November 18, 2002
World missions network isn't first
time for Texas innovation, Wade says
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___WACO--Launching a world missions network is just another example of Texas Baptists seeking to accomplish their purpose of "advancing all the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom," Executive Director Charles Wade told the annual session of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___"There is nothing stingy or parochial about our Texas challenge," Wade said. "This is about our Redeemer's kingdom, not ours. It is a call to move beyond our petty plans and join our Savior in his work in the world.
___"Nothing is too small or too large, too ordinary or too challenging, too familiar or too dangerous for us if it advances the interests of Jesus."
___The world missions network
proposal, which was overwhelmingly approved by the convention soon after Wade's message, came as a recommendation from a 24-member Missions Review & Initiatives Committee.
___Some Southern Baptist Convention leaders had criticized the proposal as duplicating services provided by the SBC's International Mission Board and North American Mission Board.
___"This is not the first time Texas Baptists have proposed something that was new and somewhat misunderstood," Wade observed.
___For example, he noted that soon after the Civil War, Texas Baptists voted to send Buck and Anne Bagby as missionaries to Brazil when the SBC was focused solely on China and Nigeria.
___A century later, Texas Baptists began the partnership missions movement under the leadership of Dub Jackson and T.A. Patterson, he added. Likewise, the international volunteer program of Mission Service Corps got its start in Texas, and Texas Baptists have supplied half the volunteers serving in it, he said.
___Further, the youth revival movement that began at Baylor University after World War II spread through Texas and beyond, Wade said. He paused to recognize several leaders in that movement, as well as Lawanna McIver, widow of Bruce McIver, author of a new book on the subject.
___"So it is not without some precedent that a new idea, a new entity, a new way of helping churches be on mission for Christ, a new movement of God comes out of Texas," he said.
___Wade dismissed the criticism of those who claim the network would compete with existing missions agencies.
___"The world is a very big place," he said. "There can be no way that we will do too much mission work. The world is too lost and too broken for us to be afraid that we will get in each other's way."
___Wade said his personal goal for the network is to lead every Texas Baptist church to sponsor a mission trip in the next five years and develop ongoing, long-term missions involvement both locally and beyond.
___The challenge Texas Baptists face begins at home, Wade said, pointing to a 25 percent increase in the state's population over the last decade. He noted about a half-million people moved to Texas in the past year, with one-fourth of them coming from outside the United States.
___"Many of the people moving to Texas are coming from places where the Baptist witness has not been strong," Wade observed. "If we do not start churches, if we do not welcome these people into our lives, if we do not share the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ, many will remain lost. And someday, we will have to appeal for missionaries to come to Texas."
___Wade challenged messengers to approve a record budget for 2003 and for Texas Baptist churches to give through the adopted budget plan. The giving plan--approved by messengers soon after Wade's address--recommends churches divide their missions gifts 79 percent to BGCT causes and 21 percent to worldwide causes.
___"We can do less if we must, but I believe Texas Baptists want no second-rate challenge," Wade said, adding that "everything we believe God has given us to do to help you be the presence of Christ in the world is at stake here."
___The 2003 budget plan also does not redirect any funds away from SBC agencies. The adopted plan for the last two years had capped giving to SBC seminaries at $1 million, reduced funds for the SBC Executive Committee and defunded the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
___Wade praised the 2003 giving plan, saying: "We believe this plan gets us beyond the denominational fray and holds forth the possibility that we will not be drawn into constant criticism of other conventions every time we try to explain our Texas Cooperative Program budget. We believe it also has the potential to be a unifying budget, since it allows churches to agree on the vision for Texas while having room for different opinions regarding national Baptist life."
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