Posted: 8/15/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for August 26

When society abandons God’s ways

• 2 Kings 22:1-23:30

By David Harp

First Baptist Church, Stanton

I went to the doctor early this Monday morning to get a shot for some allergies. I made the appointment nearly two weeks ago. When I arrived, I was 10 minutes early.

It is written in the Harp DNA that we arrive earlier than scheduled. There was not one available seat in my doctor’s waiting room. Then I remembered that Dr. Tevini had been out all last week for vacation. The waiting room resembled a mass of confusion from a recent episode seen on television’s “E.R.” program. Babies were crying, adults were coughing and teenagers were sneezing. I wondered to myself, “Is this any place for a fairly healthy human being?”

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I quickly became fascinated from my perch of leaning against the wall as I noticed a frazzled young mother. Bless her heart; she tried to control three small children—all boys. One was in diapers, and he couldn’t keep his hands off the trash can—playing with it as the open/shut container whirred at a blurring pace. The middle boy was barely a toddler, and he could do nothing to please his anxious and worn out mother. First he wanted his “binky” in his mouth and then out. He took over the waiting room with his outbursts of tears and wouldn’t settle in to watch cartoons on the television as Mom kept pleading. Mom was a really good counter as she tried her best parenting skills to remind little “Rowdy,” as she called him, that he was down to his last chance. Finally, Mom had enough and dragged little “Rowdy” outside for a “come to Jesus” meeting.

While Mom took “Rowdy” out to blister his bottom, there was a sudden sigh of relief in the air. That’s when the oldest boy, probably all of 8 years old, made a mad dash for the receptionist. He desperately wanted help, maybe for himself or maybe it was just for his frazzled Mom. He slid into the wall at the receptionist’s desk and pleaded loudly, “Lady, is there a doctor anywhere in there?”

I share my Monday morning story at the doctor with you for a special reason. Can you remember what it was like to be 8 years old? Most 8-year-olds I know are like this little boy, vitally interested in self-preservation. Eight-year-olds are full of life and laughter and even love, at times.

In our lesson this week, we study an 8-year-old named Josiah, who was appointed as king over an entire nation, Judah. The nation, like my doctor’s office waiting room, was filled with chaos and confusion.

Like young Josiah, we might wonder, what can one person do to make a difference?

Maybe as you prepare or teach the lesson this week, you are feeling overwhelmed at life’s difficulties. Josiah will take his stand as a leader and serve 31 years. Josiah, unlike many of his forefathers, will remain faithful and committed to God in spite of the ungodly ways of the world.

Desire righteousness (2 Kings 22:1-5)

Josiah was a righteous king, and he deeply desired a godly nation. The evidence we have for this is Josiah’s strong effort to promote and establish right worship. Josiah initiated repairs to the Temple that had been defiled by his ungodly predecessors, Manasseh and Amon (21:4, 7). The clear words in our text tell us, “Josiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father, David, not turning aside to the right or the left” (22:2).

I have been blessed over the years to pastor five churches. Steve was my banker and good friend when I was his pastor in Quanah. We have remained good friends through the passing of years. Steve always ends our conversation with me by saying, “be sure and do the right thing.” We all need friends and fellow worshippers who will call us to accountability with one another and with the Lord. Josiah desired to “do the right thing” and called his people to worship the Lord properly.

Elevate God’s word (2 Kings 23:2-3)

Under Josiah’s urgent call to clean up the Temple, a book was found. The book was the law, likely the book we know as Deuteronomy found in our Old Testament. While there is some debate about this book, there is no question that Josiah read its contents to the people. He calls the leaders-elders, priests, prophets and people to the temple. He reads from the book publicly and then renews the covenant by responding to its stipulations.

He does as Deuteronomy 6:5 demands; with heart and soul, he and the people pledge to love, obey, and serve their covenant Lord. Think of the impact of this event. God’s book, lost in God’s house. Josiah, a strong and vibrant young leader, led the people to place a high value on God’s word. We need to make up our own minds about how serious we are going to be when we read and are confronted with God’s word.

