Around the State: DBU responds to Harvey; Baylor social work school receives grant

Dallas Baptist University established the DBU Responds fund to help students and alumni affected by Hurricane Harvey. “We are aware that families of DBU students will face added financial stress over the coming months, and we pray that this fund will help lessen these burdens so students can remain enrolled at DBU and families can focus other resources they have on recovering from the storms,” DBU President Adam Wright said. John Borum, dean of spiritual life, is receiving requests for help from students and alumni at [email protected], and DBU’s intercessory prayer ministry is receiving prayer requests at [email protected]. DBU also is serving as a collection point for cases of bottled water Texas Baptist Men disaster relief volunteers will deliver to the Gulf Coast. Off-campus guests can drop off water at the campus entrance gate house on Mountain Creek Parkway in southwest Dallas.

The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health awarded Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work a $235,000 grant. The grant will be used to address the mental health and wellness needs of Waco Independent School District students who are placed in disciplinary alternative education programs. Specifically, it will fund the School of Social Work’s Transitioning to Mental Wellness program. The program will seek to increase the G.L. Wiley Opportunity Center’s capacity to serve students in a trauma-informed and culturally sensitive manner, as well as increase academic success of students by identifying and addressing mental health needs.

Incoming students at Howard Payne University joined upperclassmen leaders in community service on the Saturday before they started classes. Some of the volunteers with SWARM—Serving With A Right Motive—worked at Good Samaritan Ministries, Brownwood’s Lyric Theatre, The ARK Domestic Violence Shelter and the Brownwood Area Community Garden, while others wrote letters of encouragement to military personnel. SWARM is part of the university’s Jacket Journey orientation program for new students.

Baylor University named Sahr Mbriwa chaplain and coordinator of campus ministry at its Louise Herrington School of Nursing. In addition to offering pastoral care, spiritual guidance and opportunities for Bible study, he also will be responsible for providing ministry programs, community service, leadership groups and mission opportunities for students. Mbriwa served previously as program director for the Easton (Pa.) Area Community Center, a non-profit organization that served underprivileged youth and families, and was associate pastor of Bridge Community Church in Easton, Pa. He also was a former campus minister at Penn State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in psychology. He holds a master of divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary and is pursuing his doctor of ministry degree from Biblical Theological Seminary.

Members of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s soccer team spent a week of their preseason in Bermuda, where they trained, played in scrimmages and served churches and non-profit organizations. The Crusaders served hot meals to homeless people, picked up litter on the beach and carried out manual labor to benefit First Baptist Church of Bermuda.

“Unauthorized: Nevertheless, She Preached” is the theme of a two-day women in ministry event at University Baptist Church in Waco, 6-9 p.m., Sept. 12, and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 13. Featured preachers and lecturers include Karoline Lewis, Irie Session, Beverly Gaventa, Margaret Aymer, Allyson Dylan Robinson, Connie Jackson, Emmy Kegler, Courtney Pace and Jewel London. Topics of discussion include trauma-informed preaching, sin and justice in women’s experience, preaching from the margins, dealing with sexism and micro-aggressions and feminine imagery for God in the Bible. Fran Pratt and Joslyn Henderson will lead worship. The event concludes with a concert by Grammy-nominated recording artist Jennifer Knapp 7-9 p.m., Sept. 13, at the Waco Hippodrome, 724 Austin Ave. Registration cost is $25, with a student rate of $15. To register, click here.