PASADENA—Most churches would be happy to say they baptized 100 people during a year. But First Baptist Church in Pasadena expects to baptize 100 more than last year.

Baptisms numbered 159 in 2008, and the church baptized 169 last year. This year, through October, 245 had stirred the baptismal waters.

J.J. Cox, youth minister at First Baptist Church in Pasadena, prepares to baptize three young women, while others await baptism. (PHOTO/Courtesy of First Baptist Church in Pasadena)

“It’s not like we’re doing anything unique. God is just blessing in a faithful way,” Pastor Charles Redmond said.

Redmond does not attach a cause/effect relationship to a visit he made to the Billy Graham Retreat Center in North Carolina earlier this year. But he noticed a upward trend in people making a decision to follow Christ after he returned and taught his people to use an evangelism tract.

“I felt impressed to come back and teach people to use it through the pulpit,” he said. At the conclusion of the service, worshippers took all 3,000 of the tracts. The church ordered another 3,000, and about half of those were taken the next Sunday.

“Very, very soon—almost immediately—we began to see people being saved beyond anything we had experienced,” Redmond said.

The Holy Spirit was the emphasis during Redmond’s visit to the Graham retreat center, and he brought that focus back to First Baptist Church.

“That’s never been one of our major emphases, so we began to teach what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. I think God has honored that, and God has blessed that. But having said that, God has just spoken to a lot of hearts,” Redmond said.

Many in his congregation have brought more friends and neighbors to church, he noticed.

“We’ve tried every way in the world to share Christ where we are, just like all the other churches do. But the real key is if you can get those members, in their daily lives, bearing the witness of Christ however the Holy Spirit gives them opportunity. They’re around the people who need the Lord,” he said.

“We’re out of the trap of passing out a card and saying, ‘Go visit this person.’ We’re just saying, ‘We’re going to equip you to share Jesus and see what happens.’”

He preaches in two services each Sunday morning and at a community lunch each Tuesday that draws hundreds from outside First Baptist’s membership. His son, Jon, is associate pastor and preaches in the Sunday and Wednesday night services.

People continue making public professions of faith in all four services, Jon Redmond said.

“The preaching has not been anything fancy or out of the ordinary. There’s no gimmicks—just simple, biblical preaching,” he said.

Charles Redmond—now in his 21st year of ministry at the Pasadena church—agreed.

“Our style is different, which is refreshing, I’m sure, for our congregation. But though we do it in different ways, we’re both just simply preaching what the word of God says. We’re not trying to have a production. We’re just trying to teach what the word of God says,” he said.

Baptism can be a catalyst for the start of spiritual inner conversations in others, Jon Redmond said.

“The baptism experience is a sermon in itself. We’ve seen a lot of older people baptized, and when you see someone in their 80s … who barely has the physical strength to get in the baptistery and yet they go through the process, I think that says to other people who are watching that, ‘If she can do that, if he can do that, then I can do that,’” he said.

Those baptisms have the added effect of drawing others to the church, perhaps for the first time. First Baptist has seen visitors at baptisms rise this year after emphasizing the need for the person being baptized to invite others to the occasion.

“Many people who have just become a Christian, they don’t have many Christian friends. We say: ‘When you have a birthday party, you send invitations. So, when you’re going to be baptized, send invitations and invite friends to your baptism.’

“They may be coming out of friendship or family respect, but they’re going to be in that room, and they’re fixing to hear the gospel. And we’re going to plant seed, even if we don’t see all the fruit,” Charles Redmond said.

During each baptism, friends and family are asked to stand.

“It’s to magnify the fact that this is really a great deal,” he said. “A person getting saved is kind of a big event around here, and it’s a big event in heaven.

“We baptize a lot of people around here, and after every person, the congregation claps. It’s not like a clap at a Dallas Cowboy game. It’s a strong clap, but it’s a reverent clap. People are just rejoicing to see people saved.”

The congregation comes with an expectation not only that people will be saved, but also a sense that God is at work, he continued.

“There is an expectancy. You can feel that. We feel God is going to do some mighty things here that we haven’t even fathomed. We don’t know what they are, so we’re sure not trying to orchestrate them,” he explained.