Hebrews 4:12 reminds us “the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Work for change (2 Kings 23:4, 24)

Josiah initiated reforms throughout Judah. Josiah’s reforms touched both the public (v. 4) and the private (v. 24) spiritual abuses. There is a needed word from God for us—spiritual renewal must be accompanied by practical reforms. It really counts when we elevate the reading of God’s word to the point where we actually apply it to life.

The nation needed to change, and Josiah was just the leader to call the people to live for God. God leaves the choice with us.

Realize judgment may still come (2 Kings 23:26-27)

In spite of Josiah’s reforms, God did not turn from his wrath against Judah. Judgment was delayed but not averted. When a nation sins, there will be a divine response.

Personally, I like happy endings. But this passage ends on a negative note. We can affirm, however, that Josiah’s reforms still were worthwhile. It always is the right time to do the right thing!

Discussion questions

• Using 2 Kings 22:2, how would you define obedience?

• In what ways has God’s word been lost in our culture today?

• In what ways can our class work for change in our world?

• How can I know God is going to one day punish evildoers?

Posted: 8/15/07

Explore the Bible Series for August 26

Trusting the God of justice

• Malachi 2:17-4:6

By Kathryn Aragon

First Baptist Church, Duncanville

You know you’ve thought it. It’s the age-old question that haunts us at the end of the day. But Malachi says we have “wearied the Lord” with our words (2:17).

It seems as if the world couldn’t be more mixed up. What is evil is called good. What is good is called wrong. Moral fiber is rewarded with ridicule rather than respect. Courage has more to do with extreme sports than with following the call of God. And meanness is rewarded, while goodness is punished.

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Is it any wonder we cry out, “Where is the God of justice?”

Professing faith in God seems easy. Expected even. But is it as easy to obey him? Obviously not, or else we wouldn’t be reading exposés about ministers who prey on children and seniors. We wouldn’t worry about locking our doors when we park our cars at church. And we wouldn’t have to talk differently at work or in our neighborhoods just to fit in.

It doesn’t take much interaction with the world to become a little jaded. It seems as if God allows evil to be rewarded while ignoring his faithful few. Can he really mean what he says in Malachi 3:5: “So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me”?

The answer lies in faith

Job had as much reason to doubt God as any of us. Throughout his ordeal, he did in fact question God, but his faith could not be shaken. “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22). In spite of the unfairness of his situation, at the end of the day, Job still could not say God had made a mistake.

At the end of the day, we too must stand on faith. Trusting in God means more than believing he’ll allow us into his heaven. It means believing he knows what he’s doing and has a plan. It means believing he sees what’s going on and will respond at the right time. It means trusting his words to be true, even when it doesn’t look that way.

It’s the timing issue that makes trust so hard. Because we’ve grown accustomed to immediate results, we often get discouraged when we get no reward for our efforts. Hence, someone might tithe for years, but when financial blessings never come, he’ll decide tithing doesn’t work. Someone else might make a habit of answering harsh words with soft answers, but after years of people taking advantage of her, she’ll decide God’s word isn’t true. We build expectations around God’s promises and call it faith. But when this “faith” isn’t rewarded, we become resentful.

Malachi tells us this faithlessness offends God. Listen as he quotes what many of us have thought, if we haven’t actually spoken the words: “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape’” (3:14-15).

Rest assured. God’s word is true. He just works on a bigger scale than we can imagine. When God says he’ll testify quickly, he doesn’t mean tomorrow. A lifetime is quick to the God of eternity.

Furthermore, God has a plan. We like to focus on the passages promising blessing on God’s children and judgment on his enemies. But we fail to remember the passages revealing God’s nature. The Bible plainly says God is patient and willing to wait for his enemies to change their hearts and become his children. It isn’t that God doesn’t see the evil in the world. It isn’t that he is going back on his word. It’s that he has a plan. And that plan is for everyone to discover his love and follow him.

Malachi wants us to line up our expectations with God’s. Yes, God will punish. And in rare cases, that judgment occurs here on earth. But we always must wait on God. “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire … .But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall” (4:1-2).

All too often, because we don’t understand God’s ways, we think he has failed us, or doesn’t hear us or, worse, uses difficult circumstances to punish us. Yet faith can see us through the times that don’t make sense. Regardless of our circumstances, we are called to follow God, loving him and obeying him.

We must trust that the rewards will come. “Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. ‘They will be mine,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not’” (3:16-18).

