Posted: 1/18/08

Attempt at dialogue with
Muslims sparks criticism of NAE

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—The National Association of Evangelicals is under attack from some prominent Christian conservatives for its involvement in an attempt at Muslim-Christian dialogue.

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler, former presidential candidate Gary Bauer and other right-wing evangelical leaders are among those who criticized the move in a recent article on CitizenLink.com, part of evangelical broadcaster James Dobson’s Focus on the Family empire.

The critics said NAE president Leith Anderson and Rich Cizik, NAE’s government-affairs director, should not have added their names to a letter titled “Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to ‘A Common Word Between Us and You.’”

Mohler, according to the website, said the letter “sends the wrong signal,” seems to “marginalize” the uniqueness and divinity of Christ, and that Anderson and Cizik’s participation represented “naiveté that borders on dishonesty.”

Bauer said the NAE officials’ participation in the letter makes him fear the evangelical group is “going down the same road that the National Council of Churches is going,” referring to the ecumenical Protestant group that many evangelicals view as too liberal.

The letter, published in a New York Times advertisement and spearheaded by four prominent Christian scholars at Yale Divinity School, was signed by a broad array of more than 300 evangelical, mainline Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders in the United States and abroad.

It was a response to an earlier letter, signed by more than 100 Muslim leaders from around the world, calling for Muslims, Christians and Jews to find commonality for the sake of preventing further religious suspicion and conflict. The Muslim scholars’ missive said the groups could agree that loving God and loving neighbors are “the two greatest commandments” and that they are “an area of common ground and a link between the Qur’an, the Torah and the New Testament.”

The Yale response, meanwhile, said the signatories “were deeply encouraged” by the Muslims’ letter. They said they received the effort “as a Muslim hand of conviviality and cooperation extended to Christians worldwide” and that they wanted to respond by extending “our own Christian hand in return, so that together with all other human beings we may live in peace and justice as we seek to love God and our neighbors.”

The letter also apologized for times in the past when professed Christians have not responded with grace to Muslims, specifically singling out the Crusades. “Before we ‘shake your hand’ in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world,” the Christian leaders said, using a phrase for God common in the Muslim and Arab world.

Mohler specifically criticized the apology for the Crusades. “I just have to wonder how intellectually honest this is,” he said. “Are these people suggesting that they wish the military conflict with Islam had ended differently—that Islam had conquered Europe?”

Anderson, in a statement posted on the NAE website, said he signed the letter even though he had a few reservations about it.

“I requested some changes that were made although there were others I might have preferred,” he said. “Yes, I know that it is nearly impossible to keep going back to more than a hundred busy theologians and Christian leaders with the addition and subtraction and rewriting of words and paragraphs. Sometimes we all sign onto things that are not all that we would like them to be.”

But Anderson said he had sought the counsel of other evangelical leaders whom he respected, including those ministering among Muslims, who encouraged him to support the letter.

“They told me that signing the statement would be especially helpful to Christians who live and minister in Muslim-majority countries and cultures. In fact, some suggested that not signing could be damaging to these Christian brothers and sisters who live among Muslims,” he said.

Among the signatories was Martin Accad, dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Lebanon.

Anderson also noted that he signed the statement as an individual rather than as an official NAE representative.

Similar groups of conservative evangelicals in the past two years have criticized NAE, Cizik and Anderson for their involvement in other ecumenical causes and issues. In March, the organization’s board declined to discipline Cizik for his public involvement in calling on Christians to combat global warming, despite a letter from Dobson and other prominent evangelical conservatives urging them to do so.

Posted: 1/18/08

RIGHT or WRONG?
'Baptist' in name

Our church is talking seriously about sponsoring a new congregation in our area. But we seem headed for a meltdown. Several folks insist “Baptist” must be kept out of the name of the new church. Surely there are moral grounds for requiring a Baptist church to include “Baptist” in its name.

This is not a theoretical question. When the church I now serve, Second Baptist Church of Lubbock, moved to a new location in 2001, the church had a long conversation about whether to change its name and eliminate the word “Baptist.” (Some folks also didn’t like being “Second.”) I know of no moral ground for requiring a Baptist church to include “Baptist” in its name. Some might argue a church is not providing “truth in advertising” if it does not include its denominational identity in its name. Perhaps there was a time when this was true, but in today’s world, that is no longer the case. A community church with an innocuous name can belong to a particular denomination or be nondenominational.

However, there are some ethical issues connected with a church’s name and its denominational identity. First, it is unethical to have “Baptist” in your name and not really be a Baptist church. Of course, there are many issues about which Baptists disagree. However, there are some issues that are non-negotiable. You cannot claim to be a Baptist and not believe in and practice these fundamental Baptist tenets. For example, if a church does not allow all members to participate in decision-making, then it cannot be a Baptist church—regardless of its name.

Second, a church may not have its denominational identity in its name, but it should make clear what its denominational identity is. Some churches are members of the Southern Baptist Convention or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship or the American Baptist Churches USA, but seem to want to hide the fact. Of course, one can understand a church wanting to distance itself from a denomination that has acted in ways that are embarrassing or incongruent with the church’s belief or practice. Nevertheless, it seems less than honest to support a particular denomination while trying to hide that fact from the general public and unsuspecting church members.

Third, it is embarrassing and sad that many Baptists now feel the name “Baptist” has been soiled. There are many kinds of Baptists, and no church can agree with every stripe of Baptist. Nevertheless, “Baptist” is an honorable name, and I am happy and proud the church I serve kept “Baptist” in its name. I believe true Baptists should live in ways that will help redeem the name.

Fourth, I do think there is a moral requirement that churches endeavor to live up to the name “Church.” That, I believe, is the greater necessity in our world.

