DALLAS—Dallas Baptist University honored Norm Miller, Interstate Batteries chairman, with the 2011 Russell H. Perry Free Enterprise Award during the annual award dinner, Nov. 7 at the Anatole Hotel in Dallas.

Established in 1988, the gala dinner honors leaders whose lives are testimonies of achievements in free enterprise and service to the community. The event is named in memory of Dallas business leader and philanthropist Russell H. Perry. Over the past 24 years, the dinner has raised more than $3.5 million in scholarship funds for nearly 1,525 DBU students.

Miller began his career with Interstate Batteries shortly after graduating from North Texas State University in 1962. In the past 48 years, he has moved through the ranks of Interstate—from his father's Tennessee distributorship, to the national field sales team at Dallas corporate headquarters, and on to the helm of Interstate's executive manage-ment team.

He assumed the president and chairman roles in 1978 after working 16 years under his mentor and company founder John Searcy. Since then, Interstate has grown to become the top-ranked replacement battery company in North America with 200,000 dealers across the United States and in Canada.

Additionally, Miller led the company in founding the Interstate Batteries Great American Race in 1983, which has become the world's richest old car race and America's premier vintage car event.

In 1989, he pioneered Interstate's entry into NASCAR. Teaming up with Joe Gibbs Racing in 1992, Interstate won the Daytona 500 in 1993 and the prestigious Winston Cup Cham-pionship in 2000.

Miller was recognized by DBU for his strong Christian leadership at Interstate Batteries as well as in the community. He serves as a board member for Dallas Theological Seminary and is a founding team member of I Am Second.

He and his wife, Anne, have two children, Tracy and Scott; five grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

Past recipients of the Russell H. Perry Free Enterprise Award include Wright Lassiter (2010), Tom Leppert (2009), Drayton McLane Jr. (2008), Andy and Joan Horner (2007), David Dean (2006), Pete Schenkel (2005); Noble Hurley (2004), the Weir Furniture family (2003), George A. Shafer (2002), Mary C. Crowley (2001), Erle Nye (2000), Ross Perot Jr. (1999), Jim L. Turner (1998), Rodger Meier (1997), Forrest Smith (1996), Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim (1995), Bob Minyard, Liz Minyard, Gretchen Minyard Williams, J.L. Sonny Williams (1994), Boone Powell Sr. and Boone Powell Jr. (1993), Kenneth H. Cooper (1992), Tom Landry (1991), Maurice and Ebby Halliday Acers (1990), Trammell Crow (1989) and John M. Stemmons Sr. (1988).

DEL RIO—Rapidly changing conditions along the Texas/ Mexico border demand changes in the way churches from the United States engage in missions in northern Mexico, an Acuña minister insisted.

"I have spent the last 23 years in Acuña. I know the people, and the people know me," he said. When questioned by people connected to Los Zetas—a paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico—Reyes said he does not take sides politically but always offers the same response.

"They need Jesus Christ," he said. "Our fight is not against flesh and blood. God is the solution through Jesus Christ."

Daniel Rangel, director of River Ministry with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, agreed with Reyes about the importance of close cooperation and frequent communication with churches along the border. He agreed missions approaches along the border need to change, but he suggested a key change needs to be a greater missions focus on the Texas side of the Rio Grande where safety and security are not a problem.

"Ministry is happening along the Texas side of the border," he said. In the last year, River Ministry worked with more than 2,000 volunteers, he reported. Their efforts resulted in 11,000 people receiving medical attention, 30,000 receiving some other form of ministry and more than 3,000 making professions of faith in Christ.

At the same time, Texas Baptists also can support missions in Mexican border areas, he stressed, even if not in the same way they did 10 or 15 years ago. Upstate churches can work with Baptists in the area to provide Bibles, Vacation Bible School materials and other resources.

The BGCT continues to work in partnership with No Mas Violencia—No More Violence—to teach biblical peacemaking principles along the border.

Like Reyes, Rangel affirmed the need for a long-term ministry presence in border villages, towns and cities. But he added some areas still need visiting groups—provided those volunteers are willing to follow the direction and advice of Christians who live and serve in the region.

"This is not the time to step away from ministry along the border," Rangel said. "The people of Mexico want peace, security and comfort. Many of them just don't know they can find what they need in Jesus. The people are in need, and now is the time to offer them the hope that is found in Jesus."

