WACO—Faith is a crucial factor in Christian higher education, both for students and for the leaders who guide them, presidents of Texas Baptist universities reported.

Leaders of four of the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ nine affiliated universities participated in a panel discussion, “The Future of Christian Higher Education,” during the BGCT’s annual meeting in Waco, Nov. 14.

Need for spiritual formation

One of the great challenges the schools face is the poor status of spiritual formation among their students, said Eric Bruntmyer, president of Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.

“Students are not coming prepared spiritually,” Bruntmyer lamented. “We have a responsibility to our students to transform them from being a church-goer to walking with Christ—every day, all day long.”

Pointing to a similar issue, Adam Wright, president of Dallas Baptist University, cited the philosophical challenge of “dealing with students who will reject the very leadership they crave.”

Living with differences

Many students also carry the spiritual challenge of polarization to their campuses, Wright added, noting the schools must “help students understand just because someone is far-left or far-right, they don’t have to hate or reject them.” This pattern illustrates the need for cultivating Christian peacemakers, he added.

Similarly, Bobby Hall, president of Wayland Baptist University, whose historic residential campus is located in Plainview, noted his school conducted a year-long emphasis on “civility in the Christian context” and is following up with an emphasis on “be the solution.”

Faith must be cultivated

Spiritual formation and faithful preparation are not exclusively issues of concern for students, the presidents said, noting these issues present daily challenges for the presidents themselves.

“Knowing and discerning God’s will is the greatest challenge,” said Blair Blackburn, president of East Texas Baptist University in Marshall. Each day, he must seek to understand “what God wants us to do as a university” and follow the Spirit of God, he added.

The presidents’ spiritual conditions are so vital “because people are watching us,” he acknowledged.

“Faith has to be cultivated every day,” Wright said. “Faith precedes and conditions one’s understanding. … If I truly believe what I say I believe, it will shape everything I do.”

Relying on the Bible

Studying and meditating on Scripture every day helps Bruntmyer face challenges, he explained.

“There’s a lot of fear I have about the future—about higher education, about my kids. … That crawls right up on your back,” he acknowledged, adding Scripture keeps fear at bay.

Pondering the Bible’s messages of hope and prayer provide the only way to endure, Bruntmyer said, noting, “I don’t know how people make it without talking to God every day.”

“We wrap our actions and strategies in prayer,” Hall agreed. “We must go to the Lord and seek that discernment. … We know who wins at the end of the day.”

Practical challenges faced

In addition to spiritual issues, the presidents cited several practical challenges Texas Baptist universities face. They include:

• Affordability.

This is the greatest strategic challenge, Blackburn said. “Students are coming to our campuses with hands out, expecting their education to be paid for, (coming) from families who have not prepared very well for paying for higher education.”

This issue is compounded by “the national conversation questioning if higher education is worth it,” Hall added.

The schools are working hard to make higher education affordable, Bruntmyer said, noting they try to deliver education efficiently, cutting costs where possible.

Several schools offer block tuition, so students can take additional courses at a fixed cost. They also try to guide students to take accelerated courses and graduate in fewer than four years, Blackburn said.

The presidents pushed back on advice against taking out student loans.

Bruntmyer compared a $20,000 loan—“less than the cost of a car”—to the additional earning potential of $600,000 to $900,000 that a college degree delivers. He says refusing to take a college loan is ridiculous and assures students, “You can afford it.”

Hall noted 40 percent of students do not buy textbooks and said Wayland is working on a “textbook solution.”

Wright reported DBU Chancellor Gary Cook is trying to raise $100 million for scholarships, and other presidents said adding scholarships is a priority.

Blackburn thanked the BGCT for providing funds to enable ministry students to afford higher education.

• First-generation students.

Wayland educates many students who are the first individuals in their families to seek higher education, Hall said. Other presidents agreed convincing first-generation students to seek a college degree and convincing their families the degree is worth the cost is vital.

• Student mindset.

Disrespect for authority, feelings of entitlement and an attitude of “consumer demand” also are challenges, Blackburn said.

• Religious freedom.

Challenges to religious freedom are huge, Hall reported. He noted, for example, the cost of compliance to federal regulations places a strain on campus budgets.

The central factor in the universities’ religious freedom is Title IX, the federal law that seeks to protect students from discrimination on the basis of sex. The typical flash points are campus response to sexual abuse, as well as potential for discrimination based upon sexual orientation.

The Title IX “train has left the station, and it is not going to change with the change of (presidential) administration,” Blackburn said. “We have a responsibility to be prepared for acceptance. We have a responsibility to stand for God’s truth, but to share an education with students who choose to come to our campuses.”

Baptist and other faith-based schools have received some Title IX exemptions, he said, noting, for example, ETBU will not offer dorms that house both sexes.

Universities must focus on protecting their female students, but they also must teach male students the danger of pornography and how to respect women, Bruntmyer said.

“The tendrils of (Title IX) go to every aspect of our universities,” Hall said. “We’re seeing it at every turn, where faith-based institutions are threatened.” The threat is not simply regarding beliefs but also finances—cost of compliance and threat of removing tax-exempt status, he added.

Still, Title IX provides Texas Baptist universities with an opportunity, Wright said.

“The world is watching to see how we respond,” he said. “We’re taking the truth of Scripture to a hurting world.”

In addition to the four universities represented on the panel, the other BGCT-affiliated universities are Baptist University of the Américas, Baylor University, Houston Baptist University, Howard Payne University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct a typographical error in the sixth-to-last paragraph.

WACO—Texas Baptists established affirmation of same-sex marriage as grounds for declaring a church outside the bounds of cooperation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Craig Christina, pastor of Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in DallasMessengers to the BGCT annual meeting in Waco approved a motion from Craig Christina, pastor of Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas, declaring, “because of the historical and biblical positions of the BGCT as stated in multiple resolutions, motions and actions, that any church which affirms any sexual relationship outside the bonds of a marriage between one man and one woman be considered out of harmonious cooperation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.”

Before messengers voted on that motion, they first approved a motion by Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston, which said, “the convention reserves to itself exclusively, through a two-thirds vote of its Executive Board, the authority to remove a congregation from harmonious cooperation.”

Steve Vernon, BGCT associate executive director, explained the committee on convention business interpreted Wells’ motion as establishing a process for declaring a church out of cooperation with the BGCT, while Christina’s motion sets a standard for determining the parameters of harmonious cooperation.

However, Wells’ motion also defined “harmonious cooperation” as “comprised of three actions on the part of the churches—prayer, financial support of the convention and engagement in the ministry of the convention.”

Two churches placed on notice

A few day before the annual meeting, BGCT officials placed two churches on notice that an affirming stance toward LGBT members puts them outside the bounds of cooperation with the state convention.

BGCT Executive Director David Hardage, BGCT President René Maciel and Executive Board Chairman David Russell sent letters Nov. 8 to First Baptist Church in Austin and Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. The letter to Wilshire framed the congregation’s relationship to the BGCT in terms of “potential withdrawal,” since a vote by the congregation on full privileges for LGBT members was pending at that point.

