MIDLOTHIAN—More than 200 college students from around Texas will gather at First Baptist Church in Midlothian Feb. 12-14 for Go Now Missions Discovery Weekend, a time for students to worship, learn about God’s heart for the nations, minister to the local community and seek God’s guidance about serving in summer or semester missions this year.

The Go Now Missions prayer team is asking churches to dedicate Feb. 14 as a day of prayer for student missions, interceding for students as they seek God’s direction and discover ways they can fulfill the call to take the gospel to all peoples and nations.

“Committing to pray on Sunday morning when the students are making their last decision about serving in positions can only help and really begin to free up and enlighten the leadership team as they put assignments together, knowing that not only the people in that room are praying, but also people at every corner of Texas,” said Ben Edfeldt, director of the Baptist Student Ministry at Midwestern State University and Go Now Missions prayer team leader.

Not every student who attends the weekend will accept a position, but that is not the goal, said Brenda Sanders, director of Go Now Missions. Above all, she hopes to see students draw closer to God as well as gain a better understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

“I pray students walk away from this weekend having heard from God,” Sanders said. “And once they have heard from him, I pray that they will now be obedient to whatever he calls them to do. For some, that may be to follow him to the mission field. For another group, that may be to return to their campus and live intentionally there this summer. And for others, that may be to walk more closely with the Lord.”

To include churches and other believers in the weekend, the prayer team is providing a virtual prayer room, an online prayer initiative where people from across the state can sign up for one-hour time slots to pray for the students and the activities taking place that weekend.

The goal is to have the students and leaders covered in prayer around the clock while they are participating in the weekend. As the prayer team meets with students, they will post prayer requests to the prayer website so volunteers can pray for the needs and positions being considered.

Sanders also hopes churches will commit to encourage and walk with the students on their journey as they commit to serve and begin raising their support and preparing spiritually for the missions task.

“My prayer is that churches will see Go Now missionaries as their missionaries and that they would embrace these students,” Sanders said. “I hope that they see the significance of being partners in missions and prayer support for them. It is vital to encourage these students, because they are our future career missionaries, pastors and lay leaders.”

In 2009, more than 331 Texas students served in short-term, summer or semester mission positions through Go Now Missions.

To view additional ways to pray for the students participating in Discovery Weekend and those serving this year, or to sign up to be part of the virtual prayer room, visit www.gonowmissions.com.

GRAPEVINE—As American society moves increasingly into a post-Christian worldview, Christians must be equipped and ready to share the hope of Christ in ways that engage and love nonbelievers.

A group of Texas Baptists learned to do just that as they gathered during the three-day Radical Engage conference in Grapevine.

Rico Tice, a rector of All Saints Church in London and author of Christianity Explored, said Christians do not evangelize because they do not understand the full gospel—who Jesus is, why he came and the life to which he calls his followers.

“Why are they not engaging in the gospel when they say they do believe it?” Tice said. “The reason is because there are other idols in their lives. Once you start to unlock people’s daydreams and fears, you find that they have nothing to do with Jesus, and they are mobilized and driven by these other things.”

To move Christians from this point, Tice said, they must realize where the power to change is found.

“It is absolutely crucial to know where the power comes from, and this is from the word” of God, Tice said.

“We have to be putting the word out at four levels. … It has to be taught from the front, in a small group, one-to-one and in study at home, with one-on-one usually being the most crucial. My challenge is to get the church family to believe they can share the word with others.”

When this happens, the people will change from being just good people to ones who radically desire to see others come to know the saving grace of Jesus, becoming authentic disciples.

“At the heart of godliness is seeking the lost,” Tice said. “In churches, we have made a form of godliness that doesn’t involve reaching out to people. Evangelical people justify doing nothing by saying, ‘My faith is a personal thing in my life that I wouldn’t dream of imposing on anyone else.’”

To train believers how to walk in the power of the gospel while influencing nonbelievers, Tice places both in small groups who study the Gospel of Mark. In the process, the non-Christian is evangelized, and the Christian is trained how to live, Tice said.

Participants at the Radical Engage conference in Grapevine spent time in discussion, learning activities and quiet contemplation.

“Out of Mark’s Gospel you can find set themes to teach—blindness to the identity, mission and call of God,” Tice said. “You can take three different colors of highlighters and color in identity, mission and call in your Bible, and suddenly you can let the Gospel tell the gospel. The best way of doing evangelism is to go through the Gospels he has given us.”

Christians need to step past their fears and begin the initial conversation, Tice said.

“Faith comes by hearing the word of God, so we have to train our people to open the word of God,” Tice said. “We have to teach our people to cross the pain line and say something to someone to start the conversation.”

Beyond allowing the Gospel of Mark to unfold in nonbelievers’ lives, Tice said, evangelism efforts must be bathed in prayer.

“The primary evangelistic method is prayer,” Tice said. “So, we have to pray that God opens blind eyes, and the apostles again and again and again said that we have to pray to be bold.”

In addition to being involved in prayer and sharing the gospel, Jon Randles, evangelism consultant for Texas Baptists, said many will not accept the hope of Christ until they are in a crisis situation. A Christian who loves others and walks through life with them earns the right to share the gospel in crisis times.

“Our culture here in Texas isn’t post-Christian yet, but we have a lot of people who aren’t stressed and think they don’t need God,” Randles said.

“If you only show up at points of stress, you are an ambulance chaser, and they won’t trust you.

