ARLINGTON—For Texas Baptist college students serving on mission trips between semesters, sharing the gospel happened well beyond their destinations.

Katie Walker, a student at Howard Payne University, served over Christmas break with a Go Now Missions team in Moldova. The team brought new winter boots and warm socks to orphans in facilities supported by Children’s Emergency Relief International.

Students found opportunities to share the hope of Christ where they were serving, with people they met while traveling and with those they encountered during mission initiatives through Go Now Missions, the student missions arm of the Baptist General Con-vention of Texas.

Student teams spread the gospel by giving new boots to orphans in Moldova, engaging African immigrants in New York City, encountering college students in East and South Asia, helping rebuild a Haitian village and building a home in Jamaica.

Hector Briceño, a Texas A&M University at Kingsville student who went on a trip to share the gospel with Africans in New York City, found an opportunity to share the hope of Christ with Japanese-speaking man from New Zealand who stayed at the same hostel as the team. After the man asked to join the mission team, Briceño and his colleagues were able to minister to him for the duration of the trip.

John Williams from East Texas Baptist University and Azri Flores from Texas A&M University in Kingsville share the gospel in Harlem during a Go Now Missions winter break trip.

“He barely knew about Jesus Christ,” Briceño wrote. “He only knew that (Jesus) was a man that had died. It took a long time, but God gave me the opportunity to minister to him one on one. He understood everything. The team was able to get him a Japanese Bible, and he was very impressed when he started reading the Scriptures in his mother language. I believe reading Scripture in your first language is very powerful.”

Opportunities to expand God’s kingdom continued as the students began their specific projects. A 10-member student team delivered new boots to more than 2,000 Moldovan orphans who are cared for by orphanages supported by Children’s Emergency Relief International, the international arm of Baptist Child and Family Services. The Texas students attempted to shine a ray of hope into the orphans’ lives.

Dani Clark (center) from Howard Payne University and Melissa Bulman (right) of Tarleton State University, members of a Go Now Missions team from Texas, work on a construction project in Jamaica.

“I pray they forever remember that it was Christ who gave them their shoes,” wrote Howard Payne University student Carlee Ammons. “‘Cadou de la Isuis’—these shoes are a gift from Jesus—is what we told each child as we handed them their shoes. I pray they take hold of that promise and never forget the love of Christ. I pray we don’t forget it either.”

Hector Castelltort, a Texas A&M University at Kingsville student who served in Haiti, saw opportunities to minister while painting a school. There he befriended a young man with whom he sought to share the hope of Christ. The interaction between the two nearly moved Castelltort to tears.

“We didn’t only paint a school in four days but also painted the dreams of a better future for the kids who go to that school,” he wrote.

A 10-member student team delivered new boots to more than 2,000 Moldovan orphans who are cared for by orphanages supported by Children’s Emergency Relief International, the international arm of Baptist Child and Family Services.

Brenda Sanders, who leads Go Now Missions, praised Texas Baptist college students for wanting to serve God between semesters. In the past two years, interest in winter mission trips has increased significantly, she noted, as students view their break from school as an opportunity to share the gospel outside where they live.

“More and more students are seeing the holidays as a good time to invest in missions,” she said.

“Not only do they have the time, but they see the opportunities for open doors to share about the meaning of Christmas. I also think that the types of mission trips we had for students really resonated with them. This generation loves to be involved in meeting needs and building relationships. They had the opportunity to build a house, work with orphans or build relationships with immigrants or college students.”

For more information about Go Now Missions, visit www.gonowmissions.com.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas ended 2010 nearly 13 percent below budget requirements and 7.65 percent behind the previous year’s receipts, the BGCT treasurer’s office reported.

Texas Baptists gave $32,644,317 to the BGCT Cooperative Program, 87.37 percent of the $37,365,000 budget. In 2009, churches gave $35,347,969.

“While we’re disappointed with Cooperative Program receipts this year, we feel that the reduction from 2009 is due in large measure to the economy and high unemployment,” BCCT Treasurer Jill Larsen said. “We hear anecdotally from some of our churches that they are suffering from the recession still.”

However, she noted optimistic signs in terms of giving in November and December. Larsen characterized Cooperative Program forecasts for 2011 as “fairly conservative.”

While the detailed budget calls for $35,850,000 in 2011, she pointed out that includes $1 million from reserves and $2 million in projected revenue from special fund-raising initiatives.

“That means the actual 2011 Cooperative Program budget (from church receipts) is $32,850,000—only $200,000 more than we received in 2010,” Larsen said.

AUSTIN—Texas lawmakers are faced with a sluggish economy and a budget deficit as high as $25 billion, forcing them to make difficult spending decisions during the legislative session that begins Jan. 11.

Staring at a drop in revenue, no prospects of receiving federal aid to pull the state out of the deficit and a reliance on income from the state sales tax during slow economic period, legislators will be seeking ways to navigate a difficult and intricate situation, Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission Director Suzii Paynter said.

 “We are on the eve of a new legislature in Austin,” Paynter wrote. “Complicated leaders representing diverse constituents will be charting a course (or not) on a complex landscape. My prayer is that we begin to see signposts for this achievement—stability, health, growth and prosperity for Texas families and putting them first.”

Legislators will face pressure to make up for the budget shortfall through a variety of options, including the expansion of gambling, expansion of toll roads and the reduction of aid for children and the poor. Using some—or all—of the $9.5 billion rainy day fund will be hotly debated.

In such an environment, legislators need to hear from their constituents, not simply lobby groups who continuously knock on their doors, Paynter said. Legislation affects people across the state, and lawmakers need to understand how their decisions affect lives, she emphasized.