Jon Redmond said the congregation has a warmth that others find inviting. An as example, he mentioned a support group for people with addictions of all kinds.

“They not only come to their meetings, but they come to church and are saved and are welcomed warmly. There’s not a holier-than-thou attitude in the church. I think we all just recognize that we’re all sinners, we all need God’s grace, and nobody is better than anyone else. Nobody is so bad they can’t be saved, and nobody is so good that they don’t need to be saved.”

ABILENE—Bobbie Neal picked up a picture of a dragon drawn by her 9-year-old nephew, Chase. “He’s an excellent little artist,” she proclaimed, sitting in the motel room where her extended family has lived for almost a year.

Bobbie and Robert Neal have been caring for Chase, his 6-year-old brother, Braiden, and their little sister, Sarah, in their parents’ absence. The Neals are one of five families with children enrolled at Johnston Elementary School in Abilene who received toys and a decorated Christmas tree from students at Hardin-Simmons University.

“These five families would not be able to give the kids much for Christmas, if anything, if it were not for the efforts of students at HSU. They have really come to the aid of these families,” said Rosalyn Muzaurieta, special events coordinator at Johnston Elementary School.

Students filled bins in university dorms with donated toys, and some gave money so toys could be purchased for the 19 children in the families.

Brittany Suell, student activities director at HSU, noted students enjoyed participating in the toy collection the past, and she wanted to rees-tablish the tradition.

“Students are looking for projects to become more involved in the community. They really want ways to give back to folks, especially during the holidays,” she said.

Mindy Morris, Title One social services coordinator for the Abilene Independent School District, oversees the needs of students at 11 schools that include low-income students.

“AISD has over 700 students living in families who have been identified as homeless just this semester. That’s more homeless children than we had in all of last year,” Morris said.

Ben Johnson from HSU delivers toys to Bobbie Neal, who has been keeping her nephews and niece for close to a year. The children’s parents are unable to care for them. Robert Neal has been working at the motel in exchange for the room where the family lives.

“The Neals are absolutely one of the families in the greatest need—and certainly worthy of any help that comes from the community.”

Bobbie Neal was diagnosed with cancer in July and underwent surgery in September. She hopes she soon will be authorized by Medicaid to take the five weeks of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation treatments her doctor has recommended.

Her husband works at the motel in exchange for the room where he and his family live.

“The owner here has really been nice to us. He didn’t have to give me a job. He could have just kicked us out of here,” he said.

The motel room is decorated with Chase’s penciled drawings, tacked above a shelf near the twin mattress Chase and Braiden share.

Toys provided to the children by HSU students included two Barbie dolls, three board games, Playdoh, toy cars, a foam dart gun, some large coloring pages and crayons.

“We really didn’t know what we could give the kids this Christmas. We were just hoping we could come up with something. This really helps,” Mrs. Neal said.

WACO—Christmas on Fifth Street brought more than 8,000 people to the Baylor University campus Dec. 2 for a live nativity scene, musical performances, carriage rides, a petting zoo, pictures with Santa and the 45th annual Kappa Omega Tau tree lighting ceremony.

“We were pleased with the attendance and the way the event unfolded,” said Michael Riemer, associate director of student activities at Baylor. “We offered some new things that we’ve not offered in the past.”

This year’s event included ice skating on Fountain Mall and caroling by the Baylor department of modern foreign languages, as well as a performance by Mandisa, ninth-place finalist in season five of American Idol, who joined the Baylor Religious Hour Choir for their “Cocoa, Cookies and Carols” concert.

“Performing with Mandisa can only be described as electric,” said Ryan Anderson, Baylor senior and program coordinator for the concert. “The energy she brought to the stage was contagious, and it was hard for anyone in the audience to even sit down. … Singing with her will probably go into my top three memories of being a Baylor student. Mandisa loves the Lord, and her spirit and encouragement was something the choir will not quickly forget.”

The 45th annual Kappa Omega Tau tree lighting ceremony—along with numerous musical performances—drew a huge crowd to the Baylor University campus for Christmas on Fifth Street. (PHOTOS/BAYLOR)

A live nativity scene in front of the Bill Daniel Student Center on the Baylor University campus drew attention during the annual Christmas on Fifth Street celebration.

