Two Southern Baptist Hispanic leaders see evidence of a spiritual hunger and high receptivity to the Gospel among Hispanics in a recent study by the Pew Research Center. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Two Southern Baptist Hispanic leaders see evidence of a spiritual hunger and high receptivity to the Gospel among Hispanics in a recent study by the Pew Research Center. Bob Sena, director of the field services team in the North American Mission Board’s church planting group, told Baptist Press the fact that 23 percent of the Hispanic population now identifies with either evangelical or Protestant churches “indicates that Hispanics are now more receptive to the Gospel message than ever before in the history of this country.” “The Hispanic field is white unto the harvest,” Sena said. “My prayer is that the Lord will give us a passion to lead untold numbers of Hispanics to Christ and to start churches in the hundreds of communities across North America where Hispanics now live.” Southern Baptists planted 1,592 Hispanic churches during the past five years, Sena reported, which averages 318 per year. Daniel Sanchez, professor of missions and director of the Scarborough Institute for Church Planting and Growth at Southwestern … [Read more...]
Discipleship at the ends of the earth
Near the bottom of the earth geographically, the town of Punta Arenas, Chile, would be at “the ends of the earth,” as Acts 1:8 would describe it. MIAMI (BP) – Near the bottom of the earth geographically, the town of Punta Arenas, Chile, would be at “the ends of the earth,” as Acts 1:8 would describe it. Diego Rivadeneira would agree. “Many people don’t go there because it is very extreme,” Rivadeneira said. “The churches are very small and the pastors are very humble. The spiritual needs are great and the pastors and churches need tools to assist their ministries. I go there because it helps them make disciples. I go there because Jesus commands it.” Rivadeneira embodies the Great Commission focus that guides LifeWay International, a department of LifeWay Christian Resources. Rivadeneira is one of dozens of LifeWay International consultants from Spanish-speaking countries who attended the department’s annual training event May 11-13 in Miami. Luis Aranguren, director of LifeWay International, told the consultants that today’s church is too often full of programs that lead to busyness, whereas, “The focus needs to be where Jesus placed emphasis in the Great Commission: making disciples. “Teaching them to obey goes … [Read more...]
Udmurts need God, pastors and workers
No father should have to bury a son. IZHEVSK, Russia (BP) – No father should have to bury a son. But the world can be a sad place – particularly the piece of it called Udmurtia (ood-MER-ti-yah) in the foothills of Russia’s Ural Mountains. On a spring day there last year, Leonid touched his son Yevgeny’s cold, pale cheek for the last time and wept as Yevgeny was lowered into the silent ground. Yevgeny, 21, hanged himself after a drinking binge. It was the third suicide of the year in the tiny Udmurt (OOD-mert) village of 30 families. Why? Hopelessness. Aimlessness. Spiritual poverty. “Young people want everything and they want it now,” Leonid says, sitting at his kitchen table a few months later. “My son was that way. They watch TV and can’t tell the difference between fantasy and reality. With no work, all they do is drink.” The gulf between soaring expectations and grim, jobless reality overwhelms some young Udmurts. They brood, drink, sniff glue, become depressed – sometimes suicidal. Leonid folds his burly arms and shakes his head. For a long moment, he looks out the window at the rolling hills that stretch to the forest. He pours more tea for his Christian guests. Normally good-natured and cheerful, the … [Read more...]
TLW expands in Africa
True Love Waits International will expand its abstinence-until-marriage message in six African countries, utilizing $950,000 in donor gifts to LifeWay Christian Resources’ A Defining Moment capital campaign, LifeWay President Thom S. Rainer today April 11. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – True Love Waits International will expand its abstinence-until-marriage message in six African countries, utilizing $950,000 in donor gifts to LifeWay Christian Resources’ A Defining Moment capital campaign, LifeWay President Thom S. Rainer today April 11. “Although HIV/AIDS is a concern worldwide, the most concentrated and high-risk area continues to be the continent of Africa, where the life expectancy in some countries has dropped from age 42 to as low as age 30,” Rainer said. “We are very pleased to make this announcement today because we believe True Love Waits can be the answer for the AIDS epidemic on the entire continent.” Mike Arrington, a spokesman for the LifeWay capital campaign, voiced appreciation for “gifts of generous donors to A Defining Moment,” enabling True Love Waits to expand “in a continent where AIDS is literally a life-and-death battle. God has given us a program that not only is very effective but also can … [Read more...]
Chapman writes on NOBTS blog
Few Southern Baptist ministers have had such long-term ministry experience and influence on SBC life as has Morris H. Chapman, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. NEW ORLEANS (BP) – Few Southern Baptist ministers have had such long-term ministry experience and influence on SBC life as has Morris H. Chapman, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. And from that unique perspective on Baptist life, Chapman offered his thoughts on the Southern Baptist Convention’s present state and future challenges as a guest on New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Baptist Center blog. A native of Kosciusko, Miss., Chapman professed faith in Christ when he was 7. He answered the call to vocational Christian ministry at the age of 12. He earned both the master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He served as pastor of four churches – three in Texas and one in New Mexico. Under his leadership, each church demonstrated strong support for Cooperative Program giving, baptism and evangelism. He served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1990-92 and in October 1992 he … [Read more...]