“The bottom line is building relationships. Then you have to know what to share with them in that moment of stress and be there when it happens. This is how people will come to know the gospel.”

Consistency counts, Randles noted, pointing out it takes an average of 25 meaningful interactions and conversations in a person’s life before one will consider seriously a relationship with Christ.

“You can’t change them, but what you have to do is be the person there in their life when they are ready to change,” Randles said.

“That is where you need to have a plan to share the gospel with them when they come to you.”

Mike Licona, a Christian apologist with the North American Mission Board, agreed having a way to share the plan of salvation is important, but it also is crucial for Christians to know how to defend their faith against other religions or how to respond to “big life questions.”

“We have all been in a position where we have all been asked a question where we don’t know the answer, and we open our mouths and hope that an answer will come,” Licona said.

“If people are really seeking and they aren’t sure Christianity is true, when we give them a roundabout answer, it waters down their search, and it can turn them towards atheism or agnosticism.”

Licona also stressed the importance of teaching apologetics to youth and discussing their life questions before they graduate from high school and move to a university, noting more than 70 percent of students who grew up attending church will walk away from the faith during college.

In the process of learning methods and apologetics to share the gospel, James Lankford, program director of Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center in Oklahoma, said Christians must be taught how to follow God’s leading in the process of sharing their faith.

 “Structure is good, but the foundation is that they know God’s voice and follow him. If you don’t teach them that, they will just follow you,” he said.

“They will bring people to your church to hear you, and they won’t teach others to know and follow God.”

Radical Engage is part of a series of 13 regional Engage evangelism training events scheduled around Texas this spring. To learn more about upcoming Engage events taking place around the state, visit www.texasbaptists.org/engage.

Baylor researches benefits of Scouts. Researchers with Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion have received a two-year, $992,000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation for a series of studies examining the impact of Boy Scouts in fostering positive youth development and healthy, virtuous behaviors. The institute’s co-directors, Byron Johnson and Rodney Stark, received the grant. Anecdotal evidence indicates large numbers of young men involved in Boy Scouts—particularly those achieving the Eagle Scout rank—see dramatic changes in their lives, including the development of virtues such patience, kindness, humility, service, purpose, honesty, duty, tenacity and commitment. The Baylor researchers will investigate whether empirical data supports those anecdotal findings.

ETBU trustees extend president’s contract. The East Texas Baptist University board of trustees approved a one-year extension to President Dub Oliver, whose contract ran through May 31, 2013. The board also approved the tuition and fee schedule for the 2010-2011 academic year. Trustees increased tuition 1.86 percent, the smallest increase in recent history. ETBU will charge an hourly rate of $625 for tuition and will offer an option to lock in a tuition rate for four years.

HBU to create Christian family studies institute. Houston Baptist University received a $50,000 gift to launch The Guild Institute in Christian Family Studies. The Guild—a women’s group supportive of the vision and mission of HBU—made the gift in recognition of the university’s 50th anniversary. The institute will provide scholars, ministers, students, parents, policy-makers and community leaders a place to come together to support Christian understanding regarding the traditional family. Christian scholars will develop interdisciplinary research and educational programs to be presented in seminars, training sessions and lectures to address Christian worldview issues related to strengthening the family.

Hillcrest Foundation pledges gift to DBU. The Dallas-based Hillcrest Foundation has pledged $500,000 to Dallas Baptist University for the newly constructed Henry Blackaby Hall. The 20,000-square-foot facility houses a bookstore, music department classrooms and practice rooms, music faculty instructional studios and the university’s online education department. With this donation, the Hillcrest Foundation’s 40-year giving to DBU totals $3.3 million. Previous gifts have helped in construction of the International Student Center, Tom and Alicia Landry Welcome Center, Mahler Student Center, Spence Hall, and Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel.

Estate endows Howard Payne scholarship. A gift of more than $800,000 from the estate of Harold and Margaret Meyer of Pecos will provide endowed scholarships at Howard Payne University. Earnings from the Harold G. and Margaret F. Meyer Endowed Scholarship Fund will be used to offer scholarships for students preparing for Christian vocations, including pastoral ministry, youth and education ministry, Christian counseling, missionary service and teaching.

• Michael Robinson, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor associate professor of Christian studies, philosophy and theology, is the keynote speaker at the university’s ministers’ forum Feb. 18 at noon. His lecture is titled “Charting the Waters of Theological Determinism.” It will include a summation of three rationales offered for believing God determines human actions and some criticisms of that perspective.

• A Christian songwriters’ workshop will be held Feb. 20 at 9 a.m. in Hughes Recital Hall on the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor campus featuring contemporary Christian songwriter Ken Medema as the guest clinician. The workshop will include sessions on musical form, song content, and listening and critique of orginal songs. The workshop will conclude with a 7:30 p.m. concert by Medema. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information and registration, call (254) 295-4678.

• Baptist Child & Family Services has named Kevin King associate executive director of its residential services division. He is responsible for overseeing the agency’s 106-acre residential campus in San Antonio.

• East Texas Baptist University presented 73 degrees during its winter commencement ceremony.

• George Chandler of Lufkin has been named the 2009 Baylor Lawyer of the Year by Baylor Law School. He graduated from the law school in 1962 and has practiced in East Texas since 1964.

• Howard Payne University conferred degrees on 106 students in a December commencement ceremony, all but one of the students earning bachelor’s degrees.