The purpose of the concert was to raise awareness of Baylor Religious Hour’s international mission trip to Ghana, where the choir will work with the ministry OneWay, singing at churches schools and hospitals.

Other Christmas on Fifth performers included The Kappa Pickers, Scott & Clare, the handbell choir from Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, Phil Wickham and Matt Wertz.

Kappa Omega Tau used the tree-lighting event as a fund-raiser to generate support for the Mocha Club charity’s educational project, which funds job training centers in schools in Kenya and South Africa.

Events like Christmas on Fifth are what endear people to Baylor, Riemer said.

“It’s programs like these that students experience over the years that connect them back to the university and connect them to other alums and to people who will come to Baylor after them,” Reimer said.

ETBU council considers vision. The East Texas Baptist University centennial council held its first meeting to develop a vision of how ETBU best may fulfill its mission over the next 25 years. The university invited 100 alumni, faculty, staff, students, trustees and friends of ETBU to form the council. The group’s mission is to “investigate the strengths and challenges of the institution, consider where we have come from over the past 100 years as well as the current context of Christian higher education, draw conclusions about the best direction for the future growth and development of the university, and recommend how we might advance that vision,” ETBU President Dub Oliver said. Members of the centennial council are organized into six working groups—mission, academic program, students and student life, church and society, resources, and leadership and governance. The council is scheduled to meet again April 7-8 and Sept. 15-16 before presenting its report and recommendations to the school’s board of trustees in November 2011.

Foundation awards $4.8 million in grants. Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio recently announced 76 grants totaling $4,825,574 for health-related programs to organizations in the eight-county region around San Antonio. Since 2005, the foundation has awarded 390 grants totaling about $25.5 million. Baptist recipients this year included: Baptist Health System School of Health Professions, $548,790 for 623 scholarships; Baptist Health System clinical pastoral education, $10,500 for 35 scholarships; Wayland Baptist University, $19,000 for 12 scholarships; Oakwood Baptist Church in New Braunfels, $25,000 for a counseling center; Baptist Temple Church in San Antonio, $7,500 for a community health fair; Canaan Missionary First Baptist Church in San Antonio, $7,500 for Canaan Cares; First Baptist Church of Bandera, $7,500 for playground equipment; and True Vine Baptist Church in San Antonio, $7,500 for its Health Trackers program. Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio was established in September 2004 from sale proceeds of Baptist Health System to Vanguard Health Systems.

Discipleship discount available. The Baptist General Convention of Texas has partnered with NavPress to offer discipleship materials to churches at a discounted rate. By using the discount code D12L24QB6, Texas Baptist congregations can receive a 10 percent discount on discipleship materials. A portion of the money used to buy materials also will be invested into Texas Baptist ministries. To order from NavPress, call (800) 366-7788 or visit www.navpress.com. 

BCFS, UTSA help foster care youth. Only 2 percent of foster care youth in Texas earn a college degree, but Baptist Child & Family Services and the University of Texas at San Antonio are teaming up to help young people make the transition from foster care to higher education. With the help of a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, BCFS and UTSA will provide enrollment and financial aid information, leadership training and housing support to prospective college students served by BCFS’ San Antonio Transition Center. The center is a one-stop-shop for resources to help foster and at-risk youth as they enter adulthood. The center offers life-skills training, job placement, counseling and educational support.

Journal honors HBU. First Things, the journal of the Institute on Religion & Public Life, recognized Houston Baptist University in two categories during a special issue on higher education. Journal editors asked, “Is there anywhere to go to college in the United States today where you’ll get a socially useful diploma, you’ll have the chance of getting an actual education, and you won’t get your faith beaten out of you?” After collecting information on more than 2,000 schools, HBU ranked No. 3 in the “Schools on the Rise, Filled with Excitement” category and No. 11 in “Seriously Protestant Schools.”

Foundation awards prize to BCFS. The San Antonio board of the BKD Foundation presented $10,000 to Baptist Child & Family Services, naming the agency the recipient of its second annual Community PRIDE (Passion, Respect, Integrity, Discipline and Excellence) award.

• Kerry Horn to First Church in Eagle Lake as pastor.