Baylor regents OK $120 million in construction. The Baylor University board of regents approved $120 million in capital improvements, the largest investment in construction on the Baylor campus since the Baylor Sciences Building in 2004. Construction will be financed through the issuance of bonds and will include a new 700-bed East Village Residential Community and 33,170-square-foot dining facility, extensive renovation of the 47-year-old Marrs McLean Science Building and Phase 2 of initial construction on academic and research space in the Baylor Research and Innovation Collabora-tive. In other business, regents reviewed and discussed the first draft of the university's strategic plan. During Baylor Homecoming, the school also unveiled an artist's rendering of a proposed on-campus, riverfront football stadium near I-35 that would replace Floyd Casey Stadium. Regents have not voted on the proposal yet.

BCFS awarded contract for voucher program. Baptist Child & Family Services has been awarded a one-year, $4 million renewal contract to administer the education and training voucher program on behalf of the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services. The program provides funding to foster youth pursuing higher education or vocational training and is available to students throughout the state. BCFS has led the statewide voucher program since 2009. Last year, BCFS helped more than 1,400 young adults pursue post-secondary education. Most youth accessed the voucher program online in order to attend junior college, universities or colleges, and 47 attended vocational programs.

Four Texas Baptist schools receive 'military friendly' honors. Dallas Baptist University, Howard Payne University, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Wayland Baptist University were designated "military friendly schools" by G.I. Jobs, a magazine for military personnel transitioning into civilian life. The Military Friendly Schools list honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools doing the most to embrace America's military service members and veterans as students. Schools make the list by offering scholarships and discounts, veterans' clubs, military credit and other services to those who served. The latest list of Military Friendly Schools was compiled through extensive research and a data-driven survey of more than 8,000 schools nationwide.

Correction: The article "BGCT approves budget, rejects attempt to restore Baylor to full level" erroneously listed the convention's new first vice president as Jerry Johnson, rather than Jeff Johnson. To clarify: In the only contested race, Jerry Carlisle, pastor of First Baptist Church in Plano, was elected president 415-214 over Randy Wallace, pastor of First Baptist Church in Killeen. Jeff Johnson, missions strategist and former pastor of First Baptist Church in Del Rio, was elected first vice president. Byron Stevenson, pastor of The Fort Bend Church in Sugar Land, was elected second vice president.

• Sharon Barnes to First Church in Corinth as children's minister.

• Jim Bigbee has resigned as pastor of Center Point Church in Denton.

• David Bird to The Ridge Church in Carrollton as mission pastor from Trinity Valley Church in Carrollton, where he was pastor.

• Ron Blevins to First Church in Tuscola as minister of music.

• Butch Booth to First Church in Ovilla as executive pastor.

• Laine Denison has resigned as mission pastor at The Ridge Church in Carrollton.

• Ryan Gilbert to Tabernacle Church in Ennis as interim youth pastor.

• Todd Gray to Tabernacle Church in Ennis as pastor from Central Church in Italy.

• Donny Harbers to Wylie Church in Abilene as pastor from First Church in Hamlin.

• Gregory Johnson to First Church in Sanger as pastor.

• Clayton Ledbetter to The Ridge Church in Carrollton as community pastor from Trinity Valley Church in Carrollton, where he was music minister.

• Larry McIntire has resigned as pastor of Friendship Church in Ennis.

• Daryl Witten has resigned as minister of music at First Church in The Colony.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The contemporary Christian group No Other Name desires to reach the far corners of the world with its music and message so they can lift up the name of Jesus.

The group—made up of the brother-sister duo of Sam and Laura Allen, along with their friend Chad Smith—bases its name on Acts 4:12, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

While sharing songs of salvation around the world, No Other Name helps raise awareness for missions organizations such as the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. 

During their concerts, band members tell about their mission trips to Brazil, India and Nicaragua. They also encourage audience members to join in sharing Christ's love with the nations.

"We not only have a time of worship and praising God, but we hope to inspire people to get involved in missions—either going on a trip, supporting financially or through prayer," Sam Allen said. "We also encourage them to get involved in a local church and become the hands and feet of Jesus by serving their community."

Because they want to make a global impact for Christ, the International Mission Board recently selected "Let it Start With Me," from the band's debut album, The Other Side, as the theme for this year's missions campaign. 

The song will be used in conjunction with a music video created by the IMB and filmed in Bangkok, Thailand. The video debuted at the SBC annual meeting in June and is being distributed to 40,000 churches this fall.

