convinced that this organized crime scandal that has been operating behind the shield of being a Texas state government agency is probably the most serious breach of trust since the Sharpstown scandal in 1971 and 1972,” Hall told the committee.

The Sharpstown scandal Hall referred to was a stock-fraud scandal that resulted in charges being brought against nearly two dozen state officials and former officials.

Among other abuses, Hall described how the Texas Lottery Commission enabled out-of-state investors to purchase practically every combination of numbers to rig the lottery to win a $95 million jackpot.

“Multiple investigations into the lottery’s criminal operations are ongoing and evidence of multiple crimes against the people of Texas continue to be uncovered,” Hall said.

In response to a question about how much the lottery contributes to public education, Hall noted it funds three days of public-school operations in the calendar year, which he characterized as “chump change.”

Lottery is ‘the antithesis of Texas values’

Rob Kohler, consultant with Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission, testified in favor of SB 1988.

When Texas approved the creation of a state lottery in the early 1990s, proponents presented it as a voluntary alternative to a regressive sales tax, Kohler noted.

The lottery “would make a sales tax blush in terms of regressivity,” he asserted.

Kohler presented data demonstrating the correlation between areas where incomes are low and purchases of “immediate gratification” scratch-off ticket sales are high.

“They’re selling $100 scratch-off tickets now in convenience stores. They’ve gone from the price of a Snickers bar at a dollar to the most expensive product in the store,” Kohler said.

John Litzler, public policy director for the Christian Life Commission, also testified in support of SB 1988.

Texas Baptist churches are “on the front lines” of helping people who suffer due to financial crises “caused at least in part by the Texas Lottery,” he noted.

He called the Texas Lottery “the antithesis of Texas values” and said the time has come for the Texas Lottery Commission to be abolished.

“We support legislation that promotes both fair and just financial practices and legislation that promotes human flourishing in Texas,” Litzler said. “We believe this bill does both of those things and that the Texas Lottery games don’t do either of those things.”

BROWNWOOD—Howard Payne University appointed David Lowrie, longtime Texas Baptist pastor and former president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, as dean of the School of Christian Studies.

Lowrie brings more than 43 years of ministry experience and leadership to the role and will begin the position in August. Gary Gramling, current dean of the School of Christian Studies, will continue to serve as director of Christian studies graduate programs and professor of Christian studies.

 “I am excited to welcome Dr. David Lowrie to this new leadership role at HPU,” said HPU President Cory Hines. “Dr. Lowrie is passionate about equipping young leaders to be faithful and effective pastors and ministers.

“He brings tremendous ministry experience and has provided leadership for 20 years through our board of trustees. We look forward to Dr. Lowrie and his wife Robyn joining the HPU family.”

Lowrie has served First Baptist Church of Decatur as senior pastor for the last eight years. His career in ministry spans four decades and encompasses rural and urban settings, as well as church planting and mission work. He was pastor in El Paso, Canyon, Mabank, Lewisville and Roanoke, as well as Milwaukee, Wisc.

He has led mission teams to Mexico, Paraguay, Brazil and East Asia.

He was president of Texas Baptists for two years and has served in numerous Baptist associational and state leadership positions.

‘Equip and train the next generation of ministers’

Lowrie served on the HPU board of trustees since 2005, including as chair for two years. He previously taught several Christian studies courses at HPU’s extension center in El Paso when he served as pastor of First Baptist Church in El Paso. He also assisted in the relocation of the extension center to the First Baptist location during his time there.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baylor University, a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.

“I am deeply humbled to be given the opportunity to build on the great legacy of the School of Christian Studies,” Lowrie said. “For decades, HPU has turned out world changing leaders.

“The Lord has given me a calling to join this mission to equip and train the next generation of ministers with spiritual depth, intellectual rigor and practical tools to be effective in leading churches to change the world.”

Robyn Lowrie has served as an adjunct professor at HPU. The Lowries have four daughters—Kalie Lowrie, Lorin Scott, Jamie Villanueva and Madison Lowrie—and six grandchildren.

 “Robyn and I love HPU. We cannot wait to plant our lives in Brownwood. In many ways, HPU is our ‘family business,’” Lowrie said.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill establishing an education savings account program that allows families to direct public funds to private—often religious—schools.

“I am signing this law that will ensure Texas families, whose children can no longer be served by the public school assigned to them, have the choice to take their money and find the school that is right for them,” Abbott said during a May 3 signing ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin.

The $1 billion program—Abbott’s top legislative priority—will provide about $10,000 to each participating private school student and up to $2,000 to each participating homeschool student.

It dedicates 80 percent to students with disabilities and—broadly defined—low-income families. The general population, including families with students already enrolled in private schools, can apply for the remaining 20 percent.

Cost of the program considered

The Legislative Budget Board estimates the education savings account program’s cost will grow from $1 billion in 2027 to more than $3.75 billion from general revenue in 2030, plus an additional $805 million from the Foundation School Fund.

The cost to the principles of justice and the separation of church and state are even higher, said Charles Foster Johnson, founding executive director of Pastors for Texas Children.

“An old preacher told me a long time ago that God’s justice was figuring out what belongs to others and giving it to them. Universal education for all children is God’s justice. A $1 billion voucher subsidy program for children already in private schools—mostly religious schools that use Caesar to support their religion—is not,” Johnson said.

The same day Abbott signed the education savings account bill, Johnson noted signs of strong voter support for public education in local elections throughout Texas. Voters approved public school bond proposals and elected school board trustees supportive of public schools, he said.

House joined Senate in backing the bill

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick—a longtime proponent of school vouchers—called the enactment of the educational savings account program “one of the hallmark policy victories of my career.”

