BELTON—When Kanishka Upreti arrived at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor from India, she remembers not only how excited she was, but also experiencing severe culture shock.

Kanishka, who was raised as a Hindu, was stumped when her Old Testament professor instructed students to open their Bibles to a verse in Psalms. While other students flipped to the middle of the Bible, she had no idea where to start.

“I knew UMHB was a Christian university, but I didn’t know we had to study the Bible,” she said.

This year, 106 international students from 35 coun­tries selected UMHB. For many of them, life as a teenage interna­tional student includes facing many challenges like lan­guage barriers, social and cultural differences, religious differences and academic dissimilarities.

One of the things many of them suffer from is feeling isolated—miles away from family, friends and all things familiar.

During her en­tire freshman year, Kanishka lived in Austin with relatives and took an Uber back and forth to campus in Belton every day. Not only was it a massive $160 daily dent in her budget, but living so far from campus made it difficult to connect and make friends.

For her sopho­more year, Kanishka moved just minutes away from campus, and she quickly found herself meeting more people, making new friends, and joining in activities.

She participated in Missions Emphasis Week, the Psychology Club and Bridges International, a social group that promotes connections between international and domestic students.

Kanishka helped organize the annual multicultural program two years in a row. She cooked Indian food, dressed in traditional Indian attire, performed a Bollywood-style dance and offered henna hand drawings.

‘Find ways to help them connect’

This year, she serves as international student representative for the Student Government Association at UMHB. Her platform was “helping interna­tional students build connections on campus.”

“I know that there’s a gap. A lot of our international students feel very isolated,” she said. “So, hopefully, we can find ways to help them connect.”

Elizabeth Tanaka, director of UMHB Interna­tional Student Services, agrees international stu­dents often take a while to break out of their comfort zones. Some students are better at plugging in, like Kanishka, who has thrived since becoming active on campus. Others, take a little longer.

“International students tend to socialize only with those from their home country,” she said. “It’s un­derstandable, because that is their comfort zone, and so much here is new. But this tends to isolate small groups of students who become dependent on each other rather than becoming part of UMHB as a whole.”

The international students who take an active role in becoming a member of the campus family have experienced great success, Tanaka said.

“They are happy and busy because they get invited to do many activities, even just going to H-E-B with American friends,” she said. “They also tend to be academically successful, because they are at ease with hearing English at a fast pace, and they have friends to study with.”

Tanaka and her team seek ways to help international students get involved, while acknowledging the multiple reasons they choose not to. Sometimes, they are shy about making a mistake in English and “appearing foolish,” she said.

Another reason is because in their free time, instead of joining into activities on cam­pus, they are using Facetime or Zoom to talk with friends back home rather than trying to make new friends in the United States.

Cultural differences also come into play, Tanaka added. Many international students are not as comfortable taking initiative as their American coun­terparts.

“Someone has always told them what to do, when to be there, … and they are just fairly passive about anything that is not a requirement,” she said.

Participate in campus activities

During her international student orientations, she stresses to students that they will have a much more fulfilling experience, both socially and academically, if they will just attend activities.

“Get a couple of people from your country to go with you,” she advises international students. “Even if you sit on the sidelines and do noth­ing for a while, it will get easier and easier to interact.”

She urges international students to give American students a chance to get to know them and build a friendship.

“Say ‘hello’ to someone from your class that you see outside of class. Say ‘hello’ to your professor. Go to a sporting event,” she suggests. “Everyone is there for the same purpose, and no one will ask you to do anything other than watch and applaud.”

Tanaka pointed out some of the ways UMHB encourages international students to get plugged in, including the International Orientation Day her office offers each semester before classes begin.

The Baptist Student Ministry hosts events such as Texas Night for international students to familiarize themselves with “all things Texas.” The BSM also has an international committee that hosts events such as learning to bake a cake and game night.

Bridges International publicizes regular meetings for interna­tional and American students to build friendships, and the library has hosted events specially for international students.

“We will continue to offer as much as possible in hopes of catching the elusive students who are looking for a way to plug in and take advantage of activities,” she said.

She has observed often a single student, who is the only one from his or her home country, participates more often and becomes comfortable on campus much more quickly than those who have a bigger “comfort zone” group where they can hang out.

“The single students tend to live on campus lon­ger, too, because they don’t have a group to rent an (off-campus) apartment with, and I think that encour­ages more participation as well,” she said.

From isolated to involved

Tran Ho Bao “Cherry” Le of Vietnam started classes at UMHB from her laptop, sitting inside a small room she rented from a family friend in Dallas. It was fall 2020 when COVID-19 was surging, and many students opted to take classes online. She missed out on touring campus. There was no Cru Camp and no Welcome Week.

“Technically, I didn’t know anything about UMHB,” she said. “That was not what I imagined of college—not at all.”

Because she didn’t experience college the way she envisioned that first year, she considered transfer­ring, but she decided to give it another try “in person.”

Cherry applied for a sum­mer job as a student worker with the UMHB Center for Academic Excellence and was hired. She moved into Burt Hall, enrolled in summer classes and went to work, helping with Cru Camp. She finally got to experience all the things she missed that first year.

When she started classes in the fall, a friend who served in the Student Government Association suggested Cherry run for the interna­tional representative position.

This year, as a junior, she helped design sets for Stunt Night and is involved in Bridges  Inter­national. During one of her Christmas breaks, she joined other students from around the country for the Vision Conference in Washington, D.C.

