GEORGETOWN—God’s call to care for others and bring people into the kingdom beckons Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas to reach out to the downtrodden and exploited throughout the state and around the globe—including victims of modern slavery.

The organization, in partnership with national WMU, will embark on Project Help in the fall—a two-year emphasis on reaching out to the hurting, impoverished, hungry and exploited around the world.

Texas WMU particularly is focused on sharing the hope of Christ with victims of human trafficking, helping prevent trafficking, aiding victims and providing people eternal hope through the gospel.

After praising WMU workers for their ability to train and equip Christians, Intentional Interim Executive Director-Treasurer Nelda Seal urged the women to continue their good efforts as well as moving into action. She pushed them to become “unhindered,” casting everything else aside so they can allow God to work through them to transform lives worldwide.

“It is important that we act out that which we have learned, that we put it into action to reach our nation and our state,” she said.

During the Texas WMU annual meeting themed “Love in Action,” participants heard about numerous places where hurting people are crying out for help. A Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board missionary serving in Southeast Asia said the region where she serves is an “epicenter” for trafficking where parents see selling their daughter’s virginity or selling her into slavery outright is a way to improve the family’s financial state.

The missionary, whose name is withheld for security reasons, said the gospel offers the only hope for transforming the region. The missionary’s team focuses on preventing trafficking before it happens by sharing the hope of Christ, which can change the way people view others.

“People think money will solve that,” the missionary said. “People think if we can just buy that child give that family some money, we can solve it. But it’s their hearts.”

Tomi Grover, Texas Baptists’ community and restorative justice director, noted trafficking happens closer to home as well. Texas represents one of the primary avenues through which people are trafficked into the United States. Young children, including children who will be sexually exploited, are trafficked daily through the state.

Tiffany Morris of Dallas Baptist University sings during a general session of the Texas WMU annual meeting. (PHOTOS/Texas Baptist Communications)

In Moldova, WMU volunteers are reaching out to trafficking victims and bringing them out of their poverty by using the Christian Women’s Job Corps model of personal, spiritual and economic development, said Jean Roberson, national WMU ministry consultant. More trafficking victims still need help.

“There are women in this world who need our presence, who need your God, who need your encouragement,” Roberson said.

Texas WMU President Joy Fenner emphasized the organization remains committed to its mission, which is expressed in a variety of ways.

“WMU has a singular focus,” she said. “But don’t ever think it is a narrow focus. Missions is broad enough to embrace the whole world and it is deep enough to transform any life for whom Christ died.”

The launch of Project Help follows a ministry-filled year of rebuilding for Texas WMU. The organization recruited prayer partners for Texas Hope 2010 Scripture distribution leaders, asking for God to strengthen and guide those leaders. Through Texas Hope 2010, Texas Baptists gave out more than 862,000 evangelistic multimedia compact discs and countless more copies of Scripture.

“We know how to pray,” Seal said. “They could not believe when I went back to the leadership group. They asked, ‘Nelda, how many leaders do you have?’ I said, ‘We have all of them.’ And we did that in less than two weeks.”

Katie Cooper, a Texas Acteens panelist from First Baptist Church in Rockwall, said she has enjoyed ministering in a pregnancy crisis center where women are struggling with how to provide for the children they are expecting.

“I can be a light to those around me, and God does not expect me to be any more than a growing Christian,” she said.

Morgan Shepherd, national Acteens panelist from First Baptist Church in Humble, rushes out of the school doors so she can join an Acteens group serving impoverished young people. “They go home to nothing. Half the time they don’t have food. Their parents aren’t there.”

Here, she finds God calling her to share the hope of Christ, a call that has blessed Shepherd and the individuals she is ministering to. “We’re the light in their week. You get this joy from being able to serve them. Through Acteens, I’ve gotten to find this joy.”

Christ calls his followers to pray for others, help people in need and share the life-transforming gospel, said Wanda Lee, national WMU executive director-treasurer. Where and how people serve will vary, but Christ calls Christians to obediently serve others.

“You and I are called to love people, whether we like them, whether they look like us, whether we want to,” she said. “We are called to love them. And the world is watching.”

In business, WMU of Texas elected a new slate of officers by acclamation. The new officers are President Gloria Mills of First Baptist Church in Henderson, Vice President Merle Cross of First Baptist Church in Gilmer, Second Vice President Irma Alvarado of First Baptist Church in Donna, Third Vice President Lynette McBride of Central Baptist Church in Hillsboro and Recording Secretary Mary Watson of First Baptist Church in La Feria.

A volcanic ash cloud that caused a $1 billion disruption to international airline travel forced a Texas Baptist choir to postpone by six months its concert tour in Ukraine.

The North Central Texas chapter of the Singing Men of Texas had been scheduled to leave the United States April 18 for a series of concerts in six Ukrainian cities.

That concert series had to be rescheduled for late October when an eruption in southern Iceland created a cloud of volcanic ash that grounded airplanes throughout much of Europe.

Rather than making a slow journey by chartered bus over questionable roads, the Singing Men of Texas had planned to take a cruise ship up the Dnieper River—which bisects Ukraine—beginning April 20 in the Black Sea port city of Odessa and concluding April 30 in Kiev.

Working in cooperation with the Ukrainian Baptist Union and international evangelist Michael Gott, the Singing Men of Texas were slated to perform in churches and concert halls in six cities along the way. Following a one-hour concert at each venue, Gott was scheduled to preach an evangelistic message and offer an invitation for people in attendance to profess faith in Christ publicly.

NASA satellite view of volcanic ash cloud path.

