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...]
Blunt challenges 571 SBU grads
BOLIVAR – Southwest Baptist University graduated 571 students at the spring commencement ceremonies held Thursday, May 14 and Saturday, May 16. U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt delivered the commencement address at the undergraduate ceremony. Prior to being elected to the United States Senate in 2010, Blunt served as Missouri’s Secretary of State, in the U.S. House of Representatives, and as president of SBU from 1993 to 1996. He challenged students to cherish and protect the American right to … [Read more...]
Jason Allen to MBTS grads: ‘We cannot stop speaking’
KANSAS CITY – Graduates, families and friends gathered in Daniel Lee Chapel for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s 57th commencement exercises launching newly trained gospel ministers into service. In all, 109 students graduated, encompassing five diplomas in Christian ministry and 27 undergraduate, 58 graduate and 19 doctoral degrees. Key moments in the May 8 ceremony included Midwestern President Jason Allen charging students in his commencement address that, “We Cannot Stop … [Read more...]
Macedonia Project targets state’s most unreached counties
JEFFERSON CITY — In 2016, Missouri Baptists will launch an initiative, called The Macedonia Project, with a vision for making disciples among the 2.3 million lost people in five counties near St. Louis and Kansas City. The lost population in these five counties—St. Louis County/City, St. Charles, Jefferson, Clay and Jackson – make up more than half of the 4.5 million Missourians who, according to a 2010 U.S. Religion Census, don’t claim to be born again. Moreover, these five … [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...]
SBU receives monetary gift from MBC
BOLIVAR – Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Director John Yeats presented a check from the MBC to Southwestern Baptist University (SBU) when the university’s Board of Trustees met, April 28. The monetary gift from the MBC will go toward the renovation and expansion of the Gene Taylor Free Enterprise Center. The estimated total cost of the project is $2.5 million, with more than $1.4 million raised. Expansion is necessary due to enrollment growth in the Robert W. Plaster College … [Read more...]
MBCH readies for camp, affirms training policy
BRIDGETON – Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH) trustees affirmed their policy of who can be trained as a foster parent, heard a clean audit report and issued a plea to help send MBCH kids camp at their board meeting here April 28. MBCH Children and Family’s Ministries fielded requests for 92 therapeutic group homes the first three months of 2015, more than half of the total for all of 2014. Requests for pregnancy services were also up for the first quarter, with 63 requests versus … [Read more...]
Restoring lives in a shattered community
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...]
Unbroken: WWII POW’s pitch opens Royals’ season
BETHANY – Dale Mitchell took the mound at Kauffman Stadium in front 40,085 roaring fans. Opening Day, 2015: The defending American League Champion Kansas City Royals vs. the Chicago White Sox. Squinting through sunglasses, his cap pulled low, Mitchell cocked his arm back and let his pitch fly. If you don’t remember Mitchell’s name from the KC starting rotation, it’s because at 90 years old, Mitchell had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Kauffman Stadium for the … [Read more...]
The problem of too many pastors-less churches
“Dr. Yeats, I have 237 pastors-less churches on my list.” As I rode down the elevator, the administrative assistant for MBC’s pastoral ministries shared with me this disheartening news. It broke my heart to hear that one out of eight Baptist churches in the heartland are without a shepherd to lead the congregation. I thought, “That is too many pastors-less churches.” As I reflected on the number, the thought of these men of God, who experienced forced termination or resigned out of … [Read more...]
Missouri pastor ignites prayer response at county courthouse
LEWISTOWN – Many pastors encouraged their flocks to pray during the National Day of Prayer, May 7. Ted Middleton, pastor of First Baptist Church here ratcheted up the call to prayer with a bold newspaper ad that challenged Christians’ faith. A full-page ad in the April 23 edition of The Press-News Journal in Lewis County pointedly challenged local Christians to stand in faith. “Do you believe in God? Prove it,” the ad reads. It then gives details of the time and place for Lewis County … [Read more...]
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