“There is no mere business interest, there is no association, there is no political institution that can, by being the beneficiary of generous policy, set the single plumb line for a stable future,” Paynter said.

“And the inaction of ignoring the elderly, the mentally disabled, the hungry, the poor, the abused, the economically exploited, the neglected, the dying, the recovering addict, the re-entering felon is a sure way to destabilize the future of Texas families. Although the airwaves are full of dollar signs and reality-check statistics, any principled moral voice is clear that the stepladder to a successful tomorrow will not be made out of budget cuts alone.”

Paynter encouraged Texas Baptists to engage lawmakers regarding issues about which they are passionate. The path to a better and more just Texas comes as a result of passionate people fighting for what they believe while respecting the viewpoints of others, she stressed.

“Find your voice when it comes to important values. They almost always come with some contradictions that need to be spoken, aloud,” she said.

“What we know to be right or just may not be politically feasible—at least at first. The great statesmen of our history called this deliberation; they fought. They talked about struggling with either/or and they talked about wanting both/and until there was a healthy compromise, and they set the world on a course to constitutional democracy.”

The CLC can help connect people to the elected leaders, provide material to help Baptists speak about issues and help individuals raise topics that are affecting their communities, she added.

The CLC also will focus on influencing legislation in several areas this session:

• Fighting the expansion of gambling, a battle it has led for decades on the basis that it never creates the revenue for the state that it promises and negatively impacts Texas residents. With a budget deficit, gambling lobbyists regularly argue the expansion of gaming is a way to solve the financial difficulty.
• Closing the loopholes that allow payday lenders avenues through which vulnerable people are exploited by being charge interest as high as 400 percent.
• Pushing for the efficient use of funds to aid those in need, particularly children and the poor. These areas will come under particular scrutiny this session as lawmakers seek to make budget cuts. The CLC believes aid to society’s most vulnerable is crucial, but funds also should be used effectively and efficiently.
• Encouraging incentives for families and organizations—including churches—to use renewable energy and become more energy efficient.

For more information, visit www.texasbaptists.org/clc or www.facebook.com/christianlifecommission .

• Andy Anderson has resigned as pastor of First Church in Eldorado.

• Roddy Arnold to Crutchfield Heights Church in Sherman as pastor.

• Gayle Baucum to Pioneer Church in Valley View as pastor.

• Gary Bowman to First Church in Bloomington as pastor.

• Clay Brockman to Western Heritage Church in Cresson as minister of music and youth.

• Ryan Buck to Western Heritage Church in Cresson as associate minister for children and community.

• Josh Burton to First Church in Pottsboro as pastor.

• Sam Buzzard to Hillcrest Church in Marshall as pastor.

• Adan Cancino to La Esperanza Iglesia in George West as interim pastor.

• Aaron Crawford to Calvary Church in Simms as pastor.

• Jonathan Dick to Faith Community Church in Maud as pastor.

• Kevin Evans has resigned as pastor at Valley Creek Church in Flower Mound.

• Frank Florez to Asherton Mission in Asherton as pastor. He also continues to serve as pastor of Gethsemani Church in Carrizo Springs.

• Gains Gardner to First Church in Rockport as associate pastor, where he had been interim minister of education and administration.

• Bill Gillum to First Church in San Angelo as minister of music.

• Michael Gleason to First Church in Kingsville as minister of education and youth from First Church in Pettus, where he was youth minister.

• David Goff has resigned as minister of music and worship at First Church in Portland.

• Jeff Lanningham to First Church in Rockport as minister of education and administration.

• Zach Lentz to First Church in Bronte as youth minister.

• Ruben Metcalf to San Angelo Cowboy Church in San Angelo as pastor.

• Carl Moman to First Church in Brownfield as pastor, where he had been interim.

• Dennis Morgan to Oak Grove Church in Grapeland as pastor.

• Jimmie Nelson to Cross Timber Church in Burleson as interim pastor.

• Sarah Norris to First Church in Amarillo as associate children’s minister.

• John Pope to Galilee Church in San Angelo as pastor.

• Josh Rhodes to Rainbow Church in Rainbow as youth minister.

• Kenny Sanders to Rose Hill Church in Texarkana as interim pastor.

• Bruce Scofield to First Church in Hebron as interim pastor.

• Bob Shirley to First Church in Normangee as pastor.

• John Stickl to Valley Creek Church in Flower Mound as pastor, where he was associate pastor.

• Koby Strawser to Spring Creek Church in Meridian as pastor.

• David Taylor to Somerset Church in Somerset as pastor.

• Neal Terwilliger to First Church in Sulphur Springs as worship pastor.

• Michael Weaver to First Church in Poteet as pastor.

• David Williams to First Church in Paducah as pastor.

• Jeremy Woods to Cottonwood Creek Church in Denison as pastor.

• Kevin Wooley completed his service as interim worship leader at First Church in Sulphur Springs.

• Dillon International will hold a free adoption information meeting at the Buckner Chil-dren’s Home campus in Dallas Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. A representative will give an overview of adoption in China, Korea, Haiti, India and Hong Kong, plus new opportunities in Ghana. A domestic adoption program for Texas families and adoption programs in Russia, Ethiopia and Honduras, available through an affiliation with Buckner, also will be discussed. For more information or a reservation for the meeting, call (214) 319-3426.

• The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor conferred degrees upon 207 students during winter commencement ceremonies. One hundred eighty-one students received baccalaureate degrees, 23 students received master’s degrees and three students received doctoral degrees.