"We wanted to write a song that gives the average Christian who is trying to find their place in the Great Commission a place to begin," Allen said. "The common response among Christians when confronted with the incredibly overwhelming task of spreading the gospel is, 'Where do I start?' The lyrics are a prayer that simply says, 'Lord, let it start with me.'"

Further emphasizing their desire to spread the gospel among the nations, the group traveled to the United Arab Emirates to film a video for the song "Lead You to the Cross" on the sand dunes and in the city streets of Dubai. 

"It's an eye-opening experience to go to places where they have never heard the gospel," Allen said. 

"It will absolutely change your life. Regardless of how daunting the task is and how much work is involved on the trip, it's so beneficial to see how other people are living and to spend time with missionaries who have left everything behind to tell others about Jesus. 

"Oftentimes, the missionaries serving overseas need to be encouraged and reminded that people are praying for them. That's a huge relief when they know that people are lifting them up in prayer and haven't forgotten about them as they are sharing the gospel. Through our music and message, we want to help missionaries in any way that we can and also help others to find their role in the Great Commission." 

• Graduates of East Texas Baptist University's nursing department earned a 100 percent pass rate on the national licensure test for registered nurses for the fourth consecutive year. Of the 29 undergraduate nursing programs in Texas, ETBU was the only program to have a 100 percent pass rate for the 2010 examination year.

• Baylor University honored several people during its homecoming festivities. Bob Brewton was named alumnus of the year. He is founder and chairman of the board of the Baylor Angels Network, which connects investors with Baylor business students to give them hands-on entrepreneurial experience. Michael Lindsay was named young alumnus of the year. He is president of Gordon College in Massachusetts. Legacy Award winners were Jim and Nell Hawkins and Joe and Barbara Albritton. The school's Pro Ecclesia medal of service was presented to pastor/author Max Lucado. The school's Pro Texana medal of service was bestowed on Mark White, former governor of Texas. The medal of service for business leadership went to Gary Keller, a 1979 graduate and founder of Keller Williams Realty. The medal of service for media arts was awarded to Charles Overby, chairman of a foundation dedicated to promoting a better understanding of the First Amendment. The Baylor Founders Medal was presented to John and Marie Chiles.

• Abi Bailey and Josh Malacara were named Hardin-Simmons University's homecoming queen and king during recent festivities.

The children's ministry of 121 Community Church in Grapevine painted red handprints to display on an 80-foot wall. They represented 30,000 children in Cambodia who need to be rescued from human trafficking and reminded participants in the Run4Justice to keep pressing on toward the goal.

• Joan Zhang has been selected as the recipient of the Martha Howard Scholarship at Dallas Baptist University. Zhang is pursuing a master of arts in Christian education with an emphasis on childhood ministry. The scholarship is named in honor of Howard, who has taught kindergarten preschool at Park Cities Church in Dallas more than 60 years.

• Howard Payne University's student speaker bureau won the debate sweepstakes award at the Forum in the Forest Speech and Debate Tournament hosted by Rice University at Kingwood College. This was HPU's first sweepstakes win. Howard Payne teams made up three of the four in the finals round.

Anniversaries

• El Jordan Church in San Antonio, 60th, Oct. 9. Adam Perez is pastor.

• Steven Gilley, 10th, as pastor of First Church in Milford, Nov. 18.

• Tommy Culwell, 15th, as pastor of Colonial Hill Church in Snyder, Nov. 24.

• Baptist Temple in San Antonio, 100th, Dec. 10-11. A time capsule will be opened Saturday, and there will be trolley tours of sites in the church's history. A catered lunch will be held Sunday, and reservations are needed by Nov. 27. Jorge Zayasbazan is pastor.

Retired

• Charles Maciel, as pastor of Ambler Church in Abilene, after 27 years of service. He was a bivocational pastor 44 years. He also was a coach and teacher 30 years.

• Victor Lopez, as pastor of Buena Voluntad Church in San Antonio, Nov. 13. He has been pastor of the church 35 years, and he has been in ministry 44 years.

Deaths

• Harold Watson, 84, Oct. 29 in Sherman. A pastor more than 57 years, he led churches in Peacock, Whitesboro and South-mayd, as well as Oklahoma. He was pastor emeritus at First Church in Whitesboro, where he served from 1968 to 1992. He served as moderator of Grayson Association. He was preceded in death by his wife, Georgia; his second wife, Tammy; daughter, Theresa Joy Watson; granddaughter Tracy Jordan; and sister, Joy Pike. He is survived by his wife, Carol; son, Joe; daughters, Cindy Jordan and Tishira Brown; stepson, Mike Freytag; stepdaughter, Jana Sudderth; nine grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; five step-grandchildren; and one step-great-grandchild.

