• Gabe Orea of Waco will be commissioned as one of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s field personnel July 1, prior to the Fellowship’s 2009 General Assembly. The commissioning service will take place at South Main Baptist Church in Houston. He will work in partnership with the local registered church to build relationships and opportunities to minister with the most neglected and least evangelized in Xiamen, Fujian, China. This ministry will include developing local leadership for sustained ministry.
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Students from East Texas Baptist University spent time helping in the Northeast Texas community of Deport. The students joined with youth from Faith Church in Deport to deliver “blessing bags” to every home in the city. Following the deliveries, the students painted a home. Cassy Rains, a nursing major from Benton, La., said delivering the bags was a meaningful experience for her. “What got me was going door to door talking with people. It was emotional and made me think of my own hometown and the hurts and pains that exist,” she said.
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• Hardin-Simmons University will hold Threshold Camp, a summer enrichment program for gifted children entering kindergarten through 10th grade, July 13-17 and July 20-24. Students will explore world cultures, architecture and human experiences. They will have the opportunity to crack a secret World War II code, use famous soundbites to create a world-changing message, and roll the dice on a life-sized gameboard and solve the problem dictated by the dice. Younger children “travel around the world” in 10 days, study the history of the United States through its monuments, and design and create architectural structures. The fee for younger students is $90 per five-day session and $150 for older students. Students may attend one or both sessions. A limited number of scholarships are available. For more information, call (325) 671-2150.
• Dillon International will present a free informational meeting on international adoption at the Buckner Children’s Home campus July 16 from 6 p.m . to 7:30 p.m. A Dillon representative will give an overview of adoption from China, Korea, Haiti, India, and upcoming programs in Ghana and Nepal. New opportunities in Ethiopia and Russia and domestic adoption options for Texas families, available through an affiliation with Buckner International, also will be discussed. For more information and to reserve a spot at the meeting, call (214) 319-3426.
• Hunter Baker has been named associate provost at Houston Baptist University. Baker, who came to HBU in 2007, also serves the university as director of strategic planning and as a contributing editor of The City, HBU’s journal featuring leading voices in Christian academia. He teaches courses in American government, constitutional law, public policy, political thought, and law and religion.
• The School of Fine Arts at East Texas Baptist University receieved the outstanding organization award for 2009 from the Marshall Regional Arts Council. ETBu and the arts council have jointly sponsored two Christmas concerts featuring the university’s concert choir and symphonic band for a number of years.
Anniversaries
• Spring Creek Church in Iredell, 135th, May 24. Matthew Richard is pastor.
• Hillcrest Church in Denton, 55th, Aug. 8. Robert Richardson is pastor.
Death
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• Raymond Hardin Jr., 77, April 26 in Fort Worth, after battling complications from colon cancer surgery. He served as a minister of music 54 years in Texas and Oklahoma churches, including 16 years at Center Point Church in Weatherford and 12 years at Soda Springs Church in Millsap. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Myrtle; son, Paul; sister, Joyce Qualls; and five grandchildren.
Events
• David Smith, pastor of First Church in LaMarque, has received his doctor of ministry degree from Midwestern Seminary.
• Comunidad Casa del Alfarero in Houston will honor Pastor Leopoldo Mata for his 23 years of service to the church July 3.
Ordained
• Stephen Allen to the ministry at First Church in Cranfills Gap.
• Mark Abell, James Manchester, John Sawyer, Ryan Stueber, Heath Thompson, John Whitworth Jr., Kelly Wren and Ronnie Zastrow as deacons at Trinity Church in Kerrville.
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