November 11, 2002
Pearises set the pace for volunteers
___By John Hall
___Texas Baptist Communications
___DALLAS--"Give me an army, and I'll change the world," Sam Pearis told his wife, Polly.
___Over the past 18 years, the Texas Baptist couple have done just that.
___The Pearises have been the driving force behind the legion of Mission Service Corps volunteers sent out from Texas and deployed in Texas over the last two decades.
___Until his retirement last month, Pearis directed the Mission Service Corps office of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. In 1984, Mrs. Pearis became her husband's assistant, tracking volunteers and handling office duties.
___Using recruiting skills he learned in the Air Force, Pearis led the BGCT to increase the number of enlisted volunteer missionaries more than tenfold, from about 100 to more than 1,200. The BGCT currently provides 46 percent of all Mission Service Corps volunteers serving through the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board.
___"If you'd go to eat with him, yo
u would become a Mission Service Corps volunteer," said Lindsay Cofield, Pearis' successor as director of the Mission Service Corps Center.
___Pearis recognized that God called many people to be missionaries earlier in life, but they were unable to fulfill that call until they retired, added Billie Day, Pearis' ministry assistant for 13 years. He knew Mission Service Corps provided a way to answer that call later in life.
___"A lot of people serve our Mission Service Corps and can go out feeling good about themselves," Pearis explained.
___Pearis began the consultant approach to Mission Service Corps, first training volunteers and then spreading them across the state. The office also developed a computer database to track worker location and assignments.
___"Sam built the system and recruiting process," Cofield said. "He has really set the standard."
___Mrs. Pearis helped her husband with new ideas, quiet encouragement and an occasional kick under the table. "She is the No. 1 expert on Mission Service Corps assignments in the SBC," her husband said.
___The duo continued building the program, but they believe the program has taken such large strides because of its devoted volunteers.
___"We've listened to our people," he said. "When you work with volunteers, you don't have the option of not listening to them. Most of our improvements came from our people.
___"The ultimate valuation is down in the trenches. If they had not been doing good work, we would not have gone anywhere."
___Volunteers successfully served in a variety of positions, including chaplains and church starters under the Pearis' direction. He hopes to see the role of volunteers expand statewide until every church has a minister of missions.
___"We have been able to demonstrate that volunteers and laypersons can serve in positions that were at one time considered for seminary or ordained people," he said.
___The Pearises plan to move south in the coming months and spend more time with their family. Pearis also will write a history of the Mission Service Corps and help with special projects. Neither will forget the last 18 years of ministry.
___"We have been so fortunate to work with these people and see how God works in their lives," Pearis said. "It's been fantastic."
The Baptist Standard
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