When leaders of the Singing Men of Texas recognized the volcanic ash cloud was jeopardizing the group’s original schedule, they began to put together contingency plans, according to a blog posted by Derrel Thompson, minister of music and education at Valley Grove Baptist Church in Stephenville and treasurer for the singing group’s North Central Texas chapter.

“Plans were being drafted to get a soloist or two, or an ensemble of eight, to Ukraine as quickly as we could so that some type of concert would be able to take place this week,” Thompson wrote.

However, pastors in Ukraine contacted the group to let them know they would rather reschedule the concerts. Viking River Cruise contacted Gott to let him know an after-season cruise ship would be made available for the group.

“So, we are rescheduling our trip to Ukraine to late October,” Thompson wrote.

“Keep praying for us as we redo plans. The Gotts are meeting with the pastors this week to set up things for October. Also, pray for the thousands of people who have been stranded as a result of all this.”

WACO—For 40 years, the Neighbors International ministry of Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco has been introducing people around the world to one another, Texas culture and— most importantly—Jesus Christ.

Internationals worship at a service at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco.

As the ministry began to prepare to celebrate the four-decade milestone, Rocio Landoll began to contemplate what she might do to contribute.

“For me, it is difficult to say, ‘I bake’ or ‘I will make this.’ I imagine this sort of thing,” she said as she motioned to a large tapestry of the world she had created.

Landoll, an artist who enjoys working with textiles, dyed her own yarn, and her husband constructed the custom-made loom she used to make her tapestry.

Hanging from the elliptically shaped globe are 40 lanyards, one for each year the ministry has been in existence. Tied to the ropes are the names of every student and teacher who has been a part of the program during those four decades—2,040 students and more than 400 teachers.

Landoll wrote the names of the students in black ink, while another volunteer penned the names of the teachers in red. It took a week just to write the names on the linen strips, Landoll noted. She left additional room on the ropes so the names of future students and teachers can be added.

She also left a space—a window—in the map at the spot where Waco would fall.

“Most of the time, when I make my objects of art, I use symbols. In this case, I put the window because the … symbol is to go in and discover more things. … I made this for two reasons: For me, it is the opportunity to learn. For me, it was the opportunity to learn the language and learn more about people around the world,” said Landoll, who came to the United States nine years ago.

Rocio Landoll created an intricate tapestry telling the story of the Neighbors International ministry at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco.

She works primarily in Mexico as a costume designer for major motion pictures such as the Mask of Zorro, The Legend of Zorro and Nacho Libre.

Glenda Weldon, director of the Neighbors International program, said the program was designed from the beginning to meet the varied needs of international students. Ann Pitman, a missionary who had returned to the United States because of health concerns, first noticed the potential for the ministry.

“She had the vision that we needed to minister to people who were here in Waco that were here in a lot of cases because their spouses were in school. They didn’t know the English language, they didn’t know how to go to the grocery store and buy groceries, and in most cases, were in a little apartment all day long by themselves,” Weldon explained.

Pitman began to explore the possibilities and visited a similar program in Austin before starting the program at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church.

The program began with 17 internationals from nine countries that first year. People from 99 countries have participated in the program, Weldon said.

Even more important, hundreds have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord. “When we got to the point of having baptized more than 400, we began to not keep count of that record, but the Lord has blessed this ministry,” Weldon said.

It likewise has been profitable to the 50 people who volunteer to help with the ministry, she said.

“It has been a blessing to me. It is a blessing to all the volunteers who work here. We believe the Lord has planted a mission field here at our doorstep, and that we are the missionaries to serve the Lord here in ministry to these people,” Weldon said.

Volunteers perform clerical duties, provide transportation for students, serve refreshments, provide child care and fulfill a number of other duties. “We feel that if someone wants to volunteer, the Lord has a place where they can serve,” Weldon said.

The program has changed a bit over the years. Many of the participants no longer have a university connection. Many men also are now a part of the program that was once exclusively women.

Five levels of English as a Second Language are taught, in addition to an English program that uses the Bible as its primary textbook. Other classes include computer classes, computer keyboarding, preparation for the written portion of the Texas driver’s test, a citizenship class, along with sewing, fabric art, painting and piano.

“The emphasis of our program is that we don’t just teach ESL. We really minister to people who are born outside the U.S.,” Weldon said.

The program meets each Thursday from September through May. In the summer, there is a family picnic and a Vacation Bible School that meets at the same time as the church’s VBS.

“In listening to interviews from some of our internationals … we heard one young man say, ‘Until I came to Vacation Bible School, I had never heard of Jesus.’ That certainly reinforces our feeling that the Lord has a purpose for that and that it meets a special need for many of these people,” Weldon related.

A Sunday school class for internationals that has almost 50 people attend each week also has proven successful.

“It is an outreach because we have graduate students from Baylor who can’t come on Thursdays, but they will come on Sunday morning, come to Sunday school and have an opportunity to practice their English,” she said. “And many times, the Lord works in their lives and they become Christians, and we are seeing a number that are being baptized. The Lord has really blessed, and we are so grateful.”

VICTORIA—Each week, new faces graced the sanctuary at Northside Baptist Church in Victoria, each with a different look, background and curiosity level. But they had a common reason for being there. Each person was visiting a church that had canvassed its community, handing out evangelistic multimedia compact discs in an effort to share the gospel.

“We haven’t seen any decisions, but I’ve been telling people that’s not what this is about. This is a sowing ministry,” Pastor Tim Williams said.

Northside Baptist Church is one of six Victoria congregations that distributed 16,000 evangelistic CDs throughout the city as part of its involvement in Texas Hope 2010, a Texas Baptist initiative encouraging Christians to pray for others, care for people in need and share the gospel with every Texan by Easter Sunday, April 4.