We must focus on God, not the world

The promise is clear. God does see, and he does remember. In fact, he even records our faithfulness in a scroll so it will never be forgotten. But we must not grow discouraged when we aren’t immediately showered with blessings. God says he will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. We must be patient until that day.

But how do we manage until that day? We must learn how to focus. If we spend our days focusing on the unfairness and inequality of our circumstances, our attitudes will disintegrate. When we focus on the world, we develop a worldly heart, and we begin to resent God.

Instead, we must learn to see through the smoky haze of life to the truth. Yes, it seems the evil are getting away with their wrongdoings and the good are not being recognized for their faithfulness. But God, who sees all, is keeping a record. We don’t need to worry. We only need to take our eyes off the world and focus on him.

Like Peter, who dared to walk on stormy waters, faith will take us outside the boat and into the storm. But we mustn’t think about the impossibility of our situation. We must simply focus on Jesus. Yes, it appears dangerous, but if we’ll keep our eyes on Jesus, we’ll find ourselves walking on water.

Discussion questions

• Have you experienced circumstances that made you doubt the truth of God’s word?

• How did you respond?

• Is it possible to remain faithful even when it seems futile?

• What are some strategies for focusing on God during difficult times?

Posted: 8/14/07

Taliban reportedly releases
two Korean Christian hostages

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (ABP) — Two of the 23 South Korean hostages kidnapped by the Taliban last month were released Aug. 12.

Associated Press reported Kim Kyung-ja, 37, and Kim Ji-na, 32, were driven to waiting Red Cross vehicles in rural Afghanistan and then transferred to a United States military base.

The kidnapping victims all are members of Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, South Korea. Their leader, Bae Hyung-Kyu, 42, was found dead July 25. A second hostage, Shim Sung-min, 29, was reported dead July 31.

A Taliban spokesman told reporters the hostages were released “for the sake of good relations between the Korean people and the Taliban.” In exchange for the hostages, the kidnappers have demanded the release of 21 militants incarcerated by the Afghan government and U.S. military. Afghan leaders have refused to release any prisoners.

Korean leaders have insisted that the church workers were providing social services in Afghanistan, not evangelizing.

Fourteen women and five men are still being held.

Posted: 8/13/07

East Texas volunteer warms hearts
—and heads—of Moldovan orphans

By Whitney Farr

Communications Intern

TYLER—Beth Rowley has knit 100 wool stocking caps. Only 2,900 left to go.

Mrs. Rowley isn’t shooting for the Guinness Book of World Records, but she is working overtime to make 3,000 wool hats for orphaned children in Moldova before the next snowfall.

She had always knit by hand until brain surgery limited her dexterity. But after her husband bought her a knitting machine she realized her limits were not setbacks.

“I can’t work well in a crowd, but I can certainly work a knitting machine,” she said.

After sending a few handmade hats to orphans in Moldova, the missions committee at The Woods Baptist Church in Tyler asked Children’s Emergency Relief International—an agency of Baptist Child & Family Services—how many more caps they would like to have in Moldova.

The missions director at The Woods laughed as she told Rowley the agency’s response. They needed 3,000 more hats by winter.

“Well, to me that wasn’t funny—that was serious business,” Rowley said. “It was overwhelming, but I decided to do it, because I was raised in an orphanage and I know what it feels like to have nothing.”

It all started when a young woman from Moldova, Connie Belciug, told The Woods Baptist Church about Children’s Emergency Relief International’s work in her homeland.

Belciug shared the heartbreaking numbers concerning the youth in Moldova with The Woods congregation—12,000 or more children live in state orphanages; when children finish the 9th grade, they are expelled at age 16 or 17.

Employment opportunities for the newly independent orphans in Moldova—Europe’s poorest country—are so scarce that about ten percent commit suicide within a year of leaving the orphanages, many of the boys go into crime and up to 70 percent of the girls become prostitutes in order to stay alive.

Until hearing of this need, Rowley had always knit hats for local hospitals and children in China. Eventually the Chinese churches decided to take on the knitting ministry themselves, which freed up plenty time for Rowley sew the seams on the 3,000 hats, 418 of which she finished in one month.

