JUST LIKE GOD INTENDED, the Flynns—Amanda, Tim, Katya (left) and Ksoosha—are a Texas family. The girls met their new mom and dad in a Russian orphanage. (Photo by Russ Dilday) Full story
Tyler church transplant
brings life from death
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___TYLER--Hillcrest Baptist Church in Tyler died as an aging Anglo congregation and was resurrected as a vibrant Hispanic church.
___When Hillcrest disbanded in early January, the established congregation gave its facility to a Hispanic congregation that could more effectively reach the surrounding neighborhood in northwest Tyler.
___The new church was formed by members of a Hispanic ministry who had been meeting in Hillcrest's family life center and by members of the Hispanic mission of Green Acres Baptist Church. Salvador Sanchez, who had ministered to both groups, is pastor of the new congregation.
___The need to disband was a hard reality Hillcrest faced in the past year as attendance dropped to about two dozen members, according to Pastor Seth Johnston. Full Story Political football: Republicans to vote on allowing prayer at school games
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___A referendum on the Texas Republican Party primary ballot concerning prayer at school football games is "so nebulous as to be meaningless," said Phil Strickland, director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.
___The non-binding "Texas Religious Freedom Referendum" asks Republican primary voters: "Shall student-initiated prayer be allowed at school sporting events?"
___As stated on the March primary ballot, the referendum bears little resemblance to the real matter of a school district allowing students to use its public-address system to lead prayers at school-sponsored athletic events, Strickland maintained. Full Story
New Mexico van accident takes 3 lives
___By John Loudat
___Baptist New Mexican
___ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (ABP)--A tractor-trailer rig rear-ended a church van carrying senior adults to a funeral in New Mexico Jan. 8, killing three of the van's occupants and injuring the other nine.
___The crash took place just outside of Tinnie, N.M., 40 miles west of Roswell, on a winding section of U.S. 70.
___The van carried 12 people from First Baptist Church of Alamogordo on their way to a graveside service at the town cemetery. The funeral was for the stepson of another member of the church's senior-adult department.
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Olympic star Mary Lou Retton, now married, a mother and a member of Second Baptist Church in Houston, is speaking out about her faith. Full Story
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