The initiative has encouraged church members to reach out to others in their communities, Williams said. Because of Texas Hope 2010, Christians are sharing their faith with their friends and co-workers.

“It’s been a very easy and positive thing,” he said. “It’s been a good first touch for some of our folks to get out into the community or to neighbors to begin a relationship or deepen things. There’s a new family in my neighborhood when I did it. They were one of the ones who visited one Sunday.”

Through the Texas Hope 2010 effort, Texas Baptists distributed more than 862,000 evangelistic CDs and countless copies of Scripture. A man ministering in a South Texas detention center gave away more than 40 New Testaments a month.

Bosque Baptist Association committed to distributing 2,500 New Testaments. Broken Chains Freedom Church in Wichita Falls held several large events where they distributed New Testaments geared toward bikers.

In 2009, Texas Baptists gave more than $900,000 to the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger and are seeking to raise a total of $2 million for the offering in 2009 and 2010. Congregations are sharing the hope of Christ through starting or expanding food ministries that provide practical assistance to tens of thousands, particularly during the country’s recent economic crisis.

Countless numbers of Texas Baptists are praying with others, taking their cares and concerns to God and asking him to provide. Numerous Texas Baptists have shared stories of asking for God to help someone and seeing that help arrive shortly afterward.

Texas Baptists have shared the hope of Christ—through evangelistic events, CD distribution, feeding ministries, sports ministries and a host of other techniques—with throngs of people, and many of them have come to know Christ as Savior through those efforts, said Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Randel Everett.

“Now it is time to evaluate Texas Hope 2010 to learn what has happened over these past two years,” he said. 

Tina Valdez, missions coordinator for First Baptist Church in Castroville, said the CDs were tools God used to share the gospel. God orchestrated each church member’s visit in the community, selecting a Christian who could best minister to a particular person.

The congregation has offered an evangelistic CD to every home in Castroville and after Easter is looking to distribute CDs to the 900 homes that surround the city.

“It’s been tremendous,” Valdez said. “I can’t even describe how awesome it’s been. People have been so open. They need someone who will pray for them. They need someone who will be there for them. They need to know someone cares for them.”

In one case, a church member met a person who needed her car repaired. The church member prayed with the woman that God would send someone to fix the vehicle. As the church person left, the woman’s next-door neighbor walked over and asked if she needed help with her car.

Even people living in homes where church members have left the CD hanging in a bag on a door have later called the church to ask about when the church has worship services.

“It’s like God working in front of you,” Valdez said. “It’s like you had a front-row seat. It was just awesome.”

Although the Texas Hope 2010 campaign was slated to end on Easter, Texas Baptists continue sharing the hope of Christ with their communities.

Churches continue to look for ways to meet the needs of the hungry, are giving to the world hunger offering and are getting involved in the Texas Hunger Initiative, a Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission/Baylor University School of Social Work partnership that grew out of Texas Hope 2010 and seeks to end Texas food insecurity by 2015.

Churches are signing on to become summer feeding sites, a particularly strong need for the vast number of Texas children on free-lunch programs at school who do not have anything during the summers.

Some congregations plan on starting to distribute evangelistic CDs this spring. Amarillo Area Baptist Association churches are targeting early May as when they will blanket the region with Scripture.

“It’s an opportunity for churches to get outside themselves and be visible in their community. Obviously the one opportunity to share the gospel is the main reason to do it,” said Amarillo Area Baptist Association Director of Missions Bryan Houser.

Everett praised Texas Baptists for how they already have allowed God to use them and how they plan to allow God to work through their actions.

As long as there is a need, Texas Baptists will remain committed to sharing the hope of Christ with a world in need of hearing the gospel, he stressed.

“Texas Hope 2010 is a great start to an Acts 1:8 strategy,” he said. “We must maintain this commitment to sharing the gospel in every endeavor we undertake until everyone has the opportunity to respond to the hope of Christ.”

WACO—More than 2,000 participants at Congreso, an annual event for Hispanic Baptist students and young adults, made decisions to follow Christ or deepen their relationship with God.

Students at Congreso had an opportunity to attend breakout sessions related to their age group. The session dealt with helping the students become better disciples and dealt with subjects from using social media to share their faith to time management to apologetics and evangelism.

A record 7,000 young people from across the state attended the event April 1-3 at Baylor University’s Ferrell Center in Waco.

During the decision time at the end of each of the three worship sessions, hundreds of students left their seats to move to the auditorium floor. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the students signified their commitment to begin or strengthen their relationship with Christ.

Frank Palos, Texas Baptists’ Hispanic evangelism director, insisted the number of students wasn’t a surprise because Hispanic Baptist leaders had been praying more than a year to see 1,000 students come into saving relationships with Christ during Congreso this year.

“The Lord really showed up,” Palos said. “It was amazing, and a God-sent (movement). I believe revival is breaking out in our youth, and may this spill over to our churches and be contagious throughout Texas. It was amazing to see all the young people come forward and see God is still in the work of changing lives and saving souls.”

Two adult leaders study Scripture during a Congreso breakout session aimed at encouraging leaders in their efforts of helping youth.

Two days before the event, James Poole, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Ennis, and seven church members came to the Ferrell Center at Baylor and prayer-walked the arena two hours, praying over each seat and asking God to change thousands of lives during Congreso.

“They literally made their way from the top of the Ferrell Center to the floor, and they prayed for every conceivable thing—from if someone had allergies that they wouldn’t be distracted by that during the weekend, to safe travel, to the students listening to the voice of God,” Palos said.

A year before the event, an emphasis on inviting more non-Christian students to Congreso 2010 began with Elia Arriaga, a member of High Pointe Baptist Church in Cedar Hill. She created Congreso Can, encouraging students to fill a coffee can with change all year long so they could pay the way for a non-Christian friend to attend Congreso to hear about the hope of Christ.  

