Baptist Briefs
___ LifeWay honors Houston church. Metropolitan Baptist Church of Houston was honored by LifeWay Christian Resources with its Washburn-Piland-Taylor Directors Award. The award recognizes the church's involvement in the FAITH evangelism strategy. The congregation involves more than 1,000 people in its FAITH program. Sal Sberna is pastor.
___ NAMB tests evangelistic ads. A recent series of nationwide evangelistic television commercials sponsored by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board has resulted in more than 6,200 total responses to an offer of a free "Jesus" video and 48 first-time professions of faith in Christ.
___ Discounts offered to churches. Microsoft computer software is now available at discounted rates to Southern Baptist churches, associations and state conventions. Ministries such as children's homes and disaster relief units also are eligible to participate. Healthcare organizations and private foundations are not eligible. The discounts are available through a cooperative purchasing plan. The initial order from any new customer is 10 units, but subsequent orders can be placed for single units. For details, call Andrew Zaehler at (800) 361-8939 or e-mail him at azaehler@asap.com. A list of other authorized providers is available at www.microsoft.com/enterprise/licensing. In addition to Microsoft software, purchasing agreements are available to all SBC organizations on computers, office supplies and relocation services.
___ Collegians give $3.4 million. For the 1999-2000 school year, college students from around the country donated $3.4 million to mission activities through their Baptist campus ministries. The college students walked, baked, played racquetball, made snow cones and more to raise money. The money the students raise is sent to their state convention collegiate ministries offices and used to fund mission programs in their states, the nation and the world. At Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, the Baptist Student Ministry raised almost $9,000 just from sacrificial giving by students. "What we try to do here is to reorient the students' thinking about their lifestyle toward giving," said Director Kyle Klemcke.
___ Pastor needed. Lake Chapala Baptist Church, located in an English-speaking community of 10,000 on Lake Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico, is seeking a pastor. Located about 35 miles from Guadalajara, the church offers many opportunities for outreach and missions. For information, contact Jon Bergeson at bergeson@prodigy.net.mx or call 011-52-3-766-0375.
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