“The Texas Senate and I have passed school choice six times since 2015, because we firmly believe in this principle,” Patrick said.

In previous legislative sessions, a coalition of rural Republicans and urban Democrats defeated each of the Senate-backed school voucher bills.

Jeff Yass, cofounder and managing director of the Philadelphia-based Susquehanna International Group and supporter of “school choice,” made the largest single campaign donation in Texas history to Abbott.

Abbott subsequently supported the primary opponents of rural Republicans who defeated a voucher-style bill in the 2023 legislative session, changing the makeup of the Texas House.

“This session, the Texas Legislature worked together to deliver what parents have long been asking for—more opportunities for our students to reach their full potential,” House Speaker Dustin Burrows said.

“School choice, paired with the House’s additional proposal to initiate the largest increase in public education funding in Texas history, will elevate the overall quality of our educational system and make a generational impact on our state.”

Step still missing

The Texas House approved a public education funding bill increasing the basic allotment per public school from $6,160 to $6,555, with 40 percent earmarked for school staff salaries. The bill includes close to $2 billion in special education funding and $750 million to increase teacher pay.

Burrows touted House passage of the education savings account bill and its school funding legislation as the “Texas two-step.”

“While the voucher bill was signed into law by Gov. Abbott this weekend, the school funding bill has yet to be scheduled for a hearing in the Senate,” said John Litzler, public policy director for Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission.

“Proponents of school vouchers often state that Texas can fully fund both public education and a voucher program. But the second step of the legislative plan for improving educational outcomes is already lagging behind.

“The Christian Life Commission urges the Texas Senate to pass HB2 and cultivate the flourishing of the 5.5 million public school children in Texas.”

Since arriving at First Baptist Church in Crosbyton in July 2022, Pastor Mark Davis had been praying for the church, after it saw only two baptisms the previous year.

He believed the church had potential to be “filled with life and baptisms and joy and people who love each other and people who are growing in Christ.”

“But when [my family] got here, the church was a little bit down,” Davis said.

Prior to his arrival, First Baptist faced severe storm damage that left the church “in a state of mourning” and required the congregation to meet in a different facility for six months while the building was being repaired.

When Davis was called to be their pastor, he saw a need for change.

“[The church] needed to be reminded of who they were and the power that our God has,” he said.

“So, how do you do that? How do you bring life back? You evangelize … and then you get outside of your context, and you remind yourself of the global kingdom.”

Being molded by the mission

Four months into Davis’ pastorate at First Baptist Church in Crosbyton, he received an invitation to go to Seattle to meet some church planters.

Davis thought the vision trip to Seattle might be a “good opportunity to connect us with a church outside of our context, so that we can start to build a relationship,” of prayer and financial support, but “also that we’re able to send people there and allow them to be molded by the mission.”

“What we say to our church is, ‘If you see the Spirit of God moving, you run to that,’” Davis said.

So, he took the trip, met with church planters and visited their facilities. He brought back “profiles and notes from conversations that I had with the church planters” to pray over.

As the church prayed, God began to burden their hearts for Ivan Shepel, pastor of Bellevue Bible Church in Seattle.

“[Ivan is] a Ukrainian pastor, [and] he planted a Russian speaking church at the very beginning … [of] the war that’s going on,” Davis explained.

“And to see that there was a body of believers that is helping refugees from both sides, that is leading people to Christ from both countries, that is doing a work very much like the New Testament in the book of Acts with the Jews and Gentiles, but with Russians and Ukrainians … choosing to worship together … it’s unifying for the body,” he noted.

“Why would you not want to be involved in something like that and have your people be molded by that?”

In January 2023, the congregation began sending financial support, then in September sent their first team to Seattle to “love and encourage” Shepel’s congregation.

The team attended a Ukrainian festival and did evangelism with Bellevue members.

In September 2024, First Baptist sent another team and invited a team from Bellevue to visit Crosbyton in hopes of making it an annual opportunity to “be molded by each other.”

“A lot of times we forget [how great God is] whenever we’re down in the rut, but getting outside of our own context opens our eyes to who God is and what he’s doing,” Davis said.

Partnering with Bellevue Bible Church has sparked “a burden for missions” within his congregation, Davis said. It led to more missions opportunities, such as serving with Texas Baptists’ River Ministry, a ministry that connects churches to projects along the Texas/Mexico border.

“It had been a while since we had sent a mission team anywhere, and so now the fact that we’re even talking about [it] was really exciting for the church, and [they had] all kinds of questions whenever we got back,” Davis said.

Davis recalled from his time in Pave, a Texas Baptist ministry that provides customized church revitalization training to pastors, being challenged to expand impact by using unique moments in the church strategically.

He leaned into that challenge to “expand their impact” with his congregation’s curiosity about the Seattle trips.

“[We showed] two videos of people who went on the trip talking about them [on] different weeks,” said Davis. “[Then] we just talked about it week after week after week and shared different elements of the trips that we took.”

“One of the coolest” moments from the two trips to Bellevue Bible Church was when a 15-year-old student shared his testimony of coming to know Jesus, then leading his mom, sister and best friend to Christ “within the next year.”

“You have people standing up and sharing their testimony in Ukrainian, and some of the brothers and sisters are translating for us in English. Then you have people from our church going up and sharing in English, and they’re translating into Russian for them,” he said.

“[But] no matter what language you speak or where you’re born, the whole room is weeping and praising God for it.”

Celebrating new life with a birthday party

Davis also is “expanding the impact” of how God is moving through the baptism strategy he learned in Pave.

He said Jonathan Smith, director of Church Health and Growth at Texas Baptists, introduced the idea of “stretching out” baptisms by promoting and emphasizing them on Sunday mornings.