• Bob Williams has been named president and chief executive officer by the Baptist Saint Anthony’s Health Systems board of trustees. He had served the Amarillo health system in the same capacity on an interim basis since last September.

Anniversaries

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

• Rick McKenzie, fifth, as associate pastor of Cowboy Church of Ellis County in Waxahachie, Jan. 1.

• Barry Braman, 2oth, as minister of senior adults and pastoral care at Shady Oaks Church in Hurst, Jan. 1.

• Bob Dellinger, 10th, as associate pastor to youth at Tabernacle Church in Ennis, Jan. 2.

• Jay Harris, 10th, as director of church starting for Tarrant Association, Jan. 17.

• Carolyn Shelton, 10th, as preschool/children’s minister at Birdville Church in Fort Worth, Feb. 6.

East Texas Baptist University’s Merle Bruce Hall, a three-story residence hall erected in 1924, was brought down recently to provide space for the construction of the 32,000-square-foot Ornelas Student Center, scheduled to be completed in December. A live webcam at www.etbu.edu/php/cam will allow a 24/7 view of the building project’s progression.

• Jim Jackson, 10th, as minister of music and senior adults at First Church in Uvalde, Feb. 13.

• Roland Ouelette, 10th, as pastor of East Sherman Church in Sherman, Feb. 20.

• Randy Johnson, 25th, as youth minister at First Church in Richardson, Feb. 21. A reception will be held recognizing his 35 years in youth ministry.

Retiring

• Bill Merritt, after 64 years in ministry and 20 years as pastor of Grosvenor Church near Brownwood, Jan. 1. A graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Seminary, he was pastor of small churches in Lampasas, Burnet and Erath counties following graduation. He then was pastor of First churches in Jacksboro, Coleman and Denver City before retiring in 1980. In 1990, however, he was called to Grosvenor, where he served 20 more years. He and his wife, LaDelle, plan to move to Burnet.

• Larry Mills, after serving more than 10 years as pastor of Buchanan Street Chapel in Amarillo, Jan. 10.

Deaths

• Inez Webb, 95, Jan. 11 in Watauga. A graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary, she and her husband, Bill, were Southern Baptist missionaries in Mexico, Guatemala and Venezuela. After her husband’s death, she became children’s director at Cliff Temple Church in Dallas until her retirement. She also was preceded in death by her daughter, Linda Webb; son, Jim; one brother; and three sisters. She is survived by her brothers, James and Scott Tatum; one grandson; and two great-grandsons.

• C.H. Murphy, 73, Jan. 16 in Lockney. His wife and three sons were with him to hear his final four words, “I fulfilled God’s purpose.” He was licensed to preach in 1960 and ordained to the ministry in 1962. He served on the boards of trustees for Wayland Baptist University and Dallas Baptist University. DBU awarded him an honorary doctor of divinity degree for his pastoral leadership. He also served on numerous Baptist General Convention of Texas boards and committees. He was pastor of First churches in Headley, Silverton, Memphis, Friona, Lamesa and Irving. While he was pastor of the Irving church, the BGCT honored it with Key Church status in recognition of its mission focus. The last 11 years of his ministry, he was director of missions for Tryon-Evergreen Association. At the time of his death, he was a member of First Church in Matador. He was preceded in death by his sister, Laverna. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Raynita; sons, Michael, Mark and Ken; sister, Mary Jones; and seven grandchildren.

• Don Potts, 79, Jan. 16 in Marshall. Potts was a retired professor of religion at East Texas Baptist University. He taught at ETBU from 1976 until his retirement as chair of the religion department in 2001. He was a pastor, from 1948 until 1976, of churches in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. He was a member of the Christian Education Coordinating Board of Texas, and the board of trustees of Baptist Hospital of Southeast Texas, and he served on several Baptist General Convention of Texas committees. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jeanne, and grandson, Stephen Chamberlin. He is survived by his daughter, Cindy Chamberlin; son, Donald Mark; and two grandchildren.

• Paul Peña, 27, Jan. 19 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. One other soldier was killed, and five others were injured. The Army captain was a graduate of San Marcos Baptist Academy and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. An Eagle Scout, he was named “best all-around student” and voted “most likely to succeed” while at the San Marcos school. His military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters, the Valorous Unit Award, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Parachutists Badge and the Ranger Tab. He is survived by his mother, Cecilia Peña.

• Bill Smith, 78, Jan. 22 in Waco. A graduate of Hardin-Simmons University and Southwestern Seminary, he was pastor of Calvary Church in Nogales Prairie, Bethel Church in Whitewright, Baptist Temple in Bay City and First Church in Mart, where he served 30 years. After his retirement, he was interim pastor at several churches, the last being Western Heights Church in Waco. He was a member of First Church in Waco. He also served on the board of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center and on many Waco Association committees. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Betty Jean; son, Alan; mother-in-law, Jewell Holmes; and three grandchildren.

• Bill Hogue, 82, Jan. 26 in Brownwood. A graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Seminary, he served as pastor of churches in Texas and Oklahoma. He served on committees of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and on the board of trustees of Howard Payne University. He also was a member of the general council of the Baptist World Alliance. He was a former vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board, a former vice president of the BWA and was executive director emeritus of the California Southern Baptist Convention. He was preceded in death by six brothers, Aubrey, Travis, Grady, Virgil, Marvin and Monroe. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Betty; sons, Robert, Randy, Rodney and Ronald; daughter, Jana Tucker; 14 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Event

• The annual Joy Seekers Conference for women will be held Feb. 19-20 at First Church in Center. Teresa Harmening is the conference speaker. Leading the music and worship will be Grateful Heart. Through Feb. 11, the cost to attend the conference is $20. A light breakfast and lunch on Saturday are included in that cost. Registration at the door is $25 and begins at 6 p.m. on Friday and 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. Child care is $10 for the weekend or $8 for Saturday. For more information, call (936) 598-5605.

