By Tobin Perry KOKOMO, Ind. – For many exhausted homeowners in Kokomo, Ind., working around the clock to clean up their homes, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) has been a welcome reprieve. SBDR volunteer Karol Jones, a member of Ladoga Baptist Church in Jamestown, Ind., says over and over this week she has talked to worn-out homeowners who can’t believe Southern Baptists would help them—even in the midst of freezing rain—with cleanup, yet not ask anything in return. One … [Read more...]
Church-Planting Missionaries Receive Generous Gift from Southern Baptist Convention
BELLINGHAM, Wash., Nov. 19, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- This week the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board (NAMB) presented a valuable sermon-preparation and presentation gift to each member of its church-planting network. Church-planting missionaries who are a part of the NAMB Send Network each received a Logos Bible Software Silver base package, including nearly 700 resources worth more than $13,000 in print. The gift also includes a six-month license to Logos' … [Read more...]
NAMB trustees approve church planter retirement funds
TORONTO – For the second year in a row trustees for the North American Mission Board (NAMB) have approved a one-time contribution of $1,000 to the retirement accounts of 1,500 church planters in NAMB’s Send Network. The money is coming from underspends in NAMB’s 2012-2013 fiscal year budget. “Our church planters are serving in difficult places and in most cases very expensive places,” said NAMB president Kevin Ezell. “Planning for the future isn’t always the first thing on their minds. … [Read more...]
NAMB online map connects mission needs with volunteers
By Sara Shelton of the North American Mission Board ALPHARETTA, Ga. – When the Baptist Convention of New England (BCNE) came into possession of an old church building in Worcester, Mass., earlier this year, the staff knew exactly what they wanted to do with it. “We were fortunate enough to have the building donated to us, and now we hope to turn it into a church planting center for training planters in the New England area,” explains Tim Buehner, evangelism consultant and mission … [Read more...]
Send North America sparks Ala.-St. Louis church plant
Like thousands of other Southern Baptist churches, First Baptist Church of Hokes Bluff, Ala., has a long and treasured history of missions involvement. Several of our families have served as foreign missionaries. We have given substantially to missions through our local association, the Cooperative Program and special Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) offerings. Yet despite that long history, it has been nearly 15 years since our last missionary family left the field. This has left us … [Read more...]
‘Peace came over me’ on Korean hillside
NORTH FORK, Va. (BP) – St. Louis native, Chaplain Parker Thompson, can recall the moment – more than 60 years ago – he knew he was where God wanted him as an Army chaplain in the Korean War. With the war’s end in sight in the summer of 1953, fighting grew furious as the two sides hammered out an agreement over the transfer of prisoners of war. On the backside of a blood-soaked hill near some of the deadliest fighting of the war, Thompson waited for 10 to 20 troops – whoever could make … [Read more...]
Send North America sparks Alabama, St. Louis church plant partnership
By Eric House Like thousands of other Southern Baptist churches, First Baptist Church of Hokes Bluff, Ala., has a long and treasured history of missions involvement. Several of our families have served as foreign missionaries. We have given substantially to missions through our local association, the Cooperative Program and special SBC offerings. Yet despite that long history, it has been nearly 15 years since our last missionary family left the field. This has left us feeling more … [Read more...]
NAMB provides $1 million for HIS
TOBIN PERRY/North American Mission Board Sioux Falls, S.D. (BP) — Thanks to an historic shift in the funding relationship between the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and state conventions throughout the South Region, $1 million will be available over the next four years to help start churches in key cities and towns along the I-29 corridor – also known as HIS, Hearland Interstate Stratey – that runs from Kansas City to Canada. “I am grateful to our friends in the South state … [Read more...]
Ethnic ministry tracks popular at Send gathering
PLANO, Texas – More than 35 percent of the registrants at the 2013 Send North America Conference signed up for one of five ethnic ministry tracks. The final tally of registrants included 1,526 participants for the ethnic tracks, which included Hispanic Leadership and Mission, Black Church Discipleship and Development, Reaching People from a Muslim Background, Korean Leadership and Development and Leadership Development for Kingdom Development in Chinese Churches. Registrants from other … [Read more...]
Twin Cities church planter sees God’s faithfulness in SBC support
ROSEVILLE, Minn.-Fue Chee Her thought he understood the faithfulness of God when he started Gospel Hmong Baptist Church in metro Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., in 2013. But in the past nine months, that faithfulness has become a visible reality as he has seen God meet every need for his new church plant. Her says that Southern Baptists across the country and in his own Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention have been a part of that story through their faithful missions giving. "We've worked … [Read more...]
Engage 24 mobilizes students for campus evangelism
NEWARK, Del.-Before October last year, Allie Murray had never shared the gospel with anyone. What the University of Delaware senior discovered during an event called Engage 24 was that it wasn't all that bad. "I'm not very outgoing so my friend was leading the first few conversations," said Murray. "I was surprised by how open everyone was. We didn't just spring the gospel on them. We asked them questions about their background and guided the conversation toward Christ. From that I … [Read more...]
Partnerships drive effective disaster relief response
ALPHARETTA, Ga.-When Superstorm Sandy approached the northeast coast last October, North American Mission Board Disaster Relief Executive Director Fritz Wilson and state Southern Baptist Disaster Relief partners were in play coordinating the national response. Wilson and his team temporarily set up a command center in Harrisburg, Penn., as they awaited landfall before heading into the region of greatest need. Partnering with local, state and federal governments, the American Red Cross, The … [Read more...]