Week of February 27, 2006
IMB establishes landside relief Web site …
RICHMOND, Va. – The International Mission Board has
established a Web site for people who want to give to the relief effort
in Guinsaugon, Philippines, which was buried in a Feb. 17 landslide in
the small village. The site can be found at www.imb.org/worldhunger.
More than 100 bodies have been pulled from the
mountain of mud that swallowed 375 homes there; Filipino officials say
they fear the death toll could climb as high as 1,500.
Though no IMB personnel were in Guinsaugon when the
landslide hit, a team has been sent to the village to assess the damage
and learn how they can best help.
The missionaries ask people to pray for an end to
the heavy rains that initially caused the landslide and continue to
slow rescue efforts. IMB personnel also have requested prayer for
wisdom and safety of the rescue crews as well as the IMB team headed to
Guinsaugon.
To make a donation to relief efforts in Guinsaugon,
visit the IMB relief Web site or make checks out to the International
Mission Board, and write Philippines Mud Slide, World Hunger Fund, or
General Relief Fund in the memo section, depending on where you would
like to designate your gift.
Send checks to: World Hunger and Relief Ministries,
International Mission Board, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, VA 23294-0767.
‘Movement of God’ results in 146 baptisms…
BRANDON, Fla. – Having witnessed the baptism of 146
people at Bell Shoals Baptist Church on “Unashamed Sunday,” pastor
Forrest Pollock described it as “a movement of God unlike anything I’ve
ever seen.”
And, by the end of four services on the church’s two
campuses, nearly 40 others had walked up the aisles to make various
decisions for Christ.
Pollock challenged those who had not been baptized
to be immersed Jan. 8. His sermon, titled “Just Add Water,” focused on
the meaning, method and moment of baptism, exploring the facts of
Jesus’ baptism as recounted in Matthew 3.
“Knowing that we would be asking people to
immediately obey God’s Word, I didn’t want people to respond out of
sheer emotion,” Pollock said. “I wanted them to have all the facts
about what baptism means before they made a decision.”
The number of people responding to the invitations
necessitated the conversion of the Bell Shoals’ choir room into a hub
for spiritual counseling – and the church’s offices into changing
rooms.
The congregation also heard pleas from the podium for more counselors, called “encouragers.”
The marathon of baptisms exhausted the Bell Shoals
campus’ supply of baptism robes and towels. A stash of 200 mission trip
T-shirts was brought in for the baptism candidates and various members
rushed to their homes for more towels, while others scooped up wet
towels and hurried to a nearby industrial laundry.
The congregation watched as married and engaged
couples and entire families were immersed together. One baptism
candidate chose to be baptized in spite of a longtime fear of water;
another reported being saved more than 20 years ago but never being
baptized.