Philip Wise, pastor

Second Baptist Church, Lubbock

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

Posted: 1/04/08

Buckner assumes Kenya
children’s home ministry

By Scott Collins

Buckner International

KITALE, Kenya—Buckner International assumed responsibility for the Seed of Hope Children’s Home in Kitale, Kenya effective Jan. 1. The home, located in western Kenya, houses 69 orphan children, three house families, a school, a clinic, a church, and numerous community services.

The addition of Seed of Hope brings the number of children and families served by Buckner in Kenya to nearly 300, including foster care programs in the capital of Nairobi as well as Busia and Kitale. In addition, Buckner works closely with Kenya Baptists in the operation of the Baptist Children’s Center in Nairobi. Other Buckner partnerships in Kenya include work with children in Nairobi slums.

The announcement about Buckner expanding its ministry in Kenya came at the same time the agency announced it was postponing two mission trips there in light on ongoing political unrest and escalating violence.

“Our excitement about assuming this ministry is tempered by the events going on in Kenya. Still, we know God sees the big picture and months from now, we will see great things God does in this work,” Buckner President Ken Hall said.

In announcing the addition of Seed of Hope, Buckner Vice President of Global Initiatives Randy Daniels also said Esther Wanjiku Ngure has been named manager of the home. Ngure is from Kitale and brings more than seven years of experience working in social care. Buckner Kenya Director Dickson Masindano oversees the organization’s ministry in the country.

“Seed of Hope is having a profound impact on the lives of so many boys and girls in Kitale,” Daniels said. “It is critical to these children that Buckner sustain this wonderful ministry and add to its growth for the future.”

Seed of Hope was started as a ministry of German evangelical Christians. Carsten and Silke Werner were instrumental in starting the orphanage and the other ministries associated with Seed of Hope in Kitale. Daniels said when the time came for the Werners to return to Germany, they contacted Buckner about assuming the children’s home.

“We were in the process of beginning foster care in Kitale at the time, and this just seemed to be an answer to prayer,” Daniels said.

Short-term mission teams from Buckner work in Kenya on a regular basis, providing Vacation Bible Schools for the children in Buckner’s care, teaching sports camps, providing medical clinics, and helping build community development centers that serve children and families in local communities.

Carsten Werner said the experience Buckner has working in developing countries “gives us hope that what we started will continue. This cooperative work is a blessing for our children’s home because now a strong partner will share the responsibility with us.”

He added that while he and his family are returning to Germany, they remain committed to helping Buckner raise financial support for Seed of Hope.

Posted: 1/17/08

Ministries continue in Kenya as violence
subsides somewhat, but tension remains

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Classes began as scheduled at Wayland Baptist University’s Limuru campus, in spite of a wave of violence that swept through Kenya.

Meanwhile, Buckner International’s staff confirmed the safety of children housed at Nairobi’s Baptist Children’s Center and in foster homes, and several Baptist groups provided emergency care for displaced people as Kenya continued to recover from widespread rioting and political turmoil.

Violence erupted after a disputed presidential election and allegations of voting fraud. A mob set fire to an Assembly of God church building in Eldoret with 50 people inside. Nationwide, at least 600 people were killed and more than a quarter of a million displaced, according to official reports. Unofficial sources cited even larger numbers.

The campus in Limuru where Wayland offers classes in partnership with Kenya Baptist Theological College became a temporary shelter for about 200 refugees.

Richard Shaw, dean of the Kenya campus and director of the Wayland Mission Center, arrived in Kenya Jan. 13, and classes resumed the next day.

“At this point, most of our students have arrived on the campus and are diligently studying,” Shaw wrote in a Jan. 15 e-mail. “During tea times and meals, the students sit glued to the TV set in the dining hall, alert to any news of conflict.”

In another e-mail, Shaw characterized students as “clearly preoccupied, anxious about families and friends they have left behind, some in distant and dangerous places.”

The greatest need students face is fuel, and their greatest challenge is transportation, he noted.

“Three of our students have not been able to attend because no fuel whatsoever can be found in their districts,” Shaw reported. “One of our students had to walk here, about 100 kilometers” or about 62 miles.

In his online blog, Buckner International President Ken Hall posted periodic updates from his agency’s staff in Kenya during the last few weeks.

In a Jan. 11 posting, he quoted an e-mail received from one employee: “The situation in Kenya seems to be returning back to normal, but there is so much tension around … so keep praying.”

Buckner created a Kenya relief fund “to answer the needs of food, clothing, supplies, health care and housing repairs and construction for both the children in our care and the neighborhoods where we provide ministry,” Hall wrote.

Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, sent $10,000 to the All Africa Fellowship for relief work in Kenya and $5,000 to Uganda to provide for Kenyan refugees who had fled their homeland.

Baptist Global Response—a Southern Baptist international relief and development organization—provided $25,000 to relief in Kenya from the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund. The Southern Baptist International Mission Board coordinated efforts to help distribute food to 2,500 families in seven cities.

Posted: 12/19/03

GLIMPSES OF THE WORLD:
Lottie Moon Offering

By Emily Crutcher & Manda Roten

SBC International Mission Board

As Southern Baptists engage the challenge of this year's Lottie Moon Offering for international missions, workers with the International Mission Board report numerous signs of God's work around the world.

The Southern Baptist Convention offering has a goal of $133 million, with a challenge goal of $150 million.

Here are samples of current reports from the field:

Five Tibetan girls chatted after class. Three were in their mid-teens, and two were in their early 20s. All knew their new English teacher was a Christian.

The three teenagers recently had become believers, but fear prevented them from telling others. The two older Tibetans threatened to beat their younger classmates if they heard even one of them was considering becoming a Christian. The smallest girl stepped forward and quietly said, “I am a Christian.”

As her friends watched in horrified silence, the two older girls began to beat her. The older girls then turned to them and said, “If we hear you have become Christians, we will do worse to you.”