• Miller Robinson, 77, Nov. 7 in Snyder. He was pastor emeritus of Colonial Hill Church in Snyder, where he served 32 years. A Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary graduate, he also was pastor of Coryell Church and White Mound Church in Gatesville, and First Church in Matador. He served several churches as interim pastor after his retirement in 1996. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Melissa; two brothers, sister and two grandchildren. He is survived by his wife, Sandra; and sons, John and Kinney.

• John Crowe, 77, Nov. 7 in Abilene. A builder, his company constructed several buildings on the Hardin-Simmons University campus and recently completed the renovation of the campus pond area. He received HSU's John J. Keeter Alumni Service award in 2008. He is survived by his wife, Betty; sons, John, David, Timothy and Jed; daughter, Sara Burleson; brother, James; sisters, Anne Solomon, Alice Myers, Ellen Myers, Shella Lea Massey and Carolyn Thornton; and 24 grandchildren.

• Mary Francis McKenzie, 95, Nov. 8 in Dallas. She had a long career of service with Baptist churches and denominational entities. She first worked at First Church in Oklahoma City with W.R. White. In 1946, she moved to Dallas to work with J. Howard Williams, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. She began serving as educational secretary of Gaston Avenue Church in 1961, and then moved in 1964 to work with R.C. Campbell at Buckner Baptist Benevolences. She retired in 1981 but continued to be active at Gaston Oaks Church in Dallas until her death. She was preceded in death by her brother, H.P. McKenzie Jr.

Event

• Shane & Shane and Phil Wickham will perform a Christmas concert Dec. 3 at 6:30 p.m. at First Church in Irving. Tickets are $8. For more information, call (972) 253-1171. John Durham is pastor.

Ordained

• Steve Brewton to the ministry at First Church in Roanoke.

• Michael Robinson and Kenny Folmar as deacons at Mildred Church in Corsicana.

• Eric Jackson and James Nail as deacons at First Church in Roanoke.

• Scott Berry and John Green as deacons at First Church in Dripping Springs.

DALLAS—The Texas Baptist Men board of directors unanimously has elected Don Gibson, 74, as the missions organization’s executive director.

Don Gibson

Gibson, a long-time staff member of TBM, has been interim executive director since April. He succeeds Leo Smith, who served more than seven years as executive director and more than four decades with the organization. Smith retired in February.

“It has been an interesting journey, ever since I started 35 years ago this month as a volunteer with Texas Baptist Men,” Gibson said. “I’ve tried to retire twice, but God had something else in mind.”

Gibson is the fifth executive director of Texas Baptist Men in the organization’s 45-year history.

“The selection follows a thorough search process designed to select the man called by God to provide spiritual leadership, while directing Texas Baptist Men’s day-to-day operations and ministries. The position of TBM executive director is a calling and not a job to hire someone to fill,” said TBM President Tommy Malone, who served on the search committee.

Other search committee members were chairman Bill Noble, Hall Whitley, Dick Moody, Gene Wofford, John LaNoue, Kevin Walker, Bill Pigott, Steve Chun, Everett Dodson and Al Wise.

Gibson and his wife, Lena, began serving with TBM lay renewal teams in the mid-1970s, when they lived in Houston. In 1982, Gibson resigned his position as an engineering manager at Hudson Engineering to become a fulltime Mission Service Corps volunteer with TBM.

About five years later, Gibson joined the TBM staff as director of lay ministries. During his time in that role, TBM piloted the first Experiencing God weekends, based on the study material written by Henry Blackaby.

Gibson worked for Henry Blackaby Ministries from 2002 to 2007 and continued to serve as a TBM volunteer before rejoining the mission organization’s staff in 2008 as church renewal consultant and men’s ministry coordinator.

“We, as an organization, have truly experienced the power of God at work in us and then through us. The order is very important. Some may say our best days—our most productive days—are behind us. I beg to disagree with them,” Gibson said.

“Our best days, our most productive days, are only limited to our faith and our obedience to God in living out our own personal love relationships with him. God is not limited in any way, except through our lack of love and obedience to him.”