Sweet 180, a worship band from San Antonio, lead the students at Congreso in worship during each general session. (PHOTOS/Kaitlin Chapman/Texas Baptist Communications)

Arriaga’s dream to see many more non-Christians attend Congreso coincides with Palos’ work with Texas Hope 2010, an evangelistic effort by Texas Baptists to pray for the lost, care for the hurting and hungry, and share the hope of Christ with all Texans in ways they can respond in their own way and language.

Also, to help students get excited about attending the event, Congreso leadership held seven rallies at churches around the state within the last two months to encourage students to attend.

“We were intentionally trying to invite students who don’t know Christ,” Palos said. “We are not only trying to make Congreso a time of challenge for the Christian students, but also an event dedicated to bringing in lost students and sharing hope with them.”

Evangelist Jon Randles and Sammy Lopez, pastor of Fellowship Church in Houston, challenged Christian students to be bold disciples and urged non-Christians to enter a relationship with him.

“We are in the Super Bowl of good and evil. And if you are going to make a difference, you will have to be a dangerous disciple,” Randles said.

Two students read Scripture in a breakout session about apologetics at Congreso. More than 7,000 students and leaders attended the event at Baylor University this year.

“You are not too young for God to use you. You are a chosen generation, and you may be the most important generation since Acts. Every once in awhile, there is a generation that their decisions set the course of history for the next two to three hundred years, and I think that your generation is it.”

Lopez emphasized that students must realize Christ will return and must live their lives in a way that matters—in a way that brings others into a relationship with him.

“We must live a life like he is coming back today,” Lopez said. “Christ desires for us to live for him in all aspects. Christ’s return is imminent, but are we ready if he returns in our lifetime?”

In a breakout session, Lopez challenged students to learn apologetics—what they believe and why they believe it. Students must be ready, because their answers either could help turn others to Christ or turn them away, he said.

“My biggest fear isn’t that Christians don’t go to church but that they don’t know how to share and defend their faith,” Lopez said. “Someday, you will be challenged face-to-face and asked what you believe. … You have to go beyond the answer of ‘because the Bible says so.’”

GARLAND—Like most teenagers, Stacy and Grace Jenkins love summer. But one unique highlight for the Garland teens is the opportunity to use their native Russian language to give a special group of visitors a big Texas welcome.

The girls volunteer as interpreters for Angels from Abroad—the same program that gave them their first experience of America when they were still orphans from St. Petersburg.

“It is a lot of fun getting to know the kids from Russia and helping them enjoy themselves,” said Stacy, 19. “I was 14 when I visited Texas through Angels from Abroad. People were so friendly, so nice and always smiling. They do not smile that often in Russia. Texas was really different.”

A group of Russian orphans, ages 6 to 12, will arrive in Dallas July 30 for a two-week visit with American host families as part of this year’s Angels from Abroad program, administered by Dillon International through its affiliation with Buckner International. The program provides older children a chance to learn about American culture, share their Russian culture and experience living in a family. It also helps raise awareness about the need for adopting older children.

“With more than 750,000 estimated orphans in Russia, there is a tremendous need for adoptive families, especially families for older children,” said Russia Program Director Irina Shytova. “About 75 to 80 percent of the children available for adoption are 5 years old or older. Older children in Russian orphanages face a bleak future if they are not adopted.”

Stacy Jenkins, a certified dog groomer and high school senior, said: “The Angels from Abroad experience changed my life. My whole attitude changed. Now, I have the family I always wished for.” (PHOTO/Russ Dilday/Buckner International)

At age 17, children are forced to leave the orphanage system and many fall into alcohol, drugs, prostitution and crime. It is estimated nearly 10 percent commit suicide within the first three years.

“The Angels from Abroad experience changed my life,” Stacy said. “My whole attitude changed. Now, I have the family I always wished for.”

David and Marla Jenkins saw Stacy’s picture on the Angels from Abroad website in September 2004 while conducting research on international adoption. Just one month earlier, Stacy had been staying with her Angels host family less than a mile from where Marla Jenkins worked.

As former mission workers in Romanian orphanages, David and Marla Jenkins—parents of adult birth children Landon and Anna—were ready to pursue international adoption and open their hearts and homes to an older child. “We were kind of bored with our empty nest,” he recalled. “We felt we had enough energy and love left to share with a child.”

The couple’s confidence in moving forward to adopt an older child was also boosted by the opportunity to talk with Angels from Abroad host families and social work staff who knew Stacy during their trip to America, he added.

Language was the main hurdle to overcome when Stacy arrived home, Mrs. Jenkins recalled. “We labeled everything in the house with English words. We had sticky notes everywhere.”

Patient instruction and a network of friends from church, as well as friendships with Angels from Abroad host families and children adopted from Russia, has helped the transition for Stacy, now an outgoing young woman with her own part-time dog grooming business.

It was the family’s ongoing connection with Angels from Abroad that eventually led them to their youngest daughter, Grace, 17.

Grace, an introspective academic who participated in the Dillon/Buckner Angels from Abroad program in 2006, was adopted just months before her 16th birthday, the age where children are forced to leave the orphanage system in Russia. (PHOTO/Russ Dilday/Buckner International)

Stacy introduced Grace to her mother while the two were attending an Angels from Abroad swimming party. Grace, who was 14 at the time, was staying with another host family as part of the program. Stacy said she was excited to see her friend again, as the two girls—who both share the Russian name “Anastasiya”—were roommates and classmates at the orphanage in Russia.

