Around the State: TBM and partners top 6,500 volunteer hours in Weslaco so far

Texas Baptist Men disaster relief teams and their out-of-state partners have contributed more than 6,500 volunteer hours to ongoing ministry in Weslaco. Unseasonable summer storms dumped 15 inches of rain on Weslaco in four hours June 20, flooding more than 2,300 homes. As of July 18, TBM disaster relief volunteers and chaplains, along with Baptists from other states, contacted more than 1,200 individuals and distributed more than 5,200 boxes for residents to gather and store their belongings. The Baptist volunteers tore out damaged drywall and flooring from 53 homes and treated 70 homes to mitigate mold. They distributed 288 Bibles, presented the gospel at least 136 times and recorded 23 professions of faith in Christ. To contribute financially, send a check designated “disaster relief” to Texas Baptist Men, 5351 Catron, Dallas, TX 75227, call (214) 275-1116 or click here. EDITOR’S NOTE: This item was revised June 19 after it originally was posted to reflect updated totals as of June 18.

The Association of Recovery in Higher Education recognized Bob and Laura Beauchamp of Houston, whose $2.5 million gift to Baylor University in 2017 created the on-campus Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center, as Recovery Philanthropists of the Year. The recovery center at Baylor opened during the fall 2017 semester and immediately began providing both support services for students who are in the initial stages of identifying an addiction and continued support for students who have completed rehabilitation programs. By the end of the spring 2018 semester, 53 students with around-the-clock access to the center were involved in the community and regularly attending meetings. The center also has served as an educational resource, helping to reduce the issues surrounding addiction and empower students to serve as advocates and sources of support for students in recovery.

C.C. Risenhoover, senior pastor of The Church on Thistle Ridge in Granbury and U.S. Air Force veteran, received the Meritorious Service Medal from the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States. Risenhoover is the author of 25 published books and served as a press representative with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, public relations director at Baylor University and assistant to the president at the Southern Baptist Convention’s Radio and Television Commission.

Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston, and Brad Creed, president of Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C., will be the featured preachers, and Todd Still, dean of Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, will lead adult Bible study at Paisano Baptist Encampment’s annual family camp, July 22-27. “Deeply Rooted in Holy Ground” is the theme of the camp, which includes activities for all ages. Ben Hanna, urban missionary with San Antonio Baptist Association and former Southern Baptist missionary to Eastern Europe, will guide the missions time, and Linda Millican, a licensed marriage and family therapist associate and licensed chemical dependency counselor, will lead the family hour. Jim Cleaveland, minister of worship and media at First Baptist Church in El Paso will lead the music, along with pianist Nancy Russell and organist Jonathan Pinto. Paisano Baptist Encampment is located in Paisano Pass, between Alpine and Marfa. For more information, click here.

Dallas Baptist University presented Baylor University’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing a copy of the “Divine Servant” statue as an expression of a shared commitment to servant leadership. The bronze statue, originally created in 1989 by Max Greiner Jr., depicts Jesus washing the feet of Simon Peter. The statue was dedicated July 10 in honor of Shelley F. Conroy, dean of the Louise Herrington School of Nursing. The nursing school entered into an articulation agreement with DBU six years ago that allows nursing students to attend DBU two years to receive an associate’s degree and then transfer to Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing for their final two years to complete their undergraduate degree.

Houston Baptist University received a $150,000 gift from the Hamill Foundation. The gift will be applied toward the Hamill Scholars program, which supports undergraduate students in a number of fields of study; scholarships for undergraduate and graduate allied health majors in the HBU School of Nursing and Allied Health; and the HBU Academic Success Center.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor received an $80,000 donation from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation to purchase a driving simulator for the university’s new occupational therapy master’s degree program. The equipment will be housed in a laboratory where occupational therapy students will learn how to evaluate the cognitive and physical skills necessary for driving. Students will learn how to help patients attain or regain the abilities required for driving, whether they have had an accident, stroke, surgery or any other condition such as autism that makes driving difficult.

Present and former members of the Howard Payne University Concert Choir and University Singers will travel to Austria June 3-9, 2019, to perform with an ensemble of choristers from all over the world. John Dickson, director of choral studies at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., will direct the large ensemble in Austria. Interested alumni and community members are urged to contact Christopher Rosborough, director of choral activities at HPU, at [email protected] or (325) 649-8503 to secure their place for this event. A $200 deposit is required by Aug. 30.

Four representatives from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor sang in the Semifinals of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Student Auditions held in Las Vegas, Nev. Cardarious Bonner, Matthew McKinnon, Gerald Nicholas and Ruben Ortega were selected by audition to compete in this year’s National Semifinals. Nicholas, a 2014 graduate, who won third place in Graduate Men Classical Division, and Bonner, who graduated from UMHB in December and placed fourth in the Junior/Senior Men Division, are the first UMHB students to place in the National Finals of NATS.  Nicholas works as a middle school choral director in Killeen, and Bonner is a graduate student at William Patterson University.

Baylor University’s inaugural Faith and Sport Insitute retreat drew 33 student athletes from high schools throughout Central Texas. Students participated in a variety of activities related to issues of poverty, privilege and school violence. Events included a bus tour of the “other side of Waco” and a lament walk across the Waco Suspension Bridge in which participants were encouraged to reflect on school shootings and biblical passages related to God’s response to injustice. The eight-day retreat focused on theological principles of worship, identity, spiritual growth, suffering and vocation.