WACO—Christian universities offer the possibility of an education that leads students to attain wisdom, not just prepare for a vocation, speakers told an international symposium at Baylor University.

Michael Beaty, chair of the philosophy department at Baylor University, addresses the subject of educating for wisdom. (PHOTO/Sarah Baker/Baylor University)

Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century, an event sponsored by Baylor's Institute for Faith and Learning, drew more than 120 presenters from across the globe. Scholars from more than 60 institutions and a broad range of disciplines examined how to instill wisdom through higher education.

During a panel discussion and question-and-answer session by university presidents, Baylor University President Ken Starr called for a return to the idea of educating for wisdom.

"We come from dust and to dust we shall return, but in the meantime, we've been created by this higher power, in the image of this higher power," he said. Scientists of this past generation truly are beginning to understand the "phenomenal gift" of the mind and its "extraordinary horsepower," he emphasized.

"What a gift we've been given," Starr said. Christian scholarship "allows us to strike a true course … a way of trying to find true north."

During one of the dozens of presentations and discussions, Baylor University philosophers discussed higher education's "crisis in the humanities"—less funding, less staffing and less interest in such courses as philosophy, literature and languages. The crisis may have a solution within Christian humanism, they said.

Panelists (left to right) Ken Starr, president of Baylor University; Robert J. Spitzer, president of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith; and Philip Ryken, president of Wheaton College, discuss what it means to educate for wisdom in a 21st century university. (PHOTO/Robert Rogers/Baylor University)

The humanities are vital because they probe universal questions about the meaning of life, the nature of human happiness, whether and to what extent suffering can be redeemed and the bearing of the existence of God on the meaning of life, said Douglas Henry, associate professor of philosophy in Baylor University's Honors College.

"Christian humanists … cherish the humanities not only on cultural and intellectual grounds, but on moral and spiritual grounds as well," Henry said.

Over the last four decades, as universities have forged partnerships with corporations to stay afloat economically, "the natural sciences, as well as schools of pharmacy and medicine, have been the big winners," said Michael Beaty, professor and chair of Baylor's philosophy department.

"As state and federal politicians deliberate about what programs to cut from state and federal budgets, no doubt we in the humanities will worry that our politicians may decide that the public can no longer afford to invest in the humanities," Beaty said. "Some comment that the humanities don't pay for themselves."

But the crisis is more than a fiscal one, and more than flagging morale among humanities faculty as the humanities appear under siege in some universities, especially public ones, he said.

The man or woman on the street may believe the primary aim of a university is to serve the public good by increasing the state's economic, physical or social wellbeing, Beaty said. "They may support schools of engineering, business, education or law and strong programs in the natural sciences but be skeptical about the value of arts and letters or the humanities."

Douglas Henry, associate professor of philosophy in the Baylor University Honors College, talks about educating for wisdom in the 21st century university. (PHOTO/Sarah Baker/Baylor University)

But higher education should involve more than developing career skills, the philosophers said.

Henry suggested one reason for the crisis is some humanities teachers no longer expect to find insight when they ask difficult questions about life and death, good and evil.

"Humanists of this sort have little alternative to despair," Henry said.

Others address deep questions with arrogance or irreverence.

But the tradition of Christian humanism offers a different approach, combining humility with hope —the view that "even if we are mere dust and ashes, we are inspirited with the breath of God," Henry said.

That kind of humility can be seen in Scripture, he said, quoting Philippians 2:6-8. It says although Jesus "was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

If one is created by God, the natural urge is to "wonder, seek, learn, stretch, strain, long, yearn and doggedly work for the greatness of which human lives are susceptible," Henry said.

"Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God who takes a human form, shows us life at its utmost," he said. "Because of Jesus, magnanimity—greatness of soul—is expected of us. No less is humility appropriate to our circumstances, for we are God's creatures and we live in a fallen world."

With the theological virtue of hope in view, Henry said, "Good scholars, be they in the humanities or elsewhere, look to Jesus for their bearings in everything. And if Christian humanists keep Jesus well in focus, the crisis that elsewhere leads in the directions of despair and presumption will not overtake us."

ITALY—The smile on Noah Steinmetz's face after he had used the power screwdriver to place the first screw in a bookcase increased the wattage on an already bright Saturday afternoon.

Since the bookcase will go to impoverished children living in colonias along the banks of the Rio Grande, it doesn't take much to imagine his smile being replicated by the child who is a recipient of his handiwork.

