Taxi project takes off with Baptist boys
___By Sara Arnold
___SBC International Mission Board
___FORTALEZA, Brazil (BP) --Taxicab passengers in Fortaleza will get a gospel witness thanks to boys in at least 13 Southern Baptist churches who helped Brazilian missionaries Rob and Phyllis Hefner launch an outreach project.
___And the hands-on involvement in a missions project taught the boys an important lesson--that they can make a positive, even life-changing, difference in other people's lives right where they are.
___Since Fortaleza, a city of more than 3 million people, has so many taxicabs, Hefner wanted to put gospel literature racks in taxis. But he put the idea on the back burner because he didn't have the resources to pull it off.
___Then Vickie Wilson, a writer for "Lad" and "Crusader" Royal Ambassador missions magazines, contacted Hefner, wanting to include in the magazines a missions project for first- through sixth-grade boys.
___The Hefners decided to suggest the literature racks, which are made of lightweight denim or cloth and would be simple enough for the boys to assemble. The project was included in the March 2001 issue of the magazines.
___When the literature racks began arriving in Fortaleza, they wouldn't all fit in Hefner's post office box.
___"We were overwhelmed," he said. "To be honest, I didn't think anyone would respond."
___With the help of a Brazilian seminary student, Jo'o Arajo, the Hefners will distribute the racks to taxi drivers and keep them stocked with tracts.
___"There are a number of Christian taxistas (taxi drivers) who we are prayerfully sure will accept the racks for their cabs," Hefner said. "These will be our launching points for the car placements."
___Many people think future generations are close to being missions illiterate said Wilson, an RA leader at Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving.
___"Sometimes we put children's missions education at a lower level than we do other church and secular activities," she said. "To me, it should be in the forefront.
___"The act of actually becoming missionaries themselves, whether it be in the local community or by providing for the needs of a missionary halfway around the world, can help the child realize they can be missionaries too, no matter what their age."
___"What I remember most is seeing the effort and the desire the boys had to do a good job,," said Tim Weadon, RA leader at Fairview Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, Va. "The more we told them about how Mr. Hefner would use them, and all the lives he can touch, the more they put into making them."
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