This past semester, she attended a fall retreat at Burnet with Bridges International. She’s also been involved with the college group at Taylor’s Valley Baptist Church in Temple.

Getting involved was not easy for Cherry, but she is happy she pushed herself out of her “bubble.”

“I realized that friends do not define us. I do not see them as American or international friends. I just see them as friends,” Cherry explained. “You can just go out there and make friends with people —any of them. If you’re nice to them, they will be nice back.”

Looking over the last two years on campus, Cherry is thankful she found the courage to open her mind to new experiences, and she hopes to inspire other interna­tional students to do the same.

“I feel like UMHB is my family now, and I would love to have other international students feel and experience the same things that I have.”

Adapted and republished by permission from UMHB Life Magazine, Winter 2023

PLAINVIEW—Almost 50 years after Kent Snodgrass and Jimmy Thomas stole the clothes of a kid from Indiana, one might think their gifts to a scholarship fund established in his honor represent voluntary self-punishment for wrongdoing.

But that’s not what motivated Snodgrass and Thomas to help put the Tim and Janice Powers Endowed Scholarship at Wayland Baptist University above the $100,000 mark in less than three years.

The real reason is the brotherly love these three college friends have shared through years of picking, poking, pranking and praying for each another.

“The fact that Tim Powers speaks to me today is an absolute miracle, because we absolutely played more tricks and pranks on him than anyone in the history of our lives,” Snodgrass said.

Thomas added, “It is a wonderment that Tim would even consider us to be his friends as much mess as we put on him.”

Initial impression not love at first sight

Partners in “classroom crime” since they had met in third grade in Abernathy, Snodgrass and Thomas were freshmen in the fall of 1973 when they met Powers, a kid from Muncie, Ind., who came to play basketball at Wayland.

“Tim was on a full scholarship, and he had no idea about Wayland Baptist University.” Thomas explained. “He had never been to Plainview before accepting the scholarship. It was kind of a crazy deal.”

“It certainly was a God thing,” Powers said of his decision to play for the Pioneers. “I was getting one of my ankles taped, and the assistant coach said, ‘There’s a school down in Texas that’s interested in you.’

“I said, ‘Well, send them the worst tapes that you have on me, because Texas is the last place I want to go.’”

After almost 50 years in the Lone Star State, Powers said, “God had a different plan, for which I am grateful.”

“I had another offer, which I had committed to, but I ended up dropping that offer and coming to Wayland. Eventually, I fell in love with the place.”

But it wasn’t love at first sight. Powers landed in Lubbock with one piece of luggage “stuffed with everything I could think of.” Snodgrass’s brother, a graduate assistant for the basketball team, picked him up at the airport.

“Kent’s older brother, Don, greeted me and put me in his car, which didn’t have an air conditioner, and we started driving toward Plainview,” Powers recalled. “The wind was blowing, and it was hot.

“The first question I asked him was why all the trees were growing sideways. I saw what I thought was a tornado, and he laughed and said it was a dust devil. It was all the same—flat. And I grew up in a place where there were hills and trees, rain and humidity. It was just dry and dusty.”

Three students became ‘fast friends’

The assistant coach dropped Powers at McDonald Hall, one of three men’s residence halls open at that time.

“I found my room and was introduced to my roommate,” he recalled. “Shortly after that, Kent and Jimmy came down, and we went over and played some basketball. That started the friendship that has lasted for almost 50 years.”

The three became “fast friends,” Snodgrass said.

“In Plainview, there was not much to do, so we rolled up the sidewalks together, and spent a lot of time in each other’s room,” Snodgrass said.

It wasn’t long before Snodgrass and Thomas began playing pranks on Powers.

“We basically stole all of his clothes except the ones he had on,” Snodgrass said. “He had one set of clothes and had to wear those four or five days in a row. It was good clean fun for the most part. It was fun for us, but there were times when he wasn’t laughing really hard.”

But generally, Powers took the pranks in stride, Thomas said.

“You could pull a joke on Tim, and he would act like he didn’t even know it happened,” he said. “He would play dumb. We walked into his room that day, and he didn’t have anything, not even a razor or comb or a toothbrush—nothing. We stole everything, and he just walked in the room and laid down on his bed without a mattress. He was like nothing had happened. He didn’t say a word about it. He was so funny.”

Powers always ‘intentional’

Snodgrass and Thomas admit Powers was much more intentional about his studies than they were.

“That is what he has always been—intentional,” Thomas said. “He’s been intentional since he was 18 years old. He came to Wayland and worked hard.

“While we were being stupid and acting crazy and waiting until the last night to do an assignment, he would get the syllabus for the class and start on it the minute he got it. He’d go to the library the first night and be half finished with it.”

“He was very dedicated to what he was doing. And he has been intentional later in life, as far as his jobs, his family and his faith. He’s been very intentional in everything he’s done. He’s probably the hardest working person I have known in my life.”

Powers sees himself as someone who likes to solve a problem when he sees it—including problems between people.

“ If you have an issue with someone, you go to them and try to take care of it,” he said. “Being intentional means developing relationships.”

Much as he treasures his friendship with Thomas and Snodgrass, Powers points to a more important relationship he established at Wayland.

“I was grateful that God had led me there,” Powers said. “That is where I realized I could have a relationship with Christ. I eventually invited him into my life to be my Lord and Savior. It definitely was an eternity-changing decision for me to come to Wayland.”