Prior to the BGCT annual meeting, members of Wilshire had been in the process of voting on a resolution to affirm the church’s existing bylaws, which provide for a “single class of membership.” The final vote was held the day before the BGCT annual meeting started. Wilshire approved the resolution by a 61 percent favorable vote, Pastor George Mason announced Monday afternoon, Nov. 14.

Give deliberative authority to the board

Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in HoustonSpeaking on behalf of his motion, Wells characterized it as a “friendly motion” that would help the BGCT make its way through “divisive days in Baptist life” by giving the deliberative authority to the Executive Board and requiring a high threshold of approval.

Wells framed it as the most preferable of three options. To rely on the BGCT Executive Board’s administrative staff to decide if a church is in cooperation places too much pressure on them and gives them too much authority, he insisted. To decide by a vote on the floor of the annual meeting fosters division and draws media scrutiny, he asserted. 

Noting the messengers to the annual meeting unanimously had elected a slate of nominees for the Executive Board, he urged Texas Baptists to “trust the folks we have elected” to handle difficult matters with discernment.

Executive Board Chair Russell joined other messengers in speaking in favor of Wells’ motion. Russell explained he agreed to sign the letter mailed to the Austin and Dallas churches because it was “in keeping with the traditional stands taken” by the convention, but he believed it placed the executive director in an “unfair position” of making the determination whether a church is in cooperation with the BGCT.

Bruce Webb, pastor of First Baptist Church in The Woodlands, questioned whether the motion conflicted with the convention’s bylaws. Vernon replied the bylaws to which Webb referred deal with seating messengers to the annual meeting, but they do not directly address the matter of a congregation’s relationship to the convention between annual meetings.

After lengthy discussion, Wells’ motion passed.

‘Chosen to step outside the circle’

Christina then spoke in favor of his motion, noting it establishes as policy the convictions regarding homosexual behavior Texas Baptists previously expressed in multiple resolutions and through other actions.

“I want to be clear to say we are not drawing the circle (of membership) smaller. The circle remains the same,” he said. “Some churches have chosen to step outside the circle.”

Jackie Baugh Moore spoke against the motion, characterizing it as “impossible to monitor and manage.” She questioned what would be the threshold for determining when a church is seen as affirming and who would make the determination. So, she made a motion to table—or ultimately refer—the matter to the Executive Board for further study.

After discussion and three close show-of-ballot votes, the motion to refer failed.

A defining characteristic?

Returning to discussion of the original motion, Wells spoke against it. He asked whether churches that agreed with traditional Baptist views about key doctrines should be considered outside the circle of cooperation because they hold minority views about homosexuality.

“Does it rise to the level of a defining characteristic of who we are?” he asked.

Ryan Buck, pastor of First Baptist Church in Mason, noted if the BGCT failed to act after becoming aware of affiliated churches that affirm homosexual behavior, it could create a backlash from conservative congregations.

If the BGCT did not take a stand and remove the affirming congregations, he said, “we will have churches that leave the convention voluntarily.”

Taylor Sandlin, pastor of Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo and chair of the Baptist Standard Publishing board of directors, questioned the impact the convention’s action would have on churches as they try to be a witness in a secular society.

“It may make us feel good to take a stand, but it does not help us take a step toward our neighbors,” he said.

Cheryl Kimble, pastor of Highland Park Baptist Church in Austin, asserted the motion violated two key distinctive Baptist principles—the right of the individual believer to interpret and follow Scripture and the autonomy of the local congregation.

On the other hand, Bill Skaar, pastor of First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, insisted “every Baptist entity is autonomous,” including the state convention.

WACO—Texas Baptists will consider whether a church’s affirmation of same-sex marriage is grounds to declare the congregation outside the bounds of cooperation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Messengers to the BGCT annual meeting in Waco also will weigh whether decisions about considering a church out of fellowship with the state convention should require a two-thirds vote of the BGCT Executive Board.

Motions introduced in miscellaneous business

Two pastors introduced motions related to when and how churches should be considered out of “harmonious cooperation” with the BGCT during the introduction of miscellaneous business at the first business session of Texas Baptists’ annual meeting.

Messengers will deal with items introduced during miscellaneous business when they reconvene on Tuesday morning, Nov. 15.

Craig Christina, pastor of Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas, introduced a motion stating: “Texas Baptist churches are loving, respectful, and welcoming to all people.  However, our position on biblical marriage has not changed. Therefore, I move that because of the historical and biblical positions of the BGCT as stated in multiple resolutions, motions and actions, that any church which affirms any sexual relationship outside the bonds of a marriage between one man and one woman be considered out of harmonious cooperation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.”

Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston, introduced a motion clarifying a decision to declare a church outside of “harmonious cooperation” with the BGCT should require a supermajority vote by the Executive Board and stipulating that resolutions adopted in annual meetings are not binding on individual congregations.

Well’s motion states: “Whereas the Baptist General Convention of Texas is composed of autonomous local churches in voluntary, harmonious cooperation to fund and execute ministry for the kingdom of God; and whereas harmonious cooperation is comprised of three actions on the part of the churches—prayer, financial support of the convention, and engagement in the ministry of the convention;

“And whereas from time to time the convention shall make resolutions that express the conviction of the messengers present and voting; and whereas the Baptist commitment to local church autonomy means that no resolution made by the convention is binding on any congregation;

“And whereas there may come, in extraordinary circumstances, a need for the convention to remove a congregation from participation in the funding of and engagement in the ministry of the convention;

“Be it therefore resolved that the convention reserves to itself exclusively, through a two-thirds vote of its Executive Board, the authority to remove a congregation from harmonious cooperation.”

BGCT officials serve notice to two congregations

A few days before the annual meeting, BGCT officials placed two churches on notice that an affirming stance toward LGBT members puts them outside the bounds of “harmonious cooperation” with the state convention. BGCT Executive Director David Hardage, BGCT President René Maciel and Executive Board Chairman David Russell sent letters Nov. 8 to First Baptist Church in Austin and Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas.

The letter to Wilshire framed the congregation’s relationship to the BGCT in terms of “potential withdrawal,” saying, “Should your church choose to publicly affirm same-sex sexual behavior, the BGCT will no longer be able to accept funds from the church, seat its messengers to the annual meeting, allow the church to express affiliation with the BGCT or allow its members to serve on the BGCT boards, committees or other roles.”

Citing previous actions and resolutions

The letter cited previous Executive Board actions and resolutions adopted by messengers to annual meetings, declaring the Bible teaches any sexual relations outside the bounds of a male/female marriage are sinful.

So, it said, any church that essentially affirms other types of sexual relationships “effectively chooses to withdraw itself from harmonious cooperation with the churches of the convention.”