When the older girls left, the two turned to help their friend. They begged her forgiveness for being so afraid to speak or to help.

She said she understood–because she too was afraid. For many Tibetan believers, fear does not go away. It is a way of life.

Each time the doorbell rang, Tony and Jamie–Southern Baptists living in Paris–knew another guest was arriving. Soon their high-rise apartment was crowded with Parisians and Paris immigrants, munching appetizers and getting to know each other through their common language, French.

Nine nations were represented in their home–including people from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and even Laura, a volunteer from Tennessee.

They talked and laughed around the dinner table. Then Tony and Jamie led the group in a time of challenge and reflection. They read from the Bible, sang a French chorus and prayed. For many–including some Muslims and a Buddhist–it was the first time they had heard the Bible or sung a Christian song. As they left, each of them chose to take a French New Testament.

After the other guests left, Richard, a French teacher, told the Baptists: “Your passion and openness about your faith is shocking to us as French people. But don't lose it! Keep doing what you are doing. We need to be challenged.”

A short time later, Richard professed faith in Jesus Christ. “The light of God has entered my life,” he said. He has since been transferred to another city and is planning to start a house church among his family's new friends.

The 12-year-old daughter of IMB missionaries in Lima, Peru, is leading her own Bible study. Each Sunday, while her parents lead a house church in their home, her friends study the Bible with her.

She has decorated a room for the Bible study, prepares lessons to teach each week and plans creative crafts for them to make. She uses handmade gifts to encourage the other girls to attend each week and memorize Bible verses.

When parents pick up their daughters from Bible study for the first time, the Southern Baptist family has a chance to invite the whole family to the house church.

Now their home is filled with people many Sundays–parents worshipping in the house church and children studying the Bible together, under the faithful leadership of a “missionary kid.”

In early 1999, God led a team of Southern Baptists to a remote village in Tanzania. There they believe God gave them a vision to begin work among the Zaramo people group–98 percent of whom are Muslim. Half never have heard Jesus' name.

Within a few months, the team saw its first new believer–an outcast blind man. Soon afterward, an elderly man believed. After a year, a few new believers were meeting for discipleship and worship.

When one family of the team moved into the village, the work began to produce more fruit. One by one, the Zaramo were coming to faith in Christ.

In May 2003, 20 new believers followed Christ in baptism. Two fledgling churches with 30 believers meet regularly for worship and Bible study, and dozens of children faithfully gather to hear Bible stories. People from nearby villages want to hear Bible stories and learn about Jesus.

“What is being witnessed now is only the very beginning of a movement,” explained a Southern Baptist worker among the Zaramo. “Pray that this would be a sweeping movement of the Holy Spirit in the lives of men, women and children as he builds his church among the Zaramo people of Tanzania.”

A couple told a Christian worker in India that 20 people had gathered at their home to hear the gospel. The man followed the two to their home, where Hindus crowded around him and asked, “Who are you preaching about?”

He told them he was preaching about Jesus Christ. Then they asked: “Can you prove Jesus Christ? Show us your God.”

He told them he would show them that Friday. All the way home and during the following days, he prayed. On Friday, he returned to the people. “Do you want to see my God?” he asked.

“Yes!” they all answered.

He explained: “If you go see the Prime Minister, you need a letter of introduction. There is a procedure. It's the same if you want to see God. There is a procedure–it is the gospel.”

One man stayed to hear more. After sharing with the Hindu man, the Christian worker led him in prayer, and the man's life was miraculously changed. The worker asked him, “What happened?”

The man answered: “I saw Jesus! He came into my heart.”

For more information about the Lottie Moon Offering or the IMB, visit www.imb.org.

Posted: 1/16/08

Bible Studies for Life Series for January 27

Breakthrough in confidence

• Psalm 23:1-6

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

Sometimes we can analyze a passage to the point that it loses the meaning it was intended to have. The intent of that analysis was good. We want to know to the fullest extent the meaning and application of the passage, and that certainly is a laudable goal.

Some will argue this is a psalm of confidence or trust, while others will argue that this is a psalm of thanksgiving. It is both a psalm of trust and confidence and a psalm of thanksgiving. If we are honest, it is both of those and more.

I know that through at least one time of difficulty it has been a prayer for God to be that Shepherd; to make the pictures of the psalm real. So maybe there is more than one approach to reading this psalm. I think it is a good thing when we can read and apply this psalm on more than one level. It deepens our understanding of God and with that our trust in him.

The Psalms were not written in isolation, they were written from, and for, real life. This certainly is true of the 23rd Psalm. We can see the reality of life from which it is written when we read it in light of the 22nd Psalm. David begins the 22nd Psalm: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from the words of my groaning?”

While we don’t know the circumstances surrounding David’s cry in this psalm, it is abundantly clear that life has crashed around him. But the same man who wrote the 22nd Psalm wrote the 23rd. He had experienced God’s faithfulness in the midst of life’s storms and had been brought safely through by God’s provision.

David is able to write of a God who is personal. David is not writing an article about an abstract God, he is writing a song of praise, thanksgiving and prayer to the God he knows. The very first line gives us insight into this personal nature of God, “The Lord is my shepherd.” David speaks from personal experience in this, he has experienced God’s provision and care, God’s work as a shepherd in his own life.

That God is a personal God is evidenced throughout both the Old and New Testaments. God is present with Adam and Eve in the Garden; at the burning bush God reveals his name to Moses; God establishes a covenant with his people; a way that they will relate to one another; the Temple is dwelling place of God among his people.

The most important component of God’s personal nature is God’s incarnation in Jesus. John affirms, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” He continues in the same chapter, “… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” That God would come to us and desires to have relationship with us shows we do not deal with an impersonal god but the God who is with us no matter the circumstances of life.

