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Whitleys launch ministry in Spain among refugees

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – In Gambia, Dabou made a living as a fisherman until the fishing industry plummeted. When he couldn’t afford to feed his family, he left for Europe – a continent of promise – where a job meant he could send money back home.

It took him months to reach the North African coast, where one evening – in the dead of night – he boarded a small boat with 20 others trying to make it to Spain. Lucky to survive the 33-hour journey, Dabou was detained in a refugee camp for months before being granted rare permission to stay.

For migrants, such as Dabou, life in Europe isn’t easy. It’s hard to find and keep work, and there is a sadness and loneliness of having left everything else behind – family, friends, home.

But along the way some African migrants will cross paths with Joel and Tiffne Whitley, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel serving in southern Spain. The Whitleys, who have been in Spain since February 2007, are there to be the presence of Christ among the large migrant community.

“I want others to be able to have a personal relationship with God,” Tiffne said. “There are many migrants and refugees from countries in Africa who have not heard [the gospel]. It is our hope to build relationships with them, helping them with humanitarian needs and spiritual needs.”

During a year of language and culture study, the Whitleys have developed relationships in two migrant neighborhoods. They’ve met migrants like Ester, who is from Equatorial Guinea and was thankful the Whitleys could connect her with a church, and Mamadou, who is from Senegal and has been teaching the Whitleys about migrants’ greatest needs.

The Whitleys met Ester and Mamadou through a weekly food distribution, which helps meet the often overwhelming physical needs of migrants. Each Wednesday morning they collect excess vegetables from a nearby produce factory. They sort, bag and distribute the produce in migrant communities.

“This small scale food distribution has been a very meaningful and beneficial way for us to meet individuals, start friendships and nourish hungry stomachs,” the Whitleys said. “We hope that in time we will be able to share the ‘food of the gospel’ and nourish hungry and hurting hearts.”

For the Whitleys, this migrant ministry is built on prayer. They pray for those they meet on the street, around town and near their home. In January, a prayer team from CBF partner Oakland Baptist Church in Rock Hill, S.C., came to Spain to join the Whitleys in praying for people in need.

“Prayer is such a vital element of ministry because it puts the power where it belongs – with God,” Tiffne said.

Other churches partnering with the Whitleys include Nineteenth Avenue Baptist Church in San Francisco, Calif., and Texas churches First Baptist Church in Hereford and Rock Hill Baptist Church in Aubrey. As their ministry grows, the Whitleys hope churches will come to Spain to serve.

“Sometimes it is not until one experiences being a foreigner in a foreign land that they begin to see the needs of and become sensitive to internationals in their community,” Joel said.

Through these missions experiences, the Whitleys hope churches and individuals will begin to see how they can become missional in their own communities.

“What a better way to live – giving and loving on others in every opportunity that God places right in front of you,” said Anjani Cole, a member of First Baptist Church of Abilene, Texas, who is traveling to Spain this summer.

The Whitleys are supported by CBF’s Offering for Global Missions, which enables them to live and serve in Spain.

“For Fellowship Baptists who want to be actively involved in missions, giving is a key way to participate,” Tiffne said.

“The Offering allows us to be the presence of Christ and facilitate others in being the presence of Christ, too, when they come and serve,” Joel said.

To support the Whitleys by giving to the Offering for Global Missions, visit www.thefellowship.info/Give, call (800) 352-8741 or send a check payable to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA. 30392, indicating “Offering for Global Missions" in the memo line.

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.

Field personnel assist church in developing ministry to internationals

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – Rock Hill, S.C., may not be the first place that springs to mind when people think of work with internationals. But it is there at Oakland Baptist Church that members have become engaged in ongoing, strategic ministries to refugees and other international families and students living in their city, just south of Charlotte, N.C.

It is also there that Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel Butch and Nell Green are based to help churches find ways to minister to internationals.

“Butch and Nell have been instrumental in helping our church open its eyes to the many international people living in our backyard,” said Oakland’s associate pastor Christy McMillin-Goodwin. “They have taught us, led us and encouraged us.”

The Greens, who formerly worked among unreached people groups in Brussels, Belgium, said that, at one time, distance between cultures was measured by geography. Now, it is measured by differences in language, culture and worldview.

“Not only do these things create barriers to the gospel but they create barriers to meeting social needs,” Nell said. “The church is poised to minister holistically to the entire world right here. No longer is the career missionary the church’s window to cultures far away. Now we need only look out the window into our own backyards.”

With the Greens encouragement, Oakland sponsored a trip last year to visit CBF field personnel in several European and North African locations.

“Visiting our CBF field personnel and having field personnel visit Oakland has helped us as we are developing ministries for internationals,” McMillin-Goodwin said. “They have helped us understand the plight of the international person, whether refugee, legal or illegal migrant. They have helped us learn how to pray for migrants and refugees. They have given us the courage to respond to those around us and to respond to God’s calling us in new areas of ministry.”

Oakland also used the experiences from the trip to apply for an “It’s Time” grant of $25,000, which was awarded by CBF. The grant will be used to help resettle three refugee families and to expand the ministry the church has begun among international students at nearby Winthrop University. The church has plans to visit CBF field personnel working with international students in the U.S. to help it develop this ministry further.

Joel and Tiffne Whitley, who work with migrants and refugees in southern Spain, were among the field personnel Oakland members met on their 2007 trip. The Whitleys encourage churches to send teams to see their work.

“Once an American has been the minority, been treated with suspicion, misunderstood, completely unable to communicate, or blundered through a culture different from their own, they are better able to understand the situation of internationals in their home cities and more able and willing to get involved,” Joel said. “So, having mission opportunities here where we work is one way for us to help churches.”

“Internationals living in the States may know very little about American culture, customs, norms, language,” Tiffne said. “They may look and sound different, but they are people. They have a need to be accepted and understood.”

The Whitleys said churches can help meet those needs by conducting English classes, helping with physical needs or holding special services. Individually, church members can do something as simple as striking up a conversation with someone.

“It isn't about mass ministry,” Butch said. “It is about seeing that one person of a different background and loving them in the way Christ would.”

Oakland’s journey is one the Greens would like to see replicated. There are several ways, they said, that churches can be intentional about ministry to internationals:

Learn what it means to be culturally sensitive, learn about other faiths, learn how to invite and maintain cross-cultural relationships.
Virtually every college/university, no matter how small, has at least some international students. Most of these students never enter an American home. Churches can be intentional about providing them a home away from home.
Thousands of refugees that have been approved for settlement in the U.S. but can’t come because they have no where to go. Churches can connect with local agencies to provide places for these refugees.
Churches can help families and individuals see the neglected immigrants, refugees and students in their town.

At Oakland, in addition to the refugee resettlement and student ministry, the church also has a growing Spanish-speaking group that emerged from an English as a Second Language class and a group of young people composed of Baptists and Muslims that meets regularly.

“You should not expect this ministry to grow your church numerically,” Nell said. “But your church will grow spiritually. As we engage with God's world and as we become intentional about missions, God changes us. Missions is more about what God would do in us rather than through us. As Oakland and other churches have discovered, this will bring a joy and excitement than can only come as cultures intermingle and share.”

CBF field personnel are available to help churches minister to internationals in a variety of ways – working with congregations to assess their communities and the possible opportunities to connect, mapping out a plan for preparing for and introducing international ministry, teaching seminars on cultural sensitivity, world religions and visioning. In addition, field personnel can facilitate experiences for churches to engage in ministry to internationals in the United States and overseas.

To connect with CBF field personnel, contact Chris Boltin at cboltin@thefellowship.info or (800) 352-8741. To financially support the ministry of CBF field personnel serving around the world, give to the CBF Offering for Global Missions at www.thefellowship.info/give.

Churches come together to help rural community

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – They came energized and ready to roof and to paint, to replace siding and to fix foundations. They were ready for the work and the sweat, the camaraderie and the sense of making a difference.

These 50 youth and adults from three Baptist churches were expecting to come to Louisiana’s East Carroll Parish for a week and do all the work themselves – but that’s just not the case in the community of Lake Providence.

Jim Dwight was working at a house where unexpected help came from a neighbor, who saw all the hustle and bustle of the construction crew and asked if he could help. The retired roofer provided a re-roofing demonstration to some youth and adults, and the house had a new roof faster than anyone expected.

