Logan Carson knows the power of having fellow believers pray for him in the midst of a crisis.
Logan Carson knows the power of having fellow believers pray for him in the midst of a crisis.
Two years ago, when the Southeastern College
professor lost his wife, friends from Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and Carson’s church were diligent to
lift him before the Lord.
That’s one reason why Carson, an avid prayer
warrior, was eager to enlist his support as soon as he heard about the
Adopt-a-Faculty program.
The new program was recently launched by
administrators at Southeastern Seminary to minister to members of the
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary faculty, some of whom lost
homes and almost all of their belongings to Hurricane Katrina.
The effort pairs a New Orleans Seminary professor with one from
Southeastern. Southeastern faculty members will send their New Orleans
counterparts notes and e-mails of encouragement over the course of this
year, pray for them daily and support them in any other way they may
choose.
The idea is part of Southeastern’s Operation
G.R.A.C.E. initiative, instituted by President Daniel Akin. The
comprehensive plan is designed to aid not only its sister seminary in
New Orleans but the entire Gulf Coast region that was damaged by
Hurricane Katrina.
When Akin announced the program in a recent
Southeastern faculty meeting, Carson was supportive of the effort.
“When I heard about (the program), the first thing I
said was, ‘Let’s do it. Give me two (names),’” says Carson, who has
already sent two prayer e-mails to one of his adopted New Orleans
Seminary professors and received grateful responses.
“It’s because I love to pray,” he continues. “… I get such anticipation out of talking with the Lord.
“The reason I do this is because I love to
communicate with the Lord,” he notes. “I love to take other people’s
problems to the Lord, and I love to see the results.”
Akin said that the new Adopt-a-Faculty-Member
program is a way for Southeastern professors to express their support
for their colleagues in New Orleans.
“Southeastern has a special relationship with all of
her sister seminaries,” Akin explains. “When one hurts, we all hurt.
“To have the opportunity to reach out in a personal way and express our
love and concern is actually our privilege,” he adds.
“Anything we can do at this time to encourage the
wonderful faculty of New Orleans Seminary is our honor, and it lets
them know we are behind them and beside them 100 percent during these
challenging days.”
Southeastern faculty were able to select which
faculty member they would support after receiving an e-mail from Waylan
Owens, the seminary’s vice president for planning and communication.
And so far, Owens said the response has been overwhelming.
“Our faculty has been excited and thrilled,” he
says. “We have received nothing but positive thank-yous. Virtually the
entire faculty responded in almost a single day to claim names.”
Owens reflected on the devastation that members of
the New Orleans Seminary faculty have experienced, adding that it is
hard for anyone who has never been through a similar situation to
appreciate fully what they have endured.
“There has been a tremendous upheaval in the lives
of the faculty at New Orleans,” explains Owens, a New Orleans Seminary
graduate. “It has been terrible for them. Some have lost all of their
family videos and pictures – things that can’t be retrieved – and
personal belongings.
“… It’s been devastating, and we just think that
the natural relationships between people who have the same mission and
the same calling would build bonds of support that perhaps couldn’t be
built other ways.”
Owens said his prayer for the partnership is that as
a result of it, professors from both seminaries will walk closer with
God.
“I think God is working on (the New Orleans
professors) and is doing some powerful things in their lives,” Owens
says. “And I think by our engaging them, identifying with them,
supporting them and knowing them, it will have a spiritual impact on us
as well.
“I hope to provide genuine support, and I hope there
comes a time in the future that there is a bond and connectedness that
develops … that can prove nothing but beneficial in the long haul for
the kingdom and for the (Southern Baptist) Convention.
“However, my first goal is just to provide some
support, encouragement and love for people who are really suffering.”
(BP)