David also writes of the God who provides. Because God is the shepherd who provides, David can write, “I shall not be in want.” Another way to read that phrase is, “I shall lack for nothing.” There is an absolute confidence in God’s provision evidenced in this Psalm. Because the Lord is my shepherd I shall lack for nothing; God will provide all my needs.

When reading this passage, the focus often is shifted to the shortcomings of the sheep, their lack of eyesight, inability to swim well, and so on. But when we read the passage, all of the focus is on God’s care—God leads, guides, restores and protects. None of the focus in the first four verses is on the sheep, it is all on God.

The last two verses have the same focus, but they look forward where the first four verses focus on the present. One of the phrases that I have picked up, and I do not remember to whom to attribute is, “God will do as well in the future as he has done in the past.” In short, God is faithful. Not only is God present and does God provide for us now, this always will be the case. David has written of God’s presence and God’s provision and now turns to God’s faithfulness.

When we look at the passage we can see the joy in David’s life because of God’s faithfulness. Though there are those around him who would like to see the worst befall him, God gives him the very best. Not only does God give him the best, he gives so much of it that David no longer has any room to store it. All the frustrations of life pale in comparison to God’s faithfulness.

The 23rd Psalm is not one to be overanalyzed, it is one to be lived, celebrated, prayed and enjoyed. There is a story about a scholar and a pastor who spoke at a conference. Both men spoke on the 23rd Psalm. At the conclusion, the scholar got up and told the congregation, “I can tell you about the Psalm, he can tell you about the shepherd.”

The Psalm means little unless we are willing to let the Good Shepherd lead us in the manner he led David.

Posted:1/14/08

Explore the Bible Series for January 27

Do you trust the Lord’s promises?

• Genesis 15:1-6; 16:1-3; 17:1-2, 17-19

By Donald Raney

First Baptist Church, Petersburg

The Bible is full of God’s promises to those who honestly seek to live in line with his design for their lives. God promises never to leave or forsake his children. God promises to be an ever-present help and guide. God promises always to hear and answer whenever we call on him.

Yet often in life it may appear God does not always keep those promises. We pray regarding a particular situation or issue, and God does not seem to answer or does not answer in the way or with the timing we want or expect. At times, doubt and disappointment can creep in, and we can begin to question whether God really cares or is even there.

At these times, the crucial question is whether we will trust our own perceptions or God’s promises. As we read the Bible, we find many stories of people who faced these times. Few stories illustrate the dilemma more clearly than the story of Abraham. God promised to make Abraham the father of a great nation through which God would bless the world. As Abraham awaited the fulfillment of those promises, he demonstrated for us the need to choose continually to believe and trust in God’s word despite the circumstances.

Trust the Lord’s word (Genesis 15:1-6)

In Genesis 12, God called Abraham to leave his father’s house and follow God to an unknown land which God would give to his descendents. Although he was 75 years old and did not have any children, Abraham followed God to Canaan. While it is unclear how much time passes between chapters 12 and 15, the intervening chapters suggest it was perhaps several years.

During that time, Abraham likely began to question when God’s promises would be fulfilled. He even may have wondered whether he had heard God correctly. He had followed God to this land but after several years he was still childless and owned at most the small plot of land where he and Sarah lived.

Thus when God again speaks to him and promises once again to greatly bless him, Abraham expressed questions about how God would bless him since all he owned would be inherited by one of his servants. Once again, without explaining how or when, God reassured Abraham that the original promises would be fulfilled and applied to a biological descendant.

Genesis 15:6 then records one of the most significant verses in the Old Testament. This verse is repeated three times in the New Testament as an example of true faith (Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6, James 2:23). In spite of what he was experiencing at the moment, Abraham believed God. How often do we hear God’s call and respond, “I could never do that,” or “That is just not how it is normally or should be done.” Abraham teaches us that, while it may be difficult to understand how, if God says something will happen, we can trust his word it will happen.

Trust the Lord’s timing (Genesis 16:1-3)

Many times the stories in the Bible refer to customs that seem immoral to us and that often causes us to miss the point of the story. While Abraham taking Sarah’s servant Hagar as a second wife may shock us, in the culture of the time, it was perfectly acceptable and is somewhat secondary within the story. Abraham and Sarah had been living in Canaan 10 years and still did not have any children.

From their perspective, the possibility of giving birth to a nation became more remote with each passing day as both were well beyond the age for bearing children. They trusted God’s promise but questioned God’s method and timing. Sarah therefore devised a way for the promise to be fulfilled before it was too late.

Many times today, believers may find that God appears to be slow in responding. We pray and no answer comes. The temptation can be great to move ahead on our own. Perhaps the situation is similar to a previous experience. We know how God moved then and assume the same action this time. Perhaps we know what appears to be the most selfless and godly thing to do, and move in that direction. We may find some success when we act in our own timing, but it will never compare to the wealth of blessing we find when we commit to wait until God answers trusting in His timing.

Trust the Lord’s wisdom (Genesis 17:1-2, 17-19)

Fourteen more years passed, and Sarah still had not had a child. Abraham now was 99 years old and was convinced it was too late to father a child. So when God once again spoke to him promising to confirm a covenant with his descendent if he would continue to walk in faith before God, Abraham responded the way most people likely would, he laughed.

It was not out of disrespect toward God—he simply could not fathom how such would be possible under the circumstances. He reminded God he had a son, Ishmael, who now was a young teenager. Why could he not be the recipient of the promises?

Many believers today have heard God calling them to be involved in some particular ministry that may require making some change or moving and have asked, “Why can’t I serve you in this place or in the same way I am used to?” Often we simply cannot see the reason or wisdom behind God’s call. Our way of serving God makes much more sense to us.