• Joe Loughlin has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Corsicana.

• Jonathan Raffini to First Church in Big Spring as minister to students.

• Danny Reeves to First Church in Corsicana as pastor from First Church in Edna.

• Chris Tucker to First Church in Quitaque as pastor.

• Milton Tyler to First Church in Sonora as interim pastor.

• The B.H. Carroll Theological Institute will hold an open house at its new office location at 301 S. Center, Suite 100, in Arlington from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 14.

• Dallas Baptist University will present 503 degrees to students during winter commencement ceremonies Dec. 17. Included will be 284 undergraduate degrees, 216 master’s degrees and three doctoral degrees. Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert will be the keynote speaker for the morning ceremony, while Norman Blackaby, professor of biblical studies at DBU, will speak at the afternoon graduation.

• Leroy Kemp, professor of Christian studies at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, will present “George Whitfield: Pioneer Evangelist” at the Jan. 13 ministers’ forum on the UMHB campus. The noon meeting is free, and participants are encouraged to bring a lunch.

• John Meier, assistant director of music at The Church of St. John the Divine in Houston, will be the featured organist at a Feb. 4 organ recital at Houston Baptist University. The 30-minute recital will begin at noon.

• Epsilon Pi Alpha, a service fraternity at Hardin-Simmons University, joined with Abilene firefighters to sell T-shirts to raise funds for breast cancer research. The group sold about 200 shirts and presented a check for $3,050 to the firefighters. A softball tournament whose winner played the HSU baseball team raised more than $2,000, which was donated to the Alliance for Women and Children to help provide breast cancer screenings.

• Howard Payne University’s moot court team competed in two recent competitions. In a competition of 46 teams from 13 schools held at Texas Wesleyan Law School, all five HPU teams placed in the top 17, with four teams advancing to the round of eight finalists. The top HPU team took second place. Robert Davis, a senior from Universal City, was named the top speaker of the tournament. At their next tournament at Texas Tech Uni-versity, all five teams advanced the round of eight, and three teams made it to the final four. Davis was named second-best individual speaker at the tournament.

• East Texas Baptist University’s football and baseball fields have been named fields of the year by the Texas Turfgrass Association. This is the second consecutive year for the baseball field to be recognized.

Anniversaries

• Iglesia El Buen Pastor in Fort Worth, 50th, Oct. 17. Robert Arrubla is pastor.

• Ferguson Road Church in Dallas, 60th, Dec. 12. Wayne Wible is pastor.

• James Miller, 30th, as pastor of The Heights Church in San Angelo, Jan. 18. A celebration will be held during the 10:45 a.m. service Jan. 16. John Hatch will be the keynote speaker. A luncheon will follow.

Retiring

• Gene Meacham, as director of missions of Caprock Plains Baptist Area, Jan. 31. He was pastor of three Texas churches—Dawn Church in Dawn, First Church in Ropesville and First Church in Hale Center. He and his wife, Lavonne, were missionaries with the Foreign Mission Board, serving from 1975 to 1985 in Malawi and Transkei, now part of South Africa. He has been director of missions for Caprock Plains Area 10 years. He also has served on the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and has been a trustee at Wayland Baptist University.

Deaths

• L.D. Monical, 76, Nov. 19 in Lake Jackson. After serving several years as a deacon at First Church in Lake Jackson, he was interim pastor of more than a dozen area churches. In 1967, he became pastor of Holiday Lakes Church in Angleton, where he served more than 20 years. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Deanna; son, Marcus; daughter, Marty Lynn Dunn; brother, Harold, and five grandchildren.

• Glen Godsey, 86, Nov. 20 in Plainview. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II and received a Purple Heart medal. He was a 1952 graduate of Wayland Baptist University. After his ordination at First Church in Plainview in 1949, his ministry has been directed toward Hispanics. He was pastor of Mexican Mission in Plainview, Mision la Trinidad in Olton and Primera Iglesia Mexicana in Plainview. He also served on the associational staffs of Tierra Blanca Association, Big Bend Association and Permian Basin Association prior to joining Caprock Plains. He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years by one month. He is survived by his son, Lynn; daughters, Yolanda Rodriguez, Corina Cavaness and Betty Godsey; brothers, W.P. and Clyde; sister, Margaret Stout; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

• Jim Byrd, 73, Nov. 23 in Dallas. He was a professor and pastor, serving churches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Germany. He also served as vice president of the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation. He was preceded in death by his brother, John; sister, Marie; and infant daughter, Kimberly. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Wencie; sons, Scott, Lance and Bart; brother, Bill; sisters, Alice and Lela Mae; and five grandchildren.