“He was just a neighbor who saw what we were doing and offered to help,” said Dwight, a member of First Baptist Church in Orange, Texas. “The community was getting behind the initiative. I think [the projects] really opened some doors in the community.”

The community of Lake Providence is one of the focal areas of Together for Hope, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative in 20 of the poorest counties in the United States. This mission project, held June 29 through July 5 and facilitated by Serve Management Group, included construction repairs on four houses.

“Every mission trip is very meaningful and special, and this one was no less,” said Kat Nichols, youth minister at Pineville Park Baptist Church in Pineville, La. “When you are able to help [people] and then to see what an impact your help has on their lives, it’s a humbling and inspiring experience.”

“All of us found out that we can help other people and really make a difference in their lives,” Dwight said. “I think some of the youth perhaps would have never undertaken something like this. They found out that they can really accomplish some things for other people.”

But the teams didn’t just work for others; they worked with them. One man drove 75 miles from Monroe, La., to help the team work on the house where his sister lives. With the team’s help on major repairs, he is now able to help maintain the house.

“It was neat to see how the community got involved, seeing what we were doing and then some of them joining on board with it,” said Jason Fuller, youth minister at First Baptist in Orange. “You could tell they were people in need, but you could tell they were people trying to improve their lives.”

For local resident Glenn Dixon, who has lived in Lake Providence most of his life, a project like this brings hope to the community by demonstrating that good things happen when people work together for the greater good.

“I’m hoping the work that was done can be an example [to the community] of how we can help others and also a catalyst for helping the community do some things locally that it could be doing and should be doing,” Dixon said. “It will both motivate and challenge local churches to get involved in the physical needs of people in addition to the spiritual needs.”

A similar missions project is planned for next July in Lake Providence, where CBF of Louisiana has been ministering over the past several years. One of their major annual efforts is called Bags of Hope, an annual backpack and school supplies collection project. This year’s goal is to collect and distribute 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies for school-aged students in East Carroll Parrish, which includes Lake Providence, and Tensas Parrish.

For more information on Together for Hope, visit www.ruralpoverty.net. To participate in next year’s mission project July 12-18, visit www.servemg.com for more information or contact CBF’s Chris Boltin at cboltin@thefellowship.info or (800) 352-8741.

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.

Lilly Endowment awards $1 million grant to CBF for new missional leadership initiative

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has been awarded a $1 million grant by Lilly Endowment Inc. to create a “missional leadership ecosystem” during the next three years.

The ecosystem, as the grant describes it, will be focused on two initiatives. One will be aimed at youth and college students while the other is designed to bring theological educators and pastors together in dialogue.

“All of this is a systemic effort to ask ‘How is this helping you discover your vocational calling?’” said Terry Hamrick, CBF’s coordinator of leadership development. “Our focus all along has been to discover, develop and nurture leaders. This grant is strategic in that we will be able to call young people out, improve their theological education experience and create positive ministry experiences in the local church.”

CBF will add more than $300,000 of its funds to the Endowment grant to bring about the ecosystem, which will begin to take shape this fall. CBF will implement the new program with existing staff and partners.

“Lilly Endowment is very pleased that many institutions and leaders affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship – pastors and congregations, leaders of seminaries and colleges, and many young people preparing to become pastors – have been working together so closely to create an environment in which churches can flourish,” said Craig Dykstra, senior vice president for religion at the Endowment. “We hope this grant will help CBF cultivate an even more effective ecology of relationships that fosters effective ministry in its congregations.”

The youth and college initiative has been formally called “Enhancing the Capacity of Missional Congregations to Serve as Agents of Vocational Discovery.” The four strategies to implement this initiative are as follows:

Creating a youth ministry network,
establishing a collegiate support network,
funding congregational-based internships for college students and
convening a summer ministry summit for college and graduate students involved in summer ministry, such as CBF’s Student.Go program, Passport Inc. summer camp staff, the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty and more.

The second initiative designed to bring churches and theological educators together is called “Serving as a Catalyst for a New Community of Theological Schools and Congregations.” It will be fulfilled through three strategies:

Instituting a pastors and scholars studio that would bring together 20 professors and 20 pastors to improve the process of forming missional leaders,
creating a supervised ministry network composed of faculty and staff members from theological schools and pastors of churches hosting seminary students in internship-type ministry positions and
establishing a doctoral student network from among Baptist students in doctoral study.

“We’re trying to help supervised ministry go from being an ‘Oh, no, I’ve got to have this to graduate’ to helping students utilize the experience to better set their vocational direction,” Hamrick said. “The new networks will be places for us to begin a conversation with colleges and universities to have a relationship. That is such an important time for vocational decisions.”

This is the third grant the Fellowship has received from the Endowment. The Fellowship received a $1.99 million grant in 2003 to fund the Initiative for Ministerial Excellence. The grant funded the creation of peer learning groups, fund sabbaticals and start ministry residencies for seminary graduates.

In late 2006, the Endowment made a second grant of nearly $1 million to CBF to expand the work of the Initiative for Ministerial Excellence. The goal of the initiative is to help sustain healthy ministers and deliver practical help to congregational leaders across the country.

To learn more, contact Hamrick at thamrick@thefellowship.info or (800) 352-8741.

Endowment supports Albanian ministry

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – An Albanian craftsman working in Athens, Greece, is back on his financial feet thanks to a gift from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Mississippi.

Besnik was out of work and two months behind on his rent when the check from CBF of Mississippi came to Bob and Janice Newell, Fellowship field personnel working with Albanians in Greece. His plight – and a lot of prayer – led the Newells to use the $600 to help Besnik until he could get a new job.

Besnik has now found work, and has volunteered his services to complete the second floor of the Newells’ ministry center called PORTA, the Albania House in Athens.

“Most of the work at PORTA is being done by volunteers like Besnik, who, having finished an eight-hour shift at their manual labor jobs, work well into the evening doing the repairs at PORTA,” the Newells said. “We have also seen Besnik at the English-speaking, Assemblies of God church, and he has participated in some of the programs at PORTA, including English-language classes.”

The CBF Foundation is the caretaker and manager of CBF-Mississippi’s endowment fund, established four years ago.

“In addition to providing access to top shelf money managers, we have provided the CBF-Mississippi staff with periodic consultation on endowment promotion as well,” said Foundation president Don Durham.

It is paying off for people like Besnik.

“Long ago, I learned that no matter what the size, gifts which keep on giving are superior to one-time wonders,” said Bob, a native of Meridian, Miss.. “When money is wisely invested through the CBF Foundation and the periodic earnings are directed toward on-going needs, the giver, the gift and the effectiveness of the gift grow over time. Mississippi CBF has decided to stretch out its support by allowing us to utilize some of the earnings gained on its investments. Albanian immigrants in Athens will benefit for a long time to come from this savvy, kingdom-approach to ministry support. They and we are grateful.”

Steve Street, coordinator of CBF of Mississippi, said that state organization’s endowment was established in 2005 to provide an on-going funding source for CBF mission causes. Quarterly earnings are split among CBF field personnel who have Mississippi roots. That includes the Newells, and two other couples who work in high-risk areas. Street said the endowment totals more than $70,000, and the goal is to reach $100,000 by year’s end.

Durham describes the CBF Foundation as “a type of community foundation for the CBF community.” The Foundation helps individuals, churches, state and regional organizations and partners manage funds and promotes new gifts to their endowments.

“By using CBF Foundation as a fund manager, CBF churches and partners help the entire movement,” Durham said. “In the long run, the larger the amount of funds under management in CBF Foundation, the lower the overall cost of managing everyone’s money.”

“For Albanian immigrants in Athens, very little in this world seems secure or stable,” Janice said. “By being able to provide this small amount of financial assistance, we offer a small amount of precious stability when bad times come to worthy families. Thank you Mississippi CBF for your generosity and CBF Foundation for your wise financial stewardship.”

To learn more about the services provided by the CBF Foundation, call (800) 352-8741.

Donalson develops kindergarten for village children

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – Tracing their hands over stones lined in the shape of the number two, Ethiopian kindergarten students build a foundation for their education.

Dee Donalson, whose front porch serves as a makeshift classroom, teaches nine students about letters, numbers and shapes. She uses whatever educational tools she can find locally, including stones, wheat straw and juice boxes, to instruct the students and two teacher trainees.