Yet as Isaiah 55:9 reminds us, God’s thoughts are higher than ours. God has an infinitely better view of the big picture and God wants us to trust His wisdom even when it does not make sense to us. Fulfilling God’s call in God’s timing and according to God’s wisdom and plan leads us to experience measures of God’s blessings beyond all we can imagine.

Posted: 4/15/05

'Befriend Muslims,' missionary urges

By Sarah Farris

Special to the Baptist Standard

WACO–Line up every person in the world, and every fifth one would be Muslim, Sam Mansur told a group of Central Texas Christians.

The growing prevalence of Islam prompted Mission Waco to sponsor a Muslim awareness seminar recently led by Mansur, a Muslim-turned-Christian who now is a missionary to Muslims. (His name has been changed for security reasons).

Mansur asked participants to consider presuppositions Christians have about Muslims, and vice-versa.

Group members said Muslims think of Christians as “poorly disciplined, immoral, having a low view of God, and saturated by the media and materialism.” Christians describe Muslims with terms varying from “terrorists” and “oppressive toward women” to “moral and family-oriented,” they noted.

“Both cultures have centuries of stereotypes about each other,” Mansur said. Christians should realize Muslims are human, hospitable and loving people, he stressed.

Forty percent of Muslims worldwide live as minorities, and 7 percent of the Muslim population live in the United States.

“If we don't go to them, God will bring them to us,” he said.

Followers of Islam trace their faith to Muhammad, who claimed to have his first prophetic vision in 610 A.D. The Qur'an, Islam's holy book, is said to be a transcript of those visions, Mansur explained.

One reason it is difficult for a Muslim to convert to Christianity is the structure of Islamic society, he explained. In the community-oriented Muslim culture, the community controls the family, and the family controls individuals.

Mansur explained he was cast out of his family when he became a Christian.

A new strategy among many missionaries working in Muslim areas is to encourage new Christians to keep their faith secret so they can be a Christian influence within their families, he added.

Christians should share their faith by making friends with Muslims, Mansur said. When befriending Muslims, it is important to make them feel comfortable, invite them to dinner and show hospitality, he said. Because of social etiquette in Islamic societies and the emphasis on hospitality, a Muslim rarely would decline an invitation.

Christians should educate themselves when attempting to befriend Muslims, Mansur stressed. They should learn about the region the person is from and the branch of Islam they are a part of, because different geographic regions and sects of Islam vary greatly. He suggested using the Internet as an easy research tool.

“Be open and talk about something besides religion,” Mansur said. “And be genuine.”

It is not offensive to ask about a person's culture, but it is a turnoff to Muslims when Christians act like they know everything, he said.

“Build a friendship with a Muslim and learn from each other. Conflicts can be brought up later,” Mansur said, repeatedly warning seminar participants against “microwaving relationships” with Muslims–looking for a quick fix.

“There is a good potential that you could win a debate with a Muslim,” Mansur said. “But you will probably lose that friend, so there is really no point. It would actually be a loss.”

Posted: 1/11/08

In the shadows, slavery remains

Editor's note: Jan. 11 is the national day of awareness of human trafficking.

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

COLLEYVILLE—Given Kachepa’s father died when he was seven. He lost his mother when he was nine. He ended up living with 15 relatives in a two-room hut without electricity or running water.

So, when a Baptist missionary offered to make Kachepa part of a Zambian boys’ choir that would sing in United States churches to raise money to build schools in his hometown and support his family, he jumped at the opportunity.

“If you look at the country and what they don’t have and you meet someone who says, ‘We are going to build schools, we are going to support families,’ it’s like a dream come true,” he said.

The dream quickly turned into a nightmare. Within three months, the choir director became increasingly controlling. He prevented the boys from contacting their families.

All 12 members of the choir lived in one mobile home when staying at the home base. They were refused medical care. When boys started asking questions, he threatened deportation.

Kachepa was one of an estimated 14,500 to 17,000 people trafficked through the United States each year. Neither he nor any of the other choir members ever were properly paid for their singing. Schools never were built. Families never received money.

“We were completely lost,” Kachepa said.

Slowly, American Christian families who hosted the boys realized something was wrong. Some pulled support and began writing letters to officials about the boys’ treatment. Eventually, the situation self-destructed as immigration and labor department services got involved.

The boys were taken in by Sandy Shepherd, a member of First Baptist Church in Colleyville. At one point, she supported the choir. She withdrew that support when she realized the boys were being mistreated years before their disbandment. She found homes for all the boys, eventually adopting Kachepa into her own family.

Shepherd raised Kachepa as one of her own children. She helped reconnect him to his family. She worked with him through school. Ten years after Kachepa came to the United States, he is a junior at the University of North Texas.

Along the way, Shepherd became one of a growing number of Christians who have become interested in fighting human trafficking. More than 2,000 congregations across faith and denominational lines have become involved with Not For Sale, a campaign to free the more than 27 million slaves around the world. Salvation Army and Catholic Charities are providing centers to help provide practical assistance for those who have been trafficked.

Mark Wexler, director of Not For Sale’s abolitionist church network, described “people trade” as an ethical, moral and spiritual issue. The practice of trafficking people is “pure evil” and demands a spiritual response.

“You can’t combat evil by saying it’s evil,” he said. “It has to more than that.”

In Texas Baptist circles, Mosaic Church in Austin participated in a Not For Sale Event last fall. The Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission has condemned human trafficking and provided a workshop about the issue. It also has produced a publication on the issue.

Tomi Grover, director of BGCT local transformational missions, has held and attended seminars on human trafficking, and she has met with the North Texas Anti-Trafficking Task Force to assess how Texas Baptists may be involved in the efforts in our state.