Ordained

• Reid Johnson, to the ministry at Colonial Hill Church in Snyder.

• Alan Armstrong to First Church in Conroe as student minister from Fielder Road Church in Arlington, where he was junior high pastor.

• Jim Bigbee to Center Point Church in Denton as pastor.

• Bill Grant to First Church in Waelder as pastor.

• Brian Hawkins has resigned as youth minister at Second Church in La Grange.

• Michael Moers to First Church in Gonzales as interim youth minister.

• Amanda Ratheal to Memorial Church in Denton as interim youth minister.

• Johnny Royce has resigned as youth minister at Morse Street Church in Denton.

• Wade Smith to Pleasanton Church in Trinity as pastor.

• Donn Wisdom to Trinity Church in San Antonio as minister of music from Wieuca Road Church in Atlanta, Ga.

AUSTIN—Baylor theology professor Barry Harvey took just two texts to a seminar on science and faith—the Bible and Darwin’s Origin of Species.

“Far too often, (discussing faith and science) generates heat rather than light,” Harvey said, introducing the all-day seminar, “Science and Faith: Breaking Down the Wall,” at First Baptist Church in Austin.

Harvey joined colleagues Phyllis Tippit, lecturer in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, and Gerald Cleaver, associate professor of physics at Baylor, as speakers for the Jan. 23 event, sponsored by the Baylor University Center for Ministry Effectiveness and Educational Leadership.

The seminar, featuring three lectures and plenty of participant discussion, addressed the conflict many Christians feel when discussing faith and science—if the conversation happens at all.

“The subject of faith and science is a very sensitive topic for a lot of good Christian people,” said Don Schmeltekopf, director of Baylor’s Center for Ministry Effectiveness and Educational Leadership. “When you start talking about the universe being 13.7 billion years old, many people respond: ‘What are you talking about? I don’t read my Bible that way.’”

“It gets so divisive,” said Shelley Hargrove, a seminar participant and member of First Baptist Church in Austin, commenting on discussions of Christianity and science.

School teachers, retirees, lay leaders, and church staff gathered at the seminar to learn how science and Christian faith complement and edify one another.

Harvey opened the seminar with a lecture titled: “What’s God Got to Do With It? Why Theology and the Physical Sciences Are Not In (Epistemic) Competition.”

“What does it mean to say we know something?” Harvey asked.

Phyllis Tippit, Gerald Cleaver and Barry Harvey, all from Baylor University, respond to questions during a panel discussion at the seminar, “Science and Faith: Breaking Down the Wall.” (PHOTOS/Carrie Joynton)

Literal interpretations—specifically of biblical texts—invoke contemporary conventions and define what’s important in text, sometimes regardless of the author’s original intent, he explained. With constant reference to God’s ultimate sovereignty, Harvey cautioned against dogmatism and the notion that a specific kind of knowledge can “trump” all others, in either faith or science.

“It is not an insult to say that science cannot answer every question,” he said. “God sustains all things—both the things themselves, and the processes therein.”

Next, the day’s conversation turned to the physical sciences. In his lecture, “Faith and the New Cosmology,” physicist Gerald Cleaver spanned topics ranging from ancient paradigms of creation, to cosmology, string theory and the possibility of multiple universes or “multiverses.” Human knowledge of the universe’s fundamental features has skyrocketed over the past century, Cleaver noted, but knowledge doesn’t equate to understanding.

“Science asks and tries to answer the ‘how’ questions,” Cleaver said. “Transcendent revelation addresses the ‘why’ through Scripture and faith.”

In her lecture, “Does Life Have A History?” Phyllis Tippit used plate tectonics as an illustration of purposeful, constant change in the physical world.

As geologic collision recycles carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, plate tectonics is “part of a system that makes this world a place to live,” Tippit observed.

Using an analogy of God as gardener, Tippit presented her thesis that the theory of evolution supports—rather than contradicts—God’s presence in the universe. Evolution, she said, is simply “organized change through time.”

Participants Jack Woods and Ryan Arnold at the seminar, “Science and Faith: Breaking Down the Wall,” discuss “pressure points” in Christian conversation about faith and science.

“We have a God who works, who shapes … constantly working with his creation. Isn’t that kind of what we see when we look at evolution?” Tippet said.

Roger Paynter, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Austin, hoped the frank discussion at the seminar about faith and science offered hope for attention to a long-ignored need in churches. Many members of his congregation have been hurt by being told they couldn’t pursue both faith and science, he said.

“I think people are hungry to be treated as if they have a brain,” Paynter said. “It doesn’t threaten our faith, it deepens our faith.”

“Faith and Science: Breaking Down the Wall” wasn’t a one-time event. Through Baylor’s sponsorship, Schmeltekopf hopes to develop it into a series presented in several churches throughout Texas.

His main hurdle will be finding churches receptive to these discussions, he noted.

“There are lots of Baptist churches for which the subject would be too controversial,” he said.