• Sadie Jo Black, 80, Dec. 5 in Waco. She was an alumnus and retired professor of Baylor University. She supported the university and its students through endowments to beautify the campus and scholarships to support the education of students. She graduated from Baylor in 1950, and returned to the campus as an assistant professor of home economics, where she retired in 1992 after 35 years of service. For her exemplary service and philanthropy to Baylor, she was awarded the James Huckins and Pat Neff medallions within the Baylor University Medallion Fellowship. In 2010, she received the Baylor Legacy Award. She was a member of First Church in Waco.

Ordained

• Justin Perez, to the ministry at New Life Church in Beeville.

• Caleb Hixon to the ministry at First Church in White Settlement.

• Frank Burg as a deacon at Friendship Church in Abilene.

WACO—While her children attended Fort Bend Baptist Academy in Sugar Land, Evelyn Janssen already was in the habit of gathering weekly with fellow parents to pray for their children, teachers and school.

Once Janssen’s children, Hayley and Corbin, moved on to college at Baylor University, she found a natural extension of that call to prayer through the Fort Bend chapter of the Baylor Parents League.

Baylor parents Robin and Ricky Baker are actively involved in “First Call to Prayer” as part of the northeast Tarrant County chapter of the Baylor Parents League.

Each month, 67 groups of Baylor parents from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., Minneapolis to the Rio Grande Valley, meet together for “First Call to Prayer,” blanketing the Baylor campus in prayer and bringing peace of mind to participants.

“It’s been such a gift to be able meet together and pray for the kids,” said Janssen, whose family attends Sugar Creek Baptist Church in Sugar Land. “It’s such a support for the parents, especially those of freshmen. Our kids even look forward to it. They give us lists of things they would like for us to pray about for them. For the kids to know that all the parents are praying is really special.”

Judy Maggard, director of the Parents League at Baylor, said the Parents League creates a network of parents who receive encouragement and support from each other through shared experiences. As one of many activities, the League’s call to prayer allows Baylor parents to “stand in the gap” for Baylor students, faculty and administrators through monthly prayer and fellowship.

Maggard said the First Call to Prayer has three objectives:

• Encourage, support and gain strength from other parents as they spend time talking with God about the needs of the students, faculty and administrators.

• Unite with individuals who are not able to join the group physically but will join online to pray at the same time

• Gain peace of mind in knowing each student is blessed with prayer.

As the fall semester winds down at Baylor, many Parents League chapters throughout the country combine taking care of their children’s spiritual as well as physical needs. The Keller home of Jim and Lori Horvath was loaded with healthy snacks and homemade treats for the Dec. 2 gathering of the northeast Tarrant County chapter of the Baylor Parents League. While parents assembled care packages for their students, roommates and friends, they focused their prayer time on their students’ health as they study for finals.

Baylor parents involved in the Boerne chapter of the Baylor Parents League met at the home of Debbie and Mark Littlestar for a combined First Call to Prayer/Boxing Party.

“Our December prayer was based on exams, covering heavily over health during exam time and flu season,” Lori Horvath said.

A mother of two Baylor graduates, Ryan and Daniel, and a Baylor junior, Garrett, Lori Horvath said the call to prayer has been invaluable to Baylor families.

“Even though our children may be from different walks of life on the Baylor campus, their common denominator is that all of their moms and dads get together every month and pray for them,” Lori Hovath said. “We give such thanks that there’s a place like Baylor that stands firm on that commitment and doesn’t waver and continues it in their Parents League with First Call to Prayer.”

The San Marcos Academy Bears football team traded in their traditional forest green and purple uniforms for pink jerseys during one game this season to heighten community awareness about breast cancer services and raise money for Central Texas Medical Center.