Before Donalson, one of CBF’s field personnel, arrived in Hossana, Ethiopia, last year, most of the village’s young children did not attend kindergarten because it was too far away. Only 20 percent of Ethiopia’s children attend school because the Ethiopian government does not have the financial resources to provide enough classrooms or teachers, Donalson said.

Donalson is working to build a kindergarten at Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church Ministry Training College in Hossana. She expects the school, with six classrooms, running water and furnishings, will cost about $100,000.

“Kindergarten taught in a developmentally appropriate way gives them a foundation to build the rest of their education,” she said. “It also teaches them to problem solve, investigate, explore, examine and experiment.”

Donalson, 65, of Sanibel Island and Ft. Myers, Fla., spent her career establishing schools for young children and training teachers in the United States. In 2004, she felt called to serve in Ethiopia. From 2004-07 she served as a teacher trainer and director of a kindergarten in Butajira, Ethiopia. But then she felt the Lord was calling her to do more.

“I had a definite message from God that I was to train many more teachers in Ethiopia to teach the thousands of children who were school age, but didn’t have a space in the classroom,” Donalson said.

Soon, she knew God was calling her to the Bible college in Hossana. It is one of seven Bible colleges in Ethiopia run by the Kale Heywet Church, the country’s largest evangelical denomination with about 3.5 million members and 6,000 churches.
The Kale Heywet Church, which translates into “Word of Life,” sends missionaries worldwide, including some countries where American missionaries are not welcomed, she said.

“I love the idea that [CBF Global Missions Coordinator] Rob Nash put forth when he said that, ‘The church is God’s missionary to the world,’” Donalson said. “And I feel that there are many opportunities to bridge with other organizations like the Kale Heywet Church in Ethiopia.”

In addition to her kindergarten work, Donalson has taught English at the college. Learning English is a critical tool for field personnel since it is the most commonly used language both in Ethiopia and abroad, she said.

She is also working to help her community improve its access to water, plant vegetable gardens and learn good health practices. When Donalson learned that there was no running water on campus, she contacted David Harding, one of CBF’s field personnel who works to bring clean water to Ethiopian communities.

Harding’s team evaluated the campus’ well and recommended a submersible pump. CBF donated the pump, holding tank and a platform. Donalson’s home church, Sanibel Community Church, is raising funds to pay for the installation of the pump and pipes.

More financial support will be needed when the pump begins operating to cover the additional electricity costs and to pay for a guard to oversee the well.

Once the school is constructed, about $1,080 a year will be needed to provide the salaries of two kindergarten teachers. Donalson hopes to add a grade level each year after the kindergarten is established.

She often reminds herself of Acts 17:28, “It is in Him that I live and move and have my being.” That verse helps her to focus on being the presence of Christ.
“I hope that as I am in His presence I will be totally submissive in allowing the Holy Spirit to manifest itself through me to help fulfill the Great Commission.”

To learn about partnership opportunities with Donalson, contact Chris Boltin at cboltin@thefellowship.info or (800) 352-8741.

CBF field personnel develop Bible translations in Asian languages

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In the villages of the Muang people in Southeast Asia, houses are built on stilts and neighbors greet each other by shouting from the bottom of the stairs.

So when Kirk began translating Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” – into the Muang language, a woman told him, “If I heard someone knocking on my door, I’d think it was a thief trying to see if anyone was home so he could rob the place.”

Kirk and his wife, Suzie, are Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel who serve in Southeast Asia, facilitating the first translations of the Bible into the Muang and other native languages. They face cultural challenges, such as the one from Revelation – the verse was eventually translated in Muang as “Behold, I stand at the heart’s door and call out.”

But there are even greater translation challenges – the language of one hilltribe people in Southeast Asia, exists only as verbal language. Kirk and Suzie first had to develop a written language before they could begin translating the Bible.

“People think about Bible translation as an endeavor you do by yourself or with one other person,” Suzie said. “But it’s really all about people and being involved with the people, and so we really prayed and God opened the doors for us to live right among the people in a family compound.”

Kirk and Suzie have lived among the hilltribe people, a persecuted minority in Southeast Asia, and helped create not only an alphabet but also literacy materials. They have worked with villagers to translate legends, oral history and stories of daily life. And they’ve trained villagers to teach the language, so that the work will continue even after Kirk and Suzie have left.

“When we first started working among this group of people, we only knew a few individuals in one country,” Kirk said. “Since then, several thousands have been discovered in neighboring countries, including a group of Christians who have been praying for the past 30 years for a translation in their language. We’re amazed by their dedication and their persistence in prayer all those years. Now, we see their enthusiasm that they’re getting the word and that they’re a part of it.”

Kirk and Suzie spent several years as English teachers in Southeast Asia and during that time recognized the need for translations of the Bible in hundreds of languages. They were commissioned by the Fellowship in 1995.

“One of the things that drew us to CBF in the beginning was a commitment to partnering with local Christians, indigenous Christians and national believers in these various areas,” Kirk said. “There is a tendency as North Americans to unintentionally dominate these types of relationships. We’ve seen from the beginning that CBF has been very committed to working on the same level as the people and seeing how and what they bring to the table.”

Kirk, Suzie and a team of local translators recently completed the book of Mark. Several other books are in the final stages.

“It’s been great, as we’ve been visiting churches in the U.S., to hold up the gospel of Mark and tell our friends and supporters that they were a part of this process through their prayer and through their giving to the Offering for Global Missions,” Kirk said. “These partners, our CBF supporting churches, are very much a part of the answer to 30 years of prayer for the scripture in this language.”

CBF demonstrates commitment to U.N. goals during General Assembly

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After endorsing the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals in October, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship focused on its commitment through a report by CBF moderator-elect Jack Glasgow, workshops and the launch of new ministry initiatives at the 18^th annual General Assembly in Memphis, Tenn.

In June 2007, the Assembly sent a motion to the CBF Coordinating Council “to investigate the feasibility and means by which the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship might be involved in acting with other bodies to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.”

The eight goals are eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; decrease HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and create global partnerships for development.

“These goals focus on the very things that matter to a people who seek to be the presence of Christ among the most neglected,” said Glasgow, who presented a report during the June 19 business session. “Caring for the poor, the hungry, the sick and the oppressed is consistent with the ministry and teaching of Jesus. It is a part of the missional DNA of our Fellowship movement.”

In October, the Coordinating Council voted for the Fellowship to work toward the MDGs. The council also inventoried how CBF field personnel were already working toward meeting the goals. More than 100 related ministry projects are underway, including a new initiative called Water for Hope.

Introduced at the Assembly, Water for Hope “builds on the assets of communities and on partnerships with churches and other groups to overcome the water crisis in places like Ethiopia, Southeast Asia, Thailand and Uganda,” Glasgow said.

At the Assembly, the council also approved a two-year partnership with Micah Challenge USA, a global campaign to mobilize Christians to end poverty.

“This joins CBF with other evangelical groups in America who support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and want to assist congregations in their own awareness and support of the goals,” Glasgow said.

The Fellowship offered 18 Assembly workshops related to the MDGs, including a session on micro credit. The CBF Foundation is launching a new initiative to provide small loans to the poor who have no collateral and lack access to capital. By investing in these micro enterprise loans, Fellowship Baptists, churches and partner organizations can help alleviate global poverty.

Glasgow told the Assembly he hopes CBF can be a “learning community,” where field personnel, staff and churches share ideas about how best to meet the goals.

“We want to assist churches in educating and involving their members in ministries that address the goals. And, we want churches to share with us their unique and creative ways to engage in ministry related to the MDGs. This is the right path for missional churches to travel,” Glasgow said.

For more information, visit www.thefellowship.info/mdg.

General Assembly Bible study series generates debate

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s 18^th annual General Assembly included among the more than 60 workshops a series of three Bible study sessions led by John Killinger, executive minister and theologian in residence at Marble Collegiate Church in New York, N.Y.

Titled “The Changing Shape of Our Salvation,” “My Life with Jerry Falwell” and “A Dramatic New Interpretation of the Gospel of Mark,” Killinger’s remarks received nods of approval by some and challenges from others.

