By Joe Westbury, Georgia Christian Index BLACKSHEAR, Georgia – When the South Gate Baptist Church Girls in Action (GA) group in Blackshear, Georgia, decided to focus on Mission:Dignity for their Christmas in August project, most of the members had never heard of the ministry that helps retired SBC ministers, workers, and their wives or widows. South Gate is located in rural southeast Georgia where small churches dot the landscape. Congregations were historically held together with part-time or even quarter-time pastors who worked for little to nothing to fulfill their sacred calling. Now in their sunset years, these pastors struggle to pay the bills while maintaining that calling, even as their health fades. “I remember pastors from my younger days who struggled to get by and feed their family, but they never complained. They always believed the Lord would supply their needs, and He did,” Carol Colley, South Gate’s pastor’s wife, remembers. “But that [Mission:Dignity] DVD told their story in stark yet caring terms that pulled at our heartstrings. It brought back so many memories to many of us, and it educated our GAs of the struggles of faithful servants.” That’s how the small church — which averages only about … [Read more...]