• During winter commencement ceremonies, 88 Howard Payne University students received baccalaureate degrees, while one student each earned an associate’s degree and master’s degree. Gary Price received an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

• Baylor University graduate students Xiomara O’Neill, Beatriz Ramos, Andrew Trujillo and Emilie Ventura have been awarded scholarships from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to support bilingual mental health services in Texas. All are students in the Baylor School of Social Work. The foundation pays tuition and fees for new bilingual students entering graduate social work programs in Texas. In return, students agree to provide mental health services in Texas for a period equal to the timeframe of the scholarship.

• Three Texans were among those who received degrees from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary during winter commencement ceremonies. Josh Stewart, worship pastor at Kingsland Church in Katy, received a master of arts degree in worship studies; Brandon Hanson, minister of students at Calvary Church in Beaumont, master of divinity; and Brad Hoffman, pastor of Memorial Church in Baytown, doctor of ministry.

• Gary Brock, chief operating officer of Baylor Health Care System in Dallas, has been elected to the Texas Hospital Association’s 2011 board of trustees.

Anniversaries

• Tye Howard, fifth, as pastor of Iglesia Vaquera in Waxahachie, Dec. 18.

• Harvey Patterson, fifth, as pastor of First Church in Luella, Dec. 22.

• Glenn Killam, fifth, as pastor of White Creek Church in George West.

• Heath Peloquin, fifth, as pastor of Brighton Park Church in Corpus Christi, Jan. 1.

• First Church in San Antonio, 150th, Jan. 22-23. While the church has engaged in mission efforts throughout the year to commemorate the milestone, the celebration will culminate with a fellowship and barbecue dinner at Rio Cibolo Ranch on Saturday from 2 p.m to 7 p.m. Dinner will be served at 5 p.m. Sunday will include a reception for former ministerial staff. Ticket sales will continue through Jan. 16. For more information, call (210) 226-0363. Don Guthrie is pastor.

• Keith Petteway, 15th, as pastor of Shiloh Church in Franklin.

• Danny Wendt, 10th, as pastor of First Church in Hempstead.

• Chet Haney, 15th, as pastor of Parkside Church in Denison, Feb. 1.

Event

• New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte will be a guest speaker at The Heights Church in Richardson, Feb. 6 at 9:15 a.m and 10:50 a.m. Pettitte’s wife, Laurie, will sing in both services. For more information, go to www.theheights.org.

Revival

• Mercury Church, Mercury; Jan. 16-19; evangelist, Robert Barge; music, Jeff Gore; pastor, Keith Simpson.

Deaths

• J.T. Thweatt, 79, Nov. 25 in Glendale, Ariz. A graduate of East Texas Baptist University and Southwestern Theological Sem-inary, he served 40 years as a pastor and as an administrator with the Baptist Foundation of Arizona and Arizona Baptist Retirement Centers. He is survived by his wife, Dee; daughter, Cheryl Brown; son, Steven; sister, Mary Harwood; brother, Edwin; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

• Felix Gresham, 94, Dec. 6 in Stephenville. He served as a U.S. Army chaplain during World War II in campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines. He was the first director of the Baptist Student Union at John Tarleton College (now Tarleton State University) in Stephenville, and later was pastor of First Church in Stephenville. He became dean of students at Southwestern Theological Seminary in 1955, and served at the seminary in various capacities until his retirement in 1986. He was a longtime member of Gambrell Street Church in Fort Worth. He was preceded in death by his wife, Bunelle, in 2009. He is survived by his son, John; four grandchildren; and three great-granddaughters.

• Larry Hardgrave, 60, Dec. 14 in Athens as a result of an automobile accident. He was pastor of Rope, Catch and Ride for Christ Cowboy Church in Mabank the last four years. He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Vivian; sons, Chad Hardgrave and Andy Cornelius; daughters, Tobie Herrington, Erin Ludtke and Mary Beth Retamoza; brother, Thomas; sister, Susan Ingram; and nine grandchildren.

• Kenneth Medford Hutson, 82, Dec. 14 in Bedford. He was a church starter in southern Utah from 1963 until his retirement in 1993. He then became pastor of First Church in Bertram until his retirement in 1997. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Charlene Lambright and Susie Faye Hutson. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Dorothy; sons, Dusty, Paul and Mark; brother, Kenneth Lester; and six grandchildren.

• Geneva King, 80, Dec. 18 in San Antonio. Her husband, Bill, worked on the Baptist General Convention of Texas staff from 1966 to 1976. After his retirement, they moved to San Antonio, where she was a member of Shearer Hills Church 34 years. She was preceded in death by her husband of more than 52 years in 2001. She is survived by her sons, Ross and Kyle; sister, Jerry Toland; and four grandchildren.

• Yvonne Stackhouse, 74, Jan. 7 in Chicago. She was the author of the book that marked Hardin-Simmons University’s centennial in 1991. An HSU graduate, she went on to service the university as a writing instructor, international student coordinator and board member. As university historian, she chronicled the school’s history from 1891 to 1991. In 2000, she was awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree for her contributions. She was preceded in death by her huband, John. She is survived by her sons, John Jr. and Brent; daughters, Cindra Taetzsch and Jayne Gaddy; sister, Valerie Lunau; brothers, Nelson and Bruce Annan; and 10 grandchildren.

Licensed

• Evan Henson to the ministry at First Church in Duncanville.

Ordained

• Lenard Dossey to the ministry at First Church in Yancey.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—In a post-game interview following Texas Christian University’s 21-19 victory over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, TCU quarterback Andy Dalton turned the conversation toward God’s blessings rather than personal achievement.