“We feel privileged for the opportunity to partner with our long-time friends and supporters at Central Texas Medical Center in this special fundraising effort for the local community,” Academy President John Garrison said.

The pink jerseys with green and purple trim featured the Central Texas Medical Center pattern printed on each shoulder and were sold to players and fans after the game. The $1,250 raised from the “pink out” jersey sales will benefit medical center’s breast cancer support services.

“On behalf of the CTMC Foundation and the hospital community, we would like

to extend our thanks to President Garrison and the San Marcos Academy family for their generous gift,” said Scott Yarbrough, president of the foundation board and member of the academy’s board of trustees.

“We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the student athletes, coaches, trainers, managers and all students who worked so hard to make this event a tremendous success. We want to commend them for their efforts, but also for the creative way in which they have helped to raise awareness of these valuable services.”

Less than three weeks before North Korea shelled the South Korean YeonPyeong Island and tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated, a Dallas-based Baptist missions worker delivered 60 tons of corn to North Koreans suffering from a longstanding food shortage in their country.

Yoo Jong Yoon, Korean mission field consultant with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions, meets with the staff at the AeYukWon school for orphans. (PHOTOS/Courtesy of Yoo Jong Yoon)

Yoo Jong Yoon, Korean mission field consultant for CBF Global Missions, delivered $21,000 worth of food provided by CBF, Texas Baptist Men, SungLim Korean Baptist Church and the Korean Community of Dallas.

He also visited orphans at two institutions in North Korea where he delivered supplies valued at $2,200 and spoke at a North Korean church.

“I purchased and delivered 800 socks for orphans 8 to 17 years old at MiRim Institute, where I was allowed to say words to the students at two different classes,” Yoon said.

He also bought and delivered jars for kimchi—a traditional meal of fermented cabbage and spices—as well as classroom television sets for the AeYukWon school for orphans ages 4 to 7.

Third-grade students stand at attention in a class at the MiRim Institute. (PHOTOS/Courtesy of Yoo Jong Yoon)

“I said to the orphans, ‘We American Christians want to be your friends and mom and dad and sister and brother,’” he recalled.

CBF has contributed to numerous hunger-relief projects in North Korea, including purchasing dried food and providing supplies to enable the people there to build greenhouses to grow their own vegetables. TBM’s ongoing involvement in hunger relief, humanitarian aid and development projects in North Korea dates back to 1996.

In spite of an increasingly tense political and military situation on the Korean Peninsula, Christians have a continuing responsibility to meet needs in Christ’s name, Yoon stressed.

“Kings, lords and rulers change, but the mandate of our Lord’s compassion, feeding the hungry, does not change,” he said.

LUSAKA, Zambia (BP)—No one in the clinic’s waiting room is smiling—except Anna Banda. She chats happily with people at the Circle of Hope clinic on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia. There are few—if any—empty seats as they wait to be tested and treated for AIDS.

One mother leaves the clinic carrying bottles of medication in one hand and an infant in her other arm. A trash can overflows with empty medication boxes people have discarded before leaving the facility.

Banda knows all too well the pain these people feel.

Nearly six years ago, Banda was dying of AIDS. She shows a photograph of herself during her darkest days. In the picture she is not smiling. She sits on a bed with her shoulders slumped, staring blankly into the camera. She appears frail, sad and near death.

At that stage of the disease, many people die within days or months—maybe a year if they are fortunate. According to UNAIDS—the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS—statistics, AIDS claims nearly 4,000 lives in sub-Saharan Africa every day.

As Banda’s immune system began to shut down, she often felt weak, nauseated and unable to keep food down—on the edge of becoming another AIDS statistic.

Baptist missionary Troy Lewis prays for teenagers at a True Love Waits meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. The group provides a support system for students with a desire to live a life of sexual purity, integrity and one focused on a relationship with Jesus Christ. (IMB PHOTO)

Then she began to take life-saving medication—antiretroviral therapy—and found encouragement at Circle of Hope clinic. A doctor put her on a strict regimen of medication each morning and evening.

Today, she appears to be the picture of health. She now works at the clinic, is studying to be a receptionist and recently got married. The medication Banda continues to take is not a cure, but if taken regularly, it can get people back on their feet, and living and even enjoying life again.