Months later, word spread among their network of Russia adoptive families that Grace’s 16th birthday—the age when children no longer are available for international adoption—was fast approaching. Mrs. Jenkins recalled how she and her husband told friends and church members about Grace. “Then, we finally decided, ‘Well, what’s our excuse for saying ‘no.’”

Thus, Grace—an introspective academic with a thirst for detective novels—joined the Jenkins family one month shy of her 16th birthday. “When my social worker told me Stacy’s family would be adopting me I was so happy and surprised,” she recalled.

Today, the Jenkins household is filled with the exuberance of two high school seniors enthusiastically making college plans. “Adoption has given us a tremendous amount of joy,” David Jenkins said. “We have stayed in close contact with a number of adoptive families over the past several years. As I observe those families as well as my own it is evident that the providence of God completed each family.”

Stacy said that many of the children who visit through Angels from Abroad ask her if it is a good idea to be adopted. “I tell them, ‘Yes. It is the chance of a lifetime.’”

For more information on becoming a host family for the Angels from Abroad program, contact Dillon International office at (214) 319-3426. To learn about the ways you can help support the program financially, call Buckner Foundation at (214) 758-8050.

Baylor nursing celebrates 100. Baylor University’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing marked its 100th anniversary at a gala luncheon in Dallas. The Nurses’ Training School of the Texas Baptist Memorial Sanitarium opened in 1909. The school honored three “Centennial Champions” who played a role in shaping the school’s legacy—Boone Powell Sr., president of Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, 1948-78; Boone Powell Jr., president of Baylor Health Care System, 1980-2000; and Joel Allison, president of Baylor Health Care System since 2000. The school also recognized “100 Legends in the Line,” individuals, families, organizations and businesses that contributed to its legacy. Keynote speaker was Lee Woodruff whose husband, Bob, an ABC News anchor, was injured by a bomb in Iraq. She lauded the role of nurses in healing not only the sick and injured, but also their families.

Third BCFS team sent to Haiti. At the request of Hospital Adventist in Haiti, Baptist Child & Family Services recently deployed its third response team to support medical rotations and fulfill other unmet needs following a devastating earthquake. The team includes three physicians, two registered nurses and two paramedics from the agency’s incident management team. BCFS first began working with Hospital Adventist in February. The agency implemented U.S. National Incident Management System principles to bring command and control to the surging facility. Patient flow remains high, as the hospital cares for more than a quarter of the city’s population suffering from injuries and disease. BCFS Chief Medical Officer David Marks continued to express concern about the need for disease management initiatives going into Haiti’s rainy season.

Wayland trustees OK building project, budget. Wayland Baptist University’s board of trustees approved construction of a new men’s dormitory and a $55.5 million budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The university will build a 350-bed men’s dorm at an estimated cost of $15 million to replace the aging McDonald Hall, currently the oldest residence hall on campus. Wayland officials plan to begin construction by May 2011 and have the dorm ready for student use by fall 2012. The budget trustees approved—a 6.14 percent increase over the current budget—includes a $20 per credit-hour tuition increase for students in Plainview, bringing tuitions costs to $415 per credit hour for undergraduate courses and $345 for graduate courses. External campus tuition will be raised to $212 per hour for undergraduate and $249 for graduate courses. Students in the virtual campus will pay tuition rates of $285 for undergraduate courses and $335 for graduate courses. Nursing students will pay $300 per hour.

Baylor Facebook page reaches milestone. The official Baylor University Facebook page recently hit the 25,000-mark in terms of registered fans—about the same time the Baylor men’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight and the Lady Bears moved up to the Final Four. The Baylor page, launched in September 2009, is a place for Baylor alums, faculty, staff, students and fans to connect through videos, photo albums, news releases, posts and status updates.

• Vernon Andrews to First Church in Pettus as outreach minister.

• David Barnum to Grosvenor Church in Brownwood as pastor.

• Tom Campbell to Spring Hill Church in Aubrey as interim pastor.

• Robert Conn has resigned as youth minister at First Church in Sanger.

• Pepper Dill to First Church in Bangs as interim pastor.

• Matt Dugan to Central Church in Weatherford as associate pastor/director of youth and children’s programs.

• Bill Fowler to Cottonwood Church in Cross Plains as interim pastor.

• Tim Franks to First Church in Floydada as pastor.

• Jason Huddleston to First Church in Elgin as pastor from First Church in Borger, where he was student pastor.

• Edward LeCompte to Bethel Church in Plainview as pastor.

• b to First Church in West Columbia as pastor, where he had been associate pastor of youth and education.

• Patrick Maldonado has resigned as pastor at Primera Iglesia in Taft.

• Jason Martin to First Church in Breckenridge as pastor.

• Alex Miller to First Church in Bells as music/youth minister, where he had been music minister.

• Kurt Powell has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Frankston.

• Denise Roberts to First Church in Wichita Falls as associate director of preschool children.

• Ray Rodgers to Harmony Church in Eastland as pastor.

• Tony Rodriguez has resigned as associate pastor at Primera Iglesia in Taft.

• Joe Saffle to Richards Church in Richards as pastor.

• Willie Smith to Caps Church in Abilene as interim pastor.

• Jason Sturgeons to Pecan Grove Church in Oglesby as pastor.

• Tim White to First Church in Eula as pastor from First Church in Desdemona.

• Scott Wiley to First Church in Frankston as pastor.

• The Singing Men of North Central Texas will present a concert at Dallas Baptist University April 15 at 7 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.

• Recording artist Cynthia Clawson will perform at the dedication of Howard Payne University’s newly renovated Mims Auditorium April 15 at 10:30 a.m. A former HPU Heritage Singer, Clawson also will join others from the group’s 1970s in a song.