ESPN reporter Erin Andrew asked Dalton, the offensive player of the game, if TCU, as a nonautomatic qualifier for the Rose Bowl, played “for the little guys out there.”

“That’s what we were doing,” Dalton said. “We weren’t just playing for TCU. We were playing for all the non-AQ schools out there. It’s an attitude that we have. There’s a verse in the Bible, in 1 Peter 5:6, that says, ‘Humble yourself, and under God’s mighty hand he will exalt you in due time.’ And that’s what happened today.”

The Horned Frogs, ranked third in the Bowl Championship Series standings prior to the Rose Bowl, finished the season a perfect 13-0. Dalton completed 15-of-23 passes for 219 yards and one touchdown against the Badgers. He also added a rushing touchdown.

A Fort Worth Star-Telegram article explored not only the on-field legacy that Dalton, a senior, will leave at TCU after setting school records for wins, passing yards and touchdowns, but also the spiritual legacy he’ll leave behind as well.

Dalton was one of 11 TCU students who created a weekly nondenominational gathering called Ignite, the Star-Telegram reported. The group first met April 5, the same night as the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Leaders weren’t sure how many to expect.

“He placed it on our hearts to do something like this,” Dalton said in the article. “And we walked in there, and the place was packed. We had around 400 people the first night.”

Average attendance at the meeting has been more than 700.

“College is a time where a lot of people try to find themselves,” Dalton told the Fort Worth newspaper. “If you’ve grown up in a church, college is a time you may branch away from that. We felt TCU had been a little complacent in its faith and having something like this would kind of spark up the campus.”

In the Dec. 2010 edition of Sharing the Victory, the magazine of Fellowship of Christian Athletes , Dalton discussed how his faith in Christ affects the way he plays on the field.

“Like 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 says, everything belongs to God and God alone,” Dalton said. “My talents and abilities are all from him. So, when I take the field to play and use those abilities, it is my way of giving thanks to him for all he has given me.”

At BeyondTheUltimate.org , a website for Christian athletes and coaches, Dalton describes how he came to faith in Christ as a third grader when the pastor at First Baptist Church in Katy visited his home. He grew up in a Christian household, he said.

“One thing I have realized when growing in my faith is that I can’t be passive in my relationship with God,” he wrote. “It is truly a relationship, and I need to keep up with it. God has given us prayer. I can talk to God at any time. That is a special thing to be able to talk to the Creator of the universe whenever I want. He wants me to tell him my feelings, goals, wants, and more. All he wants is just to spend some time with me. He has also given us the Bible to help teach us. There are so many stories and lessons to be learned from just picking up the Bible and taking some time to read it.

“I feel truly blessed to be in the position I am in today. I know I wouldn’t be where I am without God’s help. He has provided me with so much and I am so thankful. To see what he has done—not only for me but for my team and others around us—has been unbelievable. There has been hard work involved, but nothing would have happened without Christ.”

HOUSTON—While thousands of Baylor University football fans packed Houston’s Reliant Stadium to cheer on the Baylor Bears versus Illinois in the Texas Bowl game, 12-year-old Henry Furler of Houston soaked in the exhilarating atmosphere of his first-ever football game.

“It was very exciting, and it was just a fun experience,” he said.

Baylor Regent Jeff Reeter of Houston visited with kids from Texas Children’s Hospital, calling it “highlight” of the Texas Bowl game. (PHOTO/Robert Rogers/Baylor)

Henry was one of 300 patients and their families from Texas Children’s Hospital who attended the Texas Bowl as Baylor’s special guests. The invitation was spurred by Houston alumni serving on a Baylor Texas Bowl Host Committee, who reached out in a cooperative effort to Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital.

“Any time you're working with Baylor folks, you're working with vibrant people who care about more than just temporal things, and the committee talked about what constitutes a Baylor victory, off the field,” said Jeff Reeter of Houston, a 1984 Baylor graduate and member of the board of regents.

“We are so thankful for Baylor’s relationship with the Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Medical Center dating back to the 1940s. Because of that relationship, we thought that doing something special for the Texas Children’s kids, who themselves are battling with an opponent such as cancer, would be a powerful way to serve and make a difference within the Texas Bowl.”

Betsy Furler attended the Texas Bowl with her son, whom she describes as “the world’s greatest 12-year old.” She said Henry has battled a lifetime of serious health problems, such as life-threatening allergies and epilepsy, and has been hospitalized 20 times. A middle schooler pursuing his Eagle Scout badge, Henry today spends more time as an outpatient at Texas Children’s, Baylor College of Medicine’s primary pediatric training site.

“Almost all of Henry’s doctors are affiliated with Baylor,” Betsy said. “We thought that was a really important thing for Henry and me to realize we’re a part of the Baylor family.”

Patients and their families from Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston cheered on the Bears as special guests of Baylor at the Texas Bowl. (PHOTO/Robert Rogers/Baylor)

Baylor football’s theme for the 2010 season was “Rise Up,” and the Bears did, reaching a bowl game for the first time in 16 years. Knowing that the patients, families, doctors and nurses at Texas Children’s “Rise Up” every day against tremendous odds, Baylor officials said they wanted to celebrate that same spirit by providing a fun afternoon focused on something other than medical treatments and hospital stays. Each family received Texas Bowl tickets, food vouchers, a parking pass and a Baylor T-shirt.

“We really enjoyed being there with all the other Texas Children’s families having a great time,” Betsy Furler said. “It was a fun uplifting family experience for us.”

Just before halftime, Reeter made his way to section 353 to visit with the Furlers and the rest of the children’s hospital patients and their families. The Bears were behind on the scoreboard, but it didn’t dampen the joy Reeter discovered in that section.

