Around the State: TBM still involved in relief and rebuilding; DBU students visit Israel

Texas Baptist Men volunteers continue both disaster relief and rebuilding ministries in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Five months after the hurricane made landfall, TBM teams provide ongoing disaster relief in Rockport and Orange, where they have contributed more than 9,000 volunteer hours and logged more than 260 heavy-equipment hours. Volunteer crews have completed 26 TBM Rebuild projects, primarily in the Houston area, and 96 additional projects already are slated. TBM Rebuild assists residents whose homes were damaged by the hurricane, giving priority to senior adults, families with special-needs children and single parents. To volunteer for the TBM Rebuild, click here. For more information, email [email protected].

Forty Dallas Baptist University students made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in partnership with Passages, a program sponsored by the Philos Project and the Museum of the Bible, that sends Christian college students to Israel to learn firsthand about the roots of their faith. Kenneth Gore, professor of biblical studies at DBU, and Lee Bratcher, director of the university’s politics, philosophy and economics program, led the group of undergraduate and graduate students who spent 10 days exploring biblical and geopolitical sites throughout Israel. Students also had the opportunity to experience the culture and listen to lectures on Christian-Jewish relations, Israeli politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Howard Payne University’s art department will present “Intimate Studies: Nature and Landscape Forms,” an art exhibit featuring works by Kim Abercrombie, Katherine Makowsky, Jennifer Seo and Trisstah Wagstaff. All four Waco-based artists studied visual art at Baylor University. The exhibit will be at the Dorothy and Wendell Mayes Art Gallery in HPU’s Doakie Day Art Center through Feb. 27. The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays. There is no admission cost.

Suzii Paynter, executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, will deliver the 11^th annual Currie-Strickland Distinguished Lectures in Christian Ethics at Howard Payne University. The lectures are scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15 and 10 a.m. Feb. 16 in the Richard and Wanda Jackson Conference Room in the Paul and Jane Meyer Faith and Life Leadership Center. Admission is free, but reservations are requested. Contact [email protected] or (325) 649-8403.

Manny Silva, a senior at Wayland Baptist University majoring in religious education, will receive the first Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas Scholarship to Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. His parents are John Silva, a church starter with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and Sara Silva.

Wayland Baptist University’s board of trustees unanimously approved $2.2 million in funding to address technology needs across all Wayland campuses, including the acquisition of new computing equipment for university employees, computer labs, servers, firewall and other security equipment. Wayland’s 20-year-old telephone system also will be replaced with a new cloud-based phone system for all campuses. The new technology will integrate communications across the entire Wayland system. In addition to its main campus in Plainview, Wayland has locations in six states and Kenya with about 5,000 students throughout the system.

The Scott & White College of Nursing at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor launched an adult-gerontology acute-care nurse practitioner program designed to equip graduates with the skills to practice in high-pressure areas in acute-care settings. The new program will be offered in two forms—a dedicated Master of Science degree program and a post-master’s certificate for nurses who have already earned their Master of Science in Nursing degrees. Students will be able to complete most of their coursework online and only spend one Friday and Saturday a month in the classroom. Classes for the program will begin in fall 2018, and nurses with Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees can apply for the program now. Preference will be given to those prospective students who have experience working in some type of critical-care setting. For more information, call (254) 295-4662.

Anniversaries

Fifth for Andrew Kilpatrick as pastor at First Baptist Church in Chilton.

50^th for Mark Chew as pastor at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Denton.

15^th for Charles Cates as minister of music and worship leader at Oak Forest Baptist Church in Houston.