Bruce Peterson, pastor of South Park Baptist Church in Alvin, is working to raise awareness of the issue. He remembers being sparked to the issue after seeing a video of a young girl who had been trafficked and forced to have sex with men. She had two possessions by her nightstand—a roll of paper towels she used to clean up after being with a man and a teddy bear, the only vestige of a lost childhood.

“To have somebody who is a completely abused individual who is being used by men for money goes against everything I stand for as a minister,” he said.

Alvin lies along the corridor to traffic people from Latin America and Mexico to Houston, he said. While his congregation has not come in contact with anyone who has been trafficked, it is now more aware of the signs of trafficking.

Awareness is key at this point, said Sam Myrick, Mosaic pastor of community and contemplation. At this point, many people don’t know human trafficking exists around them. The Interstate 35 corridor is a primary route for moving people from Central America through the United States. That makes it imperative for Texans to keep their eyes and ears open.

“I think right now we’re a part of this network,” he said. “That’s the way any change comes about—people become aware of the problem.”

Shepherd, Kachepa, Myrick and Peterson see themselves as pieces in the puzzle that is building to quash human trafficking. Each of them and their churches can inform and affect a small group of people. First Baptist Church in Colleyville started a school in Kachepa’s hometown. Now, church member plan to construct a building for it.

Kachepa and Shepherd share their story when they can. When possible, Kachepa speaks at conferences. A book has been written about his life, and he’s been interviewed by numerous media outlets in an attempt to share the realities of human trafficking.

After graduating from UNT, Kachepa hopes to attend dental school and become a dentist. He’d like to use those skills to help the people of Zambia. There, he’ll be a piece of another puzzle—strengthening Zambians.

Fortunately, he has a model for how to do that. He simply looks at what Shepherd did for him and is reminded to invest in one person at a time.

“You don’t have to help the whole community,” he said. You don’t have to help the whole city. You just have to help one person that goes so far.”

 For more information, visit:
www.jochifundoschool.org
www.notforsalecampaign.org
www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/

Posted: 1/11/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for January 20

Not an easy way

• Mark 8:27-38

By Andrew Daugherty

Christ Church, Rockwall

All along, Mark’s Gospel has been concerned with the disclosure of Jesus’ identity through the accounting of his stories and deeds. Now, Jesus himself asks some questions of his disciples about this identity business. It is a pivotal point in Mark’s telling of Jesus’ story. Reality’s shadows in the shape of a cross lengthen over Jesus’ movement.

Mark moves to a more pointed personal exchange between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus’ first question is a rather mild one to the whole group. He asks, “Who do people say that I am?” (v. 27). Notice several disciples take a turn at this first question: “And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’” (v. 28).

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These were public opinions at the time about the 30-something year-old former carpenter from Nazareth. Jesus possessed the qualities of all of these prominent figures of Israel’s past. These were reasonable responses to all Jesus was saying and doing. The disciples would have been well aware of the popular perceptions of Jesus to the culture at-large. As Mark tells it, it sounds like many of the disciples want to “chime in” on a question they can answer easily.

This is a safer question, because isn’t it easier to answer for other people rather than for ourselves about exactly who Jesus is? We can quote rumors and reports about the latest controversial book on the sexuality of Jesus or speculate ad infinitum about the latest eschatological theory of a so-called prophecy expert telling the world that Jesus is going to literally return to planet earth but leave surviving sinners behind. We can complain eloquently about the misguided theological notions of people who believe differently than we do about biblical interpretation, women in ministry, homosexuality, denominational leadership, evangelism or social justice issues. With enough emotional distance, we can remain neutral observers in a philosophical debate rather than passionate participants in seeking to truly answer the next question with our lives as much as with our opinions: Who do you say that Jesus is?

This second question is the more difficult question to answer precisely because it is the most personal. “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 29). Like Peter, we can likely come up with some answers of our own: Lord, Messiah, Christ, Savior or Son of God. But beyond reciting the conventional titles we’ve learned from Scripture or Sunday school, what does our confession about Jesus really mean?

Like the reluctant disciples, our answers to the second question may not come as quickly or easily. Notice Peter is the only one who speaks up this time: “You are the Messiah” (v. 30).

This isn’t unusual for Peter. He has a habit of running his mouth before his mind is fully in gear. Yet his confession in response to the second question reveals something far deeper and more profound than all the answers given to the first. From all we know of Peter, his confession is not because he is spiritually superior to all other disciples. What he sees and names in Jesus is not because he is privy to classified information. Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah is because his life had been transformed by sharing a deep friendship with him. Peter understood who Jesus was after watching him work for the good of other people and listening to him proclaim the message of the kingdom of God.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells Peter he will build his church on the “Rock” of Peter’s confession. However, here in Mark, Jesus quickly begins to give a fuller definition of Peter’s confession about what it means to be the Messiah. Peter’s trouble does not come with saying rightly who Jesus is. It comes in living rightly the meaning of his confession.

Right away Jesus explains the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and rejection, be killed and after three days rise again (v. 31). Jesus’ candor about this reality leaves Peter in a state of shock. The notion of a suffering Messiah was unquestionably offensive.

Tom Long puts this into perspective: “Peter is like a man who has just been named campaign manager of a promising presidential candidate who astonishingly hears the candidate proclaim he can accomplish his goals only by being assassinated!”

Peter asks to have a word with Jesus, but barely has Peter said a word before Jesus rebukes him saying, “Get behind me Satan!” (v. 33). Though Peter confesses Jesus is the Messiah, he finds out what Jesus means by it is something far different than what he means by it.

Jesus sure doesn’t sugar-coat anything: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it (vv. 34-35).

Like Peter, we may tempted to believe religious faith protects us from suffering while promising security and success. If you can just name what you want, God will help you get there: “I want a spouse, power, riches. I want success, a good marriage, exciting sex. I want fulfillment. …” The problem is that the center of the universe is still “I.”