“These kids were so positive and enthusiastic that it made the football game less of a focus than the pursuit of life abundantly and impacting others for good,” Reeter said. “My time in that section with those kiddos turned out to be the highlight of the Texas Bowl game.”

Although the game didn’t turn out the way Baylor fans would have liked, with a 38-14 loss, the university certainly made an impression on Henry. He hopes to attend Baylor with dreams of becoming a scientist.

Help Build Hope Haiti organizers envision mobilizing Christians—and other people of good will—in the United States to provide permanent housing for Haitian families, many of whom lost their homes to an earthquake that devastated the country one year ago.

“Our mandate is to build 5,000 homes in five years in the United States and ship them to Haiti,” said Mike Stickler, chief executive officer of the Vision Group, one of the key partners in the building initiative.

In turn, 5,000 Haitians will assemble the homes, gaining construction skills that will enable them to become employed in rebuilding their nation.

“Honestly, 5,000 homes is just a drop in the bucket,” Stickler said, noting the January 2010 earthquake destroyed more than 250,000 homes and left 1.5 million homeless. “But we want to employ one member of every household in long-term construction.”

Organizers are planning weekend building events in church parking lots and other open spaces in multiple cities throughout the United States over the next few years, beginning with six simultaneous build-outs April 30 in the Dallas area.

“It can be the shortest short-term mission trip a church ever takes,” Stickler said.

Homes will be constructed from modular structural insulated panels with expanded polystyrene foam sandwiched between sheets of fiber-cement-based board.

Ric Drudi, director of the building initiative, emphasized these are substantial homes, not emergency shelters. Homes—averaging 456 square feet—are built to the Miami-Dade County, Fla., building standards, so they are designed to withstand sometimes-violent seasonal storms.

Children play tag in a Haitian tent city. Thousands of Haitians continue to live in similar settlements one year after an earthquake devastated the nation. Help Build Hope Haiti envisions building 5,000 permanent homes and equipping 5,000 Haitians to rebuild their country. (RNS PHOTO/Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger)

“They are hurricane-resistant, earthquake-resistant, insect- and rot-resistant and fire-retardant houses,” Drudi said.

At each building event in the United States, volunteers ages 13 and older will be assigned to stations in an assembly-line-style operation. Tradesmen with power tools will cut materials and supervise volunteers as they assemble the 4-foot by 8-foot panels using cordless screwdrivers.

Workers will assemble and paint one sample home at each site so volunteers will be able to see the end product of their labor. On the Sunday following each Saturday event, volunteers will pack panels into shipping containers bound for Haiti.

Help Build Hope Haiti has plans to build a village on 5,000 acres at Mayotte, southwest of Port au Prince. The group is working with established ministries and nongovernmental organizations in Haiti regarding community planning.

At First Baptist Church in Midlothian, leaders responded enthusiastically to the prospect of building homes for Haitians. The church already had built relationships in Haiti, with one mission team serving there just a couple of months before the earthquake hit last year.

“I like the fact that it’s sustainable and something that will last and has the potential to make a difference for several generations,” Pastor Bruce Prindle said, pointing specifically to the goal of creating an indigenous construction industry in Haiti.

In particular, Prindle saw Help Build Hope Haiti as an opportunity to involve church members in meeting human needs months after the initial rush of relief after a disaster.

“We’ve seen how people will do so much in immediate relief but not stay engaged,” he said. “This is the kind of project that could be duplicated over time, extending beyond the immediate knee-jerk reaction.”

While the Midlothian church has sent mission teams not only to Haiti, but also to Indonesia, those trips are costly and involve a small percentage of congregations’ members, Prindle noted.

In contrast, a local build-out for Haiti likely will be the church’s “least expensive mission project but with the greatest involvement of our members,” he said.

That summarizes exactly what Help Build Hope Haiti organizers considered when they decided to organize build-out events around the United States, rather than concentrating on raising funds, mobilizing volunteers for mission trips or building a factory in Haiti, Stickler noted.

“Help Build Hope is leveraging human capital, not cash capital. This means that we are drawing on the tremendous human resources of the United States rather than simply asking people for money. Furthermore, this solutions changes the hearts of participants in the U.S., encouraging greater participation in Haiti’s recovery in the future,” he said.

“We believe the more people who are engaged the better. Haiti needs widespread support, and these build-events are an important way to develop this kind of awareness and support.”

Cost for participants in the build-out is $67 per volunteer to help cover materials and other expenses related to the events. Prindle puts that expense into perspective.

“Would you rather spend $67 on dinner and a movie for your family,” he asked, “or spend it to build a home for somebody?”

For more information, visit www.helpbuildhopehaiti.org or call (877) 313-4466.

 EDITOR’S NOTE: The Reno Gazette-Journal  later investigated charges Michael Stickler was accused of fraud, saying he had bilked money from churches for the Haiti building project. He subsequently was indicted on unrelated charges.

http://www.rgj.com/article/20140107/NEWS1801/301070039/

WACO —Eighty years ago, an 11-year-old African-American boy walked in the dark on an Alabama country road, listening for the sound of his uncle’s truck and waiting for a promised ride home. But someone else came along, and the boy never forgot the terror of what happened next.

At first, Willie Thomas thought the men, carrying sickles and with their dogs tagging along, were hunting possums. Then one asked, “Hey, Boy. What you doing out here?”

So began a night of taunts, false accusations, the fashioning of a noose for Thomas’ hanging—and the merciful intervention of a passerby.

In video and audio recordings being transcribed by Baylor University students and to be archived at Baylor, Thomas—now Elder Willie Thomas, 90, of Birmingham, Ala.—and more than 70 other people recount how they narrowly escaped lynching, witnessed it or lived in fear of it.

