Colleen Burroughs, executive vice president of Passport Inc., speaks to students about the world’s cry during the second full day of Antiphony.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Human need around the world was the focus of the second full day of Antiphony, a collegiate conference co-sponsored by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions.

After a day of discussion about God’s call, Colleen Burroughs, executive vice president of Passport Inc., told students it was important to understand the complexity of human need. “Before you can respond with love to the world’s cry, you have to be able to identify where it is coming from and why,” she said.

Burroughs illuminated a sample of current global needs, including the devastation of domestic violence, prostitution and HIV/AIDS. Weaving the themes of the conference together, Burroughs said, “The unresolved tension of Antiphony is that God’s call and the world’s cry might actually be the very same sound.”

Students responded in a song by musical guest Ken Medema. “The cry of world will never end,” they sang.

Jesse Loper, one of CBF’s Global Service Corps personnel serving for three years in New York City, joined the conference via web-based video to share his experience with the world’s cry in his ministry. “The needs are overwhelming sometimes … but God equips us and enables us to respond to that [cry] the best we can,” Loper said.

Chat rooms centered on the intersection of God’s call and the world’s cry, with topics including poverty, racism and the needs of women around the world.  In a chat room concerning Christian mission and health needs, panelists discussed the necessity of ministering holistically. Frances Ford, health care coordinator of Sowing Seeds of Hope in Perry County, Ala., said many Perry County churches had been unresponsive to their community’s needs, feeling “their concern should be about the soul and spirit

A discussion group of students talk about God’s call and the world’s cry during the Antiphony conference in Birmingham, Ala.

Ford said Sowing Seeds of Hope turned churches toward a more holistic approach, an idea that has resonated with April Coates, an Oklahoma State University sophomore. “If I’m going to go into missions, then I can’t just give them Jesus.  I have to take care of the whole person,” she said.

Small group discussion was the conference’s hallmark, allowing everyone a chance to share their ideas said Graham Ashcraft, a May 2004 graduate of Baylor University. “It’s not a lecture; it’s a conversation,” he said. “And it’s encouraging to see other people think the way you do.”

Participants ended the second full day of the conference with a New Year’s Eve party.

Antiphony is a five-day event sponsored by CBF Global Missions, Passport Inc. and Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.

Photos by Carla Wynn, CBF Communications