In his first session, Killinger outlined a series of shifts in the way people of faith viewed salvation from the ancient Jews to the Greek mystery religions to Jesus’ time, to the Middle Ages, and to the Reformation. Based on research he conducted for his most recent book “The Changing Shape of Our Salvation,” Killinger described today’s emerging view among mainline ministers as having an emphasis on the “self-realization” and “self-fulfillment” elements of salvation.

Even though he was quoted as saying “many pastors agreed with this view of salvation” several voiced disagreement before and after the session. Some interpreted his remarks on the incarnation to be a questioning of Jesus’ divinity.

Les Hill, a retired missionary who formerly served in Southeast Asia and now resides in Lexington, Ky., disagreed with Killinger’s assertions about scripture and substitutionary atonement.

“I made notes when he said the understanding of salvation has changed, and that the people he interviewed said it was self fulfillment and self realization,” Hill said. “That’s not my understanding of salvation.”

Randy Hyde, pastor of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., and chair of the Assembly’s steering committee extended the invitation to Killinger to present on the topic.

“In the scores of rooms set aside at our assemblies for break out sessions, we have leaders who express myriad beliefs, ideas and opinions that virtually cross the board of beliefs,” Hyde said. “Being free and faithful Baptists means we listen to these voices and respond as guided personally by our relationship with God through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”

Ray Higgins, coordinator of CBF of Arkansas and one of the event’s organizers said the disagreement over the workshops is not surprising and that there is much to learn from what we may not agree with.

“CBF is a movement that is open to listening to and learning from people’s faith journeys and interpretations of scripture,” Higgins said. “To invite them to speak does not mean we agree on everything. To dialogue with them doesn’t mean we agree on everything.”

The General Assembly Guide contains a clear statement that the views expressed by workshop presenters are not official pronouncements by CBF. The Fellowship does have an official stance on the deity of Christ in the preamble to the CBF Constitution and Bylaws:

“As a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches, we celebrate our faith in the One Triune God,” reads the statement approved in 2006 by the General Assembly. “We gladly declare our allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord and to His gospel as we seek to be the continuing presence of Christ in this world. Our passion is to obey the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) of our Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit, and to uphold Baptist principles of faith and practice as we partner with one another and other Christians.”

Curtis Freeman, research professor of theology and director of the Baptist House of Studies, Duke University Divinity School, said CBF’s position is consistent with the historic Baptist view of Jesus. Although not present for Killinger’s presentation, Freeman provided context on the Fellowship’s approach to the incarnation of Jesus Christ in contrast to some of Killinger’s views.

“Baptists historically over four centuries have been very orthodox in our Christology,” Freeman said. “There are debates that come up, but our Christology wasn’t invented in the 17^th century. We have adopted the doctrine of the Christian church. Jesus was fully God and fully man. We believe Jesus came for us and our salvation. If you look at our confessional language, the first London confession and the most recent confessions in the 1963 or 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, most Baptists would affirm the statements about Jesus. The church hasn’t invented the incarnation today. It’s something that’s been received and it’s passed on by the apostles.”

As to inviting Killinger, Freeman advocated for what American theologian Hans Frei and pastor, author and lecturer Brian McLaren called “a generous orthodoxy” that allowed room for discussion.

“I would hope that we could affirm a generous orthodoxy that is clear about our confession that Jesus Christ is the incarnate son of God, fully God and fully human, but could be in conversation about what it means for us as believers in Jesus Christ.”

CBF General Assembly concludes with celebration of missional churches

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – In celebration of churches on mission with God in the world, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship concluded its 18th annual General Assembly with a focus on missional churches.

“We are living in a world where God is up to doing a new thing,” Harry Rowland, the Fellowship’s director of missional ministries, told the Assembly in its closing session. “God is giving his work back to his people. God is giving his work back to his church.”

Three church partnerships with CBF field personnel were highlighted as examples of the missional church movement. Members of Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, told of their five-year, five-state tour of ministry sites part of Together for Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative. What started as just another annual week-long mission trip “profoundly changed” the church, said member Garland Hamic.

“Our connection to Village of Hope has energized our church far beyond the ministry to Ukraine,” said Len Keever of First Baptist Church in Dunn, N.C. “[It] has opened our eyes to the needs in our own community. We have discovered a place to participate with God where we may be.”

Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., has also been inspired through its local partnership with Karen refugees. Many Karen are Baptist and have been relocating from Burma and Thailand to U.S. cities like Louisville. Each Sunday more than 125 Karen worship at this CBF partner church.

“I can’t imagine church without the Karen,” said member Alice Adams in a video presentation.

These churches are an example of a missional shift, where the church is at the center of God’s mission in the world, CBF Global Missions coordinator Rob Nash said.

“This is the new global mission – the church joined together with field personnel around the world, engaged in mission and ministry with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Nash said. “Today we have witnessed our field personnel and our congregations joining hands together”

“God is at work in powerful ways in this fellowship,” he said.

Also during worship, the Fellowship contributed $7,509.25 for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Offering for Religious Liberty and Human Rights and presented letters that advocate for poverty-reducing legislation. The letter-writing effort to legislative representatives is part of CBF partner Bread for the World’s Offering of Letters.

It was the first time a religious group conducted an Offering of Letters as part of its annual meeting.

CBB luncheon features testimonial from satisfied customer Passport

At the annual Church Benefits Board (CBB) luncheon Friday, more than 125 people heard David Burroughs, president of Passport Inc., talk about how his organization chose CBB to handle its benefits needs.

Burroughs shared how Passport, an international youth mission organization, was recently faced with choosing its benefits provider. He enlisted an independent financial adviser to review plans and tell him the best option. Burroughs even told the financial adviser to suggest his own program for consideration.

“He called us back and said he couldn’t touch the benefits package that Gary Skeen and Church Benefits Board had put together, and it was his recommendation for us to choose the CBB plan hands down,” Burroughs said. “I think Gary is called to this work. I think this is an expression of his ministry. I know that because he is worrying about all these things that have to do with retirement, insurance and benefits, we don’t have to. We can spend that time doing our ministry.”

Skeen said the Church Benefits Board is focused on meeting the benefits needs of the local church.

“Our hope is that the work we do in our office, and the relationships we build with our partners undergirds the ministry that all of you do,” Skeen said. “We never want to take our eyes off the fact that we are here to serve you.”

CBF adopts budget, elects Bass as moderator-elect

During the Friday morning business session, the Assembly adopted the 2008-09 ministries and missions budget of $16,500,000. The Assembly also approved the nominating committee’s report, including Hal Bass of Arkadelphia, Ark., as moderator-elect and Joanne Carr of Augusta, Ga., as recorder.

Jack Glasgow, who begins his term as CBF moderator at the conclusion of the Assembly, was introduced by current moderator Harriet Harral. Glasgow is pastor of Zebulon Baptist Church in Zebulon, N.C.

“I am very blessed today to take on this mantle of leadership,” Glasgow said. “I am blessed by those who have gone before and served as moderator. I am blessed to have a church back home who loves this Fellowship and is excited that their pastor can devote time to this organization.”

CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal concluded the Assembly’s time of prayer and discernment with the “Offering of Spiritual Discerning from the Assembly,” representatives from the discernment groups presented feedback documents.

“I want to thank you for participating in this first-ever event for us – setting aside time for reflection and prayer, charting the course of how the spirit will lead us in the years ahead,” Vestal said. “We will offer out best insights as an offering and prayer. We will pray that what will emerge out of this is a unity of discerning, unity of vision and mission.”

CBF General Assembly discerns priorities, celebrates missional churches

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – During the 18^th annual Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly June 19-20, held for the first time in Memphis, Tenn., more than 2,000 Fellowship Baptists spent time discerning and praying for the future priorities of the organization.

“Now we have come to a time in the life of this movement when we are healthy and strong enough to step back and ask, ‘What has God prepared for us now?’” CBF moderator Harriet Harral said. “In what new or improved ways are we now being called to step out on faith to follow Christ and serve God better?”

The Assembly considered seven priority areas during discernment times and discussion sessions before presenting the feedback as an offering during the Friday morning business session. This strategic prioritization began in the fall with CBF staff, the Coordinating Council and state and regional organizational leadership.

“We cannot discern the present and future without reflecting on the past,” said CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal. “Whatever CBF becomes will be determined by providence. But my understanding of providence is that we are asked to make decisions that have real consequences. We help shape the future by our actions and choices.”