‘It’s been a brotherhood’

After the trio graduated, they remained best friends.

“We just continued to stay in touch,” Snodgrass said. “Jimmy and Tim stayed out in the Panhandle, and I moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.”

Snodgrass enjoyed a successful career in the investment business, while Powers and Thomas became successful school administrators.

Snodgrass called Thomas and Powers “two of the finest men in the world.”

“It doesn’t get any better than to have close, wonderful friends like that,” he said.

Thomas added, “It’s just been a brotherhood.”

Sticking together through trying times

And brothers stick together during difficult times, like when Powers learned he had Stage 4 prostate cancer in June 2016. A local oncologist told him he had two to three years “at the most” to live.

Powers went to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and the doctors there confirmed the diagnosis. A specialist told him, “It’s not curable, but we can treat it and prolong quality of life for you.” That doctor told Powers he probably had four to six years to live.

“It has been six and a half years, so I think I’m on God’s time,” Powers said. “I truly believe it is because I have had so many people praying that God would intervene with this cancer. I don’t know if he is going to cure it. That is up to him. But I know that if it hadn’t been for people praying for me on a regular basis, I would not be here now.”

“The whole process was a blow to both Janice and me, but we realized we could get bitter, or we could get better. We both chose to do this and get better, to be a reflection of God’s love. … I’ve grown so much closer to the Lord. … I’ve grown more deeply in understanding what he wants from me. I want to take every opportunity to share that as best as I can with others. But it all starts with the idea that God led me to Wayland.”

Powers said his wife is his No. 1 encourager, but Thomas and Snodgrass have been there for him each step of his journey.

“Jimmy and Kent pray for me constantly and call and check on me,” he said. “Kent comes quite often to Lubbock from Fort Worth. He always stops by to see me. They and others support me. I am truly blessed. I have been able to see God’s love working in real life.”

Launching an endowed scholarship

Snodgrass took a lead role in launching the Tim and Janice Powers Endowed Scholarship at Wayland.

“They were going to establish the scholarship fund, and Tim called and asked me,” Snodgrass recalled. “He wanted me to come to the gala in Lubbock. I inquired about it and decided to become the core sponsor of the event.”

But that was just the beginning.

“I’ve just continued to try to support that on an annual basis or more often than that,” Snodgrass said. “It’s basically for the love of Tim that I have done that. I just know how much joy it gives him. So, I’ve been blessed and able to do that. It is just a great way to say how much I appreciate him and Janice.”

Thomas also has contributed to helping get the endowment over $100,000.

“I can’t say enough about Tim Powers. I am glad to be a part of this,” Thomas said of the endowment.

‘Substantial and real’

Even while undergoing regular treatments that often result in hospitalization, Powers continues to serve as a professor at Wayland’s Lubbock campus.

“With the challenges he has had over the last few years, you never hear him complain,” Snodgrass said. “He is an absolute warrior and an incredibly intentional person. You are not going to find a harder worker and a more intentional great Christian man than Tim Powers. The things he is involved in are substantial and real.”

Powers described Snodgrass and Thomas as “those two yahoos” before quoting Proverbs 18:24—“But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

“That’s really what this has turned into,” he said. “It’s a friendship that is more than just acquaintances. Just knowing that you have someone in your life like that and knowing Wayland was the central focus for having the opportunity to develop that relationship is invaluable.

“One of the many blessings of being diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer is the fact that we have grown stronger. We have grown more closely together through God’s word and just kind of reinforcing each other and reminding each other of God’s promises. It’s reminders that this is not the end, it is just the stuff you go through this side of heaven. There are better things to come than this.”

Powers said one of the greatest honors of his life came last fall when the university recognized him with Trustee Emeritus status. Snodgrass and Thomas were with him as he was honored.

“As an 18-year-old, I would never have imagined that Wayland would have such an impact on my life as well as these lifelong friendships,” he said. “I truly believe that if I had not come to Wayland, I would still be a lost soul. I know I will be in heaven and greeted by the Lord when that time comes.”

“I cannot believe how blessed I am to have such friends as Kent and Jimmy in my life. I know that friendship will last for eternity. I know there will be a time when we are rejoicing and praising the Lord in heaven, and I can’t think of anything sweeter than that.”

First Baptist Church in Stephenville gathered for worship on Jan. 22, four days after the façade on the exterior of one of its buildings collapsed, injuring two construction workers.

A portion of the arched façade on the north side of the church’s education building collapsed at 1:58 p.m. on Jan. 18. The century-old building—part of the city’s historic district—is undergoing renovation and restoration.

Pastor Ken May was in his office at the south end of the church campus when he and others heard the crash.

“By the time I walked around the building, first responders were already there,” he said in a phone interview.

One of the workers injured in the accident was discharged from the hospital the same day he was treated. The other was transported to a hospital in Fort Worth, where he is “stable and improving,” May said.

“Buildings are valuable resources, but human lives are what are really precious,” he said.

‘God is with us’

During the Jan. 22 morning worship service, May encouraged his congregation to praise God for his presence in difficult times and thank God for the protection he provides.

“God is good. All the time, God is good,” he said. “It has been a tough week. … Even when the façade on the church crumbles, God is with us.”