First Crosbyton adopted this strategy and developed a unique way to celebrate each baptism.

“We announce and we promote the baptism a week before we have the baptism, and we put on the testimony video [before they are baptized].

“Then immediately after that service, we have a meal … We turned it into a little bit of a birthday party because I figured: ‘It’s a new life. It’s a new birth.’ So, we buy a birthday cake, and we put ‘Happy Baptism Day (whoever’s getting baptized)’,” Davis explained.

The Resurrection Wall

Each baptism is a “time of joy” for the church family, Davis said, but the celebration doesn’t stop there. The week following a baptism, the new believer gets a cross on the “Resurrection Wall.”

“[The Resurrection Wall sign] has so much symbolism in it. It’s made from scrap wood that had no use. … It’s stained dark to represent our sin.

 “And then in just pure white maple, untouched wood, is the word ‘Resurrection,’ and it’s like a 3D effect coming out of the darkness,” Davis said.

“[The church member who made it] was so upset when she made it, because those letters were pure white, [but] she couldn’t figure out how to cover up the nail holes. … And I was like: ‘No, don’t cover up the nail holes. That represents the nails that Jesus took for us [on the cross].’”

Evangelistic fervor and ‘almost 100 percent’ growth

Putting Pave training into practice has sparked “evangelistic fervor” in the church, Davis said.

The congregation has grown by “almost 100 percent in just over two years,” he noted.

Davis said the Pave principle, “if you can explain what you’re doing, God’s not the one doing it,” has become the banner of the church.

“We haven’t put a strategy in place for [evangelism]. People are just telling their friends about Jesus. They’re just inviting them to church.

“They’re choosing to spend time together outside of the church doing real life discipleship, having gospel conversations around the dinner table regularly,” Davis said. “That’s so beautiful.”

In a sometimes-testy late-night hearing that continued into the early-morning hours on April 30, the Texas House Committee on Public Education heard public testimony on a bill mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in every public-school classroom.

The Texas Senate in mid-March approved SB 10, introduced by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, on a 20-11 party-line vote. The bill requires all public elementary and secondary schools to “display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments.”

Rep. Candy Noble, R-Lucas, a member of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, is carrying the bill in the Texas House and testified on its behalf before the Committee on Public Education, where it was left pending.

“The Ten Commandments are foundational to our American educational and judicial system,” Noble told the committee.

Noble pointed to multiple references to the Ten Commandments in the New England Primer and in the McGuffy Readers, used in American public schools from the 1830s to the 20th century.

“Nothing is more deep-rooted in the fabric of our American tradition of education than the Ten Commandments,” she said.

“The way we treat others as a society comes from the principles found in the Ten Commandments. In these days of classroom mayhem, it is time to return to the truth … respect authority, respect others, don’t steal, tell the truth, don’t kill, keep your word.”

She maintained the Ten Commandments played a foundational role in shaping the beliefs of the Founding Fathers, and students need to be familiar with the commandments to understand the nation’s founding principles, its history and its traditions.

SB 10 prescribes the specific wording for the mandated Ten Commandments classroom display—an abridged version of the commandments based on Exodus 20 in the King James Version of the Bible.

Allowing the state to decide matters of faith

“When the government starts to decide matters of faith, that becomes really dangerous for all of us,” said Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin.

Talarico, a seminary student, noted Jews, Catholics and Lutherans follow a different ordering and wording of the commandments than the general Protestant version.

“Do you think it’s appropriate for politicians like us, government officials like us, to decide which version of the Ten Commandments is the correct one to be displayed in every Texas classroom?” he asked.

Noble said the prescribed language in the bill is taken from the wording on a monument between the Texas Capitol and the state Supreme Court building. In a 2005 case, Van Orden v. Perry, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 the monument did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“History shows us there is a lot of danger when we let the state control or decide religious teachings, because once the government starts dictating something like the true text of the Ten Commandments, what is to stop them from dictating the true meaning of the gospel or the true meaning of the sacraments?” Talarico said.

‘Classrooms crying out for moral guidance’

Noble responded by saying, “Our classrooms are crying out for moral guidance.”

Talarico emphasized Texas public schools not only serve students from Christian homes, but also students from other religious traditions or no religious tradition.

“As a Christian myself, I consider Hindu students, Jewish students, Muslim students, atheist students to be my neighbor, and we, as Christians are called to love them as ourselves. And I think forcing one religious tradition down their throats is not love,” Talarico said.

Noble countered by saying: “I contend it is not a religious tradition. I contend it is foundational, again, to our judicial and educational system, and it would be to their enlightenment to understand what made our forefathers tick.”

Others testifying on behalf of the bill were Elijah O’Neal with the American Journey Experience; David Barton, founder of WallBuilders; and Matt Krause of the First Liberty Institute.

Each reiterated several of the same points Noble introduced, emphasizing their belief the mandated display of the Ten Commandments passes the “history and tradition” judicial standard established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.

Baptist opposition to the bill

Mara Richards Bim, program director for Faith Commons and a candidate for ordination at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, testified against the bill.

“I’m very upset at everything I’ve heard today. I’m a Baptist. I believe in the separation of church and state,” Bim said. “I know that the whole point of this … is to get it to the Supreme Court, and nothing anyone says here tonight will actually matter.”

If the bill becomes law, it inevitably will be challenged in court, she predicted.

“As a very proud Baptist, I will be the first person signing up for the lawsuit,” she said.