Jesus never minces words about how hard it’s going to be to follow the One Peter confessed as Messiah. He doesn’t give away prizes and gifts in order to attract a crowd to him. He doesn’t offer personal incentives for following him. Jesus’ agenda is not for us to merely find ourselves, but to first find God.

In the economy of God, finding life that really is life is the luxury of losing your life in the first place. Jesus wants to get through to us that such a life is not found in having things, but being somebody. He is clear that only by laying aside selfish preoccupations and self-centered motivations for personal fulfillment can a person really follow Jesus. It’s hardly a genius marketing strategy that promises people the good life.

But it is the plan for helping people discover the life well-lived. It won’t be easy or comfortable or convenient, but Jesus says it’s the only way to save our lives; to give them away for the sake of the gospel.

Who do you say Jesus is? The point-blank question posed to Peter is the same one still posed to us. If our answers are the same as his, we will live this confession not just with our lips but with our lives.

Posted: 1/11/08

Single mother finds stability
& purpose thanks to Gracewood

By Bill Martin

Children At Heart Ministries

HOUSTON—Standing at a microphone under a spreading oak tree in a northwest Houston neighborhood, Claudia Cardenas told a crowd of strangers about her transformation—with God’s help—from “couch surfer” to motivated single mother.

As she talked, observers noted God’s hand in her journey from foster child to homeless mother to a success story in the making.

Cardenas told her story at the groundbreaking for a new campus for Gracewood, Children At Heart’s ministry to single mothers. She spoke on behalf of all of the mothers and children who have been helped by the ministry—as well as those who will benefit from the 6,800-square-foot home being built through a partnership with HomeAid Houston, a project of the Greater Houston Homebuilders Association.

“I’ve always had goals, but never felt they were attainable,” she said. “I never had the opportunity to sit back and choose. Now, thanks to Gracewood, I know anything is possible. My self-esteem has gone up a lot, and my relationship with God is so good.”

Claudia Cardenas and her sons, Malyk (left) and Anthony (right), found new hope thanks to Gracewood.

“To hear Claudia tell her very personal story of transformation and deliverance—and tell how Gracewood helped her and will help others like her—was very moving for everyone who was there,” Gracewood Executive Director Debbie Rippstein said.

As she described it, Cardenas’ story involved a heart-breaking trip from foster child to single mother to the edge of homelessness. Nor was it easy for her sons, Anthony, now 10, and Malyk, 9. But today, she said, God’s purpose is much clearer.

“For a long time, I questioned God,” Cardenas said. “Why did I have to go through this? I always felt I was a failure and it wasn’t a very good feeling. But God has given me a strong heart and a strong personality to deal with a lot of things. Now I understand my purpose, why I am here.”

Cardenas puts her “been there, done that” experience to good purpose in her job mentoring youth through Child Protective Services in Houston. Eventually, she wants to have her own business helping former foster children like herself.

“There are three of us in the CPS office who aged out of foster care,” she explained. “Young girls come to us to talk. We say the same things they hear from their case managers, but because we have been through it, maybe they listen to us better.”

Cardenas grew up in a large, mostly disconnected family—“nine of us total that I know of.” When she was 5, Cardenas’ mother abandoned the family. At age 9, she moved to Houston from Brownsville with her father but spent most of her childhood in foster homes. She mostly lived on her own from the time she was 12 years old, in and out of shelters, foster homes, runaway facilities, on the street, occasionally living with family members.

She bore two sons from two relationships, but the boys’ fathers no longer are involved with the children’s lives. Along the way, she encountered a series of evictions from apartments, continuing problems with debt and bouts of homelessness. She hit rock bottom last spring.

“For about two months before I came to Gracewood, we were moving around, couch surfing with friends and family members,” she said. “We were being a burden to whoever we stayed with.

“Every day, the boys would see me pick up the phone and call around to see where we could stay that night,” she added, becoming tearful at the memory. “They would ask where we would sleep. It was hard because I didn’t always have answers for them. Sometimes we drove to shelters and were turned down because they didn’t have space, so we would go down a list of friends and family, calling them until we found somewhere to stay.”

Finally, she learned word-of-mouth about Gracewood.

“It has brought so much stability to our lives,” she says. “After we had our interview, my oldest son said, ‘This is our home, Mom.’ The boys aren’t so stressed out about where we are going to sleep or what we are going to do for food.”

Cardenas notes now she has the luxury of being able to make positive choices for herself and her sons. And, as good as Gracewood has been for her, it has been equally positive for Anthony and Malyk.

“When they first arrived, we all fell in love with the boys,” Gracewood Program Coordinator Roy Garcia said. “One of the things that has really impressed me has been the development of the relationship and the bonding between Claudia and her kids.”

“It used to be rush, rush, rush, get ready for work, get ready for school, and I didn’t really feel like I was available to them,” Cardenas said. “Now we have sit-down dinners where we actually talk.”

With all the stability Gracewood has brought to her life, along with the ability to dream about the future, Cardenas feels most blessed by the knowledge that her boys will have a much different upbringing than she did.

“I know they have had a life where they have been exposed to a lot and had to learn responsibilities at a very young age,” she says. “We have had a hard time, but we have made it through that. With God’s help, I know that anything is possible.”

Claudia has already started to give back. At her church, she won a $500 gift card during a Christmas drawing. Rather than use it for herself, she gave it to her sister to help defray expenses associated with a cochlear implant her sister’s daughter will soon receive.

“A ministry like ours is blessed to be able to help mothers whose lives have been shattered by poor choices or because of the actions of others. The children are often innocent victims who get dragged through poverty and homelessness,” Rippstein said.

“Claudia and her boys have been through some bad times, but today their story is one of good news, healing and redemption. Because a few people reached out to help her, her future has never been brighter.”