But Schmeltekopf insists the relationship between science and faith is a pertinent and necessary issue for Baptists to consider.

“The church’s witness to the world needs to include our conversation with the scientific community, and not ignore it,” he urged. “We are negligent to ignore this aspect of life. It’s just irresponsible.”

During group discussions prior to the lectures, participants listed major “pressure points” they considered important to the day’s conversation. Some wanted to develop a “common language” and a “framework for conversation” between the disciplines. Others wondered how to hold to the Baptist tenet of scriptural inerrancy while recognizing scientific support for alternate interpretations of the text.

Teachers face special circumstances, many participants noted, as they answer not only to peers, but also parents and administrators, for how they approach topics like evolution in the classroom.

In a panel discussion at the end of the seminar, Harvey offered advice for tempering antagonism.

“We should care what the other person thinks. We should struggle together to find the truth,” Harvey said.

Tippit suggested participants begin conversations in their own congregations by starting book clubs featuring literature that raises controversial—but important—issues in faith and science.

At First Baptist Church in Austin, Paynter promotes having these discussions in Sunday school, in an “environment of permission for people to ask the tough questions, and not have simplistic answers.”

“It takes tremendous grace to be in dialogue,” he said. “You have to be willing to disagree, to learn.”

The next seminar in this series will be held at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, on April 10. For more information, contact Julie Covington at the Baylor University Center for Ministry Effectiveness and Educational Leadership at (254) 710-4677 or e-mail julie_covington@baylor.edu.

SULPHUR SPRINGS—If Christians knew when they only had one month to live, what passion to make a difference would be engendered?

That is the question 30 Hopkins County congregations are asking themselves during their One Month to Live campaign.

Bruce Welch (right), minister of education at First Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, and Joel Tiemeyer, pastor of The Way Bible Church and head of the Hopkins County Christian Alliance, spearheaded the drive to involve churches throughout their area in challenging members to ask, “What if we had just one month to live?” (PHOTO/George Henson)

The Hopkins County effort began last May when Brit Fisher, children’s minister at First Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, saw a television report of a similar campaign in Clinton, Okla., and told Minister of Education Bruce Welch he thought it was something their church should do.

Welch called the First Baptist Church in Clinton and learned it was a citywide campaign. He thought maybe the same approach should be tried in Sulphur Springs.

When he brought the idea to Joel Tiemeyer, pastor of The Way Bible Church in Sulphur Springs and head of the Hopkins County Christian Alliance, it didn’t take much convincing.

“They were already looking for something to do as a communitywide project, and this fit like a hand in a glove,” Welch said. He also approached Rehoboth Baptist Association, drawing in churches from the surrounding communities of Como, Cumby and Dike.

“When Bruce came to us with this idea, it was kind of like an automatic,” Tiemeyer said. “It wasn’t anything you had to think about and pray about because we had been doing that since January—really praying and asking God, ‘What’s the next step for our city to take for all of us as churches to come together?’”

That was the beginning of what Welch and Tiemeyer pray will spark a life change for Christians throughout the county.

“It’s living every day not as if you are about to die, but living every day as you would if knew you only had 30 days left, and when the campaign is done, to live the rest of your life with that purpose, that meaning, that drive to accomplish those things you’ve always wanted to accomplish” for the kingdom of God, Tiemeyer explained.

One of the most exciting things is to see how God brought together 30 diverse churches for a collaborative effort, he added.

“To get 30 churches on board, all doing the same thing, all at the same time—it’s been an amazing process to see how God has worked in that,” Tiemeyer said.

“It’s not only interdenominational; it’s also interracial,” Welch said of the effort. At least seven denominations, and many stripes of Baptists, as well as nondenominational churches such as Tiemeyer’s, are involved in the effort, which has drawn the participation of African-American and Hispanic congregations.

Welch and Tiemeyer visited with pastors of the various congregations and said most saw the potential of the campaign far outweighed any difference they had.

“By the time we got done, they realized we had the same purpose they did—whether Methodist, Baptist, nondenominational, Assembly of God or Church of God—we all have one focus and that’s to win our city to Jesus Christ,” Tiemeyer said.

“And when they realized that’s the heart we came in with, they were like, ‘Yeah, we want to be a part of something that wins our city to Christ,’ because there is no denomination specification to be involved in this or race specification.

“It’s all about one thing—what can we do for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Pastors just fell in love with it.”

Each participating congregation was asked to do at least two things—members place One Month to Live yard signs on their lawns and the each pastor preach on the assigned topic for each of the six Sundays.

Some churches became even more involved, using materials available to go along with the campaign’s emphases. Resources include a daily devotional book, small-group studies, Sunday school materials for all ages and green silicon wristbands that have been good conversation starters leading to even more contacts.

For example, Tiemeyer said when he sees someone in a store he doesn’t know wearing a green armband, he talks to that person about what church they attend to and their church’s participation.

“People are going to be listening to your conversation as they pass by,” he said. “That’s just the nature of people to do so.”

The youth group at First Baptist Church even designed their own T-shirts to promote the event.

And while pastors are asked to preach on the same topic as the other pastors involved in the campaign, they are not all preaching the same canned message.

“We’re not going to tell you what to preach. We’re not going to tell you how to preach it, because far be it from me to come into your church when I don’t know your parishioners to say you’ve got to teach this with this message and this lesson. So, we just said, ‘We’re asking you to preach on these topics however God leads you,’” Tiemeyer explained. “They have absolute freedom on what they are preaching and how they want to present it to their congregation.”