A resolution at the 1982 BGCT annual meeting stated, “The homosexual lifestyle is not normal or acceptable in God’s sight and is indeed called sin.”

In 1996, the BGCT Executive Board approved a report from its Messenger Seating Study Committee that said: “The Bible teaches that the ideal for sexual behavior is the marital union between husband and wife and that all other sexual relations—whether premarital, extramarital or homosexual—are contrary to God’s purposes and thus sinful. Homosexual practice is therefore in conflict with the Bible.”

In 1998, the convention’s Administrative Committee and Executive Board voted to decline any financial contributions from University Baptist Church in Austin after the congregation ordinated a gay man as a deacon. Messengers to the BGCT annual meeting subsequently affirmed the action. The recommendation as approved dealt not only with University Baptist, but also “any church which openly endorses moral views in conflict with biblical teaching.”

The BGCT Executive Board in 2010 took similar action toward Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, saying the congregation’s decision to ordain gay deacons placed it outside the BGCT understanding of biblical sexual ethics.

First Baptist in Austin welcoming and affirming

A diversity statement on the First Baptist Church of Austin website states the congregation “welcomes and wants people of every race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, physical and mental ability, nationality, and economic station to thrive in the full life of our community; (and) affirms and celebrates all people as created in God’s very image and likeness.”

In a Nov. 2 article in The Clarion, the church’s newsletter, Pastor Griff Martin writes: “It might be helpful for us to think about our history and the bridges that we have crossed: our move from the old property to this new property, the bridge that lead us away from the Southern Baptist Convention, and the bridge from a system of only male leadership to equal leadership between genders. All the way to our most recent bridge of inclusivity, where we bravely walked into a place that too few Baptist churches have yet crossed over, saying that at First Austin, all are welcome and all are equal.

“This bridge has lead us to perform same-sex weddings, ordain LBGTQ+ deacons, and has helped create a safe space in the Baptist world for a group that was often excluded. Crossing that bridge has not come without cost. We have lost folks who did not agree and have begun to understand this stance may cost us our place in some of our affiliations.”

Wilshire extends full participation to LGBT members

Prior to the BGCT annual meeting, members of Wilshire had been in the process of voting on a resolution to affirm the church’s “existing bylaws, which provide for a single class of membership.” The final vote was held the day before the BGCT annual meeting started, but it was not tallied and results were not announced prior to the state convention’s meeting.

Wilshire approved the resolution by a 61 percent favorable vote, Pastor George Mason announced Monday afternoon.

“When Wilshire adopted its vision and values statements during our Vision 20/20 strategic planning process, ‘inclusion’ was the highest value listed by church respondents,” Mason wrote in an email to church members. “Many wondered what that meant and whether it extended to the full participation of members who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The answer to that is now ‘yes,’ and LGBT Christian friends inside and outside our church will see this as a sign of deep acceptance by the people of God.”

Call for inclusion

Mason issued a call for inclusion, extending to the sizable minority in the congregation who voted against the resolution.

“Extending full privileges and equal responsibilities to LGBT Christians does not mean restricting or marginalizing anyone else, including those who disagree. Wilshire’s history shows that being found in Christ is the chief way we look upon one another in the church. All other modifiers come after that,” he wrote. “We will not allow our church to become focused on this one issue. We will continue to pursue our whole mission together, along with our vision to be a bold witness for the way of Christ in our time.”

Mason acknowledged the vote placed Wilshire’s relationship to the BGCT in question.

“The BGCT has made public what we have sought to keep a church matter out of respect for them and for those who have struggled with the process within our church,” he wrote. “We will take up the matter of our relationship to the BGCT on our own terms in the near future, as cooperation with such bodies is voluntary and springs primarily from the church to the convention, rather than the other way round.”

WACO—Messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting elected Danny Reeves, pastor of First Baptist Church in Corsicana, as president.

“Danny will be a president we can believe in,” Jason Burden, pastor of First Baptist Church in Nederland, said in nominating Reeves. “He will be a president we can follow, whose example will be of such a high standard that we will strive to be a better convention and better people.”

Reeves, who completed a term as BGCT second vice president, has been senior pastor at First Baptist in Corsicana since 2011. Previously, he was pastor of First Baptist Church in Edna and First Baptist Church in McGregor. He also served on staff of churches in Mart, Big Lake and Blanket.

Reeves is the first graduate of Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary to serve as Texas Baptists’ president and also is a graduate of Howard Payne University.

Joseph Fields, pastor of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Lewisville, was elected as first vice president. Nominated by Craig Christina, pastor of Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas, Fields founded New Beginnings in 2009 with six people. The congregation has grown to an average attendance of 400.

Fields previously served as a youth minister at Westside Baptist Church in Lewisville, and he was the founding director of Camp Exalted, a BGCT-sponsored camp for African-American youth.

Jim Heiligman, pastor of First Baptist Church in Bryan, was elected second vice president. He was nominated by Todd Still, messenger from First Baptist Church in Waco and dean of Truett Seminary.

Heiligman has served at First Baptist in Bryan since June 2014. Previously, he served nearly six years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Castroville. He also was youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Moody, Central Baptist Church in Jacksonville and First Baptist Church in Charlotte.

Messengers also elected Bernie Spooner from Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving as secretary of the corporation and Doug Powell from First Baptist Church in Garland as registration secretary.

WACO—Churches that forget the importance of discipleship have committed “the great omission,” Delvin Atchison, director of Texas Baptists’ Great Commission Team, told an African-American Fellowship rally.

“Until a person knows who Jesus is, they can never share him with anyone else,”  Atchison said during the rally at Toliver Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Waco the evening before the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting. “So, I want to suggest to you that it is essential that the church reclaim personal worship if we’re to do productive witnessing.”

The foundation of an individual’s personal worship is Jesus’ victory over death, he said. In Matthew 26, Jesus tells his disciples what’s coming next—he will die, rise and go before them into Galilee. Jesus keeps this resurrection promise, and by doing so, gives a strong foundation for faith.

Nothing in life—not bad news from the doctor, a pink slip at work or a disappointing election result—can negate Jesus’ promises to his followers or his presence with them, Atchison said. Jesus’ defeat of death means his disciples have nothing to fear.

Not everyone in the early church was on the same page about what happened to Jesus, Atchison said. Many doubted whether he really rose from the grave. The big difference between those who believed and those who had doubts was their participation and proximity.

“The reason Thomas is called the doubter is because when Jesus showed up, Thomas wasn’t at the meeting. And it’s hard to get folks to understand the agenda when they won’t show up at the meeting,” Atchison said. “To use a football analogy, you can’t get in the game if you only show up at the pep rally.”

Finally, he reminded the gathering not to “get caught up in the peripheral stuff we do.” The American Red Cross always will be able to clothe or feed more people than the church, Atchison said, “but nobody can talk about Jesus like we do.”

“If we’re not careful, we’ll start to think church is all this other stuff, and we’ll get so caught up in good stuff that we forget God stuff,” he said.