A local Hobby Lobby heard of Rowley’s ambitious undertaking and donated $1,000 worth of yarn.

“It’s a remarkable feeling,” Rowley said, “to be able to give a gift to those children who have nothing.”

Posted: 8/10/07

Academy's centennial focuses on future

By George Henson

Staff Writer

SAN MARCOS—San Marcos Academy is celebrating its centennial this year with a glance at the past but with the future firmly in sight.

The centennial celebration theme is 100 Years of Light, Academy President Victor Schmidt noted.

The school’s century of providing light to students just learning to make their way in life began July 10, 1907, when the cornerstone of the first building was guided into place. The school opened its doors for the first day of classes Sept. 24, 1908, with J.M. Carroll as its president.

The school, the fruit of the labors of several southwestern Texas pastors, began its association with the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1910.

And while the school is proud of its longstanding history, changes have been made to ensure the school’s continued success.

The school began its longstanding military tradition in 1917, when the academy was granted a junior unit of the Reserve Officers Training Corps. The school retained its strong military bent until the spring semester of 2004, when the school did away with the residential military program.

While the school retains its junior ROTC program, only U.S. male students are required to take the course and only for one semester, although many elect to stay in the program after their requirement has been met. Students no longer have to wear the uniform all the time, and the military program has no bearing on dorm life.

That break with tradition was a tough decision to make, Schmidt acknowledged.

“That ending of the non-residential military emphasis was a big move for us,” he said. “A lot of alums are still smarting from that.”

It was a move made in the interest in attracting and keeping students, and it has proven to be wise, Schmidt said. In 2004, when the change was made, SMA had 198 students. In 2007, that number was 270.

“We didn’t think of ourselves as a military school but as a school with a good military program. But to a kid who goes through a military program and wears a uniform all day, this was a military school,” he pointed out.

“Mom and Dad usually decide where a kid is going to go that first year, but by the second year, it’s really the student who decides if they are coming back. Our customers are both parents and students. We’re providing an environment that is more enjoyable to attend for our students, but at the same time giving our parents those elements their looking for.”

Making the military program voluntary after the initial semester has been a major factor in a greater student retention rate, Schmidt said.

The demographics of the student body also are different than when the school began a century ago. Two-thirds of the 7th- through12th-grade student body is male, and 80 percent of the students live in the three dormitories on campus. Students come from 80 Texas cities, nine other states and 10 foreign countries, primarily Asian.

“Our school district is quite large,” Schmidt quipped.

The decision has been made to cap the international student enrollment at one-third, Schmidt said, even though financially it would be rewarding to do otherwise.

“The parents who send their children here from foreign countries want them to assimilate into American culture, and we feel that if the percentage gets too high, it makes that assimilation more difficult. We could attract more international students, but we have a responsibility to their parents to perform the task they intended,” he said.

The education of those students goes beyond the academic training they receive, as many are exposed to the tenets of Christianity for the first time, he noted.

“That presents us with an opportunity for ministry to these kids who will return to their countries and will take home the seeds of our ministry here,” he said.

Students initially learn about the San Marcos school in a way that would have been totally incomprehensible when it was founded. “We get more referrals of the Internet than anything else,” Schmidt reported.

One thing that has not changed—and will not—is the school’s bedrock adherence to its Christian principles, he maintained. Students attend devotionals and chapel each week.

“We’re unapologetically Christian, and we’re going to be sure our Christian values transcend everything we do,” Schmidt said. “Our forefathers built this academy on Christian faith, and that is something we want to maintain and strengthen.”

“At the same time, as Baptists, we respect other religions. We are not coercive about our beliefs. You can’t force it down their throats.”

While the student body is primarily Christian, and more than a quarter are Baptist, there are a number of students who are not Christian.

“We are a cross-section of society,” Schmidt said. “We are getting some kids that didn’t get the opportunity to form values and be positively influenced by their families, and some of our kids have not had cohesive families—this is a ministry.”

In the future, as in the past, what sets the school apart from others is the people involved—students, faculty and staff, Schmidt said.

“Our future is our people—our people that have created that 100 years of light. We are blessed by our faculty and staff. They are here because they love the Lord, and they love kids. For most of them, this is a ministry,” he said.