The Royal Ambassadors at Central Baptist Church in Italy built 15 bookcases to help fight illiteracy in Texas. The plans for the bookcases were included in the Texas Baptist Men website, along with directions on how to cut up a piece of plywood most efficiently so waste would be kept to minimum.

In Italy, Ronnie Hyles' Home Supply donated all the wood and a local man not involved with the RAs cut it to size. So, all the boys had to do was focus on assembly.

Studies show the presence of books in a child's home make a significant difference in that child's capacity to learn, but poverty limits many children's early access to books and dampens that experience of early learning.

The Royal Ambassadors at Central Baptist Church and RAs all across the state working to level the playing field through Books for the Border in partnership with Literacy Connexus, a nonprofit entity that helps churches throughout Texas help people with literacy needs.

Rocklin Ginnett concentrates on driving a screw straight into a shelf for Books for the Border bookcase. (PHOTOS/George Henson)

Families living in colonias will receive the bookcases they are building and the books that are going in them. The colonias are unincorporated, isolated settlements that often lack water and sewage systems, electricity, health facilities, paved roads, and safe and sanitary housing.

There are about 2,300 colonias along the Texas-Mexico border, and they are home to about 500,000 people.

Since many of these homes are so substandard that they don't have floors, books, newspapers and magazines are a luxury the families cannot afford.

Rocklin Ginnett, an Italy third-grader summed it up: "These are for kids that don't have books or bookcases like we do. In some ways, their lives are just hopeless."

"We're just trying to help kids who need help," Steinmetz added.

Central Baptist Church's RA director Mike Britt emphasized the importance of helping the boys understand the impact of what they were doing. "We try very hard to explain it to them, but it can be hard for them to understand," he said.

But Steinmetz caught the gist of what he and his friends were doing. "We're just trying to help kids who need help," he said.

In addition to building the 15 bookcases, the RAs also planned to send $30 with each bookcase to buy books. These beginning libraries will include a children's Bible story book, a Gospel of John, the health literacy book What to Do When Your Child is Sick, a Rock-A-Bye Baby Reader, and other age-appropriate books.

The books and bookcases are presented to the families at a family reading fair where they are given a chance to personalize their bookcase with paint or stickers.

Royal Ambassadors from across the state planned to bring their bookcases to the state campout and Missions Mania event at Latham Springs Encampment in mid-November.

The project is one that is greatly beneficial for the boys as well, Britt said.

"It's a hands-on activity for them, and a lot of them don't get that opportunity very often. They may not have someone who will sit down with them and teach them how to do these things," he said.

Murrie Wainscott, a RA worker at Central Baptist Church who also is a part of the state RA committee, agreed.

"The value of godly men teaching boys how to use tools and having an impact on their lives never goes out of style.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone—Five Dallas Baptist University students in Ross O'Brien's international travel and management class recently put their education into practice in one of the world's poorest nations.

Working in cooperation with Arlington-based Global Connection Partnership Network, the students taught business practices to people in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and learned about how people in the West African nation live.

Dallas Baptist University students enjoyed the time they spent working with residents of Freetown, Sierra, Leone, serving with Global Connection Partnership Network.

Cami Duke, Becca Thompkins, Carrie Kennedy, Fred Ndavi and Peter Roehnig worked with 11 Freetown women who needed training in business practices. The women had received six months cosmetology training from Global Connection Partnership Network and wanted to start their own salons. However, they did not have the background and knowledge necessary to know how to launch a business.

The DBU team taught the women how to develop marketing, operations and financial plans for their future businesses. Providing them with practical skills gave these women hope for the immediate future, O'Brien noted. But they also learned about hope for eternity as students shared the love of Christ with them.

"We did not just teach them a business plan," O'Brien said. "We laid a biblical basis for work and for business. We talked about factors of success and causes of failure in business, among other things."

One day, the group traveled into the heart of the capital city to interact with local businesses and observe their system of commerce. Breaking into the groups, the students talked with business owners and asked questions about where they received their supplies and how they conducted general operations.

Aided by translators from the Evangelical College of Theology, the DBU students enjoyed getting to know Sierra Leoneans and observing their daily activities.

Dallas Baptist University student Cami Duke (left) helps teach business principles to people in Sierra Leone.

They also traveled to another city, Bo, where they saw two ministries caring for orphans.

Students called their time with children at a local school particularly moving.