The church’s Kinderbridge Preschool meets in the education building, but no children or staff were injured. The collapse occurred after the time when the children were outdoors on a playground and prior to dismissal, when they would have been exiting the building with their parents, May noted.

“They were inside taking naps,” he said. Child care workers immediately followed emergency protocols, relocating the children to a safe location away from the affected part of the building.

“The engineer has inspected the building and concluded that most can be occupied,” a social media post on the church’s Facebook page stated, prior to the Sunday worship service.

While some preschool classes were moved to the church’s fellowship hall and a couple of adult Bible study classes relocated to the sanctuary on Jan. 22, most were able to meet in their usual areas. All classes were expected to be in their normal locations on Jan. 29.

“In life, you have to be flexible. … You just don’t know what’s going to happen. We’ve had to do that in the last few years with the pandemic,” May said.

While individuals are asked to stay clear of the area near the collapsed façade until it can be cleared, an engineer who examined the facility and compiled a 10-page report said it remains structurally sound, May told the congregation.

 “Thank you so much for your prayers,” he said. “Prayer is powerful.”

In a social media update posted Jan. 24, May called on the church to praise God.

“This week, we have become mindful of how quickly life can change. We have been confronted with the frailty of our nature and aware of our dependence upon God. Without him, we have no hope, no power and no future. Today is a day of praise,” he wrote.

“Praise him for being a God who is always in control, and One who is never caught by surprise. … Praise him for being a loving and kind God who watches over us, protects us and provides.”

MANSFIELD (BP)—Michael Evans developed a heart for public service when he was 8 years old.

Early each morning, after his mother and great-grandmother boarded the bus to work, he had to prepare breakfast, get his 3-year-old sister Michelle on the bus to preschool and walk himself the two miles to class without getting in trouble along the way, he said.

“My mother depended on me. I saw her cry too many times because of what we didn’t have,” said Evans, mayor of Mansfield and senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church there.

‘Be the solution’

Raynarldo Henderson, city commissioner in Paducah, Ky., and pastor of Washington Street Missionary Baptist Church there more than 30 years, was inspired for public service during his early adulthood in Chicago when the late Harold Washington was mayor.

“There were fights on the (city council) floor. I remember one alderman … standing up on the table,” Henderson said. “Those first four years for Harold Washington were rough. They gave him a hard time. And it was watching those city council meetings that it was like: ‘Wow. I can be a solution. I can make a difference.’

“I was taught that if you see a problem, you be the solution.”

Both Evans and Henderson are fulltime pastors who concurrently serve in elected office in the public square. Both see their pastorates and their elected governmental posts as godly callings. Both express the ability to uphold the laws of the land while also exhibiting godly behavior as the Lord’s ambassadors.

“There are some people who think pastors shouldn’t be in politics,” Henderson said. “But obviously, I think the exact opposite, because we do get an opportunity to impact” communities.

Longtime involvement in community

Evans, a Houston native elected to his second mayoral term in November 2022, came to the office after holding various public posts as early as 2007, including terms on the Mansfield Independent School District Board and the Tarrant County College District. He was a commissioned officer and reserve chaplain in the U.S. Navy, and he is a former president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Evans, who eventually became the oldest of six children when his mother remarried, experienced both provision and lack during his childhood, he said. His birth parents divorced after his father returned from the Vietnam War.

“When you see people hurting and you encounter people who are hurting, and I was blessed to have grandparents on the maternal and paternal side that held us up while our parents were going through,” Evans said.

“So, when you have those experiences, you say: ‘Lord, help me to pay back, because I know that it’s been given to me. So, so help me to give it back.’”

Bethlehem Baptist Church elected him pastor when he was 24 years old, when Mansfield was a rural community of just 15,000 residents.

“They helped me grow up here as a young man,” he said of the congregation that averaged 1,200 in worship before the COVID-19 pandemic and draws 600 in worship today.

‘Love and serve’ all

Evans sees himself as exposed to a diversity of public opinion as a mayor, but covered by God as his servant.

“Character counts. I believe people will read you before they read the Bible. I’ve got to love and serve even those that don’t like me. I learned that in the pastorate,” he said. “Bethlehem got me ready for that. I praise God for giving me a covering, and it is here at Bethlehem.”

Evans doesn’t compromise God’s word, he said, but upholds the constitutions of Texas and the United States, as he is sworn to do as mayor.

“My job (as mayor) is to not allow you to be mistreated or discriminated against because of the way you think. That’s just right to do. I cannot stand by and allow any person to be mistreated,” Evans said. “I believe that the best way to save a person is for the people to see Christ in the (other) person. And they can’t see that with me hating them. …

“[I]n regard to society, you’ve got to know that I’m going to respect your position. I don’t have to accept your position, but I have to respect it and I have to protect it and protect you, because I made a vow to do just that. To do otherwise would be dishonest. I shouldn’t even take the oath if I didn’t mean to be right.”

Integrity essential

He sees integrity as a way of sharing the gospel.

“You share it by being fair to the parties that come before you,” Evans said. “You share it by loving those who you know hate your guts because you’re Black. You share it by demonstrating condolence when bad things happen in the city. It’s lifestyle evangelism.”

Henderson’s road to elected office included three campaigns before his winning run as city commissioner in November 2020.

“I’m just not a quitter. You don’t stop, my mom always taught us, you don’t stop because you come to a wall,” he said. “You go over the wall, under the wall, around the wall.

