December 8, 1999
Partnerships forge bridges to the future
___Our recent trip to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session in El Paso demonstrated the vastness of Texas, the closeness of Mexico and the challenge before Texas Baptists to physically reach the distinctive regions of our state for Christ's kingdom.
___If you flew to El Paso, you saw the majesty from God's heaven, and if you drove, you experienced the serene plains and distant mountains painted on the horizon.
___Either way, we now better understand the distance of Brownsville to Amarillo, El Paso to Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth to Corpus Christi and Longview to Laredo; yet within the scope of our spiritual strength.
Robert Manley
President, Valley Baptist Missions/ Education Center
___Valley Baptist Missions/Education Center has accepted the challenge to complement Texas Baptists' outreach to familiar families and new-found friends throughout the state and along the shared border.
___VBMEC and Valley Baptist Academy are blessed to have a multi-cultural 50-year heritage and welcome the opportunity to partner with the youth, families, churches and institutions desiring to share their Christian testimony and ministry throughout the new Promised Land of opportunity for Texans.
___Our institutional presence and experienced past can hopefully extend bridges to Christian education for future Texans and nearby mission possibilities along the Rio Grande.
___Denominational and government leaders have expressed the potential for Texas as the gateway to Central and South America, and VBA/VBMEC is situated at the cultural crossroads poised to partner with those desiring to do God's will through individual and institutional ministries:
___* Bivocational pastors and lay leaders attending weekly Christian training classes after a full day's work.
___* Full-time ministers expressing a desire for a local higher degree in Christian theology.
___* Baylor students giving up spring break for concrete-pouring, room-painting and student-witnessing.
___* Volunteers coming out of retirement to tutor students and apply learned skills on campus.
___* Financially limited parents seeking the guidance to afford a Baptist university education for their daughter.
___All of these activities on our campus evidence individuals' willingness to answer God's call in partnership with VBMEC.
___If you or someone else has more to give, keep us in your prayers and call for specific ways we might partner to build the bridges to the future.
___Contact the office of Robert M. Manley Jr., President, Valley Baptist Missions/Education Center, 3700 E. Harrison, Harlingen 78550; phone (956) 423-0632; fax (956) 423-7913; e-mail vbmec@acnet.net.
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