The Assembly gathered under the theme of “Embrace the World: Building Bridges.” Randy Hyde, chair of the Assembly steering committee and pastor of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., welcomed attendees and set the tone for the gathering.

“There is hope springing from the silt of these Delta lands, and people who call themselves ‘Baptists’ are a vital part of that hope,” Hyde said. “Sharing the gospel means breaking barriers, and here on the banks of this great river we have more than our share ... which is why we have built bridges.”

American Baptist human rights advocate Lauran Bethell, who serves in the Netherlands, talked about bridging gaps in relationships as Jesus did with the Samaritan woman at the well. She challenged the Assembly to not become imprisoned by fear of crossing the bridges of culture, morality and gender. Bethell spoke specifically about ministry among prostitution and human trafficking victims.

“There are many Christians and … churches who … suffer from the fear,” she said. “It’s a fear of falling and a fear of failing … [or] a fear of the unknown of the other side.”

The Assembly continued its emphasis on ‘building bridges’ at the historic commissioning service at First Baptist Church of Memphis, where 18 field personnel were commissioned. It was the first time a commissioning had been held at a CBF partner church.

More than 60 workshops were offered during the two-day event, including 18 which related to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

The General Assembly concluded with a celebration of missional churches, highlighting three church partnerships with CBF field personnel.

Members of Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, told of their five-year, five-state tour of ministry sites part of Together for Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative. What started as just another annual week-long mission trip “profoundly changed” the church, said member Garland Hamic.

In Kiev, Ukraine, several CBF partner churches from North Carolina have been working with CBF field personnel Gennady and Mina Podgaisky, who minister at a foster home for street children called Village of Hope. And in Louisville, Ky., Crescent Hill Baptist Church has also been inspired through its local partnership with Karen refugees. Many Karen are Baptist and have been relocating from Burma to U.S. cities like Louisville. Each Sunday more than 125 Karen worship at this CBF partner church.

“This is the new global mission – the church joined together with field personnel around the world, engaged in mission and ministry with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Rob Nash, CBF global missions coordinator. “Today we have witnessed our field personnel and our congregations joining hands together.”

At the evening worship sessions, attendees contributed $17,487 toward the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Offering for Religious Liberty and Human Rights. In its fourth year, the offering will go to the Baptist World Alliance and European Baptist Federation to fund ministries and initiatives that promote religious liberty and human rights.

Additionally, $13,325 was given to the CBF Offering for Global Missions, which pays for field personnel salaries, benefits and operating and ministry expenses.

The General Assembly will next convene July 2-3, 2009, in Houston, Texas.

CBF Assembly begins with historic commissioning service for 18 field personnel

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Editor’s note: Due to global security concerns, names and specific locations of some CBF field personnel will not be publicized.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship commissioned 18 people to global missions service June 18 to begin the Fellowship’s annual General Assembly in Memphis, Tenn.

“You have blessed these field personnel with your presence in this place,” CBF Global Missions coordinator Rob Nash told the approximately 1,000 Fellowship Baptists who gathered at First Baptist Church of Memphis for the commissioning service. “Truly, we send them together into the world.”

It was the first time that the new personnel, who will serve in a variety of ministries – from teaching English in Asia to starting kindergartens in Africa, were commissioned at a local CBF partner church.

“[Our mission] is about the lost, the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the people who have no Christian presence in their midst. That is the path we are called to,” Nash said.

In a challenge to the approximately 1,000 gathered, Nash said missions must change because the world is changing.

“It’s not enough until we join together and become engaged together in reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said. “What excites me the most is the possibility as we join hands together in ministry and mission in the name of Jesus Christ.”

With these 18, the Fellowship now has 163 field personnel. New CBF field personnel and their places of service are as follows:

· Carita, Southeast Asia

· Lindsay, Southeast Asia

· Brittany Phillips, China

· Matthew and Melanie Storie, Alabama

· Elaine Childs, Croatia

· Leah Crowley, Florida

· Cynthia Levesque, China

· Eric and Julie Maas, Belize

· Gene Murdock, India

· Karen and Kenny Sherin, Missouri

· Dan and Jolene Tucker, Mexico

· Dee Donalson, Ethiopia

· Christopher and Jessica Rose, Peru

Also at the service, attendees contributed $12,750 toward a special collection of CBF’s Offering for Global Missions in honor of Jack Snell, CBF’s former director of field ministries.

“We lost Jack last year to cancer,” said Jim Smith, who now directs field ministries. “His greatest passion, besides his family, was missions. That was his main passion – he gave his life, his soul and his time for missions. I pray that you would be able to share what you have for global missions.”

The Offering funds the ministry of many CBF field personnel.

Leadership Summit focuses on following God’s call

Wednesday’s Leadership Summit, which focused on celebrating God’s call, featured messages from six current and former pastors. Speakers included Daniel Vestal, CBF executive coordinator; Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of First Baptist Church of Decatur, Ga.; Kevin Collison, pastor of First Baptist Church of Eagle Lake, Texas; Robin Norsworthy, pastor of University Baptist Church of Montevallo, Ala.; Mike Queen, pastor of First Baptist Church of Wilmington, N.C.; and George Mason, pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas.

The speakers talked about their personal callings, including the challenges and blessings of being a pastor. They also emphasized the importance of nurturing the calls of youth and young ministers.

Vestal told the gathering of approximately 175 ministers that every believer is gifted with the spirit and by divine assignment, everyone is called. A great challenge is the role of women in leadership positions in congregations, he said.

“As Baptist Christians, we still have so far to go in the placement and encouragement of women for ministry as never before,” Vestal said. “Can you imagine the revolution and the reformation that could happen if we embrace all those whom God has called to be pastors and administrators, church starters and leaders. I think we ought to pray until the impossible becomes the inevitable.”

Coordinating Council holds pre-Assembly meeting

The CBF Coordinating Council, led by moderator Harriet Harral, met Wednesday with a light agenda. Among the reports was a status update on the Church Benefits Board (CBB) from Gary Skeen CBB president, told the Council that since relationships with new benefits partners began in January, $20 million in assets has moved to the new plan, including 144 churches and 460 participants. Skeen also noted that the partnership has led to the development of new relationships with congregations and churches.

Don Durham, president of the CBF Foundation, provided information on new investment opportunities that will soon be available through the CBF Foundation. The CBF Foundation board is launching a new initiative to provide small loans to the poor who have no collateral and lack access to capital. By investing in these micro enterprise loans, Fellowship Baptists, churches and partner organizations can help alleviate global poverty. More information will be available during the CBF Foundation breakfast Friday morning at 8 a.m. and the “Microcredit” workshop Friday at 1:30 p.m.

On behalf of the Finance Committee, Larry Hurst, the Fellowship’s director of finance and accounting, reported that CBF expenditures through April are at 90 percent and revenues through May are at 96 percent.

Daniel Vestal introduced Korean pastors Suk Jeon Yoon of Yeon Sae Central Baptist Church and Jin Sun Lee, president of the Korean Amen Mission Fellowship, who presented Vestal with a check for $5,000. The pastors led a delegation from Korea attending the General Assembly. CBF partners with these groups in Korea to send missions workers.

Baptist Women in Ministry celebrates 25^th anniversary

Baptist Women in Ministry (BWIM) held its annual gathering at the Center for Southern Folklore. The organization celebrated its 25^th anniversary with dinner and a concert by Kate Campbell. The event drew approximately 160 people. The organization recognized the incoming leadership team, presented a roll call of Baptist women leaders and provided a preview of the third annual State of Women in Baptist Life report, which will be presented in full during a workshop Friday at 1:30 p.m.

“We remember and celebrate these women who were and who are Baptist pioneers in the cause of women in ministry. They paved the way for our own ministries,” said LeAnn Gunter Johns, who is ending her term as BWIM coordinator. “We also celebrate the women who are today blazing new trails in ministry. They are providing fresh, creative energy in shaping BWIM into the organization it is now.”

The new BWIM coordinator is Robin Anderson, associate pastor at University Baptist Church in Baltimore.

The General Assembly begins workshops and business sessions on Thursday. The process of discerning future priorities begins Thursday afternoon.

General Assembly begins discernment process about CBF’s priorities

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In the first day of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s General Assembly in Memphis, Tenn., Fellowship Baptists began a two-day prayer and discernment process about CBF’s future ministry priorities.