“It also is our students. We want to provide them with a challenging education that enhances their Christian values. We want to prepare kids for college and for those who don’t choose to go to college, we want to prepare them for life,” Schmidt said.

One of the school’s greatest assets is its alumni, he continued. The school boasts more than 5,100 graduates and many more students who were there for a time, he said.

“We have numerous alumni come back and say that the academy had a profound influence on their lives,” Schmidt said. “And some of those were only here for a semester of so, and some were not particularly successful while they were here. But regardless how long they were here, they recognize in looking back a positive influence.”

The Sept. 14-15 centennial celebration will begin with campus tours at 2 p.m. Friday. The day also will include a pep rally and bonfire. Saturday will include a convocation at 1:30 p.m. with Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade as keynote speaker. At 2:30, the dedication of the newly constructed alumni plaza will take place. The plaza is designed to recall the façade of the Carroll building, the first building of the original campus. At 4:15 p.m., the groundbreaking for a campus fitness center will be observed. The day will be capped with the homecoming football game that evening.

Posted: 8/10/07

Northeast Texas churches provide
medical missions in Guatemala

By Rebekah Hardage

Communications Intern

MOUNT PLEASANT—A team of volunteer missionaries from First Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant and First Baptist Church in Texarkana traveled to Guatemala this summer to offer general medical assistance, perform surgeries and share the gospel.

Gerald Stagg, a pediatrician in Mount Pleasant, and his family went on a similar trip last year with the Texarkana church.

“I made a request for others to volunteer to go in 2007,” he said.  “That request was simply in the form of a testimony of what God had done through that medical mission trip and asking for prayer for our church to be involved.”

Doctors and dentists in the area responded to the invitation, including surgeon Clint Twadell, who decided to go and take his crew, wife and son with him.

The Twaddell family, along with Pastor Clint Davis from First Baptist in Mount Pleasant and his wife, prepared for the trip by enrolling in a Spanish language immersion class at the Baptist University of the Americas.

“We all enjoyed our opportunity to see the BUA campus and to interact with the faculty and student body. I was very impressed with the learning experience,” Davis said.

Delores Head, nurse from Texarkana, showed the love of Christ to children during mission trip to Guatemala.

After several packing parties and other preparation, the East Texas group was ready to leave for Guatemala. They expected a large number of people to be in need of medical care, but the numbers they encountered were more than they ever imagined.

Each day at 4:30 a.m., people dressed in their best began lining up to receive help from a medical doctor. Some needed dental help, while others required surgery. And the physicians were ready to offer their services with compassion.

Twaddell performed the first laparoscopic surgery in Guatemala, removing gallbladders and appendixes with minimal invasion.

Martha Twaddell also received a blessing when she was able to watch her husband of 25 years perform surgery for the first time.

“After helping him through undergrad, medical school and his residency, I finally got to see him do what he does,” she said.

John Homer, a carpenter from Mount Pleasant, plays with children in Guatemala.

Stagg not only treated children, but helped adults, as well.

“Oftentimes medicine here in the U.S. is expected, or there is a feeling of entitlement,” he said.  “In Guatemala, they are very grateful for even the littlest thing we do.”

After receiving medical care, each patient received a Bible and one other gift. The tennis balls and beanie babies were a big hit with the children, while the men loved the baseball caps. And people of all ages appreciated the crayons and coloring books while waiting to receive medical care.

In spite of challenges, all of the mission trip participants left Guatemala feeling they had been blessed by the experience, Davis said.

“The Lord showed me his power to do the unexpected and the virtually impossible when we make ourselves available to him,” he said.

Posted: 8/10/07

Cowboy church moves from
horse trough to lake for baptism

By Toby Druin

Editor Emeritus

WAXAHACHIE—The Cowboy Church of Ellis County baptized 64 new converts at Lake Waxahachie July 29.

Pastor Gary Morgan performed the baptisms, assisted by several lay pastors and elders from the church.

Several hundred of the church’s more than 1,500 members crowded the banks of the lake, cheering and clapping as each of the 64 was immersed in the lake.

Morgan said the lake baptism was the idea of Ruth Brearley who asked in February that she be baptized in the lake.

“I asked her to put it off until the summer, so the water would be warm and we could see if others might like to be baptized there, too,” Morgan said.