Posted: 1/11/08

Mentors provide hope for
at-risk elementary school students

By Analiz González

Buckner International

DALLAS—Brad Schwall is a celebrity at Dan D. Rogers Elementary School—at least among the students.

Schwall, director of the Kids Hope USA collaboration between Park Cities Baptist Church and the Dallas elementary school, connects at-risk children with Park Cities mentors.

When he walks down the school’s hallways, little heads pop out of classrooms, and little hands tug at his jacket to ask the same question he’s heard dozens of times: “Have you found me a mentor?”

Kids Hope USA is a national program connecting at-risk children and church members through mentorship relationships. The children are taken out of the classroom one hour a week to meet with their mentors one-on-one. Buckner International works with Kids Hope to recruit churches.

For three years, Park Cities has worked at Dan D. Rogers Elementary. One of the many friendships that have developed through it is the one between Brenda Richardson and Irving Casados.

Richardson met Irving, now in fourth grade, when he was only 7. After several mentoring sessions in which the two worked on homework, played games or talked, she invited him to a children’s sports camp.

Richardson met Irving’s mother at the camp. After that, she invited the family to visit them at Park Cities, where they have all become members. And Eloy Casados, Irving’s father, said his wife recently was baptized at the church.

“We’ve always believed in God, but we were never very close to him,” Casados said. “My kids are learning about what is good. My kids want to please God.”

Casados acknowledged he and his family felt out of place when they first walked into the North Dallas church. Everything was in English. Everyone was white.

“But a nice Anglo lady sat next to my wife and translated everything,” he added. “And we decided to keep coming.”

Now, Irving is doing a lot better in school, he added.

“Before he started being mentored, Irving had problems concentrating. He would read and not process what he read and listen but not process what he heard,” Casados said.

Richardson and her husband are invited to the family’s birthday parties, and they sometimes come by to take the three Casados children out for ice cream.

Yolanda Rodriguez, principal at Dan D. Rogers, said the program targets at-risk children in order to pull them out of that situation.

With 30 children on the mentorship program and 23 still on the waiting list, Rodriguez said she is thrilled about the program.

“It’s one of those things where you think, ‘OK, why doesn’t every school do this?’” she said. “I’ve been working in Dallas Independent School District for 32 years and I’ve never seen any mentorship program to this extent—having one mentor continue through the years, working with one specific child. They help them get into magnet middle schools, a lot of times following them through graduation.”

Kids Hope USA mentors commit to meeting with a child for one year, but they can re-commit and mentor that child through fifth grade.

Another set of mentorship relationships have developed in the collaboration between Fort Worth Presbyterian and Oakmont Elementary School. Steve Fults, coordinator of ministry at Fort Worth Presbyterian, also mentors for Kids Hope USA.

“How many times do busy parents promise something and don’t go through for their kids?” Fults said. “We want to go through with our commitments at Kids Hope because if we don’t, we are telling the kid, ‘You can’t trust people.’ When I come see the kid I mentor, I take out my cell and tell him, ‘Will you turn this off for me?’ After our hour is over, I tell him, ‘OK, turn it on for me again.’ My phone is only off during that hour. It is on all the rest of the day. Even at night I keep it on.”

Lane Poole, school counselor for Oakmont Elementary, said the children being mentored often don’t have a constant adult influence in their lives.

“I hook the kids up with Louanne Mason (the Kids Hope USA director at Fort Worth Presbyterian) and see the benefits and reap the rewards of their behavior improvements,” Poole said. “They take a lot of the burden off me. Some of the problems I’d normally have I don’t have because of them.”

Mason, who’s directed the Kids Hope USA collaboration for Forth Worth Presbyterian since it started two years ago, said she’s witnessed several testimonies first hand.

“In one case, a child’s mom was going through chemo and the mentor talked him through his mother’s therapy,” Mason said. “The mentor helped prepare the child. The family may not have been able to do that because they were panicked.

And because a lot of the children in the program come from single-parent homes, Kids Hope USA provides the extra support they need.

“At Fort Worth Presbyterian, we have a lot of male volunteers and there is a lot of need for that because these kids come from homes without male role models,” she said. “They need someone with whom they can do boy things.”

Not all Kids Hope volunteers are mentors. They also include prayer partners, who commit to praying for the child and their mentor, and substitutes who attend mentoring sessions when the mentor can’t meet with the child.

Iglesia Getsemani in Fort Worth is one of only seven non-white churches in the national program. There are 415 churches total. Getsemani serves at Cesar Chavez Elementary, a pre-kindergarten-through-second-grade school where the student population is about 91 percent Hispanic.

Elizabeth Vasquez, principal at Cesar Chavez, said her students benefit from having role models who look like them. Some at-risk students don’t know a lot of English, and they need a bilingual volunteer with whom they can communicate clearly.

“Fifty-five percent of the kids in this school district are Hispanic,” said Buckner Kids Hope Coordinator Richard Roman. “We need more males, and we need more minorities to volunteer.”

Julio Guarneri, pastor of Getsemani, said the lack of minority-church involvement may be related to a lack of funds in those congregations.

“A lot of ethnic churches are still struggling for survival,” Guarneri said. “When the churches address programs like this, they may feel threatened by time and money. But it is a minimal cost for the long-term impact. This is where we need to be now, rather than coming in and doing crisis intervention in the future.”

Celia Ramirez, director of Kids Hope Getsemani, said many adults don’t realize that children have needs that they can meet.

“At-risk kids have odds against them to succeed,” Ramirez said. “I see them as often falling through the cracks. But Kids Hope can help us pull them out of that. We want to help them in academics. We want to believe in them so they can believe in themselves. We want them to learn to read, so that later, they can read to learn.”

For more information about Kids Hope USA, contact Richard Roman at HYPERLINK "mailto:rroman@buckner.org" rroman@buckner.org.