“I kept on going because I knew that was what God had for me. Because I believe that in my heart, I kept pressing. If God has called you to it, he’ll bring you through it.”

Today, Henderson is known affectionately as “Pastor Commish.”

Make an impact

Henderson enjoys his public office, particularly frequent opportunities to offer the invocation at public meetings.

“I get an opportunity through my prayer to set the tone or the atmosphere of meetings. If a meeting goes well, I feel like it has had something to do with what I prayed and how I asked God’s presence to be in our meetings,” he said. “I get an opportunity to say to our other commissioners or mayor, I feel God is leading me to do this.

“I have an opportunity to be a witness or to be a light in our community. Obviously, I don’t stand on a street corner with a megaphone, but just my presence. People know that I’m a pastor. People know that I’m a preacher. And therefore, they call upon me on many cases.”

Henderson leads Washington Street Baptist Church to be active and present in the community. Among its ministries are feeding ministries, outreaches to the elderly, and a warming center with resources for the homeless on cold nights, offering showers, a bed, food and clothing.

“I ask our church often: ‘If Washington Street Church were no longer here, would this community know the difference and would they even care?’

“I believe that the church has a responsibility to be in the community. We have a responsibility to impact the community. And just being the commissioner gives me an added opportunity to make an impact.”

When Mary’s House recently opened its doors to provide a fully furnished residence for a missionary family, it marked a dream come true for Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas and the World Missions Center at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In 2019, Brent Ray—then director of the World Missions Center—contacted Texas WMU to discuss his idea of providing an on-campus home for international missionary families on temporary stateside assignment.

He envisioned a cozy home where missionaries-in-residence could find rest and renewal, while also inspiring seminary students with their testimonies of service on international mission fields.

Representatives from Texas WMU met with Ray and saw a proposed site for missionary housing—an old duplex on the corner of West Broadus Street and Stanley Avenue.

‘It was in pretty bad shape’

At one point, the building housed the library of the late E. Earl Ellis, emeritus research professor of theology. After the Ellis collection was moved to the A. Webb Roberts Library, the house sat vacant for years.

“Honestly, it was in pretty bad shape,” said Teri Ussery of Texas WMU. “But Dr. Ray could see the vision.”

Ray and Tamiko Jones, executive director-treasurer of Texas WMU, agreed the house should be named for Mary Hill Davis, who was president of Texas WMU from 1906 to 1931.

Funds from the offering for Texas missions that bears her name and money raised by Texas WMU financed the total renovation of the old house at 1721 W. Broadus.

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed progress on the renovation, but it also made possible an unexpected blessing. Since Texas WMU did not use all its operating budget in 2020, it was able to invest the funds in Mary’s House.

The architecture team at the Baptist General Convention of Texas developed plans for the remodeling project.

“Workers took it down to the studs, completely remodeling it,” Ussery said.

They discovered hardwood floors hidden beneath well-worn and soiled carpet, and they installed up-to-date appliances for two residences—one downstairs and the other upstairs.

Wanting missionaries to ‘feel that love’

Texas WMU provided all the furnishings, and Baptist Women around the state purchased household goods, selecting from among more than 100 items on an Amazon registry.

“The dream was for a missionary family to be able to walk into Mary’s House with suitcases in hand and immediately move in,” Ussery said.

Jones and Ussery, along with Texas WMU President Earl Ann Bumpus and Beth Campbell, project manager for the Mary Hill Davis Offering, participated in a Jan. 13 ribbon-cutting ceremony for Mary’s House.

Jones emphasized the desire of Texas WMU to show love and support to missionaries.

“We want to care for them, so that whenever God does send them back out, or while they’re just serving here, they feel that love and they’re able to then pour that back out to continue to do what [God] called them to do. So, we’re excited to be a part of this,” Jones said.

Joining the Texas WMU representatives for the dedication service were Ian Buntain, current director of the World Mission Center; John Massey, dean of the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions; and Matt Queen, interim provost at Southwestern Seminary.

“I’m so grateful that in Texas, these women are dreaming dreams about a place like this where missionaries can not only have sanctuary, but where this place can be a sanctuary for students who will have exposure to normal missionaries,” Buntain said.

First family moves into Mary’s House

The first family to move into Mary’s House were Thomas and Holley Sieberhagen and their two children. The Sieberhagens serve with the International Mission Board as church planters among the French-speaking population in Belgium.

“When you’re on stateside [assignment], you don’t just need time to kind of detox and rest from a busy term the year is coming to. You also need a place where you can really recharge and spiritually get ready for the coming term and to go back,” Thomas Sieberhagen said. “Having a place like this is just the perfect place to be able to do both those things.”

A second family—who serve overseas in an undisclosed location and whose identities are protected for security reasons—moved in soon after the Sieberhagens.

Ray—the World Mission Center director and missionary to South America who first envisioned the on-campus home for missionary families—died unexpectedly in 2020 before having the opportunity to see the project completed.

But Ussery is not so sure about that.

“It all began with Brent Ray. His vision started the process,” she said. “I have to believe he is a part of that great cloud of witnesses, looking at what has been done and smiling at the fulfillment of that vision.”

With additional reporting by Ashley Allen of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

YOAKUM (BP)—A plane crash in Lavaca County killed four members of Harvest Church in Germantown, Tenn., and left one person hospitalized.

Bill Garner, the church’s executive pastor, was among those killed. Lead pastor Kennon Vaughn was reported in stable condition in a Victoria hospital after surgery.

