Around the State: HPU completes summer projects; new Buckner Family Hope Center director named

Buckner International named Diego Silva director of the Buckner Family Hope Center in Peñitas. Silva will oversee the daily operations and lead the Family Hope Center team of six in serving vulnerable children and families in the Rio Grande Valley, where Buckner International has operated since 1971. Silva began working for Buckner International in 2013 as a missions group coordinator in South Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical/Theological Studies degree from Baptist University of the Américas and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

The Texas School Public Relations Association named Charles Foster Johnson, founding executive director of Pastors for Texas Children, as its 2018 Key Communicator. Johnson received the award in recognition of his advocacy for public schools and adequate school funding. His former pastorates include Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio and Second Baptist Church in Lubbock.

“Hope for the Struggle” is the theme of the African-American Evangelism Conference, scheduled at two locations next month—Sept. 14-15 at Dallas Baptist University’s Global Missions Center and Sept. 21-22 in Lubbock. The Sept. 21 event will be at Faith First House of Hope Baptist Church in Lubbock, and the Sept. 22 sessions will be at Wayland Baptist University’s Lubbock campus. Keynote speakers are Michael Evans, senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield and president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and Delvin Atchison, director of Texas Baptists’ Great Commission Team. Registration cost is $20 per person. For more information, click here.

Literacy Connexus, a ministry partner of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, will offer Teaching English with Excellence training at multiple locations over the next few weeks. The program prepares volunteers to teach English-as-a-Second-Language classes in a faith-based setting. Basic ESL training will be offered Aug. 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at First Southern Baptist Church of Gardendale, near Odessa; Aug. 24 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Aug. 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church in The Woodlands; Aug. 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at First Euless Church; Sept. 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at San Antonio Baptist Association; Sept. 21 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Sept. 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at West University Baptist Church in Houston; and Sept. 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Twin Lakes Fellowship in Cedar Park. Higher Level Extended ESL Training will be offered Aug. 18 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cross Roads Baptist Church in The Woodlands. Two training events are scheduled Sept. 29 at Southcliff Baptist Church in Fort Worth—Cross-cultural Witnessing from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and Basic Pronunciation from 12 noon to 3 p.m. For more information, click here.