Until now, not many African-Americans have been willing to speak openly about those experiences, said Angela Sims, assistant professor of ethics and black church studies at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo. She conducted the interviews, which will be housed at Baylor’s Institute for Oral History for public viewing and listening.

In her travels, she interviewed people—mostly elderly—across the country, in locations as diverse as Oakland, Calif.; Philadelphia; Richmond, Va.; Omaha, Neb.; and Bossier City, La.

No one, Sims said, can tell a story like the person who has lived it. As Sims listened to people relive their experiences, she felt their fear. But she also marveled at their faith and their forgiveness of atrocities.

Those first-person memories need to be preserved before it is too late, she said.

“Five of my interviewees have already passed,” Sims said.

Sims launched the project, called Remembering Lynching: Strategies of Resistance and Vision of Justice, in July 2009. She was preparing to defend her dissertation about lynching and decided to expand it into an oral history after she heard Wallace Hartsfield, a Missouri pastor and civil rights activist, give a first-person account of a Florida lynching he witnessed.

Carey Newman, director of Baylor University Press, introduced her to Stephen Sloan, director of Baylor’s Institute for Oral History, in 2008, and she received training in interviewing at the institute.

Postcard of spectators at the lynching of Jesse Washington, May 16, 1916, in Waco. (Photo/Withoutsanctuary.com )

Sims, an award recipient in the Ford Foundation Fellowship 2010 postdoctoral competition, is writing a book called Conversations with Elders: African-Americans Remember Lynching, based partially on her oral history interviews. It is scheduled to be published by Baylor University Press in 2012.

Sims quickly realized that “for me to even get through an interview, I’d have to take a very clinical approach. There are times I’ve not been able to mask my gut reaction. But I try to be stoic because I don’t want my reaction to become the narrative.”

So it was as she listened to Thomas.

The men who stopped him were drunk, Thomas told Sims in the videotaped interview. They cursed him, accused him of accosting a white woman and sicced their dogs on him.

“Great big old dogs,” Thomas remembered. “But those dogs jumped up on me and licked my hand and wagged their tails.”

Then one man, who carried a rope, made a noose.

“He said, ‘Let me try it on and see how it works,’” Thomas said. “He put it around my neck, and it was a grass rope—you know how they scratch. I was in pain. He pulled it and said, ‘Oh, it’s going to work . . . You see that big tree down there in the hollow? That would be a good place to hang him.’”

Then a passing driver stopped to investigate—a man who knew the Thomas family. The man brandished a shotgun at Thomas’ tormentors and urged Thomas to hush his crying.

The man vowed not to leave until the men turned Thomas loose. Thomas’ captors said they would do so only if the boy had told the truth when he said his uncle was coming to fetch him.

“My uncle’s truck—sometimes it would run; sometimes it wouldn’t,” Thomas said. “But finally, here comes the old truck, with one eye—one light— out, and his motor going boop-de-boop-de-boop-de-boop. You talk about ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.’ . . . There was nothing but Jesus at that moment.”

Sims’ work to elicit such accounts “exemplifies what’s best about oral history,” Sloan said. “It’s recording some deep and very personal and powerful episodes some of these folks haven’t talked about in years.”

While some people equate lynching with hanging, it actually is defined as a mob’s murder of someone without a lawful trial for real or alleged crimes. To find interview subjects, Sims called on friends and acquaintances who might know those who had experienced close brushes with lynching. Those friends could vouch for Sims as trustworthy. Still, some people canceled interviews, fearing repercussions.

Baylor student transcribers said the accounts are eye-opening, heart-wrenching and, occasionally, uplifting.

“I’m hesitant to use a term like ‘white guilt’ to describe what I felt while listening to these interviews, but it was hard hearing about all the terrible things these people had to go through for no good reason at all,” said Bethany Sellers, a senior graphic design major from Waco.

“There's no doubt that we’ve made significant progress concerning racial relations, but in this day and age, there’s still a lot of racism, depending on where you are and how hard you look.”

Ashley Yeaman, a junior journalism/anthropology major from Teague, was moved by the account of a man who, as a child, was hurried into a house by his grandmother so he would not see a lynching.

“Peering out the window, he saw a truck passing by with a body of a black man being dragged behind,” Yeaman said. “Many of the accounts are equally horrific tales, as well as personal stories of discrimination and mistreatment as a typical part of everyday life. … However, they also describe overcoming discrimination. One woman was one of four black school teachers who taught in all-white schools, heading the desegregation movement.”

Hearing how interviewees persevered and their hopes for the future has been inspiring, said Priscilla Martinez, a senior history major from San Antonio.

“It’s good to hear them speak optimistically and say, ‘It’s our legacy, but it’s getting better,’” she said. “All the people I heard being interviewed have been very religious, and it’s very uplifting when they conclude with that.”

Thomas said in his interview that when thinks of the white man who risked his own life to rescue a young boy: “It gives me a sense of forgiveness. I forgive those people.”

He said he believes the oral history project will benefit the nation.

“Truth and forgiveness have to be the order of the day,” he said.

They arrived in the United States from countries around the globe, often with no friends, few belongings and little knowledge of the new land they are entering in search of a better education.

They are the roughly 58,000 international students studying on college campuses throughout Texas, the third-largest group of international students in the United States. They’re primarily from Korea, India and China, but they come from a host of other countries as well, including Latin American nations and the Middle East.

Many excel academically and are seeking postgraduate degrees, said Beth Smith, director of the University of Texas at Dallas Baptist Student Ministry. They hope to gain knowledge and cultural understanding to be business leaders.