• A LifeWay Women’s “You & Your Girl” event for mothers and their daughters will be April 17 at First Church in Carrollton. Author Vicki Courtney will lead the event, with music by Sonflowerz. The 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. event features several breakout sessions. Admission for mothers is $45. The first daughter is $30, and each additional daughter is $15. Register at www.lifeway.com/ yourgirl.

• Dillon and Buckner International will host a heritage day for adoptive families April 24 at Tallowood Church in Houston to celebrate cultures around the world. The “Travel the World” theme will feature Russia, China, Vietnam, South Korea and Ethiopia. Special entertainment will include a presentation by the Russian Children’s Theatre, Lee’s Golden Dragon Dancers and the Ethiopian Praise Choir. The event will begin at noon and end at 4 p.m. The cost is $10 per adult and $5 per child. To register, call (713) 278-9213, ext. 2222.

• Howard Payne University’s Woman’s Club Yellow Rose luncheon will held April 29 at 11:45 a.m. Author and media analyst Jane Hampton Cook will be the featured speaker. The recipients of the Yellow Rose Scholarship and the Yellow Rose Award also will be announced. Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers. For more information, call (800) 950-8465.

• Jason Soles has been promoted to director of admissions at East Texas Baptist University. He had been assistant director since 2006.

• Mario Guerra has been named associate executive director for the emergency services division of Baptist Child & Family Services. He served with the San Antonio Fire Department 34 years.

• Wayland Baptist University is seeking volunteers for a July 27-Aug. 10 mission trip to India. The cost is about $2,000 per person. For more information, call (806) 291-1162.

• Michael Sherr, director of the Baylor University School of Social Work’s doctoral program, will receive the University of Hong Kong’s Young Scholar Award for Outstanding Abstract at the 2010 Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development in June.

• Mary Ranjel has been named director of enrollment management and student services at the Baptist University of the Américas. She has worked at the school 33 years and is the first woman on the school’s executive council.

Anniversaries

• First Church in Christine, 100th, March 21. Mike Bender is pastor.

• Westover Church in San Marcos, 70th, April 25. A meal will follow the morning service. Jeff Latham is pastor.

• Jermyn Church in Jermyn, 100th, May 15-16. Former pastors Logan Peterson, Jimmie Warren, David Buckler and Travis Hart will attend. An afternoon of fellowship and testimony is planned for Saturday afternoon. Hart will preach Sunday morning, with a lunch and fellowship time scheduled to end at 3 p.m. Pat Lockhart is pastor.

Retiring

• R.C. Jeanes, as pastor of Cadiz Church in Beeville, April 1. He served the church bivocationally 44 years.

• Wayman Swopes, as pastor of Greenwood Church in Midland, April 25. He has served the church 22 years. He also was pastor of churches in New Mexico, Kentucky and Michigan, as well as First Church in Petersburg.

• Charles Wisdom, as pastor of Waller Church in Waller, April 25. He has served the church six years and has been in ministry 52 years, serving as a pastor, missionary to Mexico and adjunct professor at Southwestern Seminary’s Houston campus.

• Milton Ertelt, as director of missions for Southwest Metro-plex Association, April 30. He has served the association more than 13 years. He and his wife, Charlotte, also served as missionaries in Africa and the Middle East. During his term of service with the association, 36 missions or churches were brought into the association, 20 of which continue to meet.

• Bob Kibbe, as chaplain at McConnell Prison in Beeville. He is available for pulpit supply or interim pastorates at (361) 375-9244.

Deaths

• Bob Graham, 72, March 12 in Fort Worth. He was pastor of Field Street Church in Cleburne 28 years, and was named pastor emeritus. He served as an officer of Johnson Association, and on the boards of Howard Payne University and the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was pastor of churches in Olney, Blue Mound and Quitman prior to coming to Cleburne. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Jo Ann; son, Bobby; daughters, Kathryn Frederick and Karen Hartgraves; brother, Jack; and six grandchildren.

• Ernest Stewart, 86, in Sweetwater, March 22. He was a pastor more than 60 years, including churches in Tuscola, Robert Lee, Whiteface, O’Donnell, Big Spring, Mineral Wells, Crosbyton and South Plains, as well as Nebraska and Kansas. He was preceded in death by his son, Ernie Jr., and grandson, Shawn Stewart. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Jerry; son, Cliff; daughter, Annette Thomas; sisters, Evelyn Looney, Helen Johnson, Betty Schwenson and Bonnie Becton; six grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

• B.W. Aston, 73, March 25 in Abilene. He began teaching history at Hardin-Simmons University in 1967, and retired from the university 35 years later. He served as president of the HSU faculty and was chosen as faculty member of the year in 1989. He also served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He and his wife toured all 50 states, travelled southern Canada from Vancouver to Prince Edward Island and visited more than 70 foreign countries. He was active at University Church and Pioneer Drive Church in Abilene. He served both churches in a variety of capacities, from cook to chairman of deacons. He was preceded in death by his brother, Verlon. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Lillie Mae; and brother, Weldon.

• Joseph Weatherby Jr., 74, March 29 in Brownwood. He had been a Howard Payne University professor 14 years and was the Sandefer scholar-in-residence and a professor of political science at the time of his death. He was instrumental in the creation of the Model United Nations program at the university and was a frequent sponsor on student trips around the world. He spent more than 40 years teaching, and he also was professor emeritus at California Polytechnic State University. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Anne Weatherby. He is survived by his wife, Jane; son, James; daughter, Holly Nickerson; and sister, Sarah McAlpine.

Events

• First Church in Devers will hold its eighth annual gumbo cookoff and gospel singing April 24. Judging will begin at 5 p.m., eating at 5:15 p.m. and singing at 6:15 p.m. One Desire and Appointed by Grace will be the featured singing groups. For more information, call (936) 549-7653. Harry McDaniel is pastor.