Dan Hinkle, member of Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, contended there is no rush to pass the House version of SB 10. Louisiana passed a similar bill currently under review in the Fifth Circuit Court. Texas is part of the Fifth Circuit and ought to wait “to see what happens with the Louisiana case,” Hinkle said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton “is involved in [the Louisiana case] already,” Hinkle added. “So, we as Texans are represented.”

With his remaining time, Hinkle sought to explain the history behind Baptist advocacy for religious freedom, the Baptist principle that leads him to oppose mandating the display of any version of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, he communicated to the Baptist Standard by phone.

While proponents of the House version of SB 10 cite the Ten Commandments as foundational to America’s founding, Hinkle reminded the House Committee on Public Education: The First Amendment “is very special for Baptists, because Baptists played a key role in the drafting and the development of the First Amendment.”

The First Amendment begins: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …”

“And here’s why,” Hinkle continued. “Some people believe our forefathers were Christians, men of the church. Well, let me tell you, they didn’t like Baptists in the colonial days,” he said, explaining some of the ways Baptists were persecuted in New England and Virginia.

With additional reporting by Editor Eric Black.

Debbie Potter, incumbent first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, will be nominated as BGCT president at Texas Baptists’ annual meeting, Nov. 16-18 in Abilene.

Incumbent president Ronny Marriott, pastor of First Baptist Church in Richardson, announced his plans to nominate Potter, children’s pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio.

Marriott praised Potter as a proven leader who understands Texas Baptists, having served as second vice president and first vice president of the state convention.

‘Brings a lot to the table’

He described Potter as “a people magnet” who others enjoy being with because they are “comfortable around her and feel valued by her.”

“She brings a lot to the table,” Marriott said.

He pointed to her denominational service and her more than two decades of experience in ministry to children at Trinity Baptist Church.

“She understands the need to reach the next generation,” he said, adding she has written books, curriculum, articles, children’s sermons and other resources for ministry to children and their families.

Potter is “a champion for children and a champion for women in ministry” who is “secure in her call,” Marriott said.

If elected, Potter will be the third woman to serve as BGCT president and the first woman who serves in a pastoral role on a church staff to become president.

Joy Fenner, a former missionary and longtime executive-director treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, was BGCT president in 2007-2008. Kathy Hillman, director of Baptist collections and library advancement at Baylor University and director of Baylor’s Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society, was BGCT president in 2014-2015.

Potter said she wants to encourage and support women in ministry at a time in Baptist life when some have experienced a “glass ceiling” preventing them from assuming key leadership roles and fulfilling their potential.

“These are women who just want to serve their churches and do what God has called them to do and given them the gifts to do,” she said.

‘Strengthen and help families that need help’

Potter expressed appreciation for the ministries to children and families offered by agencies and institutions related to the BGCT, as well as those provided by Texas Baptist churches.

At the same time, she would like to see a more coordinated and focused effort, particularly to serve children and families in crisis.

“We need to strengthen and help families that need help,” she said.

As a volunteer chaplain with Child Protective Services in San Antonio, Potter also pointed to the need to support and encourage social services personnel who are “on the front lines.”

Potter has ministered to children and families since 1997, serving six years at Parkhills Baptist Church in San Antonio before joining the Trinity Baptist Church church staff.

She was licensed to the gospel ministry at Parkhills Baptist in 1998 and ordained by Trinity Baptist in 2005.

After completing her undergraduate degree from Southern Nazarene University and a master’s degree from the School of Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio, she earned a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Andrews University.

She is an adjunct professor at Baptist University of the Américas, where she has mentored international students and preached in chapel.

She is a trustee of Buckner International, and she previously served on the Texas Baptists’ Committee to Nominate Boards of Affiliated Ministries.

She and her husband Robert have two adult children, Chelsea and Chase.

KERRVILLE—To help bring the Bible to life in a fun and innovative way for elementary kids to understand, the children’s ministry at Trinity Baptist Church in Kerrville recently put together a gospel-centered escape room.

Families read selected Scripture passages together and solved clues as they embarked on an interactive experience that ultimately led them to find Jesus.

Although this was the first time children’s minister Kellee Parish and her team have put together an event like this, they always are on the lookout for creative ways to reach families with the gospel.

Each year, Trinity Baptist Church hosts Operation Blessing, which provides more than 300 pairs of shoes for children. In December, their church also hosts a drive-thru night in Bethlehem.

“We really wanted to come with something new and a great way to reach families with the gospel,” Parish said. “We were researching ideas, and my assistant came up with the idea for an escape room.

“Our goal specifically was to reach elementary schoolers with the gospel, and our vision was laid out by staying true to the Word as the clues for each room came together.

“I had noticed that our elementary school kids knew the Easter story, but there were holes when they were retelling it to others. This presented a great way for them to clearly see how it all comes together.”

About 80 participated in the escape room

Parish said about 80 people went through the escape room, including a few visitors.

“They went through it as a family and some brought friends,” Parish said. “We purposely did it on a Tuesday night, so we wouldn’t be competing with sports. And we offered pizza following the event, so families could enjoy a meal together.

“It was very family-oriented. There were a lot of fun elements, and the kids especially enjoyed wrapping their parents in toilet paper when they got to the tomb scene. We also offered photo op’s at the end with the characters dressed in their costumes.”

Based on the response to this year’s event, Parish said her team already is working on developing an escape room for next year and says she would encourage other churches to consider doing similar outreaches.

“We had 12 to 15 volunteers on the team, and they helped with things like putting the clues together and dressing up in costumes for the different scenes in each room,” Parish said.

“The hardest part was coming up with the clues. Everyone really enjoyed this event, and it was a team effort. All these Sunday school teachers jumped in and wanted to be a part of this event and that was great to see.”

Designed to present the complete gospel story

Parish and her team already are thinking of how they can make the escape room different and better for next year.

