Around the State: DBU students serve in England and Peru; Texans recognized by CBF

Dallas Baptist University sophomore Bailey Finch engages a small group in an English lesson at Colegio Maria Alvarado in Peru. (Photo/ Efrain Carbajal /DBU)The women’s soccer team from Dallas Baptist University spent a week in northeast England as  part of the school’s global sports mission initiative. Led by athletics staff and Dean of Students Dan Gibson, the team used their passion for soccer to connect with players in England and many in the area through friendly competition. Another group of students, led by Chris Holloway, DBU director of global missions, partnered with Colegio Maria Alvarado, a high school in Lima, Peru, to teach classes in English and Christian culture. 

Chris Dean received the Daniel and Earlene Vestal Scholarship from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and its partner organizations honored Texas Baptists by presenting them awards, electing them to leadership and naming them to positions of responsibility during the 2017 CBF general assembly in Atlanta this summer. Chris Dean, a dual-degree student at Baylor University’s Diana Garland School of Social Work and George W. Truett Theological Seminary, received one of CBF’s two Daniel and Earlene Vestal Scholarships. Brittany Ramirez and Casey Ramirez of Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco were appointed missionaries to China. Erin Finley of First Baptist Church in Norman, Okla. (affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas), Michael Raimer-Goodman of South Main Baptist Church in Houston, Leigh Ridge of First Baptist Church in Austin and Erin Poindexter of First Baptist Church in Abilene were included among CBF’s 25 Young Leaders for 2017. Maria Monteiro, chair of the music department at Baptist University of the Américas, was elected to the CBF Governing Board. Katie Sciba, a medical social worker in Stafford, was re-elected CBF recorder. Dennis Tucker, professor of Christian Scriptures at Truett Seminary, was elected to the CBF Nominating Committee. Gina Biddle of William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital and Zale Lipshy University Hospital in Dallas and Carter Sapp of Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston were endorsed as chaplains.

Daniel Brown Daniel Brown assumed a new role as executive director of strategic initiatives at Wayland Baptist University. Brown has been director of the Bachelor of Applied Science/Bachelor of Christian Ministry degree office at Wayland the past four years. Brown has been instrumental in setting up targeted initiatives, specifically those benefitting law enforcement personnel and Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees. He began working at Wayland 10 years ago, starting as a recruiter in the admissions office. He holds a doctoral degree from the University of Memphis, a master’s degree from the University of Alabama and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. His wife, Kimberly, is director of vocal studies in Wayland’s School of Music. They have two children, Hannah, 5, and Luke, 3.

Anniversaries

75th for Primera Iglesia Bautista in Mathis. The congregation will mark the milepost with a celebration from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 22, at 526 N. Highway 359. Ronaldo Flores is pastor.