May 1, 2000

TOGETHER:
Population shifts offer abundant
challenges, opportunities
___The needs of Texas people are ever before me.
___A recent study reports that the current Texas population is 20.3 million people. This is 3.4 million more than in 1990. That represents adding another Harris County (Houston) to our state.
___While the United States was growing at about a 10 percent rate, Texas was growing at

CHARLES WADE Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

about a 20 percent clip.
___The projection is that in 10 years there will be almost 23 million people in Texas. Anglos will be 49 percent of the population, Hispanics 36 percent, African-Americans 11 percent, and Asians and others 4 percent. We will at that time all be minorities!
___The age distribution is fairly even. There are 2.5 million to 4 million people in each 10-year span up to age 65.
___The only group that will be smaller than the same group for the last decade is 35-44, with a drop of 350,000. The biggest increase is in the 55-64 age group, with a net gain of more than 800,000.
___As always and thankfully, there are a lot of children and young adults on the way.
___What will our churches be prepared to do to reach out to these people? How can our convention help provide you with resources and training so your church can be the presence of Jesus touching them?
___In addition, I recently was given information by those familiar with the land along the Rio Grande, now called the Borderland by many sociologists, that the population just south of the river will grow from 10 million to 30 million by 2020. On the Texas side, the population will grow from 3.5 million to 6.5 million.
___If those figures are only half-correct, there will be a population in the Borderland that is larger than the population of Texas today.
___Now, what shall be the reaction by Texas Baptists to these population numbers?
___We can cringe in fear, call for laws to build higher walls, angrily deny the changes that are going on all over the world. Or we can put our arms around people like Jesus did. Hear him say: "... whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). What kind of things? Oh, things like food for the hungry, water for the thirsty, a welcome to the stranger, clothes for the naked, care for the sick and those in prison.
___Where will the leaders come from--lay and pastoral? Where will the vision take hold in hearts and minds? God has put you and me in a great mission field. He has given us churches with a great heart for God and people. Someday, he will say to us: "I gave you a place to serve. I put you in Texas with people who needed to know my love and my gospel. What did you do with what I trusted to you?"
___There is enormous energy and excitement in our Hispanic, African-American, Asian and other ethnic congregations. They are on fire for God, and they are making a difference in people's lives. They have wonderful leadership, and they are working diligently to develop more. Our churches that are largely Anglo in makeup are increasingly looking for fresh ways to touch people all around them, including personal visitation using the Sunday School-based FAITH ministry.
___We want to be fully involved in our communities as salt and light so that everyone can know ...


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