While the campaign kicked off with a rally at the Hopkins County Rodeo Arena Jan. 31, the effort is local-church oriented.

“It’s not coming to a centered event in the middle of the city where you’re not in a church building. But for six weeks, it’s all about inviting people to your church to take this challenge,” Tiemeyer pointed out.

“The goal is, by the time they’ve been there five or six weeks, the body of Christ will have reached out enough to them and loved them enough to stay actively involved become a participant in that church.”

That church-centeredness is key to Welch.

“The cool thing is, it’s not an event. The center of it, the focus of it is what is going on in the churches,” he said. “So, we don’t have to worry about having an event and after the event is over, trying to get those people touched by the event into the church.”

First Baptist Church recently called Mark Bryant as pastor, but for 90 percent of the preparation of the campaign, the church was without a pastor. Welch didn’t see that as any sort of obstacle.

“We had been praying about doing something that affected our city. Just because we don’t have a pastor, the kingdom work goes on. It doesn’t stop,” Welch said.

While his church was without a pastor, other churches in the area had a variety of struggles of their own, and so they were a part of his thoughts and prayers as well.

“God had placed on my heart a concern for the churches of Sulphur Springs, so as he was dealing with me about that, I just saw this maybe as something that could unite the churches and get our focus on the cause of Christ.” Welch said.

“Whether we had a pastor or not really had nothing to do with it. It had everything to do with: ‘This is the opportunity. This is the time. Let’s go.’”

GALVESTON—A team of Virginia college students used their winter break to make a couple of Galveston homes a bit more livable.

More than a year after Hurricane Ike hit the island city, teams like the one from Broadus Memorial Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, Va., still are needed to help homeowners make the places they live more habitable, said Peter DeWorken of 1 Mission Galveston.

DeWorken’s ministry helps facilitate groups from all over the United States who recognize the great need that still exists in Galveston and want to make a difference. One Mission Galveston not only provides materials and tools needed to do the work, but also feeds and houses mission teams for only $25 a night per person.

Headquartered in a former elementary school centrally located on the island, the ministry provides hot meals, cots and shower and laundry facilities as well as Internet capabilities. While a hotel would provide many of those same functions, it would not provide meals, supplies or tools, or facilitate ministry opportunities, DeWorken pointed out. Also, all the money that comes in addition to expenses is used to buy supplies and other things to continue the ministry for the next group.

In addition to construction teams, other groups provide outreach ministries to the homeless, provide workers for Vacation Bible Schools, work in local food distribution ministry, prayerwalk the city and clean up neighborhoods. There is more than enough work to go around, DeWorken said.

While it has been a more than a year since the hurricane, volunteers still are heeding the call. So far, more than 200 Galveston homes have had teams come to work on them, but some of them need additional attention and many more have yet to be begun, DeWorken said.

Two thousand volunteers were expected to come to the island in January, February and March to minister to the people living in Galveston.

“We’re thrilled about it, and we’re scared to death,” DeWorken said with a broad smile.

Many of the volunteers will be coming from churches throughout Texas, he noted.

Lindsay Turner paints the ceiling of a home in Galveston.

“Without Texans helping Texans, this ministry wouldn’t be near what it is,” he said.

Still, many will travel from much farther, such as the group of 17 college students and sponsors from Virginia.

The young adults were challenged last spring to pursue a mission opportunity during their Christmas break by Gary Bone, minister of education and senior adults at Broadus Memorial Baptist Church.

Bone, who formerly served as minister of education at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, said that after investigating the possibilities, he gave the volunteers a choice between Galveston and Toronto, and they overwhelmingly selected Galveston.

Aaron Hazelgrove, a junior at Virginia Tech, said being in close contact with the family they were helping was one of the best parts of the trip for him.

“They are interesting people, an interesting family,” he said. “It’s fun to work on the house of someone when you have a face to go with it.” The homeowner was so thankful, she made the crew a large batch of brownies, he added.

Emily Gardner, a Virginia Tech student, taped windowpanes before painting. She worked on home repairs in Galveston as part of a mission team from Virginia.

Emily Gardner, another Virginia Tech student who worked on a different house, agreed the people she met made the trip special.

“I have a real heart for missions, and it’s what I plan to do with my life,” she said. “And it has been great to get to know the lady whose house we have been working on and very moving to be able to help her home become a little warmer.”

The house Gardner worked on had a 4-foot by 8-foot hole in the side that allowed the cold and rain to stream into the attic and then sail down a stairway into the rest of the house. The elderly homeowner only had gas heaters to try to fend off the cold.

In addition to covering the opening with a tarp on the inside and outside with plywood in between, the team also replaced 21 windowpanes, removed and replaced water-damaged sheetrock, and painted two rooms in the home.

“I don’t know how I would ever have gotten it done,” homeowner Mary Hall said.

Even her neighbors were thankful the Virginia college students made the trip to help her.

“The lady across the street was so impressed, she brought them a batch of cookies,” Hall said.

For more information about bringing a mission team to Galveston, visit www.onemissiongalveston.org.

DALLAS—Texas Baptists helped a medical team from Baylor Hospital go serve in Haiti and have other small, specialized disaster response groups lined up to do likewise, including a Texas Baptist Men assessment team.

The teams are entering the country on a private jet on loan to Texas Baptists by Mike Roberts, a member of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. The jet has made one trip to Haiti and will make more, dropping volunteers off in Port-Au-Prince.

