By Ann Lovell, Baptist Global Response EDITOR'S NOTE: On Global Hunger Sunday, Oct. 11, Southern Baptist congregations addressed the hunger crisis across North America and around the world by receiving special offerings. Donations received are channeled through Global Hunger Relief, which uses 100 percent of each gift to meet hunger needs. LAS MEDIAS DOS, Honduras (BP) - Lucio, a 23-year-old Chorti farmer, emerges from the hedgerows with a machete in hand. He has been tending his small plot of land in preparation for the next sowing season for corn. In the past, soil erosion complicated his efforts and made his farm less productive. "I tilled the soil with a hoe, [and] the soil would roll downhill whenever it rained," Lucio said. "Now there's been an improvement with the barriers … because the soil that rolls stops at the barriers. In the past, people didn't think about this … but it is a big help for the land." The "barriers" are hedgerows of nitrogen-fixing legumes, a key component of a farming technique called SALT or Sloping Agricultural Land Technology. Lucio learned the technique while studying at the Chorti Agricultural Development Center in Cabañas, Honduras, a nonprofit center that receives … [Read more...]
NAMB trustees approve Send Relief, IMB aid
By Mike Ebert, North American Mission Board SALT LAKE CITY (BP) - Trustees of the North American Mission Board have approved the establishment of Send Relief - a new compassion ministry to offer Southern Baptists opportunities to meet physical needs and serve underprivileged communities. Also during their Oct. 7 meeting, NAMB's trustees approved a $4 million budget reduction so the entity can send funds to assist International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries. NAMB President Kevin Ezell, commenting on the Send Relief initiative, noted shortly after trustees closed their meeting in Salt Lake City, "Imagine 40,000 Southern Baptist churches engaged to meet needs in their communities and across North America. Send Relief will give churches hands-on opportunities to alleviate suffering and transform lives." Send Relief will launch in 2016 and include compassion ministries to combat hunger, poverty, serve children through foster care and adoption, combat human trafficking, minister to migrants through international learning centers and meet inner-city needs with construction and medical teams. NAMB trustees approved David Melber as vice president of Send Relief. Melber has led Crossings Ministries camp outreach in … [Read more...]
Post-Joaquin recovery: S.C. Baptists move forward
By South Carolina Baptist Courier Staff COLUMBIA, S.C. (BP) - First Baptist is mourning yet, like so many other churches in Columbia, S.C., and across the state, engaging in ministry as flooding continues to grip Hurricane Joaquin survivors and first responders. Richard Milroy, 82, "died in his car sometime in the last couple of days due to devastating floods," minister of discipleship Wes Church wrote to First Baptist members, The Baptist Courier, newsjournal of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, reported Oct. 6. "How do we even begin to put into words all of the emotions we are experiencing?" Church said. "There is so much heartbreak and need in our community." Milroy was one of at least 17 drowning or auto accident fatalities from the hurricane's downpours in South and North Carolina. Some First Baptist members have lost homes or cars, and some have lost all their belongings. College and high school students and their leaders are helping clean up their flood-damaged homes. The church also is housing 13 South Carolina Baptist disaster relief volunteers who are feeding more than 1,000 first responders at a nearby city maintenance area. And volunteers are coordinating with a sister church to collect donations … [Read more...]
South African church latest to fold on same-sex marriage
By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner CAPE TOWN (Christian Examiner) – The Dutch Reformed Church (NGK) in South Africa has voted to recognize same-sex marriages and open the way for homosexual ministers to marry their partners. Previously, the church had acknowledged that some ministers were, in fact, homosexuals, but it demanded that they remain celibate. In 2006, South Africa became the fifth nation – and the only nation in Africa – to allow same-sex marriage. According to E News Channel Africa, the measure allowing same-sex marriage in the church and the marriage of homosexual ministers passed by a significant majority – 64 percent. To read the rest of this story, click here.