Carlos Francis, youth minister at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield and director of Camp Exalted, presented an update on this year’s camp, reporting 46 students made professions of faith in Christ this past summer.

Francis told the story of one teen who was saved during Camp Exalted and took her first communion that week. The girl went home and told her grandparents about her newfound faith, Francis said. Through her testimony, they also came to saving faith in Christ.

Also during the rally, Texas Baptists honored R.L. Rogers for 50 years of service as pastor of Harvey Avenue Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth. Rogers was praised for being a trailblazer; his church was one of the first African-American Baptist congregations in Tarrant County to seek fellowship with the BGCT in the 1960s.

Lauren Sturdy works with Buckner International.

LONGVIEW—Seated in the rear of a B-24 aircraft, 19-year-old Puett Willcox should have been afraid of what was ahead, but the assurance of Christ’s presence brought him peace in the midst of war.

On May 10, 1944, Willcox and nine other crewmen were flying out of Italy toward Austria, the last of 1,000 planes in their squadron to leave the base.

Vision of Christ

The young gunner from Longview sat stunned and speechless as the aircraft quickly gained altitude. He had seen a vision, one that would shape the rest of his life.

“We were rolling down the runway, and there were four of us in the back of the airplane sitting up against the bulkhead,” he said. “Ten feet behind us were two windows open. There wasn’t any glass in them, but there were machine guns sticking out of them.

“Halfway down the runway, Jesus appeared about 10 feet away between these windows. I have a hard time describing this because it was so beautiful. His robe was a beautiful white. If you can say white is beautiful, you can imagine.

“His eyes were so soothing. I don’t remember if they were green or red or blue or what, just soothing. And he said, ‘Something terrible is going to happen, but I’m going to take care of you.’ And it seemed time slowed way down. It seemed like this was 10 or 15 minutes, but it takes less than 10 or 15 seconds to get off the ground in those takeoff runs. And then he was gone.”

Shot down and captured

Six hours later, after 29 minutes of air combat, German cannon fire slammed into Willcox’s aircraft at 28,000 feet. The plane split in half and exploded while he was still putting on his parachute, knocking him unconscious.

Puett Wilcox, decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean conflict, is a resident at Buckner Westminster Place in Longview. (Photo/Elizabeth Arnold/Buckner)Willcox woke up upside down, hanging off the wing of the plane, with control cables and ammunition tangled around his legs, spiraling toward the ground at hundreds of miles an hour. He was the last of his crew out of the aircraft.

After several seconds of free falling, Willcox kicked loose, released his parachute and landed, only to be taken captive by German soldiers and declared a prisoner of war.  

Willcox would remain a POW for 357 days.

Honored as last surviving WWII POW in East Texas

Willcox, now 92 and legally blind, is believed to be the last surviving World War II POW in East Texas. In October, Rep. Louie Gohmert honored Willcox for his service with a special medal presentation at Buckner Westminster Place, where Willcox is a resident.

Puett Willcox received multiple medals and citations for his service in World War II and the Korean War, including the Purple Heart. (Photo/Elizabeth Arnold/Buckner)Willcox received nine awards for service in WWII and the Korean War, including the Purple Heart and an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol in his honor. These awards added to honors he had already received.

Although visibly touched by the accolades, Willcox remains humble, just a man who served because he needed to—because he wanted to.

“My dad told me when I was young, ‘Son, you’re going to have a lot of bad things happen to you in your life, and you’re going to have a lot of good things,’” Willcox said. “‘Don’t dwell on the bad things. Forget them. Just remember the good things.’ So that’s the way I do.”

‘The Lord is still taking care of me’

As a POW, Willcox lost 82 pounds. He lived on sauerkraut “soup,” buckets filled with water and dehydrated sauerkraut the men divided among themselves. When the British Second Army liberated Willcox and his fellow prisoners, they were 90 days into a 700-mile death march toward Brussels. He’d seen hundreds of men die through starvation, cold, fatigue and brutality. Even so, Willcox never was afraid.

“I remembered Jesus’ eyes and his voice telling me he was going to take care of me,” Puett said. “I never was frightened or scared the whole time. I’m still not and haven’t been since—frightened or scared of anything. The Lord is still taking care of me.”

Love and forgive

Willcox didn’t harbor resentment against his captors, either. He saw everyone as a child of God, regardless of the letters on their uniform. No matter how much horror he witnessed, no matter how much cruelty, he chose to forgive.

“I remember the Bible saying, ‘Love your enemy as yourself,’ or something like that,” Willcox said. “And to forgive your enemy, so that’s what I do. When they were treating me bad, I’d forgive them.”

Beginning a 63-year journey together

When he finally returned home to Longview in June 1945, Willcox had only one thing on his mind—reuniting with his sweetheart, Dorris Jean Foster. She was working at the local Sears Roebuck at the time, so Willcox, wearing his uniform, took a cab to meet her there soon after arriving home.

“I got right up behind her, she turned around and almost passed out, but I caught her,” Willcox laughed. “We got her squared away, and all these employees were looking over rails and watching everything.”

Four months later, on Oct. 14, 1945, they married at the preacher’s house behind Mobberly Baptist Church. They were married 63 years, three months and three days.

“But who’s counting?” smiled Willcox, his eyes still shining with mischief as he talked about his late bride. “We had a very, very loving life. We spent a lot of time separated because the Air Force and the jobs I had. She raised the kids and worked, usually at a jewelry counter or Sears Roebuck.”

Continued to serve

After WWII, Willcox re-enlisted in the Air Force and served a total of 25 years. He and Jean had three children and six grandchildren. They moved back to Longview from California in 2004 to be closer to their youngest grandchildren. Today, Willcox shares his experiences freely.  

“I am 92 years young, and I believe it is of vast importance for veterans to share their stories so that people know our individual experiences and what happened during those times of war,” Willcox said.

“Many young children don’t have a formal education on these wars in their history books. There is one history book I looked through that only had one sentence devoted to WWII. Other books have a page, maybe two, that discuss the war.”

When Willcox finally received his medals at the October ceremony, tears streamed down his face as American Legion members presented the very colors he fought to defend. The packed crowd gave him a standing ovation and Gohmert, a former captain in the U.S. Army, saluted the honoree. One local mom even brought her homeschooled children to witness the occasion.

‘He’s truly a hero’

“We feel privileged to honor Puett at Buckner Westminster Place,” said Wes Wells, executive director of Buckner Westminster Place. “This ceremony could just as easily be held inside the halls of the U.S. Capitol. Puett’s story is so dynamic and compelling that it should be made into a movie. He’s truly a hero.”

Willcox addressed the crowd, sharing stories with poignant clarity, pausing between sentences to get the details just right. His words were simple and without airs, the man himself the humble star. As Willcox looked for the right closing remarks, the microphone shook in his hands, his eyes watered and his voice choked. Finally, after dotting his eyes with a tissue, he said in 10 words what he’d experienced in a lifetime.

