Peacemaker conference coming to Mexico

MEXICO—Grand Crossings Baptist Association is hosting “The Power of Peacemaking,” a conference featuring Johnny Johnson of Peacemaker Ministries, Feb. 24-27 at First Baptist Church here.

The intent of the conference is to deliver Gospel hope in a desert of relational conflict. Steve Tanner, director of missions for the host association, said it is no secret that the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) has struggled to get a handle on this area, so meetings like this are meant to promote more harmony and biblical obedience among Baptist brethren.

“It’s evident that so many of our churches are filled with conflict, and the Peacemaker organization just gives us a way to fulfill the biblical requirement of Matthew 18 and other passages that deal with conflict,” Tanner said. “When I came to be a director of missions, I have been amazed at the amount of conflict that is involved in our churches and how much of my time is spent dealing with conflict. This is an effort to help the churches deal with that.”

Peacemaker Ministries was founded in 1982 under the auspices of the Christian Legal Society. The Billings, Mont.-based organization is led by its president, Ken Sande. Johnson is the organization’s senior ministry consultant with special focus on Baptist churches and denominational agencies. He is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, and served for more than 20 years as a pastor.

Before coming to Peacemaker Ministries, he served as a director of missions in the Louisiana Baptist Convention.

The conference is scheduled to begin all four evenings at 7 o’clock. By locating it at First Mexico, Tanner is hoping to draw people from at least two nearby associations. There also is a brown bag lunch invitation for pastors at noon Feb. 25-27 to build another level of participation. The lunches will be held Monday at First Baptist Church, Vandalia, Tuesday at Union Hill Baptist Church, Holts Summit, and Wednesday at Richland Baptist Church, Kingdom City.

“I wish I could say, ‘This is required. You have to come to this,’” Tanner said. “But you can’t do that.

“It’s not complicated. It’s just simple application of biblical principles.”