“We are humbled by the generosity of Texas Baptists,” said Bill Arnold, president of the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation and coordinator of disaster response for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“Whether it’s airplanes, time, talent or money, the Texas Baptist family is responding in an incredibly generous way to share the hope of Christ with the people of Haiti. We are continuing to send in medical supplies, water purification equipment and the volunteers to use them.”

Including the team of medical professionals from Baptist Temple in McAllen, nine Baylor Health Care System medical personnel either have been serving in Haiti or are serving now, said Don Sewell, director of the Baylor Health Care System’s new faith-in- action initiatives, which seeks to connect Baylor medical staff with volunteer opportunities.

“Baylor Health Care System realizes the great importance of sharing our personal and material assets with our community and to our world,” he said.

“We’re simply continuing the Christian spirit under which Baylor was established in George Truett’s days, and we’re proud to be part of the Texas Baptist family.”

Trained Texas Baptist Men volunteers left for Haiti on Jan. 27 and with water purification equipment that will provide 75,000 gallons of clean water a day.

Bill Sluder, a TBM volunteer, drives forklift of 5,000 water filters to be sent to Haiti.

Those supplies will be used to provide clean water for a medical clinic and several orphanages, TBM Executive Director Leo Smith said. The children are running out of clean water.

“The orphans are our first priority,” Smith said.

The organization had been waiting for a government plane to take 5,000 water filters to Port-Au-Prince and received that Jan. 26. Each of those water filters, which have been paid for by donations through the Baptist General Convention of Texas, can provide clean water for a family of four for six months.

Financial gifts can be made through Texas Baptists to support disaster response efforts through the convention’s partners, including Texas Baptist Men, at www.texasbaptists.org/give or by sending a check designated disaster response to Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, 333 N. Washington Ave., Dallas 75246.

Texas Baptists also can make donations to support Texas Baptist Men individually at www.texasbaptistmen.org or by sending a check designated disaster relief to Texas Baptist Men, 5351 Catron, Dallas, 75227.

Buckner International has a pair of humanitarian aid shipments scheduled to go to Haiti on Jan. 29. The shipments include medical supplies and cots of the Hope Hospital and Children’s Village in Port-Au-Prince. Nearly 25,000 shoes for orphans is being sent to a Buckner partner church in Florida that will distribute them through agencies in Haiti. Buckner is planning additional humanitarian aid shipments in the future.

To support Buckner’s efforts in Haiti, visit www.buckner.org .

Baptist Child and Family Services’ global division, Children’s Emergency Relief International, has work in progress for long-term recovery efforts in Haiti.

Based on daily briefings from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Texas Division of Emergency Management, “as soon as it is determined that the health and safety of our volunteers will not be compromised and that our efforts will not become a burden to those we seek to help, CERI will lead mission trips to support the rebuilding of impacted orphanages and provide medical care to children in need,” said BCFS President Kevin Dinnin.

To support BCFS’ work in Haiti, visit www.bcfs.net .

Students at Texas Baptist schools, including East Texas Baptist University, Baylor University and Howard Payne University, have participated in a variety of fundraisers to help hurting people in Haiti.

AMARILLO—Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo gave $63,100 to Texas Baptist Men for disaster relief work following the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. The congregation sent its full weekend offering to Texas Baptist Men despite running $140,000 behind its annual budget.

Pastor Gil Lain said the congregation has been going through a sermon series about living passionately.

“Part of living passionately is doing something drastic,” he explained. So, the congregation decided to take drastic action to make a difference in the lives of Haitians.

About half of the congregation is trained to serve with Texas Baptist Men disaster relief. The church gave to the men’s organization because members knew the money would help people who are hurting, Lain said. TBM is seeking to send 5,000 water filters to Haiti. Each filter will provide clean water for a family of four.

“Even though times are tough, people still have giving hearts,” Lain said. “They want to take of people. I think that’s a picture of Christianity.”

TBM Executive Director Leo Smith said Paramount Baptist Church’s generosity was an answer to prayer. TBM needed $63,000 to pay for the 5,000 filters before the congregation’s gift.

“God met the financial need for water filters for Haiti through the faith and obedience of Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo that gave TBM their entire Saturday evening and Sunday morning offering, amounting to $63,000,” Smith said.

Gifts to Texas Baptist Men can be made directly to the group at www.texasbaptistmen.org or by sending a check designated disaster relief to 5351 Catron, Dallas, 75227

More than 40 years after Baylor University in Waco and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston separated, the two institutions have begun talks regarding a strengthened relationship—but not without sparking controversy.

In a Jan. 21 letter to Baylor University faculty, staff and students, Interim President David Garland confirmed the university is “engaged in conversations with the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Texas Children’s Hospital regarding a strengthened affiliation.”

Garland noted the university’s belief the closer relationship with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital could help Baylor University’s continued growth and advancement. But, he insisted, no action would be taken that would “put our campus at undue risk,” and no decision would be made until parties involved completed due diligence.

“What is presently being discussed is a strengthened affiliation between the Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor University. Baylor University and the Baylor College of Medicine are not discussing a merger,” he said.

Reportedly, Baylor College of Medicine unsuccessfully had pursued an affiliation with Rice University in Houston.

Controversy regarding proposed closer ties with Baylor University surfaced about the same time Baylor College of Medicine ran into trouble with the National Institutes of Health for failing to disclose a cardiologist’s $34,000 consulting deal with a drug company—an apparent violation of conflict-of-interest policies for physicians conducting NIH-funded research.