“Teach your children history,” he said. “And teach them about the Lord.”

Texas Baptists have endorsed Joe Donnell as the first Baptist General Convention of Texas tribal chaplain, with responsibility to serve the indigenous people of North America.

“Joe has been serving his people in a ministry capacity for a number of years, but at our recent conference, he expressed a desire to be affiliated with Texas Baptists,” said Bobby Smith, director of chaplaincy for the BGCT.

“An endorsement by the BGCT will be beneficial to Joe, but even more beneficial to us as we launch an initiative to win the First Nation to Christ,” Smith said. “Don Lacy, one of our endorsed African-American chaplains, called Joe the Martin Luther King of Native Americans, which is in itself a wonderful endorsement.”

Earlier this year, Smith and chaplains Will Bearden and Georgia Risenhoover journeyed to South Dakota to train 26 Native Americans in crisis resiliency, suicide prevention and Hands on Ministry. Three of those Native Americans attended the recent chaplain conference.

Donnell described the spiritual poverty that exists on many reservations as “dire.” He plans to start the first of what he prays will be many Native American BGCT-affiliated churches in the Dakotas, the first of which is being sponsored by The Church on Thistle Ridge in Granbury.

“Our goal is to train Native Americans to do ministry on reservations that will bring people into a right relationship with Christ,” Smith said. “This will involve establishing churches such as the one being sponsored by The Church on Thistle Ridge. We have taken a step in the right direction, but we need a stampede of Texas Baptists to accomplish what God expects of us in ministering to America’s First Nation.”

Donnell, executive director and founder of Warriors Circle and a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe, said Georgia Risenhoover, a sixth-generation descendent of Chief War Eagle, was instrumental in his introduction to Texas Baptists..

“Our connection with Texas Baptists came through Georgia,” he said. “The week prior to Easter this year, seven Native Americans, including me, were guests of The Church on Thistle Ridge in Granbury. We were introduced to leadership in other churches there as well, along with school administrators and some of the leadership of the BGCT in Dallas.

“We left knowing that these people had a genuine concern for the spiritual lives of Native Americans, and that if anyone could help us reach people on the reservations with the word of God it would be Texas Baptists.  So, although I live in South Dakota, I’m now a Texas Baptist.”

Texas Baptists want to develop indigenous leaders within the Native American community, Smith said.

“Joe will be introducing us to people who will be trained to spread the word of God across reservations throughout the United States and Canada” he said. “The initial role of Texas Baptists will be to train Native Americans to minister to Native Americans, which will involve having our trainees plant churches on reservations and having them provide leadership for those churches.”

Risenhoover also will be available to speak to BGCT-affiliated churches and groups that want more insight into physical and spiritual needs on reservations and how they can help, Smith said.

“I know this,” he said. “When Americans see a need, especially Christians, they want to help. And one of the best ways to help is to support the ministries of those whom Native Americans trust. God could have called any group of people to the task of winning America’s First Nation to Christ, but I believe he called Texas Baptists for a reason. I believe he called us because we’re listening to what he says, which is why we have been chosen to impact a special people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.” 

WACO—Baylor University’s board of regents formed a governance review task force to review board practices, procedures and selection processes—an announcement an organizer of Bears for Leadership Reform attributed to his group’s formation.

“This task force will be a part of an important governance review that has been done on a regular basis for the past several years,” Chairman Ron Murff said in an announcement posted online Nov. 9. “We want to ensure we continue to take positive steps in fulfilling our fiduciary responsibilities and in doing our best for Baylor.”

The regents’ governance and compensation committee at its most recent meeting recommended creation of the task force, the Baylor announcement said.

But former Gov. Mark White, a Baylor alumnus and board member of Bears for Leadership Reform, told a crowd at his organization’s first public gathering, Nov. 10, the Baylor announcement “would not have come out if we had not had this meeting.”

Baylor announced the task force formation on the eve of a meeting of Bears for Leadership Reform—a nonprofit group of alumni and donors who are demanding greater openness by the board of regents in the light of the Pepper Hamilton investigation into the university’s response to sexual violence. 

Task force members announced

Jeffrey Chapman of Dallas, partner and co-chair of the Gibson Dunn law firm’s global mergers and acquisitions practice group, will serve as coordinator of the task force. John Olson, an expert in board governance and founding partner of Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C., office, will serve as a resource for the group.

Other task force members are Bob Beauchamp of Houston, chair and chief executive officer for BMC Software; Doug Bech of Houston, chief executive officer and founding owner of Raintree Resorts International; Jerry Clements of Austin, chair and managing partner of th Locke Lord law firm; Paul Foster of El Paso, founder and chair of Western Refining; and Larry Heard of Houston, president and chief executive officer of Transwestern.

Baylor Interim President David Garland “This task force will work alongside the board’s governance and compensation committee that has already led the implementation of substantial changes,” Interim President David Garland stated.

“These include the formation of an executive committee and drawing more distinct lines of reporting between the board and senior university leadership. Of particular note is the board’s decision to disband its athletics committee, a structural change that signals its intention that all areas of the university fully align with the university’s mission.”

Call for leadership change at board level

The morning after Baylor announced formation of the task force, a crowd filled Knox Hall at the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco for an event launching Bears for Leadership Reform.

Legendary Coach Grant Teaff, who led the Baylor Bears football program two decades, opened the meeting with a prayer.

“Our focus is leadership at the board level. … We need to change the culture by changing the leadership,” said John Eddie Williams of Houston, a member of the nonprofit corporation’s board of directors.

“We don’t need secrecy,” he said. “We can handle the truth.”

Need for transparency and accountability

Other participants also called for greater transparency and accountability by Baylor’s board of regents.

“Secrecy can destroy any family, even the Baylor family,” said Emily Tinsley, a former Baylor regent, who said the current board has governed the university “like it’s their own small, privately held company.’

“Rell” Tipton, a Houston corporate lawyer who was an offensive guard on the Baylor Bears when the team won the Southwest Conference championship in 1974, noted his respect for former teammates who serve on the board of regents.

“But when you look at the board as a group, the decision making hasn’t been good,” he said.

Determine the ‘real facts’

Drayton McLane, the Temple businessman and Baylor donor for whom the university’s $266 million football stadium is named, noted he is a former regent and regent emeritus but hasn’t attended meetings for “a couple of years.”

“We need to determine what the real facts are,” McLane said. “Were the right decisions made by the board? That’s the real issue.”

No sweeping NCAA sanctions

In another development related to Baylor and its sexual-assault scandal, The Wall Street Journal reported reported the NCAA will not impose broad sanctions on the university, comparable to the way it penalized Penn State following a child molestation case involving Jerry Sandusky, former offensive coordinator.

However, the NCAA may conduct a narrow investigation focused on whether Baylor athletes received preferential treatment through the university’s disciplinary process. 

