May 12, 2003

TOGETHER:
Congreso highlights border potential
___Dexton Shores, director of the BGCT River Ministry, recently reported on the first Congreso de la Frontera. More than 400 Mexican and Texas Hispanic Baptists made their way to Piedras Negras, Coahuila. About 100 traveled from Matamoros, and 35 came from Juarez. These Baptist pastors and their families came to celebrate in worship and to improve the quality of family life.
___A pastor's son said, "In all of our lives, we have never had anything like this where we could express our frustrations,

CHARLES WADE Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

resentments and problems." A pastor's wife wrote, "God spoke to me in a very deep and real way, but with a lot of love." Another participant said, "For me, it was very important to know that I am not alone, but that there are other fellow servants experiencing the same situations as me and that we have so much in common."
___Gilberto Gutierrez, president of the National Baptist Convention of Mexico, and his wife, Yanina, led worship experiences and conferences for pastors and wives. Children attended conferences such as "I am a Pastor's Kid, but I'm not Perfect!" Conference leaders taught biblical principles that gave these families practical and enduring help.
___More than 80 local leaders from Piedras Negras coordinated the logistics of the conference. Others involved were the BGCT Center for Community Ministries, Hispanic Baptist Theological School, the National Baptist Convention of Mexico, all Texas border associations and all Mexico border regional conventions. Texas Baptist Men prepared more than 1,000 meals a day, feeding not only the participants in the conference, but also poverty-stricken residents of two colonias and the family members at a funeral. When five young people from one of the colonias asked TBM volunteer Eddie Fonseca how much the plates cost, Eddie told them Jesus already paid the price. When asked what he meant, he shared the plan of salvation, and all five young people prayed to receive Jesus as Savior!
___The life partnership between the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the National Baptist Convention of Mexico has captured the hearts of multitudes of Texas Baptists. Mexico, that great nation of 100 million people, is joined to Texas by a shared border of 1,215 miles. Population projections indicate that in the next 30 years, more than 30 million people will live along the border, including up to 7 million people on the Texas side.
___Texas Baptists need to think of the Valley not as our southernmost region, but as the center of our opportunity and responsibility for evangelism and missions. Consider the work of associations from El Paso to Brownsville and relationships built across almost 36 years of BGCT River Ministry with churches and associations in Mexico. Think about the growing influence of Hispanic Baptist Theological School, poised to become the premier provider of theological training for Hispanic Baptists throughout the United States and a partner with sister institutions in Spanish-speaking countries around the world. Ponder the work of our own Hispanic Baptist Convention. Together, with God's help and blessings, we can develop a network of ministries and mutual, prayerful involvement that will increase the impact of the Christian gospel and the Baptist witness throughout Texas and Mexico.
___Pray with me to that end.
___We are loved.

The Baptist Standard



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