“Now we have come to a time in the life of this movement when we are healthy and strong enough to step back and ask, ‘What has God prepared for us now?’” CBF moderator Harriet Harral told the Assembly during the June 19 business session. “In what new or improved ways are we now being called to step out on faith to follow Christ and serve God better?”

“We do not yet have answers, but we are excited about the questions we are bringing to this General Assembly for you to pray over so that together we can seek God’s answers,” she said.

The Assembly considered these questions during an hour-long guided discernment Thursday. Divided into groups by state or region, Fellowship Baptists discussed potential priorities in smaller groups. Each group was given a list of potential priorities – determined by nearly a year of discernment times with other groups within the Fellowship. The strategic prioritization began in the fall with CBF staff, the Coordinating Council and state and regional organizational leadership. The priorities fall under seven categories:

o Broadening the CBF community

o Utilization of resources

o Training and development

o Missional engagement

o Honoring race, gender and generations

o Interacting with the world community

o Spirituality

On June 20, the Assembly reconvenes in discernment groups to offer feedback through a survey. Each group will also write their ideas on posters, which will be displayed in the Resource Fair for the remainder of the Assembly.

In his afternoon address to the Assembly, CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal said discernment starts with remembering the providence and presence of God over the Fellowship’s last 17 years.

“We cannot discern the present and future without reflecting on the past,” he said. “Whatever CBF becomes will be determined by providence. But my understanding of providence is that we are asked to make decisions that have real consequences. We help shape the future by our actions and choices.”

Vestal also asked the Assembly to reflect on God’s mission, the vital role of the local church, and how God’s abiding promises are central to the discernment process.

“CBF exists to further the mission of God,” he said. “Our future is as bright as the promises of God and our willingness to believe those promises and act upon them,” he said.

An online version of the ministry priority survey will be available online 10 a.m. June 19 through 5 p.m. June 24. To access the survey, visit www.thefellowship.info/discernment.

Fellowship Baptists challenged to ‘build bridges’ on first day of Assembly

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Meeting in Memphis, Tenn., for the first time in its history, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship focused on the theme of “Embrace the World: Building Bridges” during the 18^th annual General Assembly.

Randy Hyde, chair of the Assembly steering committee and pastor of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., welcomed about 2,000 attendees to the first full day of events June 19.

“There are many Christians and … churches who … suffer from the fear,” she said. “It’s a fear of falling and a fear of failing … [or] a fear of the unknown of the other side.”

Bethell spoke specifically about ministry among prostitution and human trafficking victims, asking Fellowship Baptists to pray for victims, learn more about the problem and cross a bridge.

“This is God’s moment. Let’s cross the bridge of fear … risk … devastation … pain,” she said.

In his keynote address, CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal cited the example of civil rights leader and Baptist pastor Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in Memphis 40 years ago.

“The death and funeral of Dr. King was the event that awakened my social conscience,” Vestal said. “It made me realize for the first time in my life that I bore responsibility for the racial and economic injustice in this nation. Yet, in the past 40 years the disparity between rich and poor has widened, and the gap between rich and poor nations has increased. Extreme global poverty is a scandal. Domestic poverty in this nation, the richest nation in the history of the world, is a shame and a tragedy. So the mission of God continues.”

At the evening worship session, attendees contributed $9,978 toward the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Offering for Religious Liberty and Human Rights. In its fourth year, the offering will go to the Baptist World Alliance and European Baptist Federation to fund ministries and initiatives that promote religious liberty and human rights.

AIDS network lunch focuses on how churches can respond

Donald Messer, executive director of the Center for the Church and Global AIDS, urged more than 50 people gathered for the CBF AIDS Network luncheon to link their faith with the AIDS crisis.

“We live in a world which is facing the worst health crisis in over 700 years,” said Messer, who wrote “Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence.” “We honestly don’t know how many people are infected. It’s easier to count the number of fish in the sea than it is to count the number of people who were already affected or already died because of the stigma and discrimination associated with this disease.”

Messer said the challenge of our time is to discover how churches respond with ministry and education, and join the partnership with others to make a difference. He said the best way to engage people in the AIDS crisis is to tell stories.

“We must encourage people with HIV to speak in our churches so that people can connect with people,” Messer said. “As we tell those stories, share them and preach them, we begin to identify with people who are suffering.”

Business session features reports on MDGs, budget, discernment process

During the Thursday morning business session, the General Assembly was presented with the nominating committee’s report, including Hal Bass as moderator-elect and Joanne Carr as recorder. Also presented was the 2008-09 ministries and missions budget of $16,500,000. These items will be voted on by the Assembly Friday.

Jack Glasgow, CBF moderator-elect, provided a report on the Fellowship’s involvement with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Following a motion during last year’s Assembly, the Coordinating Council voted to endorse the MDGs. Glasgow reported that CBF field personnel are involved in more than 100 projects that collectively address each of the eight goals.

“In the future we want CBF to be a learning community where field personnel, staff and congregations all share ideas and best practices of ministries that address the MDGs,” said Glasgow. “We want to assist churches in educating and involving their members in ministries that address the goals. And, we want churches to share with us their unique and creative ways to engage in ministry related to the MDGs. This is the right path for missional churches to travel.”

CBF moderator Harriett Harral provided attendees with an introduction to the prayer and discernment process, which began Thursday afternoon and continues Friday.

“This afternoon, the entire assembly is going to convene specifically and solely for the purpose of praying to discern the Spirit’s leadership,” Harral said. “We are a people convinced of the power of prayer – this is going to be a unique and holy time for us and a time that will have great impact on our future as a fellowship.”

Presentations of authors’ copies of their newly released books were made to Cecil Sherman, former CBF coordinator and author of “By My Own Reckoning,” and Daniel Vestal, CBF executive coordinator and author of “Being the Presence of Christ.”

“There is a piece of this story that explains how this organization has been called into being,” said Sherman. “Of course, it is an explanation from my point of view. This is one take on the events that called CBF into being. We need to remember the events that called us into being and be guided by them as we wisely chart our future.”

Poverty event highlights food cooperative model

At the “Working Together to End Poverty” event Thursday, Chad Hale, a minister in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta, talked to the gathering of more than 100 Fellowship Baptists about the food cooperative model, an asset-based community development project.

The food co-op can be an alternative to a food pantry. Instead of handing out food to people, many of whom become encouraged to return, the co-op is a holistic approach.

“This is an amazing amalgam that uses food to create community,” Hale said. “It’s evangelism in the best sense of the word. Those in need work to distribute the food, so they are helping themselves in the process.”

Hale said he was inspired by a similar program used by a Methodist group in Florida. He liked the concept because members are encouraged to help themselves. Co-op members pay $3 a month to participate. Once every two weeks, they receive a box of supplemental food, valued between $70 and $100. Members help unload trucks, pack boxes and distribute food to other members. Those who cannot afford it can work extra to off-set the fee.

“The food helps off-set some of the expenses for these families,” he said. “It helps [them] stay in [their] homes and frees up money for utilities and mortgages. It’s an incredible tool for fighting homelessness.”

The Assembly concludes Friday, June 20, with a final session of discernment and a celebration of missional churches and ministries around the world.

Hands-on projects kick off week of CBF General Assembly

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Andrea Zintzun, 16, knows she’s been blessed by others, so packing boxes of rice at the Memphis Food Bank just seemed like a good thing to do.

“There are people who blessed us, and we need to bless back,” said Zintzun, one of 13 Homestead, Fla., teenagers who traveled to Memphis for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s annual General Assembly.

The teens are from Open House Ministries, a CBF partner ministry that serves a poor area of Miami-Dade County. They arrived the day before the Assembly so they could serve at the food bank.

“We want [the teenagers] to be a part of our kingdom work, and they can,” said Wanda Ashworth, one of CBF’s field personnel who directs Open House Ministries.

The group also traveled to Memphis to support Open House associate director Leah Crowley, who is being commissioned as one of CBF’s field personnel during the Assembly. Most of Crowley’s ministry is with children and teenagers, so having a group present “will make it meaningful,” Ashworth said.

The 20-hour journey to Memphis included stops in each state for everybody to put their feet on the ground and have it “count” as a state they had visited. After the Assembly, the group will travel to summer camp in North Carolina and back to Homestead – stopping at several of the ministry’s supporting churches along the way.