Officials with the Baptist General Convention of Texas notified two churches an affirming stance toward LGBT members places them outside the bounds of “harmonious cooperation” with the state convention.

BGCT Executive Director David Hardage, BGCT President René Maciel and Executive Board Chairman David Russell sent letters Nov. 8 to First Baptist Church in Austin and Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas.

“We have made no demands of the BGCT that it become welcoming and affirming” of same-sex relationships, said Griff Martin, pastor of First Baptist Church in Austin. “We’ve just asked for a place at the table.”

In the case of Wilshire, Pastor George Mason called the decision by BGCT leaders both “provocative” and “premature,” noting a relevant vote by his congregation has not been completed.

“The outcome is not yet known, and it will not be known until after the convention messengers are seated,” he said, noting Wilshire plans to send messengers to the BGCT annual meeting in Waco, Nov. 14.

The letter to Wilshire frames the congregation’s relationship to the BGCT in terms of “potential withdrawal.”

“Should your church choose to publicly affirm same-sex sexual behavior, the BGCT will no longer be able to accept funds from the church, seat its messengers to the annual meeting, allow the church to express affiliation with the BGCT or allow its members to serve on the BGCT boards, committees or other roles,” the letter states.

‘Painful’ but consistent with previous actions

“This is painful for us,” Hardage said. However, he said, it is consistent with previous Executive Board actions and resolutions adopted by messengers to annual meetings, declaring belief the Bible teaches any sexual relations outside the bounds of a male/female marriage are sinful.

So, he said, any church that essentially affirms other types of sexual relationships “effectively chooses to withdraw itself from harmonious cooperation with the churches of the convention.”

Due to the timing, some nominees from Wilshire will be presented as nominees to BGCT-related boards at the annual meeting.

“If elected, they will be given time to make a decision,” Hardage said. They may choose to resign from the board or move their church membership, he explained. Or, if the institution allows a percentage of non-BGCT-elected directors on its board and has a vacancy, the institution may choose to move the person into that position.

Although current policy requires BGCT Executive Board staff to be members of BGCT-affiliated churches, no immediate action will be taken regarding staff who are members of churches considered outside of  “harmonious cooperation” with the convention, he added. The BGCT Staff Support Committee will revisit the policy at its meeting prior to the February 2017 Executive Board meeting, he said.

Previous BGCT resolutions and actions

A resolution at the 1982 BGCT annual meeting stated, “The homosexual lifestyle is not normal or acceptable in God’s sight and is indeed called sin.”

In 1996, the BGCT Executive Board approved a report from its Messenger Seating Study Committee that said: “The Bible teaches that the ideal for sexual behavior is the marital union between husband and wife and that all other sexual relations—whether premarital, extramarital or homosexual—are contrary to God’s purposes and thus sinful. Homosexual practice is therefore in conflict with the Bible.”

In 1998, the convention’s Administrative Committee and Executive Board voted to decline any financial contributions from University Baptist Church in Austin after the congregation ordinated a gay man as a deacon. Messengers to the BGCT annual meeting subsequently affirmed the action. The recommendation as approved dealt not only with University Baptist, but also “any church which openly endorses moral views in conflict with biblical teaching.”

The BGCT Executive Board in 2010 took similar action toward Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, saying the congregation’s decision to ordain gay deacons placed it outside the BGCT understanding of biblical sexual ethics.

“We haven’t changed,” Hardage said. “We’re trying to be both gracious and consistent.”

First Baptist Austin welcoming and affirming

A diversity statement on the First Baptist Church of Austin website states the congregation “welcomes and wants people of every race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, physical and mental ability, nationality, and economic station to thrive in the full life of our community; (and) affirms and celebrates all people as created in God’s very image and likeness.”

In a Nov. 2 article in The Clarion, the church’s newsletter, Martin writes: “It might be helpful for us to think about our history and the bridges that we have crossed: our move from the old property to this new property, the bridge that lead us away from the Southern Baptist Convention, and the bridge from a system of only male leadership to equal leadership between genders. All the way to our most recent bridge of inclusivity, where we bravely walked into a place that too few Baptist churches have yet crossed over, saying that at First Austin, all are welcome and all are equal.

“This bridge has lead us to perform same-sex weddings, ordain LBGTQ+ deacons, and has helped create a safe space in the Baptist world for a group that was often excluded. Crossing that bridge has not come without cost. We have lost folks who did not agree and have begun to understand this stance may cost us our place in some of our affiliations.”

Wilshire in process of voting

Members of Wilshire are in the process of voting on a resolution to affirm the church’s “existing bylaws, which provide for a single class of membership.” An article included in the church’s newsletter and online explained the significance of the vote. 

A “yes” vote “would permit all members to participate in congregational life on the same basis as any other church member regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This affirms the ability of the church’s committees and lay and staff governance structures to consider all members for leadership, ordination, baby dedication and marriage based upon individual merit and the discernment of those duly elected to governance positions,” the explanation stated.

A “no” vote “affirms the existing principle that does not allow some members to be considered for certain leadership roles, ordination, baby dedication and marriage based upon sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Last fall, the deacons at Wilshire appointed an Inclusion and Diversity Study Group to guide church leaders on issues related to sexual orientation and church life.

In particular, the group studied questions regarding limitations on deacon service, ordination to ministry, marriages performed at the church or by ministerial staff and family dedications at Wilshire.

Mason responds

Throughout the process, Mason noted, the church deliberately avoided making public statements and avoided “welcoming and affirming” language that would “put the BGCT on the defensive or be interpreted as provocative.”

Instead, when the matter came to a church vote, the deacons framed it simply in terms of affirming the church’s existing bylaws.

“I do not accept the idea that we have withdrawn ourselves from the BGCT,” he said. “We believe we have been rejected by the BGCT.”

In earlier conversations with Hardage, Mason said, the two talked about ways the church might continue to support BGCT missions causes and work together on matters of shared concern. However, he interpreted the letter to mean the state convention did not want Wilshire’s support.

“The BGCT appears to care more about institutional survival than missional partnerships,” he said.

Austin church drafts open letter to Texas Baptists

In an open letter from First Baptist Church in Austin to BGCT leaders, the Austin congregation insists it acted in keeping with Baptist principles of biblical freedom, soul freedom, church freedom and religious freedom in reaching its welcoming-and-affirming position. 

“As a church, we did our diligent theological work, being guided by the Spirit, meditating on sacred Scripture and hearing the stories and struggles of our own members. As a result of that thoughtful process, we are proudly and openly welcoming and affirming of all God’s beloved children,” the letter states.

The church asserts the BGCT violated local-church autonomy in taking its action.

“The current actions of the Texas Baptists’ leadership are blatantly against our very Baptist heritage of the autonomy of the local church, where each church has the freedom under the leadership of Christ and the Holy Spirit to make its own choices and stances,” the letter states.