But that’s just the beginning. Students and Texas Baptists involved in Baptist Student Ministries statewide are among the first people some international students encounter when they come to Texas, providing a helpful hand and encouraging voice for young people who otherwise would be figuring out Texas on their own.

“They’re looking for community,” Smith said. “They’re looking for friendships. They’re pursuing obviously an academic education, so they’re looking for learning, but it’s not just in the classroom. They’re looking for cultural understanding in order to do business with Americans, with companies that are worldwide or international.”

University of Texas at Arlington Baptist Student Ministry volunteers meet international students coming to the university at the airport, give them a ride to the UTA campus and seek to help them however possible. This fall, BSM volunteers met about 120 new students at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

“That means when a new student comes from another country to Arlington, the first person they met is a believer from a local church who is here to serve them, meet their needs, show hospitality and greet them,” said Gary Stidham, director of the UTA BSM.

Students and volunteers with the UTD BSM attempt to help new international students locate furniture and help them get that furniture delivered. They offer to give the students rides to the store, doctor or anywhere else they seek to go.

The University of Texas at Austin Baptist Student Ministry seeks to build relationships with international students by having “dinner clubs” and conversation partners for students where they can improve their language skills.

No matter the approach, BSMs seek to help students and volunteers begin relationships with international students. Providing furniture, rides or friendship is simply a way Christians can share the hope of Christ to a group of young people who may feel alone and lost at times as they attempt to adjust to life in Texas.

Sean Williams, a University of Texas at Austin student, started a friendship with a visiting professor by becoming his conversation partner. The discussions helped them get to better know each other and gave the professor an opportunity to practice English. They enjoyed talking so much that they became friends.

As that friendship and those conversations developed, Williams and the professor discussed God and the Bible, which Williams used in the conversation sessions to help the professor improve his English skills. The professor, who came to the United States believing there was no God, professed Christ as Lord.

For more information about becoming involved in a BSM’s work with international students, call (888) 244-9400. To join the discussion about reaching out to international students, visit www.facebook.com/texasbaptists or www.texasbaptists.org/blog.

PLAINVIEW—Hang around Wes Cox or Rodney Watson, and it’s not difficult to see what season is arriving soon. Around August or September, both begin sporting extra facial hair, preparing for a special role that both cherish at Christmas.

Cox, who manages the bookstore at Wayland Baptist University’s Lubbock campus, and Watson, director of the Museum of the Llano Estacado at Wayland’s Plainview campus, both spend much of December donning red suits and hats and filling the role of Santa Claus.

Both relish the role and the joy it brings to children they encounter. But aside from the similarities of the character they portray and their basic experiences, Cox and Watson entered the world of the Jolly Old Elf in different ways.

Cox was volunteer weekend chaplain at University Medical Center and especially enjoyed visiting the pediatric unit. As the winter approached, his beard was getting full—a thick, pure white expanse across his face.

One of the childlife specialists at UMC noticed his resemblance to St. Nicholas and asked if he would play Santa for the annual breakfast for the children on the unit. Having volunteered many years with his wife, Barbara, for the Children’s Miracle Network, Cox jumped at the chance to touch the lives of sick children. He rented a costume locally for the role and still remembers his reaction six years later.

“I was sharing in a staff meeting at the Lubbock campus about the whole experience and how moving it was,” he said. “I couldn’t keep speaking because I got choked up. I just ended up pointing upward, wanting to give God the glory.”

From then on, Cox was hooked. He began researching options to buy his own suit since he wasn’t fond of the rented piece and wanted some more comfortable options. But the suits weren’t cheap.

Little did he know that a co-worker at Wayland-Lubbock was on the case. So moved by his experience, she took up donations from the campus employees toward a new suit, encouraging them to support this endeavor as Cox’s special ministry. The next year, about a week before his stint at UMC, the staff presented a new suit to Cox during a weekly meeting, once more moving him to tears.

“They said they wanted me to enjoy the ministry God had given me. I just signed ‘thank you’ because I couldn’t speak,” he said.

Besides the annual hospital breakfast, he has appeared at private parties, churches, nursing homes and other events dressed in the red suit. After that first solo act, he brought wife Barbara, who earned her degree at WBU-Lubbock in 2006, into the picture as Mrs. Claus, ordering her a special costume with an apron and hat. She often hands out candy canes and visits with children, and Cox finds Mrs. Claus often breaks the ice for some of the more timid children.

Rodney Watson, better known in December as Santa Claus, poses for a photo with Wayland students Bianca Grant and Caleb McLean during a “Late Night Study Breaks” session before finals on the Plainview campus. The rest of the year, Watson serves as director of the Museum of the Llano Estacado at Wayland’s Plainview campus (Photo courtesy Wayland Baptist University)

Watson was working at Hale County State Bank more than a decade ago when he got roped into his first gig as Santa. A pair of Rod Stewart concert tickets from his boss came with a warning: “This is going to cost you.”

Just days later, Watson learned the payoff would involve his playing Santa for the bank’s annual holiday open house featuring music and goodies. He reserved a Santa suit at the local costume shop that summer and began researching options for a beard that would look realistic, choosing a theatrical wig for the first few years.

“After coming to Wayland, I realized that my formerly red beard from my starving-artist days had turned gray, and I began to grow my own beard,” Watson said. “I have learned that the real beards scare fewer kids than the fake one does, and it is so much more comfortable than gluing on the fake stuff.”

He also called on his artistic talents to design a unique Santa suit that would still retain the integrity of the American tradition of St. Nick. His mother sewed the version he still wears for his many appearances.