“Some don’t believe it when I tell them I’m HIV-positive,” she said. “They say, ‘No, you’re just trying to make us feel better.’”

AIDS continues to kill and infect thousands every day, but Southern Baptist missionary Troy Lewis finally sees some progress. Lewis and his wife, Tracey, were appointed as missionaries in 2001. The couple from Dallas has two sons.

For the past decade, Lewis has led AIDS-related ministries in Zambia, joining forces with clinics like Circle of Hope. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program fund International Mission Board work overseas.

Troy Lewis, an missionary from Dallas sent out by Southern Baptists’ International Mission Board, teaches Christians near Lusaka, Zambia, how to help homebound people who are infected with AIDS. They learn how to offer suggestions on healthy living and share their Christian faith. (IMB PHOTO)

Having AIDS no longer is the automatic death sentence it once was, Lewis insists.

“We’ve seen people get up off their sick bed and walk,” he said. “The greater availability of antiretroviral therapy is saving lives.”

Lewis’ work has branched out not only to clinics, but also into working relationships with Baptist partners, local churches, ministries and other nongovernmental organizations to help get medication to people who need it. Clinics once limited to HIV testing are now distributing medication and a chance at a new life.

These partnerships have helped bolster AIDS education and training for those seeking new ways to help. Lewis also promotes ministries like True Love Waits, a program that teaches abstinence before marriage, along with biblical principles.

Many of the churches Lewis works with help support more than 30,000 orphans and vulnerable children in six of Zambia’s nine provinces. Lewis estimates they’ve also trained 1,700 caregivers to help those infected with AIDS.

Some provide home-based care for those who are unable to travel to see a doctor.

One morning, Lewis and a group of local Christian caregivers duck through the small opening of a dying man’s hut about an hour from the capital city.

Zambian Christians and Troy Lewis, a Southern Baptist missionary from Dallas, walk into a village to visit a man who has HIV. During the visit the man accepts Christ as his Savior. (IMB PHOTO)

They are checking on Solomon, making sure he’s taking his medication.

The man lies on a thin sheet on the floor of his hut. He used to be busy working in his fields. Today, he is inside, closed off from his community.

Solomon appears to be entering the last stages of AIDS. His clothes swallow his thin frame. Sitting up is a slow, difficult process. Although the outcome for Solomon looks grim, he recently began taking the ART medication to build up his immune system.

Although the number of deaths in sub-Saharan Africa has dropped slightly, people still are being infected and dying at a rapid rate and leaving behind thousands of orphaned children.

At times, keeping up with the latest AIDS statistics—for instance, which African country’s numbers are the worst—can be overwhelming, Lewis admits.

“I used to have all of those (statistics) right on my fingertips,” he says. “Then I stopped looking at it so much. It’s just bad.”

Some local Baptist churches have mobilized slowly during the past decade, but they are gaining traction, Lewis said. For some congregations, overcoming the negative image of AIDS still remains a challenge.

The church has not always been a safe place for people to reveal they have AIDS.

“Sometimes … they did not have a church to lean back on,” Lewis said. “There is a lot of stigma, a lot of discrimination.”

Fighting the pandemic, he contends, boils down to finding hurting people and ministering to their needs like Jesus did.

“Doing ministry that touches the soul” as Lewis puts it. “People were so open to Jesus’ message … it got into their DNA that way.”

Banda—with her smile and new life—prays that others will continue to find the happiness she has found. She also prays for a cure.

Banda remains confident in Christ’s power and love, adding, “My faith tells me that one day God is going to come through for those people who are providing the cure.”

ROMA—Texas Baptists have sent more than four tons of aid to more than 400 people forced from their homes in the Mexico border city of Ciudad Mier.

They have been sheltered since early November in a Lion’s Club hall, city hall and plaza in Miguel Aleman, Tamulipas, across the Rio Grande from Roma.

Texas Baptist churches have delivered food, water, sleeping bags, tents and hygiene products for the Ciudad Mier refugees who fled their homes Nov. 5 just before two drug cartels began battling for control of the city.