The Homestead group was among more than 60 people that arrived early for CBF’s General Assembly to serve at local ministry sites, including Girls Inc., where members of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Lee’s Summit, Mo., helped serve lunch to approximately 100 girls.

There, Cornerstone member Kaylea Burke, 7, started the serving assembly line by adding a pint of milk to each lunch tray. She pointed to her dad, Ethan, who was busily handing out trays to girls.

“That’s my dad,” she said. “He’s the messy one. He’s been working hard.”

Seventeen members of Cornerstone also helped at the Memphis Food Bank labeling boxes and sorting food. Already coming to speak at a General Assembly workshop, Ethan Burke said, “We said, ‘Why not just combine the two trips?’”

An hour south of Memphis, about 20 college students spent two days serving in Helena-West Helena, Ark., where CBF field personnel Ben and Leonora Newell live and minister. The service project was part of the Memphis Sessions, CBF’s first collegiate event at the annual General Assembly.

The students played kickball, made jewelry, read books and played board games with children in the community center. They also worked at a new 4-acre community garden, where they helped pull weeds, till the ground and make stands for growing tomato plants.

Ben Newell said community gardens will not only provide up to 10 tons of produce this year but will also encourage the community. And ultimately the community is what all mission efforts are about.

“We come to realize that the end product – though important – is not the most important. It’s the relationship [with community members],” Newell said. “A lot of times people come on mission trips and it’s like, ‘How much can I accomplish? How much can I work?’ But it’s the relationships that really make the difference.”

Casey Green, a student at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, served as a student intern last summer in Helena-West Helena and was excited to return and serve.

“I jumped at the shot to come back to Helena,” she said. “What the garden produces makes a big difference here.”

“For years, the Fellowship has been gathering at annual assemblies. We felt it was time we actually got out there and worked in the community we were visiting,” said Chris Boltin, the Fellowship’s short-term and partnerships manager who organized the mission projects. “Memphis is a convention city. The people are used to having people come and go. I wanted us to leave a positive touch on the city and to be the presence of Christ.”

Meeting in Memphis

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As part of The Memphis Sessions, the collegiate event at CBF's General Assembly, about 20 college students served in Helena-West Helena, Ark., where CBF field personnel Ben and Leonora Newell live and minister.

Westfalls provide medical care in India

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – When Jay Westfall hands clients his business card, they often look at it and ask, “Why would you choose to live in India?” The answer is simple – it’s a calling.

As Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel, Jay and Cokie Westfall balance the demands of work and ministry. Jay’s job as an independent clinical and regulatory compliance auditor for U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies allows him the opportunity to work in any part of the world. But Jay said it was Cokie’s call to serve the people of India that led them to the village of Kothanur, located outside the city of Bangalore, where they have lived since September 2007.

Cokie traveled to India in 2004 on a prayer walk with CBF field personnel. In 2005, she returned, participating in CBF tsunami relief efforts in Cuddalore. Since then, the Westfalls have served alongside CBF partner organizations in medical camps throughout southern India.

In India, the need for healthcare providers outweighs the supply, especially in rural and slum areas. In these areas, a lack of potable water and sanitation increases water-borne diseases, making medical care even more necessary. The United Nations estimates that there are between 2 to 3.6 million people in India living with HIV. These factors place a strain on India’s healthcare system.

“Trying to help all the poor in India is like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon,” Jay said. “But in being here, I’ve learned the importance of showing basic decency and common courtesy. Some of the people we serve feel invisible.”

The Westfalls serve in a variety of medical outreaches – medical camps in slum areas surrounding Bangalore through Humanitarian India Mission, medical liaison role within ProVisionAsia and a medical clinic for children affected with AIDS at the Infant Jesus Children’s Home.

“I have clearly seen God utilize my background as a resident nurse and my firm belief that Jesus loved, supported and empowered women throughout his ministry and calls us to do the same, to touch the lives of women and children who live in oppressive poverty stricken situations in India,” said Cokie, a graduate of Campbell Divinity School, a Fellowship partner. “My hope is to bring the deep love of Jesus to those who find themselves in these situations.”

The Westfalls said that CBF partner churches – Winter Park Baptist; First Baptist Church of Wilmington, N.C.; and First Baptist Church of Mt. Olive, N.C., have sustained them with continual encouragement through prayer, financial support and correspondence.

To learn about partnership opportunities with the Westfalls, contact Chris Boltin at (800) 352-8741 or cboltin@thefellowship.info.

Gandhi School provides rare educational opportunity for Roma youth

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – When Glen Adkins started the music program at the Gandhi School, one of the first songs he learned was the “Gypsy Hymn.” He was surprised to find out that the chorus of the rhythmic but lamenting song translated “God, have mercy on us, so as our people should not suffer any longer, you have cursed us, you have punished us, you have made us eternal vagabonds.”

For the Romany people, also referred to as gypsies, the words of the song reflect their experience of discrimination, persecution and suffering. The Gandhi School in Pecs, Hungary, where Clista and Glen Adkins serve as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel, provides unique educational opportunities for 250 Romany youth.

“Glen and I hope that we can help [the students] to understand that God loves them,” said Clista, who teaches English classes at the school. “To understand that God loves Roma people, that they are part of the larger family of God, and that God’s gift of love in Jesus Christ was for Roma just as much as it was for everyone else. We have this goal in mind in everything we do.”

Only 3 percent of Roma attend a university, and less than 20 percent attend high school. Those who do enroll in a public school are often placed in classes for students with mental disabilities in order to separate them from non-Roma. The Gandhi School provides a nurturing alternative for Roma, who come from impoverished backgrounds. The students travel from throughout Hungary to attend the school, and all of them come from families facing hardships – poverty, unemployment, life-threatening illnesses, social discrimination.

“When students graduate from Gandhi, perhaps they will have what few Eastern European Roma have – hope for their future,” said Clista Adkins. “That hope might include a broader view of the world and their potential to be a part of that world, the ability to lead, opportunities for jobs and education, ambition for their future, the ability and knowledge required to make life better for the next generation or the ability to maintain their heritage while working within the larger society.”

The school gives hope to students such as Jaelle, who when asked at Bible club one evening what she was most afraid of, responded “I don’t ever want to have to stand on the side of the road.” Jaelle, who has seven siblings and whose father must travel to Germany to find work, was referring to girls in Hungary who enter into prostitution in order to survive.

“We are finding that people all around us seem to be looking for hope,” Clista said. “We are constantly surrounded by Roma people, particularly, who seem to be hanging on to their lives by a thread. So, with every word we say and every coin we give, we hope we are being the presence of Christ.”

The Adkins, members of members of First Baptist Church of Greenville, S.C., first served at the school in 2005, but last year they move to Hungary to minister full-time. First Baptist’s partnership with the Gandhi School was facilitated by church members Ethel and Jim Childress in 2005. Since then, missions teams have traveled to the Gandhi School each fall, teaching English classes and leading special programs.

“Our focus of each trip has been to build relationships, share God’s love, and teach conversational English,” said the Childresses, who have participated in six trips. “The common thread in these interactions and relationships is openness and acceptance. Over the years we have come to love these remarkable Roma teenagers. Knowing them and working with them has been life changing. We are humbled that even though they are treated so poorly by most people outside their culture, they still treat us with acceptance and respect.”

First Baptist is one of several churches partnering with Glen, a former music minister, to sponsor choir members as they prepare to perform at the Baptist World Alliance Youth Conference in Leipzig, Germany this summer. In addition to learning hymns from the Romany tradition, Glen is also teaching the choir songs such as “Oh Happy Day” that communicate God’s love.

“Our partnership through CBF with field personnel at the Gandhi School is one opportunity for our members to live out [the church’s] mission statement and covenant,” said Laura Shelley, missions coordinator at First Baptist. “As we share the inclusive love of Christ with the Gandhi students, we serve alongside CBF personnel, Gandhi teachers and Hungarian Christians. An important aspect of our partnership with the Gandhi School is the recognition that God may speak to us through this mission experience, transforming us in ways yet unimagined.”

