MOORE, Okla. (BP) – Gary Hunley had seen it all before. As he surveyed the damage left behind from last Monday’s EF5 tornado in Moore, Okla., he saw an all-too-familiar scene of overturned cars, metal signposts bent to the ground and houses reduced to rubble. Almost two years to the day before the historic Moore tornado, Hunley’s home was destroyed by an equally historic tornado in Joplin, which killed 158 people. Since then Hunley, the leader on his Spring River Baptist Association … [Read more...]
Missionary to Chile uses crafts, helps to reach others
MAYWOOD – Jackie Bursmeyer uses creative ways to reach people in Santiago, Chile, for Jesus Christ. These include making crafts, unique Bible stories over tea, and even walking her dog, Molly. Bursmeyer, a Southern Baptist missionary for 35 years, is on furlough with family in St. Louis. She spoke to the Mt. Salem/Wyaconda Southern Baptist Association quarterly Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) meeting April 25 of her work and the challenges as an administrative assistant for the Americas … [Read more...]
Because you give … unreached people hear the gospel
The people of Southeast Mexico are as diverse as the region’s geography, which features snowcapped peaks, fertile valleys, and high desert plains. God has uniquely prepared Missouri natives Aaron and Brie woods to serve the unreached people of this region, and your faithful giving through the Cooperative Program enables them to go. Aaron and Brie grew up in Missouri Baptist churches, where the language of missions was always spoken. Both participated in volunteer mission projects as teens … [Read more...]
Chaplains always on call to minister to victims, DR workers
HUNTSVILLE – With immediate disaster needs like downed trees that need to be cut off of houses and thousands of people needing hot meals, it can be easy to forget a key piece to the Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) puzzle: chaplains. John Rhodes, pastor of First Baptist, Huntsville, has been involved with DR since 2001 and as a chaplain for the past six years. In addition to being a DR chaplain, Rhodes filled that role with the Fruitland Fire Department before moving to Huntsville … [Read more...]
Interstate 29/49 Task Force moving forward
Omaha, Neb. – The newly organized, 11-man Interstate 29/49 Corridor Task Force met in Omaha May 17 to discuss strategy and begin to lay the groundwork for taking the gospel into unreached areas in the region. Five state conventions are participating in the task force: the Baptist Convention of Iowa, the Dakota Baptist Convention, the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention and the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC). Missouri Baptists’ … [Read more...]
Preparing for the Worst
JEFEFERSON CITY – The weather was calm, cool and clear, far from tornado weather. But that didn’t stop more than 200 Missouri Disaster Relief (DR) volunteers from churches across Missouri from converging on Jefferson City as if a Joplin-scale disaster had struck. In the biggest DR operation since the 2011 tornado response, the army of “yellow hats” (volunteers) converged on Jefferson City May 3 and woke up early the next morning to begin working at 6:45. “We’re better prepared for the … [Read more...]
WMU meeting marked by excitement
WARRENSBURG – Moving forward on the quest to share the gospel around the world, Missouri women celebrated 125 years of Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) at the 2013 annual meeting April 12-13. Nearly 500 women gathered for the WMU Missions Celebration, held here at First Baptist Church. “I don’t know of any other event in the state of Missouri that presents missionaries and opportunities for learning like this,” said President Joan Dotson. “Attendance is up. Excitement is up.” Attendance … [Read more...]
MWMU group helps send literature all over world
BUTLER, Ill.—Love Packages is a small ministry here in a town of 200 people, but a Missouri Woman’s Missionary Union (MWMU) group helps them reach the world for Jesus. Fifteen MWMU members and guests of the Mt. Salem/Wyaconda Southern Baptist Association made their sixth trip to Butler March 19 to sort and repack Bibles, Sunday School material, and Christian literature for spiritually needy people. Love Packages (LP), a non-denominational para-church ministry, began in 1975. Director Steve … [Read more...]
Because you give, there are cowboy churches…
CUBA — “I will not start a church plant unless they agree to give at least 10 percent of their undesignated offerings through the Cooperative Program,” states former rodeo champion and now pastor David Kenyon of Deer Creek Church here. His story is layered with evidence of God’s sovereign orchestration of life’s circumstances and events. Also known as Missouri’s “Horse Whisperer,” Kenyon (see ad on adjacent page) lives with his bride of 20 years on a small farm in Moniteau County. He … [Read more...]
SBU’s Center for Global Connections provides unique opportunities for students
BOLIVAR — Through the Southwest Baptist University (SBU) Center for Global Connections, students are ministering to multiple people groups around the world, but they can’t do it without financial support from a multitude of donors. With about 350 students having participated on 28 teams in 2012, students raised more than $550,000 to fund those trips. Teams begin to form during Global Connections Week, held each spring and fall for upcoming trips. Students submit an application and are … [Read more...]
DR crews provide response after Hazelwood tornado
HAZELWOOD – Three weeks into the spring storm season, an April 10 tornado destroyed 12 homes and damaged another 60, prompting the first DR call-out of the year. “We’ve been busy,” said Dwain Carter, Director of Disaster Relief for the Missouri Baptist Convention. Disaster Relief Volunteers from churches around the state have assessed 92 different job sites, and completed work on 84 properties. Those jobs include four temporary “blue tarp” roofs, and debris removal. The gritty, dirty work … [Read more...]
Cape man takes passion for sharing to Philippines
CAPE GIRARDEAU – Sharing Jesus isn’t difficult. Just ask Rex Barker. Recently returned from his seventh trip to the Philippine island of Bohol and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, the retired school teacher and member of Linwood Baptist in Cape Girardeau has taken it upon himself to be the missionary to anyone and everyone who will listen. That goes for southeast Missouri as well as Southeast Asia. “In two weeks, we prayed for almost 10,000 students. That’s a ‘wow.’ The doors just … [Read more...]