Furthermore, the BGCT surrendered to the will of congregations opposed to LGBT-inclusion who threatened to withhold financial support, the letter asserts. Giving in to pressure on this issue could lead to the BGCT surrendering on other issues, such as women in ministry, Calvinism or biblical inerrancy, the letter says.

“When will you draw the line on what you will or won’t hold a required belief for being a Texas Baptist?” the letter asks. “Once we begin to listen to the voices who wield their power and financial strength in this way, we have begun a slippery slope to fundamentalism and irrelevancy. This is a familiar road we have been down.

“From our perspective, the current model of discernment being used by the leadership of Texas Baptists is based on money and influence, far from the model that Jesus set forth in the Gospels.”

Decisions based on principle and precedent

The BGCT had to make a decision based on principle and precedent, in light of the positions adopted by messengers to the annual meeting and actions taken by the Executive Board regarding LGBT issues, Hardage asserted.

“I believe a church can be welcoming but not affirming,” he said, explaining his belief churches can welcome people regardless of sexual orientation but maintain a traditional understanding of marriage and sexual ethics. “I believe that is not only possible, but also biblical. I also realize some would disagree.”

Hardage, Martin and Mason agreed on at least one point.

“It’s sad,” each said.

ABILENE—Ancient Hebrew Scriptures offer American Christians a critique of the prevailing economic system, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann told a chapel assembly at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology.

“The Old Testament should not go away, because it provides a script whereby we may think honestly and faithfully about economic questions,” he said.

Walter Brueggemann delivered the George Knight Lectures at Hardin-Simmons University. (HSU Photo)Brueggemann presented his economic reading of the Old Testament narrative as part of the George Knight Lectures at Hardin-Simmons University.

The Bible grew out of the context of economies of extraction—systems in which powerful people extract their wealth from vulnerable people, he said.

“The Bible offers a sustained critique of the economy of extraction and consistently offers an alternative that is an evangelical option,” Brueggemann said. “We in the Western world—and in the United States—live in an economy of extraction.”

Speaking on the eve of the national election, Brueggemann noted much of the rhetoric in the presidential campaigns centered on “the economy of extraction and who does it better.”

Case studies from the Old Testament

Brueggemann cited three case studies in the Old Testament that demonstrated how the economy of extraction led to neighborly alternative visions.

• Pharaoh. Egyptian oppression of the Hebrews began when Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, which was a “nightmare of scarcity,” and that led to a policy of property confiscation, a food monopoly and slavery, he noted.

“It is so ironic that people with the most have the greatest anxiety about running out and not having enough,” he said.

Brueggemann interpreted the Exodus as a critical response to an extraction economy.

“It’s a map of social analysis” and a critical critique of any extraction economy, he said, applying it to “the oligarchy in which we live that is busy extracting wealth from vulnerable people by taxes and mortgage and interest and debt regulation and low wages.”

The Exodus involved the people of Israel leaving Egypt to go into the wilderness—“territory beyond the reach of Pharaoh”—where they saw no viable means of life support, he noted. However, the miraculous provision of manna, quail and water showed how “the wilderness turns out to be a place of abundance,” he said.

“This is the core claim of the gospel, that as long as we live in the extractive economy of Pharaoh, we will live in an economy of anxious scarcity,” he said. “Whenever we have courage and freedom to imagine ourselves outside the Pharaoh’s domain, we discover it is a zone of abundance where the great God governs.”

Brueggemann also interpreted the Ten Commandments as rules for living outside the domain of Pharaoh and his economy. He particularly singled out the command to observe Sabbath and the command forbidding covetousness of anything belonging to a neighbor.

“The extraction economy wants us to be endlessly busy, because busy people do not have the time to reflect,” he said. “The extraction economy covets everything from everybody.”

• Solomon. Solomon gained gold by dealing arms to other nations, compelling cheap labor and implementing an exorbitant tax system to support his lavish monarchy, Brueggemann said.

“Solomon was a big extractor,” he said, comparing Solomon’s temple to Trump Tower in terms of its significance as a symbol of personal wealth.

However, the injustice perpetrated by the small, wealthy cluster of leaders in Jewish society led to a tax revolt after Solomon’s death, he noted.

Eventually, it led to Old Testament prophets who pronounced judgment on an unsustainable economic system and presented an alternative vision—a message relevant to the United States today, Brueggemann said.

“We are now facing up to the first hints that the extraction system in the United States is no longer sustainable,” he said.

• Persian empire. Persia extracted taxes from the Jews and used their countrymen as the means of extraction.

“The purpose of every empire is to collect revenue,” he said. “The way it worked is that the Persian empire hired local Jews to collect taxes from other Jews to send to Persia.”

The prayer of Ezra recorded in Nehemiah ends on a note of great distress caused by the extraction system, Brueggemann noted. Eventually, Nehemiah compelled the tax-collecting Jews and the tax-paying Jews into a covenant to remember they were Jews.

Neighborly alternatives to the extraction economy

Scripture offers an extended report on extraction economies and proposals for alternatives, Brueggemann said.  

“Marvel at what has been entrusted to us—how hard it is and how wonderful it is,” he said. “What has been entrusted to us is the vision, the opportunity and the vocation that the neighborhood can be organized differently.”

In contrast to the normative extraction economy so prevalent in the world, God’s people are summoned to seek and to exercise alternatives based on grace and gratitude, he asserted.

“The normative economy is to be resentful if anybody gets something for nothing,” he said. “In the alternative neighborhood economy, we understand what we have is a gift that is properly shared. It is a dangerous, subversive alternative, and it is the truth of our life.”

Psalms as the offer of a ‘counter-world’

In a second lecture, Brueggemann explored the Psalms as the offer of a counter-world unlike the world in which people live today.

In the present world, people are anxious about scarcity and propelled by an ideology of greed, he observed. Self-sufficiency is prized, people are seduced into denying the truth about themselves, and the end is despair, he said.

“People have a willful amnesia because there are too many things we do not want to remember,” he said.

Finally, he observed, the world people recognize is normless—“no norms of civility or neighborliness.”

The counter-world of the Psalms affirms trustful fidelity, celebrates a world of abundance that God the Creator provides, depends upon God and “is all about truth-telling,” he said. It offers hope instead of despair, remembrance in place of forgetting and celebrates the norms—the law—God provides for the good of his creation, he added.

In place of the idolatries of this world, the Psalms focus on the God of abundance and generosity—the One who is reliable, truthful and trustworthy to keep his promises, he said.

“God remembers. He has not forgotten who we are,” Brueggemann said. Because humanity is made of dust but carrying God’s image, God gives his people norms by which they should live.

“The commandments are the path to life,” he said. “They remind us we are penultimate, and we need to get in sync with the Ultimate. The Psalms offer a script for those who reject the foolishness of this world.”

PEÑITAS—Maria Luisa Morales’ future was so close, it was right outside the front door of the aging one-room travel trailer that currently serves as home for her family of six.