Rio Grande Valley churches helping with the effort include Primera Iglesia Bautista in Roma, Primera Iglesia Bautista in Santa Maria, First Baptist Church in Harlingen, Iglesia Bautista Sublime Gracia in Progreso, Primera Iglesia Bautista in La Joya, First Baptist Church in Weslaco, Olmito Community Church in Olmito, as well as First Baptist Church in Bay City and First Baptist Church in Allen. 

Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association has received $1,000 in disaster response funds from the Baptist General Convention of Texas disaster response fund.

“We’re giving out everything people need as long as we have it,” said Tomas Cantú, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Roma and point person for the response effort.

Some of the refugees are cooking meals for themselves and others in a former restaurant reopened for that purpose, Cantú said. Many are sleeping on concrete floors in the Lion’s Club or on dirt beneath the open sky.

Texas Baptists have responded to the crisis as they sense Christ calling them, said Robert Cepeda, a congregational strategist for Texas Baptists.

“As we’re ministering to these people, we’re ministering to the least of these,” he said. “They’re hungry. Many of them feel hopeless. I really feel this is the epitome of sharing the hope of Christ—feeding and clothing these people and communicating that there are people out there that care about them.”

Violence along the Mexican border has been ongoing as drug cartels fight each other for control. Mexican officials have announced 3,000 soldiers, naval forces and federal police officers were sent to the Ciudad Mier region, near Falcon Lake, but observers are unsure when the situation will be resolved.

“This is really a new day for disaster response in the sense that after a tornado or hurricane, there is an end in sight when folks can get back home and rebuild—look forward to a new life, a new beginning,” Cepeda said. “These folks, it’s open ended. They don’t even know if and when they’ll get to go back home.”

TEMPLE—Eighty University of Mary Hardin-Baylor faculty and staff packaged 18,000 meals for hungry children in Haiti.

The UMHB personnel served in partnership with Kids Against Hunger, an organization that packages and delivers food to children around the world.

Deborah Jones, assistant professor of music, had worked with Kids Against Hunger in a church fellowship group and believed it would be of interest to UMHB faculty.

“Working with Kids Against Hunger was just such a tremendous experience,” she said. “Everyone who experienced it was so thrilled to be a part of this project.”

Jones chairs the Christian Planning Committee, part of the UMHB Faculty Assembly, and was looking for a way for faculty to volunteer as a group.

“We’re trying to focus more on service as a university. So, we thought the faculty needed to do a service project. We wanted to do something really big. So, I brought up the Kids Against Hunger organization, and the committee just loved it,” said Jones.

Brian Brabham (left), UMHB assistant professor in exercise science, works with Sandra Rodriguez (center), secretary in the UMHB English department, and Alex Graham, a student tennis player majoring in sport management to package meals for children in Haiti.

The committee presented the idea to the faculty at their first meeting this year, and the group overwhelmingly ap-proved the project.

Matt Lovett, assistant professor of exercise and sport science, also serves on the Christian Planning Committee. Lovett was in charge of gathering donations from faculty for the service project.

“Our faculty is segmented across campus. We all kind of stay in our own little world,” said Lovett. “It was good to meet people across campus, hang out and interact with them, especially for something that’s such a good cause.”

The faculty raised about $3,000 to purchase food they could package—enough for 18,000 meals for Haitian children.

Another committee member, Becky Bunn, assistant professor of nursing, scheduled faculty members for food-packaging shift work.

“We had two groups of 40 faculty members,” Bunn said. “My group was from 4 to 5:30 p.m., and the second group was from 5:30 to 7 p.m.”

The faculty raised about $3,000 to purchase food they could package—enough for 18,000 meals for Haitian children.

The volunteers—many of them accompanied by their children and grandchildren, as well as some students—formed an assembly line. Donning hairnets and aprons, they packaged meals containing 21 vitamins and minerals, soy, vegetables and rice. The food mainly was in powdered form, except for the rice, and when added to boiling water can be prepared in 20 minutes.

Bunn and her colleagues enjoyed working together for Kids Against Hunger and hope to continue the tradition the faculty has started.

“Some of us in the College of Nursing were saying we kind of hope that we make this a yearly project,” she said.

“It makes a difference not only for the children in Haiti, but in how we feel. We were doing something together as a faculty that was going to make a difference in other people’s lives.”