Tyler Springer, a native of Denton, also was among the fatalities. He is the eldest son of Brad Springer, executive director of Camp Copass.

A notice on the Camp Copass Facebook page requested prayer for Brad and Denise Springer.

“We are all mourning the loss of their oldest son. … While our hearts are heavy, we do not grieve like those who have no hope, because Tyler trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior.”

According to a statement Harvest Church posted on social media, other church members killed in the crash were Steve Tucker and Tyler Patterson.

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Tucker was pilot of the fixed-wing, single-engine plane when it crashed around 11 a.m. on Jan. 17 about a mile from Yoakum Municipal Airport, about 40 miles north of Victoria.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Harvest Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, released a statement on social media saying the four individuals who were killed “were beloved members of Harvest Church, and their loss currently leaves us without the proper words to articulate our grief. … We ask for your prayers and kindly request that the families of all involved are given the proper space to grieve at this time.”

Camp Copass provided an online platform where individuals can express condolences and offer words of comfort to the Springer family. To access the site, click here.

Compiled by Lonnie Wilkey, editor of the Baptist and Reflector in Tennessee, with additional reporting by Baptist Standard Managing Editor Ken Camp.

DALLAS—The search committee is accepting nominations for the next executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas through Jan. 31.

As noted in the search prospectus and job description posted on the Texas Baptists’ website, the next executive director will provide the comprehensive spiritual, visionary, relational and organizational leadership necessary to ensure the effective implementation of the BGCT’s mission.

The search committee is seeking an individual who is an active member in good standing of a Baptist church uniquely aligned with the BGCT and who is capable of serving ably as the Christ-centered spiritual leader of the BGCT.

Nominators will need to provide information about themselves and the nominee, including church membership and affiliation status, as well as a description of why they believe their candidate would be fit for the role.

Following the Jan. 31 deadline, the committee will begin a confidential review of the candidates. Nominees will be informed of their nomination and asked to provide additional information about themselves, including verifying their contact information, completing a formal application for the position and submitting their current professional resume.

Search committee updates can be found by clicking here. Nominations may be sent to search@texasbaptists.org.

The search committee was formed in July 2022 following former Executive Director David Hardage’s retirement announcement. David Mahfouz, pastor of First Baptist Church in Warren, serves as committee chair.

Fellowship Southwest has launched a program to help immigrants to the United States gain legal status.

As of this month, the U.S. Department of Justice recognizes ELIM—Educational and Legal Immigration Ministries—as a U.S. Department of Justice-accredited immigration provider under the umbrella of Fellowship Southwest.

In addition to providing free or low-cost basic legal services to immigrants, ELIM also will offer a continuum of educational opportunities for churches and individuals, including training accredited representatives to offer legal services related to immigration.

Jesús and Elisa Romero, who have led ISAAC—the Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated Immigration Service and Aid Center—since 2010, will continue to serve immigrants through ELIM, working primarily from an office on the campus of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio.

ELIM also will serve clients from the campus of Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio, which should gain federal recognition as an immigration services center later this year.

The organization’s name refers to an oasis mentioned in Exodus 15:27, where the people of Israel camped beside 12 springs and 70 date palms after they began their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.

“Elim was not the final destination, but a life-giving stop between where they had left and where God was leading. The Romeros and Fellowship Southwest resonate with the imagery of respite expressed in this verse and hope that ELIM will provide the same sense of relief to many immigrants in the future,” a public statement from Fellowship Southwest read.

The BGCT Christian Life Commission and Buckner International launched ISAAC in 2007, expanding the Baptist Immigration Services Network begun about a year earlier. Richard Muñoz initially directed the ISAAC project, with financial support provided through the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions.

In 2010, Baptist University of the Américas replaced Buckner as the lead partner for ISAAC with the BGCT, and Jesús Romero became director.

CLC remains committed to immigrant ministry

Katie Frugé, director of the Christian Life Commission and Texas Baptists’ Center for Cultural Engagement, expressed appreciation to Jesús and Elsa Romero for their years of service to ISAAC.

The Romeros “have made a remarkable impact through this ministry, blessing the lives of countless immigrants and those who seek to serve them,” Frugé said.

“While I was saddened when Dr. Romero notified me at the end of the year that he sensed a calling to pursue another ministry opportunity, I was so pleased to learn that he and Elsa made plans to continue their fruitful ministry, serving the immigrant population of Texas.

“Since its inception, the ISAAC project has grown into a legacy ministry of Texas Baptists, providing critical services to members of the immigrant community. The Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission remains committed to continuing this vital ministry as we seek to meet the needs of the foreigner among us. We look forward to beginning the search for the next director of the ISAAC project in the days ahead.”

The Romeros likewise expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve with Texas Baptists’ ISAAC program, saying: “We are grateful to the BGCT for trusting us with pioneering an immigration ministry more than a decade ago. The seeds of love and care for the strangers among us that were planted then have grown immensely. We are excited about those seeds growing exponentially in Texas and beyond through our partnership with Fellowship Southwest.”

Stephen Reeves, executive director of Fellowship Southwest, said he had known and admired the Romeros since his days as a public policy director with the CLC.

“Their ministry fits perfectly with Fellowship Southwest’s mission and I believe will help expand our immigration work to communities and churches far from the border,” he said. “The needs are great, but I’m confident that through ELIM, [Fellowship Southwest] will help churches respond in creative and faithful ways.”