Cox and Watson each recall funny and touching stories of visits with children who will say and do anything.

“After a few days of doing Santa, I asked one kid what he wanted for Christmas,” Watson recalled. “He looked at me with disgust and reminded me that he had just told me last night.”

Cox said he has heard all types of funny requests, but the experiences at UMC are particularly touching from year to year.

“The joy is seeing some of the kids we’ve seen for five years and how they’re getting better. Their attitude is so positive, and some recognize that I’m the same Santa and they joke with me,” he said.

“Hearing them say they are in remission since last year is so great. We just rejoice with them and tell them we’ll keep praying for them. As they get older, whatever their perception of Santa is, they’ll know that that person was not impersonal but was interested in their lives.”

Cox begins researching the hot toy trends in September so he’ll be able to talk more about what the children are requesting. That tip came after a request from one boy for a Transformer immediately had Cox thinking of electrical gear instead of the convertible toys.

Even during the joyful holiday season, Santas often experience heartbreaking moments, as well. For Watson, it is requests for food, for a father to get out of jail or for family drama to be resolved that really touch him.

“We just don’t realize how blessed we are until small children sit in your lap and ask for the things that most of us take for granted,” he said.

Cox recalled being choked up after a young boy would only whisper his request to Santa, saying, “I want my daddy to quit beating my mom and my brothers.” Unsure how to respond, he told the boy, “We’ll see what we can do.”

Mrs. Claus, played by Barbara Cox, adjusts the collar for Santa (Wes Cox) before he goes out to greet the children at University Medical Center’s Breakfast with Santa for pediatric patients. Wes Cox manages the bookstore at Wayland Baptist University’s Lubbock campus. (Photo courtesy UMC)

Both Santas say the full beard even gets them mistaken for St. Nick when they’re not in costume, even after Christmas has passed. Watson recalled a pair of young moms and three little girls staring intently during a meal with son Carey at a deli in Lubbock. Watson’s confirmation to the mother that he was indeed the real Santa resulted in chaos.

“Within three seconds, I was sitting in the floor of the restaurant, surrounded by children and taking Christmas wishes,” he laughed. “It was a blast.”

Cox recalled one little girl approaching him boldly while eating out one Dec. 27 to express her displeasure at receiving the wrong doll.

“She had her hands on her hips and said, ‘Santa, we need to talk,’” he said. “When I told her Santa can only go by what she tells me or writes down, she said, ‘I told my mom she was asking for the wrong doll.’ The whole restaurant was quiet. I asked her if that doll would be OK until next year and she said yes.”

Both Cox and Watson said children often want to hug them or thank them while in public, and they’ve even had pictures made with children—all out of costume. The instances are reminders of the joy that Santa brings to children and adults and the importance of the role they play, even if it is only for one month of the year.

“I keep asking myself why I keep doing it. Then, you get started and that first innocent child looks into your eyes and suddenly you remember the excitement that you felt as a child, and you pour your heart into it so each kid can have those special memories just like I do,” Watson said. “Knowing that they see so much more in you than is really there is truly a very humbling experience.”

Cox said he always tries to focus attention on Jesus’ birth as the reason for Christmas and the importance of that over the figure of Santa Claus. Handing out candy canes upside down—so they make a “J” for Jesus—is one aspect of their visits regularly.

“I try to point them to the fact that gifts are great, and Christmas is fantastic, but the real reason is to worship Jesus,” Cox said, noting that this year he also handed out cards with the Santa kneeling at the manger scene to drive home the point.

Watson shared a sentiment that he sees his role as a ministry to children.

“The thought occurred to me that playing Santa carries a responsibility that I was not aware of. The little things you do might well become some of life’s most precious memories with these kids and their families,” he said. “I try to pray each season that God will allow me to be what I need to be for each kid. This has become my ministry.”

LAREDO—Children living in colonias near Laredo will have a much happier Christmas, thanks to the Women on Mission and the mission development council at Adamsville Baptist Church.

The Central Texas church, about 16 miles from Lampasas, donated 41 pair of new athletic shoes, socks, candy and other gifts to Texas Baptist River Ministry.

Displaying shoes and other items Adamsville Baptist Church in Lampasas Baptist Association collected for distribution by Texas Baptist River Ministry to children living in colonias near Laredo are (left to right, standing) JoAnn Weatherhead, prayer director; Pastor Kelly Wolverton; Amy Brown, Women on Mission; (seated) Linda Weems, missions development council, Ruby Clark, Woman’s Missionary Union; and Betty Rials, chair of the mission development council. (PHOTOS/Courtesy of Betty Rials, Adamsville Baptist Church)

Pastor Kelly Wolverton, Joyce Straley with Women on Mission and Betty Rials, chair of the mission development council at Adamsville Baptist Church, delivered the donated goods to Mario Garcia of Laredo Baptist Association and River Ministry.

Garcia will distribute the presents to needy children in colonias outside Laredo. Many of the colonias on the Texas side of the border lack any utilities or plumbing, and many families live in primitive makeshift shelters, Rials noted.

In addition Rials, other members of the church’s mission development council are Linda Porter, Neil Weems, Susan Wolverton and Rick Williams. Other members of Women on Mission who serve with Straley include Amy Brown, DeeDee Rice, Ruby Clark and Pat Dannheim.

Adamsville Baptist Church, a congregation that averages about 70 in attendance, developed a relationship with Garcia during a Christmas-season mission trip in 2008, she added. During that trip, members of the Adamsville church delivered about 100 toy stuffed animals—along with some real goals and chickens—to an area about 18 miles east of Laredo.