Baptist Briefs: Peace activists gather in Rome

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Baptist peace activists gather in Rome. Between 300 and 400 Christians attended the Global Baptist Peace Conference in Rome. Sponsors of the 2009 gathering included the Italian Baptist Union, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, International Ministries of American Baptist Churches USA, Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia, Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Anna Maffei, president of the Italian Baptist Union, spoke about the effects of violence on children. Gustavo Parajón, a Baptist pastor and physician in Nicaragua, described trauma in his country resulting from conflict between the Sandinista government that led Nicaragua between 1979 and 1990 and the Contra forces who opposed them. A leader in mediation efforts between the two parties, Parajón talked about the church’s nonviolent witness that helped transform armed conflict into peaceful resolution.

 

Disaster relief workers busy in 2008. More than 83,000 trained Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers responded to about 50 disasters during 2008, preparing 7.9 million meals and logging 119,000 volunteer days. Volunteers also completed 9,300 chainsaw jobs, 2,427 mud-out jobs and 295 roofing assignments, cared for about 1,200 children and purified 247,000 gallons of water, according to a report compiled by the North American Mission Board.

 

NAMB commissions its largest group. The North American Mission Board conducted the largest commissioning service in its history when 144 missionaries and chaplains were sent forth recently at First Baptist Church in Rincon, Ga. They represented 29 state Baptist state conventions, the Canadian National Baptist Convention and the Convention of Southern Baptist Churches in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

Church planting website streamlined. The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board church-starting website had an extreme makeover. The site—www.churchplantingvillage.net—has been streamlined, updated and made more user-friendly. The new site is readable and navigable in nine languages—English, Spanish, Korean, French, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Russian and Vietnamese. German and Portuguese will be added soon. The site includes a resource library with church planting-related topics such as administration, assessment, church plant models, church planting fundamentals, communications, marketing, doctrine/theology, finances/stewardship and a list of vendors for needs like websites, purchasing equipment and hiring consultants.

 

SBC registration opens. Registration for messengers and local hotels is open for the June 23-24 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. Churches can register their messengers online at www.sbc.net to avoid waiting at the counter upon arrival at the convention. By registering online, the SBC website gives a church a messenger reference number form to be printed out and presented by each messenger at the SBC registration booth in exchange for a nametag and a set of ballots. The appropriate church-authorized representative must complete all online registrations. The traditional registration method also is available for those churches that are unable or may not opt to access the online registration. Registration cards are available from state convention offices.


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