Cameron Mason Vickrey of Fellowship Southwest contributed to this article.

Protecting public schools that serve all children is a fight for “the soul of democracy,” panelists told a crowd of activists and public education advocates in Southlake.

Charles Foster Johnson, executive director of Pastors for Texas Children, participated in the Jan. 6 forum.

“You are at the front lines of this moral, spiritual battle … for the soul of democracy. You are at the fiercest, most pitched place in that national struggle,” Johnson told participants at the event.

Southlake targeted by ‘takeover’ initiative

Southlake is home to the Carroll Independent School District, which also serves parts of neighboring Grapevine, Colleyville and Westlake. Carroll’s school board was one of four—along with boards in the Grapevine-Colleyville, Keller and Mansfield districts—targeted for “takeover” last year by a well-financed Grapevine-based political action committee, Patriot Mobile Action.

The political action committee opposes the teaching of critical race theory, seeks to remove “troubling resources” from school libraries, and supports teaching “the values of American exceptionalism.”

At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas last August, Glenn Story, president of the Patriot Mobile cellphone corporation, boasted his company funded campaigns to elect like-minded candidates to school boards.

“We went out and found 11 candidates last cycle, and we supported them,” Story said. “And we won every seat. We took over four school boards.”

Political analyst Chris Tackett, a former school board trustee for the Granbury Independent School District, encouraged supporters of public education to “follow the money” to see how a few extremely wealthy individuals influence public policy.

However, that can be difficult when it comes to school board elections, he noted. Donor contributions to campaigns for the Texas Legislature and statewide office are filed with the Texas Ethics Commission, but that same level of transparency is not required in school board races, he said.

“So those who have—we’ll say—nefarious aims really like the way the system works today, and they don’t want to change it,” Tackett said.

Beverly Powell, who served in the Texas Senate until being unseated in the last election after redistricting, likewise criticized how an “oligarchy” of wealthy individuals often influences public policy.

A voucher by any other name

She particularly urged supporters of public education to watch out for politicians promoting private school vouchers without using that term. Instead, she said, they talk about “education savings accounts,” “payments to families of students in special populations,” “tax credit scholarships” and “school choice.”

“It’s not about choice. It’s about stealing your money to send it to high-dollar private schools for wealthy kids who attend there,” Powell said.

She also warned against state funding for charter schools that are “more focused on profit than they are on children.”

Sherrie Mattula, a veteran schoolteacher and former school board trustee with the Clear Creek district who now leads the Sisters United Alliance, encouraged forum participants to learn local school board policies and use them to hold trustees accountable.

She urged local activists to organize groups of five to 10 people who attend every school board meeting to ensure the rights of students and teachers are protected.

Johnson likewise encouraged supporters of public education to attend school board meetings.

“The seat of democracy is the school board meeting. That meeting is where it happens,” he said.

‘Learn who your neighbor is’

However, rather than engaging in bitter political battles, Johnson encouraged public education advocates—particularly in growing suburban areas populated by people who moved there from “somewhere else”—to get to know their neighbors and find common ground with them.

“Learn who your neighbor is and start there. That’s where we have to begin,” he said.

Rather than talking only with like-minded political allies in small groups, Johnson urged supporters of public schools to get involved in broad-based community groups with people of different backgrounds.

“Share a meal. Drink a cup of coffee. And get to know the person who is different from you,” he said. “And she is going to see she has more in common with you than in conflict.”

Citing the late Baptist ethicist Glen Stassen, Johnson called on politically oriented advocates of public education to participate in “transforming initiatives” based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Retaliation—responding to political opponents with harsh rhetoric and verbal attacks—takes its toll, Johnson said, confessing his own short-comings in that area.

“We have it on good authority. It’s a 2,000-year-old moral teaching,” he said.

“What doesn’t work … is to whack somebody back who whacks you. It just increases the whacking.”

WACO—Dustin Benac believes the church has a future, and he wants to help congregations get ready for it.

As director and cofounder of the Program for the Future Church at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, Benac seeks to help congregational leaders begin preparation now for the next steps they need to take in ministry.

“We are unapologetically pro-church,” Benac said. “And I say ‘we’ intentionally. This is collaborative work.”

A collaborative approach that values partnerships and seeks ways to “join in what God is already doing to mend a fractured world” is one of the core values of the Program for the Future Church, he noted.

Benac identified four other guiding values:

• Conjunctive imagination—Looking for “and” approaches to challenges that seem to lend themselves to “either/or” responses.
• Convening—Gathering church leaders, community leaders and thought leaders for “catalytic conversations.”
• Context—Recognizing the “local wisdom of faith communities” as the program seeks to conduct its research and develop resources.
• Creative—Fostering imagination, encouraging innovation and sharing best practices.

Benac readily acknowledges the challenges churches face—particularly in light of a global pandemic, political division and economic uncertainty.

“However, there also is the opportunity for innovation, creativity and the ongoing work of the Spirit,” he said.

Helping churches become adaptive

Benac, author of Adaptive Church: Collaboration and Community in a Changing World, hopes the Program for the Future Church helps congregations and their leaders become less reactive and more adaptive.

“The reactive approach looks at circumstances as problems to be solved. It’s about crisis management and alleviating the immediate pain,” he explained.

