WASHINGTON (BP) – The release of Americans imprisoned in Iran should be a condition of any nuclear deal with the Persian nation, the wife of imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini told the House Foreign Affairs Committee June 2. Following testimony from Negmeh Abedini and the families of other U.S. citizens imprisoned or missing in Iran, the committee passed a resolution stating, “Iran should release all detained United States citizens immediately and provide any information it possesses … [Read more...]
IMB to align missionary requirements with BF&M
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – The International Mission Board’s (IMB) new policy on missionary qualifications – replacing previous restrictions related to baptism, speaking in tongues and divorce among other matters – represents an effort to keep basic requirements from going beyond the Baptist Faith and Message, IMB President David Platt told reporters May 14. “We want it to be simple and clear that what’s driving us doctrinally is what all these churches [of the Southern Baptist Convention] have … [Read more...]
Abedini beating intensifies calls for release
TEHRAN, Iran (BP) -- American pastor Saeed Abedini has been "viciously" beaten in the Iranian prison where he is being held for his Christian faith, the American Center for Law and Justice reported June 10, prompting renewed calls for Abedini's release as a condition of any nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran. "It is crucial to speak out for Saeed as we approach the June 30th deadline between the United States and Iran," Abedini's wife Naghmeh said in a June 10 Facebook post. She … [Read more...]
Lottie Moon mission gifts top $153 million
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- As they plan creative new ways to reach the lost, International Mission Board and Woman’s Missionary Union leaders expressed gratitude to Southern Baptists for the generous support churches gave to the 2014 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. Finalized in early June, the 2014 Lottie Moon offering totaled $153,002,394.13 -- the second-highest total in the 126-year history of the offering. While it fell about $1 million short of 2013’s all-time … [Read more...]
‘Though the mountains be shaken’: Students see God’s faithfulness amid Nepal’s earthquake
KATHMANDU, Nepal – Midwestern College student Bethany Collier* kept watch in an open field on an April midnight here, surrounded by five companions, huddled together nearby in their sleeping bags. Participating in the college’s Fusion missions program, she and her friends arrived in Kathmandu four months earlier to multiply disciples among the women of Nepal. They never imagined that, during their trip, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake would shake the Himalayas, shatter cities and kill more than … [Read more...]
Neosho church sows the gospel in West Africa
WEST AFRICA – During a mission trip at the end of April, a small team from Calvary Baptist Church, Neosho, witnessed the long-term impact of sowing the gospel among a people group spread across three West African nations. The team included Calvary’s Pastor Roger Brumley and Missions Minister Tracy Guppy, as well as Brumley’s son, Berrik, who serves as a worship minister in Arkansas. Although they spent much of their time in regions where the church had worked before, the team of three … [Read more...]
Missouri disaster relief on the ground in Nepal
GHORKA, Nepal – Walking as many as 12 hours a day to remote regions still unreached by other aid, two Missouri Baptists are assessing needs and bringing in food and water on foot in this remote area of Nepal. Michael Updegrave of First Baptist, Wellington, and Kevin Bailey of Southern Hills, Bolivar, and a third volunteer from Virginia are part of a RAT team (Rapid Assistance Team) working with Baptist Global Response (BGR) in the wake of the April 25 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed … [Read more...]
Missouri pastor, church find small congregation can make large Kingdom impact in South Asia
SOUTH ASIA – The Missouri pastor scooted to the edge of his seat in anticipation. He could hardly contain his excitement as the IMB missionary described the unengaged, unreached people group his mission team would visit in South Asia. No known believers. Remote villages. No evangelical work of any kind. The missionary warned that reaching this group with the gospel was going to be hard and require endurance. The young pastor clapped his hands together and proclaimed, “That’s what we’re … [Read more...]
Cadet pastor grasps God’s love for the world
PUEBLA, Mexico – Several years before leading his congregation to partner with a church in the Mexican state of Puebla, Pastor John Jones stood on the streets of a Sri Lankan city named Candy—a city popular among Buddhist pilgrims because of a large temple purportedly containing Buddha’s tooth. Some passersby on the streets of Candy spoke English, Jones recalled. But no matter what he said to them, they replied with the same question. “Have you been to the temple yet?” they asked. “Have … [Read more...]
First Puxico sees nearly 260 profess faith
TEHUECAN, Puebla, Mexico – Even the best plans are no match for the variables that pop up during a mission trip. But for First Baptist, Puxico, and their experience with partnership missions in Puebla, Mexico, sometimes God’s plans are better. The 13-member team from Missouri arrived in Tehuecan expecting to work with a local pastor the church had partnered with before, only to find that he had left the local convention and the Puxico team high and dry. “When God shuts one door He often … [Read more...]
O’Fallon’s Lifepoint Church multiplies disciples in Puebla
PUEBLA, Mexico – Launched as a Missouri Baptist church plant in September 2011, Lifepoint Church of O’Fallon has had a heart for missions and discipleship from its inception. Less than five years after Lifepoint’s inception, God is now using the church to encourage and equip the people of Puebla, Mexico, to reach out to their community and plant churches of their own. In the early months of 2014, Pastor Eric Darst and the members of Lifepoint began to pray that God would show them how they … [Read more...]
MBC church embraces Kansas City’s Bhutanese
EDITOR’S NOTE: * denotes name changed. KANSAS CITY – When the opportunity to leave the Bhutanese Refugee camp in Nepal presented itself in 2009, Raphael Dalton* and his family applied immediately. “We lived there for 18 years and it wasn’t a good life,” said Dalton, pastor and planter of the Bhutanese Nepali Church of Kansas City (BNCK). “We had no hope for a future there, but the United States is the land of opportunity for the gospel. We are very proud that we are now U.S. … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- …
- 72
- Next Page »