Rumors of a merger between the college and Baylor University prompted some students, faculty, staff and alumni of Baylor College of Medicine to create an online petition to register opposition. More than 500 people have signed the statement, based on their belief Baylor University’s religious mission could stifle scientific research at Baylor College of Medicine.

Baylor University’s stated mission is “to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community.”

“As Baylor University is a religion-affiliated institution that promotes values and teachings from religious beliefs throughout its ranks, we cannot overlook the restrictive influence that this potential merger would have on Baylor College of Medicine, a leading biomedical research-oriented college,” the petition states.

“The religious ideologies that permeate throughout Baylor University’s academic policies may adversely affect both scientific progress and the culture at Baylor College of Medicine, particularly in relation to issues such as evolution, embryonic stem cells and sexual orientation. While we respect everyone’s right to religion in his or her own life, we believe that science and medicine must be separate from religion and urge you to reject any such merger.”

Garland responded: “Baylor University has an ambitious mission and vision that are unique among higher educational institutions. There are some who do not fully understand who and what we are.”

In his letter to faculty, staff and students, Garland sought to correct some of the “misstatements” and misunderstandings about the relationship between the university and Baylor College of Medicine.

“Since it originally affiliated with Baylor University in 1903, the Baylor College of Medicine has been a nonsectarian institution,” he wrote.
However, Baylor College of Medicine is affiliated with faith-based St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and Methodist Hospital, as well as Texas Children’s Hospital, DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Harris County Hospital District’s Ben Taub General Hospital, the Menninger Clinic, Memorial Hermann-Institute for Rehabilitation and Research and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Michael DeBakey—the cardiac surgeon and medical researcher who pioneered development of the artificial heart—joined the faculty at what was then the Baylor University College of Medicine in 1948, and he later served as president and chancellor of Baylor College of Medicine.

DeBakey and Abner McCall, then president of Baylor University, led in legally separating Baylor College of Medicine from the university in 1969.

“The university did this so that the college could attract broader, nonsectarian financial support and gain access to state and federal funding,” Garland explained.

At the time, the Baptist General Convention of Texas elected all the members of Baylor University’s governing board and set policy for the school—including a prohibition on accepting government funds.

“Baylor University has always been proud of its sectarian identity, but university regents realized its association with the BGCT could be limiting the college’s access to a range of financial resources. What’s more, regents concluded it was unreasonable to expect that the BGCT could continue to assume the financial burden of a growing medical school.”

Even after the university and Baylor College of Medicine separated, they retained some affiliation. Baylor University has appointed 25 percent of the Baylor College of Medicine board since 1969, Garland noted.

The Carnegie Foundation now classifies Baylor University as a research university with high research activity, and the university enrolls more than 500 Ph.D. candidates, he added. Baylor faculty receive $41 million in research grants, and annual research expenditures exceed $16 million.

“Baylor researchers are no longer prohibited from seeking or accepting federal or state funds to support their work,” Garland said. “Baylor’s tenure decisions include an expectation of academic scholarship and research productivity.”

DALLAS – Albert Reyes was elected as the sixth president in the 131-year history of Buckner International Jan. 22, succeeding Ken Hall, who remains with Buckner as chief executive officer.

Reyes, 51, served previously as president of Buckner Children & Family Services, a position he has held since 2007. Prior to joining Buckner, he was president of Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio.

Albert Reyes

Scott McIlveene, chair of the Buckner board of trustees, said Reyes was the only candidate considered to replace Hall, who was elected to the post in 1993. Reyes will report directly to the board of trustees.

“Dr. Reyes brings the perfect mix of vision, passion and intellect to the task, especially at this point in the history of Buckner,” McIlveene said. “We are uniquely poised as a ministry to move forward like never before, thanks to tremendous work of Buckner’s previous five presidents.”

Reyes, who becomes the first non-Anglo to lead Buckner since its founding in 1879, said, “I understand that with such a great honor come great challenges and opportunities.

“The orphans, vulnerable children, families, and elders served by Buckner depend on us to make their lives better,” he said. “That is tremendous honor, but also a serious responsibility.”

Hall continues in his role as CEO, also reporting to the trustees, while working closely with the staff of Buckner Foundation to secure financial support for the work of Buckner. He will also serve as a consultant to Reyes.

As president of Buckner, Reyes will manage the organization’s nearly $100-million annual budget, while overseeing the daily operations of more than 1,300 employees worldwide. Those operations include work through Buckner Children & Family Services’ domestic and international ministries and Buckner Retirement Services’ seven senior living communities in Texas.

A native of Corpus Christi, Reyes earned his bachelor of business administration in management from Angelo State University and his master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary , as well as the doctor of ministry from Southwestern. He completed his doctor of philosophy degree from Andrews University in 2009.

He served as founding pastor of Pueblo Nuevo Community Church in El Paso seven years before becoming president at BUA. He also served as pastor of churches in Dallas. From 1981 to 1988, he was a manager for the National Customer Service Center for Sprint.

“Buckner as a ministry and those served by Buckner owe a great debt of gratitude to Ken Hall for the great leadership he has given the past 16 years,” Reyes said. “My vision is to build on what Dr. Hall has started – to go further and faster with God’s help.”Reyes and his wife Belinda have three sons, Joshua, David and Thomas. They are members of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.