• Jim Denison, theologian-in-residence for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, will speak on “Radical Islam: Past, Present and Future Implications” at the Men of Faith fellowship breakfast May 13 at 8 a.m. at the Quail Point meeting room at Horseshoe Bay. Tickets are $10. For more information, call (830) 598-8390.

• The Singing Men of South Texas will present a concert at First Church in Pleasanton May 20 at 7 p.m.

Ordained

• Jason Daniels to the ministry at First Church in Haskell.

• Jody Simmons to the ministry at First Church in Cherokee.

• Robbie Fox to the ministry at Everyday Christian Fellowship in Cibolo.

• David Hudson to the ministry at Baptist Temple in Victoria.

• Jack Hilt to the ministry at Calvary Church in Aransas Pass.

• Danny Brueggeman, Kent Colley, Ervin Frierson, Dave Harrison, Joey Kimbrough, Cliff Morris and John Rutkowski as deacons at First Church in Haskell.

Revivals

• Blanconia Church, Refugio; April 11-14; evangelist, Norman Rushing; pastor, David Mundine.

• Hays Hills Church, Buda; April 18-21; evangelist, Robert Barge; music, David Guion; pastor, David Sweet.

• First Church, Devers; April 18-22; evangelist, Rick Ingle; music, Paul and Christy Newberry; pastor, Harry McDaniel Jr.

• De Berry Church, De Berry; April 24-25; evangelist, Jim Walsh; pastor, Hal Rymel.

• Avondale Church, Sweetwater; April 25-28; evangelist, Robert Barge; pastor, Jason Shuttlesworth.

ARLINGTON—Unlike their peers who spent spring break partying on a beach or catching up on sleep, more than 1,000 college students chose to serve selflessly in more than 25 locations throughout the state, nation and world, proclaiming the hope of Christ and meeting needs.

Students with Texas Baptist collegiate ministries shared their faith through rebuilding a hurricane damaged home in Galveston, showing love to children living near the Texas-Mexico border, handing out hot chocolate at the Paralympics, teaching a sport to neighborhood youth, repairing a food pantry at a local church or sorting through donations at Mission Arlington.

In the process, many saw God touch the hearts of the people they encountered. But they saw God change their lives, too.

“Their week looks completely different (from the typical spring break) because they have given up their week to go on a mission trip,” said Brenda Sanders, student missions consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“Those students are doing everything from digging a water well in Nicaragua to working with children in the inner city. And yes, some of them are at the beach with Beach Reach. But instead of partying, they are witnessing and sharing with their peers. College students have spread out all across the state of Texas and as far as Canada and Brazil to share the hope of Jesus Christ.”

Brooke Brandon, an intern with the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of Texas at Arlington, enjoys time with a little boy who attended a Kids’ Club at Wheatley Court Apartments in a low-income neighborhood in San Antonio. (PHOTO/Carrie Joynton)

This year, more than 570 of the students from 29 campuses and churches served at Beach Reach, a ministry that serves the 50,000 students who go to South Padre Island during spring break.

The Beach Reach teams served 17,500 pancakes outside of a busy bar, gave 13,500 van rides and saw 61 students give their lives to Christ. At the end of the week, the group baptized 14 of the new believers in the Gulf of Mexico.

While Beach Reach saw new believers from the endeavor, many students with the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of Texas at Arlington had their eyes opened to poverty in Texas during their mission trip to San Antonio.

As the BSM took 92 students to San Antonio to help with Kids’ Clubs, a soup kitchen and a nursing home in a low-income area, many witnessed for the first time the poverty that exists in Texas, just hours away from their university.

One student encountered a child attending the Backyard Bible Club hosted by the BSM who had never heard about Jesus before.

The Baptist Student Ministry from Navarro College spent a week building a house with Casas por Cristo in Acuña, Mexico. Despite inclement weather, the group was able to complete the home, providing shelter for a family in need. (PHOTO/Alena McFalls)

“We definitely have seen students stretched because of the issue of poverty in San Antonio,” said Gary Stidham, BSM director at UTA. 

“A lot of our students are small-town or suburban kids, and they come here and see in some neighborhoods in just abject poverty. It stretches some of their assumptions and beliefs about what they need in life.”

Sanders agreed, adding students don’t have to go halfway around the world to find ways to help with poverty since it exists in their own backyard.

“It’s been interesting hearing the students talk about encountering poverty—whether that is driving down the street or realizing people don’t have enough food to eat or hearing the stories of the children,” Sanders said.

“It has been very eye-opening for them to realize this is in Texas, this is just a van ride away from my campus. But the reality is that in Arlington, Texas, this is blocks from their campus. My hope would be that their eyes and hearts are opened to realize there are needs all around them.”

For other groups, like the BSM at UT Southwestern Medical School, Spring Break meant spending the week showing love to people with physical and medical needs. During three BSM mission trips, 55 students cared for more than 570 patients at clinics in Laredo and El Paso, tending to physical needs and bringing spiritual hope.

Students from Dallas Baptist University work on a Habitat for Humanity project in Pensacola, Fla. (PHOTO/DBU Communications)

Still more students spent their time reaching out to children through Champs’ Camps at First Baptist Church in Brownwood and Harlingen. The camp reaches out to communities through teaching children sports and the hope of Christ.

Although the mission trips were focused on taking the hope of Christ to people in need, many BSM students grew in their faith as they verbally shared their faith with others for the first time. B.J. Ramon, BSM director at the University of Houston, said this growth happened with several of his students while they were at Beach Reach.

“Some of the students shared their faith for the first time during Beach Reach, and they haven’t stopped since,” he said.