“Both kids and their parents had a great time. It was a beautiful picture seeing families reading the Scriptures together and seeing them put all the clues together and discovering how the gospel is laid out,” she said.

“As families walked through each room, they discovered the gospel story in its entirety. That was our main goal to present the complete picture of the gospel story to them and why we do what we do.

“For other churches considering an event like this, I would encourage them to just do it. Sometimes it’s hard to think out of the box, but as long as you are staying true to telling the story of Jesus, stay true to that and be creative.”

She called the escape room “a great opportunity to reach families with the gospel.” Compared to the church’s drive-thru Bethlehlem, which draws about 250 families, and Operation Blessing, which provides more than 300 pairs of shoes for children, she said it was “one of the easiest events we have put together.”

“Those are big events for our community,” she said. “We’re a little community, less of a city, but we do the best things together as a team and desire to see the gospel shared in creative ways to reach our community.”

WACO—One might expect somberness to describe the overall tenor of a conference built around solving a global crisis of hunger and poverty, but this year’s summit orbited a theology of hope.

Jenny Howell, director of the theology, ecology and food justice degree program at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, said problems of hunger, poverty and land degradation have been described as “wicked problems” no single sector can solve.

But these problems can be tackled with collaboration.

Biological research has observed organisms in “webs of connection” show better propensity toward resiliency, she noted.

When hard times come, it’s time to come together and collaborate to solve these “wicked problems.” Perhaps now more than ever, this is a time for collaboration, Howell suggested.

Hope in Africa

These changes are necessary, Howell said, “for the good of my neighbors, for the love of God and the love of place.”

Keynote speaker Father Emmanuel Katongole, professor of theology and peace studies at Notre Dame University, told of his work with Bethany Land Institute in rural Uganda.

He said he never guessed land management, food insecurity and poverty in his home country would become his preoccupation as a theologian, but “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor go together.” The cries of both in Uganda spurred him to action.

In a world facing serious problems of hunger, poverty and environmental degradation: “We need hope, and we need it badly,” he noted.

Katongole saw in his home country, Uganda, the “slow violence” of global warming, deforestation and economic uncertainty merging “to shape a continent steeped in contradictions and challenges,” and he wanted to try to channel his energy into constructive change.

He and his partners in ministry wanted to help young people facing existential questions learn to value a simple life in their communities, grow food and make money.

They created a campus dedicated to young people working together to address the “three Es” —education, economics and environment—while he worked on his book Born from Lament: The Theology and Politics of Hope in Africa.

In their work, he observed they were dealing with a social problem, an ecological problem and a spiritual problem.

“We have forgotten what it means to belong to the earth,” Katongole noted. And that is a crisis of belonging.

Not knowing “who we are” results in “internal deserts” that eventually “beget external deserts.”

His team decided to try an integrated approach to solving the crises through a spiritual lifestyle of caring for the land where students serve as “caretakers.”

“Something happens when we touch the ground,” Katongole noted.

Human lives are intended to be grounded with God, one another and the earth, he asserted. If one of those pieces is disrupted, the others suffer. That leads to a spiritual crisis of alienation.

But working the land together builds community and identity leading to a deep sense of “who we are as created by God.”

“The actual work of saving the world will always be humble,” he said. So, “start small, start well, and start now,” and learn to live in a place of hope, Katongole urged.

Hope in Fort Worth

Scripture records God’s “preferential option for the poor and vulnerable” and requires God’s people to have that same preference on behalf of the poor, said Heather Reynolds, managing director of the Lab for Economic Opportunities at the University of Notre Dame.

Reynolds, former president and CEO of Catholic Charities Fort Worth, described how she felt God asking her: “Heather, how are you preferring the poor right now—in this moment, in this space and in this place?”

In response to that question, she noted three bullet points scribbled in her personal devotional journal.

• Show up. She recalled weekly counseling sessions with Lois, a woman in her 80s who told such captivating stories, Reynolds felt less like a helping professional and more like she was enjoying “coffee with a girlfriend.” Reynolds said she thought Lois overpaid for the $10 sessions, because the therapist gained more from them than the client.
• Shine brightly with hopeful optimism. She cited the story of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, as recorded in the New Testament Book of Acts. As Stephen offered a prayer of forgiveness for those who stoned him, his face was “aglow” like an angel.

“I have to envision that glow from Stephen’s face came from a deep-seated wisdom that he knew what was coming next—a hopeful optimism about uniting with Christ,” Reynolds said.

Similarly, she said, her memories of people who had a deep impact on her life are surrounded by a “glow of hopeful optimism.”

• Activate truth. Don’t settle for good intentions. People in poverty “are worthy of our best efforts,” and that means practicing evidence-based approaches to tackling poverty that produce proven results, Reynolds said.

“Our hope is not in these times,” Reynolds said. “Our hope is not in a political candidate. Our hope is not in ourselves. Our hope is in a vision of what is to come. We are called to be hope-filled people.”

Hope is a verb

Norman Wirzba, professor and senior fellow of Christian theology at Duke University’s Kenan Institute of Ethics, offered the last keynote of the summit.

Wirzba asserted hope is one of those terms “people can’t do without,” but “do not assume that people want hope.”

Young people look at a future of “diminished possibilities,” due to climate change, which he said are the result of the actions of “old, white men” like himself.

“So, when young people hear people like me say: ‘Hey, be hopeful. Don’t give up,’ they say: ‘Are you kidding me?’ You’re on your way out. We’re not, and we have to live with what you are leaving us.’”

Many young people who face serious depression or other mental health issues can’t imagine having children in this world. This is not a small matter, he said.