“I thought maybe 10 or 12 might want to be baptized in the lake, but obviously the demand far exceeded my expectations.”

Most of the people baptized were adults, Morgan said. And with the 55 already baptized this year in a horse trough at the church, it brings the total number of baptisms for the year to 119.

“We may have learned something here,” said Morgan of the baptismal service at the lake. “This was a culturally relevant, western-heritage event, and considering the response, many of our other cowboy churches may want to take note of it. Western-heritage people respond to going outside.”

Cowboy Church of Ellis County, established in 2000, is the largest of about 100 cowboy churches affiliated with the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches, which has offices in Waxahachie. The fellowship is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Fellowship Coordinator Ron Nolen lauded the baptismal service.

“This was a wonderful event,” he said. “Our prayer is that it might be duplicated in cowboy churches all across Texas.”

Posted: 8/10/07

Summit at DBU offers help
for children’s ministers

By Whitney Farr

Communications Intern

DALLAS—It’s what all Baptist churches should have—potluck dinners, ice cream socials, Sunday school parties…and Bar Mitzvahs?

Veteran children’s minister Tommy Sanders, now director of the graduate program in childhood ministry at Dallas Baptist University, believes Baptist Bar Mitzvahs are just what pre-teens need to help provide special attention during the transition from adolescence to young-adulthood.

Sanders taught his idea of the Baptist Bar Mitzvah—along with other sessions such as “Writing for Your Ministry” and “Parent-Driven Children’s Ministry”—during the Childhood Ministry Summit at Dallas Baptist University August 3-4.

DBU, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Dallas Baptist Association jointly sponsored the event, which drew 196 preschool and children’s ministers and teachers.

The summit provided a place for churches to bring all of their teachers to one place, at a minimal price, to receive synchronized and up-to-date training for children’s ministry, BGCT Preschool and Children’s Specialist Diane Lane said.

The also provided the required training hours to licensed weekday program teachers.

“Many people think it is all about babysitting, but we need to be more intentional in teaching Christian values,” Lane said.

Session topics included conflict management, ministering to parents of children with special needs, teaching through drama, valuing the child, writing for your ministry, discipline, growing and developing staff, playing games that teach and legal issues.

During the session on “Parent-Driven Children’s Ministry,” Sanders stressed the only way to get through to a child is to get through to the parent.

“Childhood ministry is not about the child, it is about the parents. We have so few hours with the child that what we really need to do is focus on the parents to teach the child. If we want to make a lasting impact on the child, we have to teach the parents,” Sanders said.

“Parents often think they can drop their kids off at Sunday school and not have to do anything else. We need to get rid of that idea.”

Posted: 8/10/07

KidsHeart provides a new home for the Requenas

By Jenny Pope

Buckner International

LASARA—The first thing a visitor notices on the Requena home is the stench. It’s a mix between mildew, sewage and old age. Children walk in and out, watching television on the couch in the dark living room. Fleas and gnats swarm.

Victor Requena Jr. stands in the front yard among three stray dogs and surveys the team of seven men swarming his parent’s home in the Lasara colonia. Two are hammering nails on the roof, two are cutting wood, two more are ripping out plumbing and one lone man carries supplies.

Victor Requena Jr. surveys the work crew at his parents' home in Lasara.

“I’ve seen a lot of miracles in my life,” he says. “And this is definitely one of them.”

Requena, a Texas native living in Oregon, arrived at the home of his elderly parents after more than seven years of absence to discover their shocking living conditions. Roaches, fleas and gnats were the least of their problems. His father, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, was going downhill fast.

“He wouldn’t even get out of the bed,” he recalled. “He just laid there. And the house was disgusting. My brother and his five kids were all there…everyone was sleeping on the floor in the living room. They had just let the place go. I’ve seen better places for dogs.”

Requena, a welder, decided that he needed to stay in Texas and find a job to help his family. As a new Christian, he went to church at Iglesia Bautista Adonai in Lasara to share his testimony during the Sunday service. Little did he know, his prayers were about to be answered.

“I had no idea that this would happen. I know the Lord put me here for a reason.”

Within days, a KidsHeart mission team descended upon his home—repairing lost shingles, providing a handicap-accessible bathroom for his aging parents, and clearing junk from the yard.