Because the students were faithful to step out of their comfort zones and share the hope of Christ, eternity was changed for many men, women and children, Sanders said.

“I think during this week they get to be the hands and feet and eyes and ears of Jesus,” Sanders said. “They get to show the love of Jesus, whether that is hugging a child or playing bingo with a senior adult or serving in a soup kitchen or giving a van ride to a drunk peer on the beach.”

Above all, Sanders hopes students walk away from Spring Break ready to minister in the same way and be bold in verbally sharing their faith when they return to their college campuses.

“So often after Spring Break, we see students go back to their campuses, and they are more intentional about sharing their faith,” she said.

“After Spring Break, the light goes on, and they realize there are people just like this on their campus who need to know the Lord.”

BELTON—From dozens of preschool children sitting on the grass to senior citizens in lawn chairs, the 71st annual University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Easter pageant drew record crowds to the Belton campus March 31.

Based on the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the production is completely performed by UMHB students. Hundreds of students participate as actors, committee members, or as part of the production crew.

Dennis Greeson, a senior whose parents are missionaries in Chaing Mai, Thailand, portrayed a red-haired Christ this year.

Pageant Director Brandon Brewer, a junior at UMHB, was intent on creating a quality production because of the value it brings to people’s lives.

Dennis Greeson portrays Jesus emerging from the tomb as the Risen Lord as part of the UMHB Easter pageant.

“The gospel is so beautiful and so powerful, the costumes, the set, the props, the people are all instruments showing its power,” Brewer said.

The pageant was staged so the action would surround the audience, and actors could interact directly with them.

“We want them to feel like they’re literally sitting in the city of Jerusalem and watching Jesus as he lived,” Brewer said.

The flow of the story—and how the audience reacts to their surroundings— is emphasized by the message, and actors want that message to make a difference, Brewer stressed.

“I love the experience of being so invested in this ministry. It’s been so incredible to see people come to life, and the gospel really shows out through people and the ministry as a whole. Being the director has allowed me to see so many perspectives on the gospel and the true grace and love Christ gave us when he died and resurrected,” he said.

DALLAS—Will Bakke, director and executive producer of Beware of Christians, recognizes the provocative title of his new documentary will raise some eyebrows. He hopes it also will raise consciousness about what radical commitment to Christ really means.

Beware of Christians centers on self-discovery—four college guys who grew up in Texas seeking answers to their own questions about what being a Christian means.

“The idea is to beware of Christians like us who never really have known what it means to follow Christ,” said Bakke, a senior film major at Baylor University.

Beware of Christians marks Bakke’s second major documentary. The first, One Nation Under God, chronicled his five-week journey through the United States with three friends, asking people they encountered questions like “Who do you think Jesus Christ is?” and “What do you think happens when you die?”

The new production follows a similar format, with Bakke and three friends making a journey of discovery, this time through Europe. It includes plenty of humor geared toward a student audience—fighting with toy swords and plastic armor outside the Coliseum in Rome; gawking at a futuristic car in downtown Paris; trying not to gawk at a nude beach; and experiencing frustration when the young men met a troupe of beautiful ballerinas who invited them to dinner, only to have to decline their offer because the young men had committed to 24 hours of fasting and serving the homeless.

But in Beware of Christians, the story centers primarily on self-discovery—four college guys who grew up in Texas seeking answers to their own questions about what being a Christian means.

In the process, the four students—one from Baylor, two from Texas A&M University and one from Georgetown University—candidly explore how a commitment to Christ affects attitudes about matters such as sex, alcohol, materialism and media.

To “get beyond churchy answers” and deal with those issues honestly, Bakke believed he and his friends needed a temporary escape from the comfortable cultural Christianity of Bible Belt America.

“I’m so tired of feeling like a hypocrite,” he said. Bakke and his friends wanted to deal forthrightly with the costs of discipleship in an atmosphere where cultural assumptions about Christianity would be challenged.

Bakke grew up in the affluent Highland Park area of Dallas, attending a large Presbyterian church as a child with his family and eventually becoming involved with the youth group at Park Cities Baptist Church. As a college student, he began attending Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, where he teaches a Bible study for high school students.

One of his traveling companions and a co-producer of the documentary, Michael Allen, grew up in First Baptist Church of Dallas and attended First Baptist Academy.

“I was a typical church kid, and I played the part well,” Allen said.

As a student at Texas A&M University, he became convinced he needed to reexamine what the Bible teaches about the demands of following Christ.

“Things I thought of as being Christian didn’t quite square up with Scripture. I started rethinking the way I read the Scriptures, particularly rethinking the Gospels—especially the parts in red letters,” he said, referring to the words of Christ.

After a period of what he described as “church-hopping,” Allen has become involved with New Life Baptist Church in College Station.

Out of his newfound commitment to becoming “a radical believer,” Allen said, he developed “a passion for social justice and the weak of the world,” as well as a deep desire to tell stories that honor God, deal honestly with human issues and have artistic integrity.

“Frankly, a lot of Christian media either is not very honest or not very good,” he said.

Some movie critics, such as Gary Cogill of WFAA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Dallas, praised the first documentary by Bakke, Allen and friends for its unfiltered honesty. In Beware of Christians, the four featured college students demonstrate even greater transparency.

“We’re not actors,” Bakke emphasized. When any of the four students lapsed into offering easy answers on-camera that failed to reflect the feelings they shared off-camera, their friends challenged them, he noted. “We held each other accountable.”

Beware of Christians premiered April 2 in Dallas. Screenings already are scheduled at Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas Christian University, and additional showings are planned for other university audiences, including in Alabama, Virginia and the Washington, D.C., area. For more information, visit bewareofchristians.com .