RAYTOWN – Building off of a cryptic title, Kirk Baker, pastor of First Baptist, Camdenton, delivered the annual sermon to Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting, speaking on “Chicken, cheese and cereal.” The title was a playful take off of Velveeta, a “cheese product,” Wyngz, a chicken-based snack with no wing meat, and Froot Loops, the sweet cereal that yet contains zero fruit. His text was 1 John 3:11-16: “For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love … [Read more...]
Missouri DR intern shares Jesus in Houston, earns college credits back home
MARYVILLE – Maddy Atwell spent her entire summer preparing for a disaster that never came. A member of Laura Street Baptist Church and a collegiate intern for Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief, she spent her summer training to respond however she was needed, whether in mass care, childcare, laundry, mudout, chaplaincy chainsaw or incident command. And while nobody would complain about a disaster-free summer, it was a little bit ironic when the wettest hurricane on record hit Houston … [Read more...]
Restoration House offers trafficking survivors grace
KANSAS CITY – Human trafficking is the number two global crime behind drug trafficking. While Restoration House may not be able to stop the trafficking from the start, it can offer survivors of a place of healing that overflows with God’s grace. “It’s not just a problem overseas,” said Rodney Hammer, director of missions for the Blue River-Kansas City Association and president of Restoration House’s board of directors. “We have a huge problem in Kansas City. These are people who are from … [Read more...]
In Jesus’ embrace: Family feels Christ’s comfort in their sorrow
TRENTON – Sunday morning services at Coon Creek Baptist Church had just ended, and Mike Knapp wanted to get the cattle fed before the family gathered together for lunch. His teenaged son, Malachi, got into his truck and decided to lend a hand. “He was always worried about me and wouldn’t let me go anywhere without him checking up on me,” Mike said. A quarter-mile from the house, a white car came zooming down the hill, fast enough that Mike swerved his tractor off the road, thinking, … [Read more...]
CP, MMO gifts help feed the hungry
BLUE SPRINGS – Kim Danley may be the founding director of the hunger ministry at First Baptist Church, Blue Springs, but her experience and passion go beyond the years of service and watching God work through a bag of groceries. She has lived it as well. “I’ve seen the difference that Christ has made in my life and how someone else’s kindness helped me,” Danley said. “When I came to know the Lord, I was young, coming out of a divorce, and had two small children. I was a new Christian, and … [Read more...]
Once ready to close its doors, Greenwood church bounces back
GREENWOOD – For the church in Greenwood, a small Kansas City nearly surrounded by Lee’s Summit, it’s all about God’s timing. In 2011, First Baptist Church, Greenwood, was near the end of its ministry, and was ready to shut its doors. Instead of leaving the neighborhood without a Gospel witness, they donated their assets to Lenexa Baptist Church (a congregation which sits across the Kansas state line but is still a member of the Missouri Baptist Convention) to replant the church as a Lenexa … [Read more...]
Hard, hot mudout work yields one-on-one ministry
TEXAS CITY, Texas – Rosalie Archer-Knehans never goes on a disaster relief job without a Bible, even if the person they’re serving is already a believer. One such survivor of Hurricane Harvey God had in store for Archer-Knehans was Elesia. Though she had been rescued by boat, water only got up three or four inches into house. Still, Archer-Knehans saw it as a God-made appointment. “She just needed someone to love her,” she said. “She was broken, alone and had lost her joy.” … [Read more...]
Interim DR leader Parry gets trial by fire during Harvey
JEFFERSON CITY – When Dwain Carter, the director of the Mission Baptist Convention’s disaster relief program left to take on a similar role in Texas, he knew he was leaving the ministry in capable hands. Tamara Parry, a member of Union Hill Baptist Church, Holts Summit, had served as the DR ministry assistant for three years and was ready and willing to step into the interim role. Then, just two weeks into her new responsibilities, the most destructive hurricane in U.S. history made … [Read more...]
Running ‘for’ the disaster: Runner raises money for Mo. Disaster Relief
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – While nearly everyone in their right mind is running away from a disaster, Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are the ones who run toward it. Now Adam Stoddard, a Missouri Baptist Convention church planting catalyst is running not from or to the disaster, but for it. Stoddard is a trail runner, and hopes to raise at least $3,000 for Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief through his upcoming trail run Sept. 23. But forget a 5K or even a 26.2-mile marathon: Stoddard’s goal is … [Read more...]
Vic Borden: The pastor as counselor and guide
KANSAS CITY – Vic Borden, the pastor of Red Bridge Baptist Church here, focuses on his ministry strengths. For him, that means walking alongside his congregation as shepherd and counselor, weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who rejoice. “I’m just an OK administrator, theologian and preacher, but I am in my zone when I am tending the flock,” Borden said. I have that heart for God’s people, and I think they would tell you that. I feed them and I watch out for them and … [Read more...]
David Wells: The pastor as servant-leader
HILLSBORO – When it comes to serving, pastor David Wells prefers to lead Sandy Baptist Church by example. “Whether it is serving through missions, ministering or disaster relief, you can’t take the people where you haven’t been,” he said. “If I want them to serve, I need to be their servant first. Servanthood is about doing it with them, not for them.” Wells was in a perfect position to model servant leadership for Sandy Baptist. When they called him as pastor, they specifically asked … [Read more...]
Small Puxico church displays heart for missions
MOLDOVA – As one of the smaller former Soviet states, Moldova is an easy nation to overlook. Not for Lewis Scott of Brush Creek Mission Baptist Church in Puxico. Scott will return for his fifth trip to tiny country wedged between Romania and Ukraine later this month as part of an IGO Missions health clinic trip. Scott partners with a local Baptist congregation in a series strategic cities and towns. Each clinic is preceded by an evangelistic crusade where people sign up for a time … [Read more...]
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