Wentz uses nursing skills to serve marginalized

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – Tori Wentz remembers all too well how shy she was as a child. Yet, early on, she loved the church and was fascinated by stories of missionaries traveling far from home to do God’s work. It took a while, she said, to overcome her insecurities and realize that God doesn’t call “special” people to be ambassadors; rather, God calls “ordinary” people.

Wentz has been fulfilling her calling as a medical missionary for as long as she’s been a registered nurse – 22 years. While some of that time has been spent on short-term international trips to Kenya, Thailand, Burma and Ethiopia, Wentz counts her work stateside as missions-based, too.

“My call to missions isn’t an experience I’ve had,” said Wentz, of Fredericksburg, Va. “It’s an understanding of God’s love for the world that results in a commitment to serve. In whatever setting God places me, I pray and ask that God would open the eyes of my heart and allow me to see past the surface in order to discern the real needs of the individual in front of me. People in this world are hurting and the causes of their pain are often related to more than the effects of their physical illnesses.”

Appointed as one of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s field personnel in 2007, Wentz has already been on a two-month trip to Ethiopia. She plans trips to both Zambia and Kenya later this year. With a background in hospice, her main work focuses on bringing palliative care philosophies to people in countries where early diagnosis and treatment of diseases like HIV/AIDS and cancer are limited by poverty and a lack of medical resources.

While in Ethiopia this past spring, Wentz interacted with health care professionals in many different settings. At a hospital run by a South Korean Presbyterian church, she met with and educated doctors, social workers, chaplains and nurses about hospice care.

“It’s so new,” Wentz said of the philosophy, “that many misunderstand what it is all about. Pain control is not a main focus of their care. They associate hospice with death, and therefore are hesitant to use many of the strong pain medications commonly used in the States.”

Wentz shared with the staff at the hospital a book that explains how hospice philosophies have been implemented in other African countries. The book, which offers correct information about pain medications, also details the benefits of helping terminal patients make necessary decisions and face death with dignity.

“Talking was helpful,” said Wentz. “The discussion broke down barriers and led to the formation of a multi-disciplinary committee.”

She expects that relationships formed on that committee will make progress easier during her next visit to the hospital. She knows change will take time. After meeting and talking with a nurse who runs a small home care hospice in the capital city, Wentz learned that a group of health care professionals have been trying to influence government policies on palliative care and pain control since 2003. In four years, the hospice has treated about 250 AIDS patients. With approximately 368 people dying from AIDS in Ethiopia per day, according to the Ethiopian AIDS Resource Center, there is much work yet to be done.

Nevertheless, Wentz believes that God is creating opportunities for her to make a difference in the lives of hurting individuals even now. She shared the story of her encounter with the father of a 13-year-old boy with a brain tumor, who traveled 700 kilometers to the mission hospital where she worked in Ethiopia.

Visiting them daily during their hospital stay and letting them know she was praying for them, Wentz communicated by gestures and bits of Amharic, the family’s native language. Because the boy did not do well after surgery, his father was distraught. Wentz sat with him while he cried and listened while he talked. She encouraged the hospital’s medical and nursing personnel to implement interventions for relieving the boy’s symptoms.

When at last the time came that the father was able to secure aid to take his son home to die – against medical advice – Wentz wanted to show that she cared by doing something to make the trip more bearable.

“I approached the nurses and asked if they thought it would be appropriate for me to ask the father if he would like to take a shower and have me wash his clothes for him before he left. Grabbing some soap and hospital scrubs for him to change into, they went back to his son’s room and asked him in Amharic if he would like for that to happen,” Wentz said. “He readily agreed. He had been wearing the same outfit for more than two weeks.”

When saying goodbye, Wentz gave the father a hug and promised she would continue to pray for them. While she doesn’t know if they made it home before the boy died, Wentz said that’s not important, “What matters is that they knew that God did not leave them to suffer alone.”

“When Jesus healed, He did not do so from a distance,” Wentz said. “He reached out and touched [people], even those considered outcasts. That is the focus of my ministry … being the presence of Christ to those who fear that God might not want to have anything to do with them.”

To learn about partnership opportunities with Wentz’s ministry, contact Chris Boltin at (800) 352-8471 or cboltin@thefellowship.info. To become involved in CBF’s community of practice related to medical ministries, go to www.thefellowship.info/medical.

Early education centers improve lives in Kenya

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA – John Williams of Roanoke, Va., found that when a group of American Christians build something in Kenya – particularly something as beneficial as a school for young Kenyan children – the villagers come.

They come to watch progress happening before their eyes. They come to support the work, and they come to say thank you. They know the change it will bring to their community, and they know the difference it will make for their young children.

“It’s just unbelievable,” said Williams, who has helped construct two child development centers in Kenya as part of the ministry of CBF field personnel Melody and Sam Harrell.

The Harrells call this education project Change for Children because the construction of eight integrated child development centers around Kenya has the potential to better the lives of the nearly 650 children, ranging in age from 3 to 6, who will attend the schools this year.

“Those who follow after Jesus will recall how he often welcomed children. He also said that it would be better not to have been born than to cause harm to come to a child,” said Sam Harrell. “Unfortunately, children as a group, remain among the most vulnerable, marginalized and neglected sectors of the human family.”

Children in sub-Saharan Africa countries such as Kenya are among the world’s most vulnerable children. In 2004, statistics showed the region was losing ground in child mortality, Harrell said. Then, 42 percent of all children who died before the age of 5 were living in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of access to nutrition, vaccines, safe drinking water and other resources are just some reasons these children are so vulnerable.

The Harrells, who have served in Kenya since 1999, wanted to build on the change they have seen through previous feeding projects, agriculture advances and education initiatives. While government-sponsored primary school has been free for children since 2002, pre-school and kindergarten programs are not or are not available in rural areas. Seeing a need, the Harrells launched Change for Children with the hope that the centers would give children a head start in school and also help marginalized communities.

The Harrells turned to Fellowship partner churches for funding and support of the project. Williams’ church, Rosalind Hills Baptist Church, is one of several Roanoke-area churches who have helped fund child development centers.

“The [centers] give children an opportunity to be in a school. It gives them a place to learn – that they can come to and not only be fed from school work but be physically fed with food,” Williams said.

Change for Children includes a daily nutritionally-balanced meal. so that no student has to learn on an empty stomach. The project also ensures children have all the materials necessary for learning, are immunized and treated for parasites and malaria, have access to safe drinking water, and receive an insecticide-treated mosquito net to protect them from malaria at home while they sleep. The construction of foot bridges ensure children can get to school even during Kenya’s rainy season when river levels rise and are impassable.

The centers are also in line with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, which focus on improving quality of life among the world’s poor by 2015.

“Change in the lives of children through education, better nutrition, elimination of disease, and Christian love and compassion is the goal of this effort,” said Harrell.

The students’ families and the larger community also benefit from the project’s community health education efforts and micro-enterprise development that will enhance money-making potential for families.

“Our role is coming alongside these communities to give them the backup they need in these efforts and to help them succeed,” Harrell said.

But Kenyans aren’t the only ones changed.

“An equally important benefit is the change that occurs in the lives of those who commit to be partners in the initiative, using their God-given gifts, resources and skills and discovering God in the process,” Harrell said.

And that’s just the kind of project CBF of Missouri was looking for when it committed to funding and supporting a child development center.

“We wanted to do more than raise money and give it to the project,” said CBF of Missouri coordinator Harold Phillips. “We wanted it to be an experience that had some personal involvement. [Change for Children] helps us to have our eyes opened to a part of the world and some needs and challenges beyond where most of us live.”

That’s one reason CBF of Missouri will continue sending teams of church members to Kenya to teach, play with children, do construction and provide medical services. Other churches supporting Change for Children have sent similar teams to serve and learn.

With all eight centers now constructed and educating children, the Harrells look to the future – adding playground equipment to better develop children’s motor skills and continuing work to ensure children have access to food and clean water no matter the season in Kenya.

“It has been said that it takes a village to raise a child,” Harrell said. “In these days, a global village response is [needed] in order that children in difficult circumstances are treated with the dignity they deserve and are not forever hampered due to improper treatment during the most crucial developmental periods of life.”

To learn about partnership opportunities in Kenya, contact Chris Boltin at cboltin@thefellowhsip.info or (800) 352-8741. To financially support the Harrell’s ministry, give to the CBF Offering for Global Missions at www.thefellowship.info/give.