The Easter precursor
Five years ago, Jack and Joni were living the “American dream” – great careers, comfortable home, predictable future. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP) – Five years ago, Jack and Joni were living the “American dream” – great careers, comfortable home, predictable future. Their dream changed radically during a short-term mission trip overseas. “God revealed to me the needs among unreached peoples,” said Jack (last name not used for security reasons). “On a mountaintop overlooking God’s creation, yet seeing the lostness, I knew that I needed to be a part of God’s plan for the nations.” Joni admitted she wasn’t sure about becoming a missionary. “Then I attended a missions meeting at our church,” she recalled. “A mother of two who had been a (two-year missionary) journeyman said, ‘Being a missionary is not a sacrifice but an honor –an honor that God has called you to work for Him all day, every day.’” Now, with their two daughters, Jack and Joni are going to share the Gospel with an unreached people group in a tough part of Asia. They were among 49 new Southern Baptist missionaries appointed March 21 by International Mission Board trustees during a service at Kirby Woods Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn. IMB missionaries are funded by the … [Read more...]
Perry Sanders ceremony set for April 11 at NOBTS
The Perry R. Sanders Center for Ministry Excellence is home to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s doctor of ministry and doctor of educational ministry programs. NEW ORLEANS – The Perry R.Sanders Center for Ministry Excellence is home to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s doctor of ministry and doctor of educational ministry programs. Named in honor of Perry Sanders, long-time pastor at First Baptist Lafayette and NOBTS alumnus, the center promotes the “integrity of heart and skillful of hands” mentioned in Psalm 78:72. The center seeks to inspire church leaders to exhibit the same type of excellence in ministry that characterized Sanders’ 47 years as pastor of First Lafayette. “Dr. Sanders is someone who patterned what it means to be a Southern Baptist pastor, not by what he said, but by what he’s done” said Dr. Jerry Garrard, vice president of institutional advancement at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. “His influence through the years, his steadfastness and his unceasing and tireless devotion to building the church” is a pattern the center seeks to promote. The PerryR. SandersCenter for Ministry Excellence is scheduled to be dedicated on April 11 with a ceremony in … [Read more...]
Nursing homes present check to First Baptist Church of Ball for new audio-visual system
Administrators of two nursing homes presented a check for $3,500 recently to Mike Hedrick, pastor of First Baptist Church of Ball. PINEVILLE – Administrators of two nursing homes presented a check for $3,500 recently to Mike Hedrick, pastor of First Baptist Church of Ball. The money is to be used for the purchase of audio-visual equipment that will better enable senior citizens in the church to participate in worship services, Hedrick said. The same health care facilities – Tioga Manor and Heritage Manor – donated a van with a wheel chair lift last summer. “We had a great need and God supplied,” said Hedrick, a barber by trade and bivocational pastor at First Ball since 1990, where about 40 people attend Sunday worship services. About 35 youngsters each week participate in Team Kid at the church on Wednesday nights. Team Kid is a discipleship-based Bible study program developed by Lifeway Christian Resources for K-5 through sixth grade, during which God’s word is studied from a practical point of view. A Bible drill, missions study and related play are included in the Sunday evening/midweek curriculum. Teens at First Ball take a leadership role in Team Kid as part of their discipleship training. … [Read more...]
Baptists take prayer seriously
When the 1857-8 revival swept across the northeastern United States and much of the South, Louisiana missed it. PINEVILLE – When the 1857-8 revival swept across the northeastern United States and much of the South, Louisiana missed it. There may have been the preaching of the Gospel in the state but the spiritual awakening experienced in many parts of the country did not occur, records indicate. “Our prayer is that when God sends revival to America, Louisiana Baptists not miss it this time,” said Wayne Jenkins, director of evangelism for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. About 350 pastors and lay persons met March 22-23 at Kingsville Baptist Church of Pineville to not only hear and sing, but most importantly to humble themselves and pray. While individual and corporate prayer punctuated the schedule, three speakers addressed the conference: John Avant, vice president for evangelism at the North American Mission Board; Roy Fish, professor of evangelism, retired, from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Sammy Tippit, international evangelist. “We tasted what He would have us eat everyday,” said Dick Debusk, LBC prayer and spiritual awakening strategist. “The Lord desires our presence. It … [Read more...]
Bill Britt is SBC VP nominee
Evangelist Bill Britt of Gallatin, Tenn., and a Haughton, La., native, is to be nominated as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the June 12-13 annual meeting in San Antonio. DALTON, Ga. (BP) – Evangelist Bill Britt of Gallatin, Tenn., and a Haughton, La., native, is to be nominated as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the June 12-13 annual meeting in San Antonio. Brian Fossett, vice president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists and president of the Conference of Georgia Baptist Evangelists, announced Britt’s nomination March 29. Britt is the immediate past president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists and president of Compel Outreach International, through which he averages more than 40 revivals annually in Southern Baptist churches and oversees indigenous missions in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, India and the Philippines, in addition to leading other international revivals and crusades. He is a veteran of more than 800 campaigns, including more than 70 conducted overseas. Britt indicated he would serve if elected. “SBC officers and leaders must be undisputed, passionate soul-winners for Christ,” Fossett … [Read more...]