“But we have to be honest about hope. And we have not been honest about our language around hope,” Wirzba said.

Religious sayings intended to be hopeful, like: “Don’t worry. God’s got this,” create the “ultimate bystander effect,” Wirzba said, noting that’s actually a very cynical way to think.

The techno version of hope—where humans retreat to underground bunkers, hope artificial intelligence will save the future or make plans to colonize Mars—are as cynical and empty as the religious version.

Both versions evade “our responsibility that gets repeated over, and over, and over again throughout Scripture, which is the responsibility to be in covenant relationship with God, other people and with our land,” he asserted.

These versions of hope are “supremely dangerous,” irresponsible and part of the reason young people are saying: “Stop talking about hope.”

Hope is not optimism, Wirzba noted. “It’s so, so hard to see what is happening” in the world today, and he is not much more optimistic than the young people, “who have resigned themselves to the fact that the future is going to suck.”

So, he suggested, give up on optimism that never challenges the status quo. Because optimism that things will work out when they are not working out leads to despair, hope is better than optimism.

“Hope is a movement against despair.” But, it’s not something you have or possess.

“Hope is something that involves you in the world in a new way,” Wirzba explained. It’s a verb, “something you do.”

Hope is figuring out how to nurture, protect and celebrate what you love, he explained. Hope is activated by answering the question, “Who or what do you love?”

And when we give our love, kindness and attention to our world, it responds.

“Hope is love in the future tense.” It gets individuals off the couch to ask: “What does love require of me?”

Then hope spurs decisions with the future of what is loved in mind. Communicate that the world is “love-worthy,” Wirzba urged—be agents of hope, and make it more delicious here.

With additional reporting by Managing Editor Ken Camp.

Age caught up with an East Texas disaster relief unit, but their desire to serve kept the future in mind. They donated their three trailers, a truck, a large generator and money to Texans on Mission.

Now a group of Texans on Mission volunteers are retooling the trailers at the Dixon Building in Dallas.

Mike Brittain, former pastor of Morton Baptist Church in Diana, contacted Texans on Mission Disaster Relief Director David Wells and offered the equipment and financial resources. The group is centered in Harrison County, northeast of Longview.

“They ran their team for a number of years, but they aged out of being able to deploy and didn’t have any younger volunteers to take their places,” Wells said.

Brittain led the Morton congregation 30 years, and they started the East Texas Disaster Relief feeding unit 28 years ago.

“We’ve been in it (disaster relief) a long, long time,” Brittain said. “We got older. Our chief cook passed away, and I’m reaching 80.”

‘Still going to be part of disaster relief’

When the nonprofit group lost its place to keep the equipment, they realized they needed to let it go. The group had lots of offers for the equipment, but decided it should all go to Texans on Mission.

“It’s a lot of resources, and every penny donated is going to stay in disaster relief,” he said of the decision. “The Lord just led us to go that direction. … We’re still going to be part of disaster relief.”

Rather than letting their equipment deteriorate from lack of use, the East Texas group donated it. They also donated convection ovens and “tons of Cambros”—insulated containers for delivering prepared food.

“They also gave Texans on Mission $50,000,” Wells said. “It’s a blessing. It really is. And the 2004 Ford truck only has 22,000 miles on it.”

Texans on Mission volunteers are working in Dallas now to update the two kitchen units “to fit and interchange with our current units. We are getting them ready for service as soon as possible,” Wells said.

“Instead of two state feeding units, we will now have four available for deployment on mass feeding.”

History of service

During the East Texas team’s active years, the volunteers traveled overseas to Sri Lanka, Haiti and Gaza. In the United States, they served in New York, Florida, Missouri and “all over the state of Texas,” Brittain said.

“During the (space) shuttle explosion, we set up a prayer station at the entrance of the Johnson Space Center and were the collection center for memorials,” he remembered.

In 2011, they went to Haiti as a water purification team and “brought in 15,000 personal water filter systems and a suitcase system for the makeshift hospital.”

Thirty church members from northwest Harrison County and the surrounding area “were committed to disaster relief.” And the Diana church encouraged their pastor, Brittain, to be a part of the work.

When the volunteers served close enough, Brittain returned to the church Saturday evening, preached Sunday morning, then headed back to the disaster relief site.

“As pastor, they gave me the privilege to go,” he recalled.

And “the people donated pretty faithfully to our group.” Those donations and support from the organization then known as Texas Baptist Men provided the equipment and finances that are now being donated to Texans on Mission.

Brittain said they served hundreds of hot dogs but didn’t “run hot dog stands in disaster relief.” They ran “meet Jesus stations, and I pray we never forget that.”

Video evidence sheds new light on how some individuals inside the Texas Lottery Commission allegedly enabled a syndicate with international connections to rig the system and claim a $95 million Texas Lottery jackpot.

The new evidence—alongside several ongoing investigations and lawsuits—adds momentum to a growing movement to do away with the Texas Lottery, close observers of the Texas Legislature said.

The brief video shows the interior of a storefront office where five individuals—two of whom appear to be minors—worked at computer terminals to print out lottery tickets. The Baptist Standard possesses the unedited video but is not posting it since it depicts minors.

The New York Times reported April 20 the video offered a glimpse into a three-day ticket printing rush in April 2023, when a British gambling consultant worked with Lottery.com and other entities to buy practically every combination of possible lottery numbers to secure a win.

The Times article notes how state lottery officials—charged with enforcing rules for playing the lottery—overlooked violations. Instead, they facilitated the delivery of equipment to four storefront offices posing as retailers to print out about 26 million paper lottery tickets.

The article told the complicated story about how the former owner of a lottery data company purchased by Lottery.com—who later sued Lottery.com for failure to pay—obtained the cell phone with the video and thousands of incriminating text messages.