“The adaptive church takes a more thoughtful and creative response. It sees a challenge as an opportunity for creative possibility.”

An adaptive church draws on the resources and wisdom of the larger Christian tradition—not just its own experience—and reaches out in partnerships to the larger community of faith, he noted.

But it also intimately knows its local context and shapes its ministries to fit that context, he added.

“Ministry is place-based,” Benac said. “The adaptive church takes the time to listen. It takes risks, recognizing the reality of failure. But it is guided by hope.”

The book grew out of Benac’s research of churches in the Pacific Northwest—an area characterized by creative and resilient religious entrepreneurship in the midst of a largely secular society.

“The church there might be seen as occupying a marginal position socially, but it is vital in terms of creativity and innovation. It’s operating on the margins of society, but there is energy on the edges,” he said.

A focus on nurturing creative, collaborative and resilient church leaders is one of the pillars of the Program for the Future Church, he noted.

Other pillars are:

• Youth and emerging adults—Understand the culture and context of the next generation, while helping explore their questions and ideas.
• Pedagogy—Nurture best practices in teaching and learning and help ministry leaders develop learning communities that are creative, participatory, story-driven, dialogical and holistic.
• Lived Experience—Foster “sacred space, faithful presence and compassionate witness in relation to the lived experience of people of faith,” paying particular attention to the intersection of mental and spiritual health.

Truett announced the Program for the Future Church’s launch in July 2021. A little more than a year ago, Baylor received a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to help the program build its infrastructure and accelerate its work.

In addition to spending several months listening to church leaders and soliciting their ideas, the Program for the Future Church has begun to develop resources.

Where to Start: A Guide for Faith Leaders on Shifting Ground is available as a free downloadable PDF document with links to additional resources. The Program for the Future Church developed the guide in partnership with the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, Vandersall Collective and RootedGood.

To regularly receive a free newsletter and other updates from the Program for the Future Church, click here and complete the online form.

Benac will talk about “Pioneering Practices for an Adaptive Church” in a free Jan. 18 webinar sponsored by the Christian Missions Society. To register, click here.

La iglesia Bautista Parkview, localizada en Plainview, Texas, albergó la junta anual navideña para pastores patrocinada por la Unión Femenil Misionera (UFM) para el compañerismo de los Plains de Texas. Después de dos años, debido a las restricciones del COVID, la celebración se volvió a ser en persona, el viernes 2 diciembre del 2022.

Con ayuda de otras iglesias, el evento fue y ha sido coordinado por los últimos 50 años (dos en pandemia) por la líder del ministerio de mujeres de la Iglesia Bautista de los Plains, Rachel Blanco. Los jóvenes de la iglesia Primera Petersburg sirvieron la cena que incluyó 36 mesas. Todas las iglesias de los Plains participaron en el evento y un representante, miembro de cada iglesia, tuvo la oportunidad de ofrecer agradecimiento a cada pastor que asistió al evento por su servicio y ministerio.

La celebración, nombrada Jesús es la razón de la temporada, incluyó un tiempo de compañerismo, alabanza para adorar al Señor y celebrar a Cristo Jesús presentada por Brenda Rincones, y el Director Ejecutivo de la Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas, Jesse Rincones compartió de la Palabra.

Usando Juan 1:14, “Y aquel Verbo fue hecho carne, y habitó entre nosotros…”, Rincones animó a los pastores diciéndoles que, “la navidad es la historia de Dios mudándose a nuestro barrio”, y dijo que Juan 1:14 se puede definir de la siguiente manera: “Entonces la Palabra se hizo carne y sangre, y vino a vivir a nuestro barrio”, dijo Rincones.

Los barrios no eran ciudades de gran valor. Rincones explicó que la palabra barrio derriba del sustantivo árabe barr, lo cual quiere decir “tierra, campo abierto” y que el adjetivo que corresponde a este sustantivo es barrī, que significa “de la tierra, de campo abierta” y por extensión “en el exterior”.

Rincones continúo diciendo que en los tiempos medievales cuando los musulmanes gobernaban el sur de España, hablaban ambos idiomas, el árabe y el español antiguo.  A medida que las ciudades medievales superaron sus murallas originales y se desbordaron en el campo circundante, estas aldeas o barrios fueron envueltos por la expansión y se convirtieron en barrios de la ciudad misma”.

Jesús vino al barrio porque Él “no nació en el centro del poder, el comercio, el conocimiento o los centros de justicia. De la misma manera, Jesús llega a nuestras vidas, que muchas veces están vacías de poder, carentes de recursos, somos ignorantes y no hay justicia”, añadió Rincones. Compartió que Jesús vino para…

• Restaurar nuestro pasado: “Aquello que fue, ya es; y lo que ha de ser, fue ya; y Dios restaura lo que pasó” (Eclesiastés 3:15 RV).

• Dar seguridad en la actualidad: “No saldrán con prisa, como quien corre para salvar su vida. Pues el Señor irá delante de ustedes; atrás los protegerá el Dios de Israel” (Isaías 52:12 NTV).

• Dar seguridad para el mañana: “Y Jehová va delante de ti; él estará contigo, no te dejará, ni te desamparará; no temas ni te intimides” (Deuteronomio 31:8 RV).

El pastor de la iglesia Calvario Kress, y presidente del compañerismo de los Plains, Alberto Aguirre, compartió el reporte anual. El evento incluyó, premios y regalos.