RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – The five years after what was termed a historic financial and operational “reset” for the International Mission Board have brought two of the highest Lottie Moon Christmas Offerings ever, but also room for growth in accordance with the goals of Vision 2025. In August 2015 then-IMB President David Platt and senior leadership announced a plan to address revenue shortfalls within the organization. The decision to do so, Platt said in a town hall presentation, followed a … [Read more...]
Bates City church volunteer clerk has served since 1973
BATES CITY – A pot-belly stove was the first opportunity for Delores Turner, member of Concord Baptist Church near Bates City, to serve Christ when she was only ten. “My sister and I would walk to church,” Turner said, “and we would be the first to arrive. So, we always got some coal and fired up the stove so that it would be warm when the others would arrive.” With her history of service, it was not surprising that she became the volunteer church clerk in 1973. She worked to keep the … [Read more...]
Heroes of history, heroes of faith: Christian authors introduce new generation to historic men, women
JEFFERSON CITY – For more than two decades, Janet Benge and her husband, Geoff, have made the past come alive for new generations of children through dozens of biographies published in Youth With a Mission’s (YWAM) “Heroes of History” and “Christian Heroes” book collections. With roughly 208 million books in print across the globe, in 22 different languages, they have written about Christian missionaries like Adoniram Judson, Rachel Saint, Hudson Taylor, Eric Liddell and Amy Carmichael, as … [Read more...]
Church to stream services into jail
PLEASANT HOPE – COVID-19 has changed the way many churches do ministry, and that goes for jail ministries as well. Now, after months of being barred from physically visiting inmates and navigating through officials and red tape, Shepherd’s Way here is looking to begin streaming worship services in the Polk County Jail. Jacob Miller, the pastor/planter of Shepherd’s Way, said the goal is to stream services into each of four pods in the jail in the next two to four weeks. “Originally we … [Read more...]
Fusion program trains up ‘world Christians’
KANSAS CITY – According to the International Mission Board, 4.5 billion people live among more than 7,000 people groups unreached by the gospel. Preaching in chapel at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS), Jan. 20, Provost and Professor of Historical Theology Jason Duesing told students, faculty and staff that every Christian should play a role in reaching these people groups with the gospel. Though not every Christian will be a career missionary, Duesing said, every Christian … [Read more...]
Church revitalized, sees growth amid pandemic
HIGH RIDGE – When Reggan Jett came from West Virginia in May, 2019, to pastor in Missouri, he knew Fellowship Baptist Church needed work. Since then, God has obviously done a work. “It’s been crazy. I don’t know how to explain it other than God (is at work),” Pastor Jett said. Fellowship saw 19 families join during the pandemic in 2020; church attendance has more than doubled; and church facilities have had renovation. “My first contact with Fellowship was in December 2018 on a visit. I … [Read more...]
Peanut-sized faith: George Washington Carver leaves legacy of faith in the Creator
DIAMOND – Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains, the Lord Jesus once said. In the early years of the 20th century, walking through the countryside near Tuskegee , Ala., Professor George Washington Carver sought for a peanut-sized faith – and he hoped it would prove a boon for poor southern farmers. The boll weevil, a beetle ruinous for the cotton plant, was moving north from Mexico and threatening the southern United States, where farmers depended primarily on cotton. For … [Read more...]
International students hear gospel at Truman State
KIRKSVILLE – When asked if his ministry at Truman State has always focused on reaching international students, Campus Missionary Greg Xander laughs. “Not intentionally,” he says. When he took over as BSU Director 11 years ago, reaching international students was not on his radar. “I grew up in Edina,” he says. “Population: all white.” Neither he nor his wife, Stacey, had overseas experience, nor had they known any international students when they attended Truman Gene Austin, now the … [Read more...]
Will we believe God for the impossible?
February sees winter roaring into Missouri and across middle America. Historic multiple days of cold and frozen precipitation, coupled with COVID-19 cautions, are like a perfectly planted gut punch in a boxing match for many of our churches. Missouri Baptist pastors, like their colleagues in many other states, have worked diligently and faithfully to help their churches stay on mission. Many of our churches are reporting upswings in baptisms and budgets. Yet, there are too many struggling … [Read more...]
DR sends hand sanitizer to The Baptist Home, associations, churches
JEFFERSON CITY – In a pandemic it is important to wash hands often and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer frequently. The Missouri Baptist Convention Disaster Relief (DR) ministry was the recipient of a shipment of 48 pallets of hand sanitizer from the non-profit organization Global Citizen USA, based in Chicago, Ill. Of that shipment, the Baptist Homes in Chillicothe, Ironton and Ozark were provided 10 pallets, and 38 others have been distributed to associations and churches around … [Read more...]
Freedom on the Inside: HLGU ministry in state prison thrives, transforms lives
JEFFERSON CITY – Imagine a typical university class of eager ministerial students, then imagine the same in a maximum security prison. Rodrick Sweet doesn’t have to imagine: He knows both classrooms and sees little difference. His class at the Jefferson City Correctional Center (JCCC), he says, is all men and they’re all in uniform. Other than that, teaching in the prison setting for him isn’t so different than other college and university classrooms where he’s taught. Sweet’s … [Read more...]
Blessed to be part of God’s work among Missouri Baptists
I came to Missouri because God called me here. I felt God wanted to do something great in Missouri, and He invited me to join in. It has been 19 years, and I do not regret one second of the time I have spent serving the Lord in Missouri. It has not always been easy, but such is to be expected in a fallen world. When you start a newspaper with zero readers, it is a God-sized project. Given the continuing battle over the Bible between conservatives and moderates as well as legal control of … [Read more...]
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