Robert Moore, a high school chemistry teacher and member of First Baptist Church in College Station, slugged away in the small bathroom on the other side of the house. He and his son Cody, 20, removed the toilet and flooring from the sewage-soaked, rotting hardwood floors.

As a returning KidsHeart volunteer, the father and son duo worked fluidly. They both felt confident with their experience in plumbing and electrical work after remodeling a home the year before for one of Requena’s neighbors.

Cody sits down on the grass outside and begins cleaning the grungy toilet, years of filth caked on the seat. With a bottle of bleach and heavy duty scrubbing brush, he worked quickly to erase years of neglect.

“You know, who cares if your faith has changed your life if you don’t change someone else’s?” he asks.

“Sure, I’m cleaning a toilet, and it’s absolutely disgusting. But these are real people, and they deserve it.”

Posted: 8/10/07

CYBER COLUMN:
Shear Luck

By Brett Younger

When we moved to Fort Worth, and I had to find a new barber, I could picture exactly the kind of barbershop I need—a red and white barber pole, $10 haircuts, 10-year-old copies of Field and Stream, a cash register that rings, pocket knives for sale, country music on the radio. The kind of barbershop where only men would be found. My dream barbershop is Floyd’s in Mayberry.

The moment I walked in, I knew my new barbershop was perfect. The head of a 16-point buck hung on one wall, and the Ten Commandments on another. There were five chairs for three barbers—all of whom were older than my dad. Guys with less hair than a peach hung around all day. Gomer could walk in at any minute.

Jerry is an excellent barber. He knows exactly how dull a haircut should be. Our conversations were always the same.

He’d ask, “How’s the church?”

I’d say, “Fine. Just fine. How’s your church?”

For years, Jerry has been the music director at a church that sounds like every church I grew up in. The only issue with which we had to deal was that like Floyd, Jerry didn’t cut and talk at the same time. If I asked the wrong question, he might stop cutting for 10 minutes while he answered. I learned to ask yes and no questions. I was so happy with my barbershop.

Then a couple of months ago, I went for a haircut, and the changes had begun. A woman who looked about 25 was seated in one of the empty chairs. It was like seeing Mel Gibson at a Jewish synagogue.

I tried to ease into it, “So, Jerry, do you have a new barber?”

Jerry whispered, “She’s the new owner.”

I smiled, “Well, that’s great.”

Jerry said, “We’ll see.”

When I next went to get my hair cut, Jerry was gone. The new owner was the only one there. Field and Stream has been replaced by People. I didn’t recognize the radio station.

I asked, “Can I get a haircut?”

She asked, “Do you see a line?”

“How much will it cost?”

“What was it before?”

“Ten dollars.”

“Then that’s what it is. How do you want it cut?”

“Six weeks shorter than it is now. My expectations aren’t high. I understand you’re not working with runway material.”

Alexia always wanted to run her own place. She’d hoped the other barbers would stay, but they left to go to other shops.

When I asked, “How’s business?” she answered, “When people come in and see that it’s my shop now, they give me dirty looks and walk out. I don’t think old white men want their hair cut by a young Hispanic woman. The only customers I have are the ones who followed me from the old shop in my neighborhood.”

Alexia grew up and lives near the Stockyards. She does hair coloring as well as ear piercing—which I can’t imagine Jerry or Floyd doing. She plans to remove the deer’s head, but she hasn’t decided on the Ten Commandments. She wants to put in flat screen TVs and set them on ESPN. We talked about boxing, which I no longer know anything about. Apparently George Foreman has retired. When she finished my haircut, she offered to trim my eyebrows, but I’m just not ready for that.

In six weeks. I’ll go back to Alexia for a haircut, because I have enough people to talk about church with and I don’t know many from her part of town. I understand the people who drive across town to stick with their old barbers. Sometimes, we want what we’ve gotten used to. The only problem with staying with those who make us feel at ease is that every once in a while God pushes us to something different, even if it’s just a trim.

Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth and the author of Who Moved My Pulpit? A Hilarious Look at Ministerial Life, available from Smyth & Helwys (800) 747-3016. You can e-mail him at byounger@broadwaybc.org.