‘A scheme to cheat the people of Texas’

In an interview with the Baptist Standard, Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, asserted the commission enabled “outright theft” and likened the scene depicted in the video clip to a “sweat shop.” Hall has led the charge in the Texas Senate to investigate wrongdoing by the Lottery Commission.

“No one on the outside could have ever done what they did without the close cooperation of the personnel within the Lottery Commission—changing the rules, providing the equipment and ignoring what obviously was a scheme to cheat the people of Texas,” he said.

Hall pointed to rule changes permitting the use of electronic devices, allowing the “speed-buying” of tickets, and authorizing the delivery of multiple machines with electronic QR code readers to specific locations.

The rule changes resulted in 60 machines in four locations running constantly for 72 hours to generate tickets with 12.8 million combinations of numbers, he said.

“It took it being orchestrated by personnel within the Lottery Commission to defraud Texans who played the lottery in good faith that they just might have a chance to hit the big one,” Hall said.

Investigations and legal actions

Revelations in the Times article added more fuel to the fire surrounding the Texas Lottery:

• In February, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate both the April 2023 bulk purchase of lottery tickets and a more-recent $83.5 million win involving lottery couriers.
• Two days later, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced his office was launching its own investigation into the Texas Lottery to determine whether any state or federal laws were broken.
• Lottery watchdog Dawn Nettles filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Texas Lottery players, suing former Lottery Commission Director Gary Grief, Lottery.com and IGT, the vendor responsible for administering the lottery, for fraud.
• Earlier this month, a Texas Lottery winner from Hood County filed a lawsuit, asserting his $7.5 million jackpot winnings were significantly less than what they would have been if the rigged $95 million jackpot had not been awarded less than a month earlier.
• The Wall Street Journal published an investigative article April 12 asserting Bernard Marantelli, a London-based banker-turned-bookmaker, spearheaded an international gambling syndicate to rig the Texas Lottery, with financial backing from Tasmanian gambler Zeljko Ranogajec.
• Last week, the Texas House of Representatives completely defunded the Texas Lottery Commission in its budget for 2026-2027.

‘Should be held accountable’

On April 21, Ryan Mindell resigned as executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission. Sergio Rey, chief financial officer of the agency, was named acting deputy director.

“Laws were broken, and the folks involved should be held accountable. Legislators have had it with the lottery. They feel misled,” said Rob Kohler, consultant with Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission.

The fact that the Texas House “zeroed out” the Texas Lottery Commission in its budget and the Senate likely will do the same signals “the very real possibility” the abuses perpetrated could signal the end of the Texas Lottery for the foreseeable future, Kohler said.

Hall likewise is hopeful the light shed on abuses within the Lottery Commission could lead to its demise.

“The state has no business being in the gambling business,” he said.

Corruption within the Texas Lottery Commission should serve as a “wake-up” call to lawmakers who are considering other gambling expansion in the state, Hall asserted.

“If the state cannot manage something as simple and straightforward as the lottery and you have that much criminal activity involved … what can we expect to come into our state when we start allowing sports betting, internet betting and casinos all over the state?” Hall asked.

“The culture that gambling brings” is contrary to Texas values, he said.

“The criminal element is deeply embedded in gambling where there’s a lot of money. And while there’s a lot of money in the lottery, it pales in comparison to the money in sports gambling, internet gambling and casinos.”

MARSHALL—East Texas Baptist University’s Baptist Student Ministry recently hosted a prayer tent event, offering students 24 consecutive hours of prayer, reflection, confession and thanksgiving.

The prayer tent was part of ETBU’s initiative to offer students, staff and faculty a time of focused prayer.

Beginning at 8 a.m. on April 15 and lasting until 8 a.m. on April 16, students had full 24-hour access to the prayer tent, a large white tent outside the Ornelas Student Center housing prayer cards, a thanksgiving journal, crafts and more.

ETBU’s prayer tent ministry began in 2019, though the idea of prayer tents on college campuses has existed for years. ETBU’s prayer tent exists to encourage the students of ETBU to depend upon the Lord in prayer, organizers noted.

“A while ago … our Baptist Student Ministry decided it was a great idea to have time on campus for people to be developed, not only in prayer, but also involved with others in community with that,” said Paxton Lovell, junior sports communication major and BSM member.

“So, they started this prayer tent, which allows people for 24 hours to come by whenever they need to pray, to be close with one another and … be involved.”

Adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication

BSM volunteers were stationed outside the tent, offering a collection box for written prayer, information to students walking by and helping guide them through the prayer tent’s purpose and structure.

The prayer tent followed the ACTS prayer model, an acronym standing for adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. This method serves as an outline for prayer.

The prayer tent offered four stations with tables, each corresponding to a segment of the ACTS model. The different stations allowed students to focus on various aspects of prayer.

Sophomore Christian ministry major and BSM member Patrick Burt explained the process.

“There’s different things you can pray by. You can confess to God what you’ve been struggling with,” Burt said. “You can thank him for what he is currently doing in your life You can adore him and … be in his presence.”

One station had note cards for students to write their prayer requests. They could attach their prayers inside the tent or put them into a box collected by BSM.

Another station had a notebook for students to write down what they were thankful for, praising God for all he has done in their lives and highlighting his goodness and glory.

The “confession” station had paper gift tags students could write confessions on before hanging them on nails on a wooden cross in the tent’s center.

Another station had art and crafts supplies students could use to make a collage of what they are thankful for, prayer requests or anything God put on their hearts.

Senior university studies major Rhythme Seban described her first impressions of the prayer tent, which she discovered after leaving class.

