TOBIN PERRY/North American Mission Board KANSAS CITY – On Easter Sunday the community surrounding Bales Avenue Community Church here came together to celebrate two resurrections. The first and most important was Jesus’ resurrection from the grave. The second – the church’s new beginning after decades of decline – visibly illustrated the first. “The neighborhood has changed and the world has changed, which represents sin all around us within the city,” said Jason Dawson, the pastor of … [Read more...]
DR responds in Arkansas, other tornado-stricken states
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - As residents of the South and Midwest braced for more violent storms Monday, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers were already responding to needs in Arkansas, Oklahoma and in other states impacted by devastating tornadoes that struck over the weekend. The hardest hit area in the suburbs of Little Rock was the focus of continued search and recovery efforts Monday as SBDR volunteers prepared to serve hot meals to rescuers and storm survivors. "We have … [Read more...]
KC-area church regains spiritual vitality
Editor’s note: Ministries like this one in Kansas City are made possible through your Cooperative Program gifts. TOBIN PERRY/North American Mission Board KANSAS CITY – In John Mark Clifton’s first few months as associate director of missions at the Blue-River Kansas City Association, dying churches haunted him. They were everywhere. Churches that once experienced 200 to 300 people in worship weekly when he was a teenager in the city now struggled with fewer than 30 people attending … [Read more...]
Collegiate ministry leaders learn from multiplying Northwest church
By Tobin Perry PULLMAN, Wash.—When most of your members learned to drive during the Obama administration, a large portion of tithes come from part-time earners and your church turns over most of its membership every four to five years, you have a unique set of ministry challenges. And it’s easy to think you’re struggling through these issues by yourself. That’s what it’s like to lead a collegiate church plant. “Sometimes you just feel alone—like ‘are we the only ones doing collegiate … [Read more...]
Church responds to landslide
OSO, Wash. -- Oso Community Chapel is the only church on a 30-mile stretch of State Route 530 - the roadway, which was sliced in half March 22 by a massive landslide. The disaster along the Stillaguamish River claimed at least 14 lives and destroyed some 50 homes Church planter Gary Ray, pastor of Oso Chapel, reports that none of his 80 members were injured in the slide, and none lost their homes. But they all know people who did in the rural community of 500. "We are the only church … [Read more...]
How NAMB is assisting Southern Baptists churches in evangelism
By H. Al Gilbert ALPHARETTA, Ga. - God works through His people, the Church. The Bible makes it very clear. The local church is central in God's plan to move the gospel throughout the world. That's why the evangelism teams at the North American Mission Board (NAMB) are geared to encourage and extend the ministries of the local church. We believe in the continuum of church-every evangelism effort should be rooted in and flow back into the local church. NAMB's role becomes clear in the … [Read more...]
NAMB announces 2015 Send Conference date, location
By Adam Miller ALPHARETTA, Ga. - The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is developing plans for its 2015 Send North America Conference slated for Aug. 3-4 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. This will be the third time NAMB has hosted the conference to encourage, equip and mobilize lay leaders in local congregations to penetrate lostness in North America. Almost 2,000 people attended the Send North America Conference at First Baptist Church Woodstock, Ga., in 2012. The … [Read more...]
On Mission magazine debuts redesign
Joe Conway/North American Mission Board ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – The North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) flagship publication, On Mission, has undergone a redesign, and something of a re-launch, with the New Year. “Beginning with the current issue, we have begun to organize the magazine around the themes of gospel, mission and ministry,” said Aaron Coe, NAMB vice president for mobilization and marketing and editor in chief of On Mission. “This makes the magazine a tool for use in our … [Read more...]
Ezell: We must redefine success for churches
Mike Ebert/NAMB INDIANAPOLIS – Kevin Ezell told trustees of the North American Mission Board that he is determined to help pastors and laypeople redefine what success looks like for their churches. “Success cannot be defined based on how many people a church keeps,” Ezell told trustees gathered for their Feb. 5 meeting. “We must help them redefine success based on how many a church sends. Churches are designed to be sending agencies.” As Ezell addressed the entity’s leaders, winds … [Read more...]
TOBIN PERRY/North American Mission Board KANSAS CITY – Church planter Luis Mendoza didn’t know he was a church planter when he started doing it more than 20 years ago. A new believer, in the late 1980s, Mendoza thought building relationships with non-Christians, sharing Christ and starting up new Bible studies was just what Christians did. “I became a believer in 1989 when I came here to this country,” said Mendoza, a North American Mission Board (NAMB) church planter now in Kansas … [Read more...]
Elliff: Southern Baptists taking gospel to the world
Laura Fielding/International Mission Board CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) – In a “Thanksgiving report” to International Mission Board (IMB) trustees during their Nov. 7-8 meeting in Charlotte, N.C. , IMB President Tom Elliff expressed gratitude to God for Southern Baptists’ support of IMB through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Elliff also expressed thanksgiving for the untiring work and interest of IMB trustees, the dedication of IMB personnel in the U.S. and … [Read more...]
Missionaries say God reoriented their lives
Marie Curtis/International Mission Board RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – John* had his comfortable American life all arranged. Moving up the corporate ladder, he was successful in a plywood company and looked forward to his next opportunity. “I planned on being somebody,” John said. “Money and recognition were my main motives for getting up every day.” But when he spoke to a missionary appointment service Nov. 10, he had a different story to tell. “I was planning on making a name for … [Read more...]