Maria Luisa Morales Her future was constructed before her eyes, nail-by-nail, board-by-board by a group of volunteer women building her three-bedroom home.

Volunteer builders at work

Nearly 20 volunteers with Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas worked from sunrise past sunset building the home for the Morales family from scratch. With sweat on their brows, the women raised the walls, built the roof, hung and painted the siding and finished out the home.

“I just can’t believe this day has finally come,” Morales said, looking at the construction. “The relief I have and the overwhelming sense of love and compassion is pouring out of me in tears.”

Process strengthened the family

The team worked through Buckner International Domestic Missions, which identified a family who had earned enough points to qualify for a home build. Families earn points by participating in local Buckner Family Hope Center classes about managing finances, parenting and job skills, as well as volunteering to help others.

Through the process, the Morales family grew stronger and closer together.

“Maria Luisa’s husband, Alberto, worked so hard to become a better father. However, due to his work schedule, he was not able to spend quality time with his kids,” said Gabriel Flores, interim director of the Family Hope Center.

“Now, he is at a different workplace and through the 24/7 fatherhood class has more resources available to him, allowing him to be creative and present. As a result, the family is stronger, and their children are healthier physically and emotionally. The effort by WMU of Texas catapults the family even further forward into a bright future.”

Peanut Scott, a volunteer from Cadiz Baptist Church in George West, helped build a house for the Morales family. It was her fifth homebuilding project through Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas and Buckner International. (Photo/Aimee Freston/Buckner International)
‘Blessed to serve’

Seeing Morales weep as she drove the first nail into the first wall of what will be her new house brought immense joy to Peanut Scott, a member of Cadiz Baptist Church in George West, who was part of her fifth house build through WMU of Texas and Buckner.

“I feel blessed that God uses me,” she said. “I feel blessed to go. I feel blessed to serve. Most of all, I feel blessed to be with kingdom people. It’s just amazing to see how God puts this all together.”

Lanelle Amann, a member of First Baptist Church in Smithville, echoed Scott’s thoughts. God has blessed her so much that she feels compelled to help others.

“If I call myself a child of the king and don’t have a heart to help to others, I need to check myself,” she said.

Developing skills

Many of the women like Scott came to their first Texas WMU/Buckner build with no construction experience. But through the years, they have developed their skills and believe God gives them the strength to work long hours in the heat.

Scott noted she is driven to “see the house come together, to see the family and the kids help out. God gives me more strength than I can imagine.”

Through the house build, the Texas WMU team bonded. Strangers became close friends over a few days of work as they encouraged each other, prayed for each other and helped each other on the worksite.

Building relationships

“The main reason WMU of Texas goes to Peñitas to build a house for a family in need is to build relationships,” Texas WMU Interim Director Carolyn Porterfield said.

“We believe it is through relationships that we can best share the love of Christ and demonstrate our love for our neighbors. Each family we have worked alongside has been a blessing. We are humbled to be part of God’s work in the life of a family that is working hard to build a stronger future for their children.” 

“As we go back year after year, how it has changed that whole colonia,” Scott said. “We all want to better ourselves, and so do they. I love working with the women of WMU. We’re sisters. God puts us together, and it all works.”

The Morales family is grateful for the hard work the women put into constructing the house.

“You have given us more than we could have ever imagined and only prayed for,” Alberto Morales said. “You have shown us so much love, and we pray the Lord bless you and keep you and your families always! To think that any of you—like Family Hope Center staff or the WMU—would give of your time and energy to sincerely care for my family and give them what I cannot just blows my mind, and I’m so grateful.”

Christians in Nigeria face a humanitarian crisis, but few in the West recognize the severity of the persecution Nigerians endure, Benjamin Kwashi, an Anglican archbishop from northern Nigeria, said during his recent visit to Dallas.

“We must speak on behalf of the voiceless. I have lost pastors. I have lost friends,” Kwashi told the Speak Freedom Dallas Summit at Dallas Baptist University, sponsored by the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiativest Century Wilberforce Initiative. 

“The injustice facing Christians in northern Nigeria is unbelievable,” he said, recalling a particular occasion when Islamist militants massacred all the Christian in three villages. “No one escaped. No one helped.”

‘Massacre,’ not a ‘clash’

On rare occasions when Western media report on violence in Nigeria, they tend to frame it as “a clash” between Muslims and Christians, Kwashi said.

“It is no clash,” he said. “How can it be a clash when people are murdered in their sleep? It is a massacre.”

Boko Haram extremists have killed more than 15,000 people and displaced 2.1 million from their homes since 2011, the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative reported.

Home and church burned

Benjamin Kwashi described the persecution of Nigerian Christians when he spoke at Dallas Baptist University as part of the Speak Freedom Dallas Summit. (DBU Photo)For Kwashi, the losses began nearly three decades ago. In 1987, radicalized Muslims burned both his family’s home and their church.

“Not just our church but hundreds of churches in 72 hours,” he said.

On Sept. 7, 2001, militants killed 150 Christians and destroyed 300 homes and churches in Jos, the administrative capital of Nigeria’s Plateau State, he said.

In the years since, Kwashi survived attempts on his life at least three times.

Wounded but propelled to serve

In 2006, when he was traveling in the United Kingdom, at least 30 Islamist militants broke into his home, demanding to see him. When his wife, Gloria, told the intruders he was out of the country, they took out their anger on her.

“They did unspeakable things to her,” he said. “They left her half-dead and blinded.”

Several months later, surgeons in the United States restored her sight. And after the experience, she began to take orphaned children into her family’s home.

“She was a different woman,” Kwashi said in an interview. “It propelled her into another place, bringing the most vulnerable children into our home. It was as if nothing mattered to her unless she was saving and serving people—this wounded woman who had been so humiliated.”

Caring for vulnerable children

Some orphans were HIV-positive. Many had severe physical or mental disabilities. Some were the orphaned children of Muslims who died violently.

The Kwashis have housed more than 50 orphans in their home. They founded a school that provides for 400 vulnerable children, giving them medical care, food, clothing, housing and an education.

“The future of Nigeria—indeed, any nation—is in its children,” Kwashi said.

Listen and pray

Christians in Nigeria want their fellow Christ-followers in the West to hear their stories and understand their situation so they can pray intelligently about it, Kwashi said.

“Pray God will restrain the hands of killers,” he said. “Pray for Christians as we reach out to them in love.”

Earlier this year, a team from the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative traveled throughout central and northern Nigeria to hear firsthand accounts of religious persecution. The full report is available here.  

‘The way of the cross’

Christians in Nigeria can relate to the persecuted church of the first century, Kwashi noted, although he quickly added, “Nothing we experience can compare with what Jesus went through.”

“First-century Christians knew and understood what the way of the cross meant. They never diminished it or downplayed it,” Kwashi said.

“God is calling us to take seriously the call of Jesus to take up a cross and follow him. … I do not wish it upon the West. I pray nobody else has to see what we have seen. I don’t want it to happen to anybody else.”