“I liked that they chose a white tent because it made it feel … very holy. It has a sacredness to it that I really appreciate,” Seban said.

“The table I liked was the confessions table, where it’s basically a time of repentance, where you can write down … your wrongdoings and put it on the cross and leave it there. … It emphasizes that the debt has already been paid.”

Visibility and accessibility

The prayer tent’s structure and location made it visible and accessible to students who might not approach it otherwise.

Sophomore rehab science major Landen Hobbs said he fell into this category, but is so thankful he stopped by for prayer.

“I didn’t even know we offered the prayer tent, probably because I didn’t really pay attention to … spiritual stuff last year,” Hobbs acknowledged.

“I was actually about to walk into the cafeteria doors when I saw the prayer tent. … So, I turned around and walked over.”

Hobbs particularly was impressed by the confession board “because I don’t feel like I thank God enough. … We’re all guilty of this. We pray for it, but after it happens, we forget to thank him.”

Having the tent up allowed people to connect on a deeper, more spiritual level, creating an inviting space for students to engage in a time of repentance and confession, surrounded by the love of students in ministry.

“I’m one of the BSM leaders of the prayer tent. I’m here to just show the love of God and … pray for people and pray for their requests that they leave here,” said Luis Correa, a sophomore criminal justice major.

“The prayer tent is very helpful. … It offers the opportunity to just be able to show love to people who might not know Christ. … I’ve seen a lot of people affected by this.

“I just pray that more people continue to come throughout the day and hopefully just be able to feel the sense … that God wants your heart, and hopefully this prayer tent can help people come to know Christ or restore their relationship with him.”

After hours of debate, the Texas House of Representatives approved for the first time in the state’s history a plan to send public funds to private schools, including religious schools.

The House voted 85-63 in the wee hours of the morning on April 17 to approve a bill authored by Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, to establish an education savings account program.

 The voucher-like program—Gov. Greg Abbott’s top legislative priority—will provide about $10,000 to each participating private school student and up to $2,000 to each participating homeschool student.

“It’s time to provide the full array of options for students and their families,” Buckley said.

‘The false flag of parental choice’

Charles Foster Johnson, executive director of Pastors for Texas Children, offered a dissenting view, calling the education savings account program “a reckless subsidy that rips public dollars out of our neighborhood schools and hands them to unaccountable private institutions.”

“This scheme fails our poorest children, violates the Texas Constitution and uses public tax dollars to fund the establishment of religion—all under the false flag of ‘parental choice,’” Johnson said.

John Litzler, public policy director for Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission, expressed disappointment in the House vote approving the education savings account program.

“While we are disappointed in the House’s passage of Senate Bill 2, the Christian Life Commission remains committed to the same values we’ve always held: supporting public education and promoting religious liberty,” Litzler said.

Education savings accounts offer a “tightly controlled” and “parent-directed” approach to educating students that prioritizes “the state’s most vulnerable students,” Buckley asserted.

The program allocates $1 billion toward education savings accounts families can direct to schools for tuition and other expenses.

While 80 percent is dedicated to students with disabilities and—broadly defined—low-income families, the general population is able to apply for the remaining 20 percent.

Opponents of the bill characterized the “universal” nature of that 20 percent as making the program available to “millionaires and billionaires.” The House rejected several amendments that would have placed an income cap on program eligibility.

Call for referendum rejected

The House voted in favor of a motion by Buckley to table an amendment introduced by Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, calling for a statewide referendum on the education savings account program.

Talarico said the idea originated with conservative activists who support what they call “school choice” and initially was supported by some Republican lawmakers

However, he asserted, Abbott threatened to veto bills proposed by any Republican who voted in favor of Talarico’s amendment and told the lawmakers he would make their primary elections a “bloodbath.”

“The governor has said private school vouchers are widely popular. … I would think the governor would welcome an opportunity to finally have a mandate on this controversial topic,” Talarico said.

He urged his Republican colleagues to exercise courage, demonstrate independence and vote in favor of the referendum.

“We do not serve the governor. We serve our constituents. … This is the people’s House, not the governor’s House,” Talarico said.

‘About power and profit’

Johnson noted the pressure Abbott applied to House Republicans to vote in favor of the voucher-like education savings account program.

“We thank God for the faithful lawmakers who stood strong—every House Democrat and the courageous Republicans who formed a new ‘moral caucus’ by putting children and conscience ahead of party,” Johnson said.

Gary VanDeaver of New Boston and Dade Phelan of Orange, former Speaker of the House, were the two Republicans who voted against the education savings account bill.

“This vote was not about what’s best for Texas children—it was about power and profit,” Johnson asserted. “A handful of billionaire donors have bought our legislature, and Gov. Abbott has handed our public school system over to them in exchange for political favor.”

Jeff Yass, cofounder and managing director of the Philadelphia-based Susquehanna International Group and an ardent supporter of “school choice,” made the largest single campaign donation in Texas history to Abbott.

The governor supported the primary opponents of rural Republicans who defeated a voucher-style proposal in the 2023 legislative session, changing the makeup of the Texas House.

Prior to considering the education savings account bill, the House voted 144-4 to give preliminary approval to a school funding bill that will provide $8 billion over two years.

Lawmakers voted on the funding bill after extensive debate and consideration of multiple amendments. The bill will increase the basic allotment per public school from $6,160 to $6,555, with 40 percent earmarked for school staff salaries.

Litzler voiced support for the House school funding bill, which includes close to $2 billion in special education funding and $750 million to increase teacher pay.

“Since Texas is now on a path to divert public funds to private schools, it will become increasingly important each legislative session that Texas passes bills to fully fund public education,” he said.