HANNIBAL – Nearly two dozen teenagers professed faith in Christ during the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Super Summer last month, and many more students grew in their faith throughout the camp. The MBC’s Making Disciples group held two sessions of Super Summer at Hannibal LaGrange University, hosting 174 teenagers during the first session and 95 during the second session. Amber Grayson, a member of First Baptist, Owensville, isn’t surprised that Super Summer transforms students’ … [Read more...]
Missourian urges prayer amid Tokyo Olympics
TOKYO, Japan – For the first time in 20 years, Chesterfield Community Church Connections Pastor Jeff Wells won’t attend the Summer Olympic Games. Ever since the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Wells has ventured across the globe to proclaim the gospel to international crowds gathered for the games. Both in summer and winter, he never missed the games, and the experience drastically changed his life. Not only did it foster a love for missions in his family, but it also expanded … [Read more...]
DR volunteers, interns care for children at annual meeting
NASHVILLE – Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers interacted with some of the most lively attendees of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting here in mid-June: namely, Southern Baptist messengers’ 3-year-old children. The Missouri DR childcare team joined other DR teams from across the nation to offer pre-K childcare for messengers and guests. “It has been a fun, but crazy week. We’ve got a lot of kids, and it’s busy,” Angie Hurd, childcare coordinator for Missouri DR, … [Read more...]
SBC evangelists honor McNiel for 50-plus years in ministry
NASHVILLE – The Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists (COSBE) honored Missouri Baptist evangelist Jim McNiel during one of their meals at the Southern Baptist Convention’s 2021 annual meeting here. They gave McNiel a plaque, recognizing his 50-plus years in evangelistic ministry. “I started in 1967, right out of college,” McNiel said, expressing gratitude for the plaque and for God’s faithfulness through the years. “I am so grateful.” For decades, McNiel’s evangelistic sermons have … [Read more...]
HLGU graduate tells classic fairy tales with a Christian flavor
HANNIBAL – JacQueline Vaughn Roe has retold the classic fairytale about Rapunzel for young people in a set of novels called The Journey Series. But there’s one difference. As a 2002 graduate from Hannibal-LaGrange University with a bachelor of arts in Christian theatre, Roe strives to weave “Christian faith into the narrative” of her novels “as the characters grapple with their struggles.” “As my degree (at HLGU) centered around theatre (and specifically how to use theatre as a tool for … [Read more...]
WORLD’s Cheaney conveys gospel truth through fiction
BOLIVAR – As a senior writer for the well-known Christian publication, WORLD magazine, Janie B. Cheaney recognizes how words can shape and encourage a Christian worldview. After all, as a Christian worldview publication, WORLD aims at providing “sound journalism, grounded in facts and biblical truth.” But for many years, Cheaney – who is a member of Southern Hills Baptist Church, Bolivar – has also endeavored to convey biblical truth through books for young adults. Cheaney oversees … [Read more...]
MBTS professor’s book points children to revelation in nature
KANSAS CITY – Love for nature fills Jason Duesing’s home in Kansas City. Duesing, provost and professor of historical theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, makes sure of that. Inspired by trees, he loves the color green. He often sketches trees and mountains, and his children playfully call him “The Lorax” – the Dr. Seuss character that loves nature and “speaks for the trees.” In fact, the Duesing family’s love for nature inspired a new children’s book, The Moon Speaks, … [Read more...]
MBCH leaders watch for impending SCOTUS decision on religious liberty
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court could hand down a decision anytime this month in a case regarding Philadelphia’s refusal to let a Catholic ministry take part in the city’s foster care program because the ministry won’t violate its religious convictions by giving children to same-sex couples. Though the Supreme Court case involves a Catholic ministry, Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH) President Russell Martin said the court’s decision could greatly impact the MBCH’s … [Read more...]
Twice pardoned: Freeway Ministries’ Stroup gains Governor’s pardon
SPRINGFIELD – Thirteen years ago, as John Stroup sat in a prison cell, the gospel arrested his attention. He placed his faith in Christ, his sins were pardoned by God and his life was transformed. Late last month, the former-drug-addict-turned-minister received another pardon, this time from the state of Missouri. Stroup serves as executive director of Freeway Ministries, which is transforming lives not only throughout Missouri and in Nebraska, but also throughout the globe. The ministry … [Read more...]
Ministry restores 20,000 lost photos in decade after devastating tornado
CARTHAGE – After an EF5 tornado carved a mile-wide path of destruction through the city of Joplin on May 22, 2011, Thad Beeler surveyed the damage in his parents’ home. The tornado uprooted three large trees, throwing them on top of the house. It flipped his parents’ car and wrapped it around a neighbor’s tree. It ripped a six-foot-wide patio door out of the side of the house and drove a block of wood through three walls and a toaster oven. But Beeler thought it odd that family photos and … [Read more...]
Federal ‘overreach’ threatens liberty at Christian colleges
JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) university presidents expressed disappointment after a federal judge rejected the College of the Ozark’s (COO) request to press pause on a federal directive that could force Christian universities to cater to the LGBT agenda. Federal Judge Roseann Ketchmark, in the Western District of Missouri, denied COO’s request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, May 19, though she hasn’t dismissed the complaint or ruled in … [Read more...]
The ‘miracle’ of Joplin: Church’s ministry grows out of tornado’s devastation
JOPLIN – After tornado alarms sounded in Joplin on May 22, 2011, Pastor John Swadley of Forest Park Baptist Church here took shelter with his family in a crawlspace under their home. They listened to radio reports covering the storm and its devastating aftermath. “Someone (reporting on the radio) was driving up the main street, Range Line Road, saying, ‘Home Depot is gone. Walmart is gone. Pizza Hut is gone.’ ... I hoped that I wouldn’t hear the words, ‘Forest Park Baptist is … [Read more...]
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