"We were talking with the older kids and getting ready to take a picture with them, when the younger students (ages 4 to 10) were released from their classes," said Cami Duke, a business management major.

"The team heard shouts of excitement and looked up to see a charge of little ones running after us. We all braced ourselves and were overrun by the many smiling excited faces. They were grabbing our hands and wanting to take pictures with us. I will never forget their smiling faces and especially the two little boys who held my hands all the way back down the hill."

The class trip proved to be life-changing for the DBU students who traveled out of their comfort zone to learn about a new people and culture.

"Everyone had their different desires for deciding to take part in the trip but the Lord really unified us and centralized our focus on completing the Kingdom work that was set before us," Duke said. "When the days were long and extremely hot, we accepted it and encouraged each other to make it through. All of our accomplishments throughout the week were a team effort and for God's glory."

By Ken Camp

AMARILLO—Texas Baptists sorted shoes for a charitable ministry, cleaned and repaired a transitional home for single mothers, cooked burgers for college students and distributed books to children during their time in Amarillo.

But while the “Igniting Hope” theme rallied volunteers for service and served as a unifying theme for workshops, another theme took center stage during business sessions at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

Throughout the business meetings, questions about how the state convention will fund and relate to institutions dominated much of the discussions.

Messengers to the annual meeting approved a flat $33.85 million budget for 2012, rejecting an attempt to restore more than $890,000 Baylor University loses next year.

However, messengers approved a renegotiated agreement with Baylor University that gives Baylor greater influence in determining the composition of its governing board. (See related story .)

They also approved a constitutional amendment reducing the percentage of governing board trustees for affiliated institutions elected by the BGCT from 75 percent to a simple majority.

After several messengers questioned the necessity of the move and asked to hear from institution presidents, both Lanny Hall, president of Hardin-Simmons University, and
Gary Cook, president of Dallas Baptist University, spoke in favor of the amendment.

Based on a new way of determining financial support for educational institutions related to the BGCT, the 2012 budget reduces total BGCT financial support for Baylor from about $2.8 million to $1.9 million. Excluding funding for Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary—which remains at about $1.1 million—BGCT support for Baylor decreases from more than $1.72 million in 2011 to $831,175 in 2012.

Bruce Webb, pastor of First Baptist Church in The Woodlands, introduced a motion to amend the budget recommendation by restoring Baylor University to its 2011 funding level, using investment funds to make up the difference.

The new funding approach provides a $625,000 base amount of support to all BGCT educational institutions, and it provides funding to all schools for ministerial education. However, a prorated grant based on student enrollment—an approach that particularly benefited Baylor as the largest school related to the BGCT—now is limited to affiliated institutions. It does not provide those funds to schools that relate to the convention by special agreement, namely Baylor and Houston Baptist University.

Bruce Webb, pastor of First Baptist Church in The Woodlands , introduced a motion to amend the budget recommendation by restoring Baylor to its 2011 funding level, using investment funds to make up the difference.

Webb noted his support for the way the new funding approach provides additional money for other institutions, but he called a nearly $900,000 cut in funding for Baylor “drastic” and predicted a backlash.

“This is going to affect us negatively,” he said. “We’re going to lose far more money than we would gain.”

BGCT Treasurer Jill Larsen reported the projected 2012 operating budget already includes all the investment income from endowments that prudently could be anticipated.

Charlotte Young from First Baptist Church in Dimmitt, chair of the Executive Board’s institutional relations committee, spoke against the amendment.

“In no way was this intended to be a punitive measure” toward Baylor, Young insisted. Rather, it was a “fair and equitable way” of dealing with all institutions that relate to the BGCT.

Kyle Morton, pastor of First Baptist Church in Port Arthur, asserted the funding cut should not happen at the same time as a change in the BGCT and Baylor relationship agreement, nor should a new executive director have to deal with the public relations fallout from decreasing financial support for Baylor.

“This may be a good idea, but the timing stinks,” he said.

Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston, reminded messengers the BGCT is not “defunding Baylor,” contrary to public perception.

“If anybody wants to defund me by giving me $2 million, I will welcome the gift,” he quipped.

Messengers to the annual meeting approved a flat $33.85 million budget for 2012, rejecting an attempt to restore more than $890,000 Baylor University loses next year.

After the motion to restore funding to Baylor failed, Ed Jackson from First Baptist Church in Garland introduced an amendment to the budget stipulating that any overage at the end of 2012 in Cooperative Program giving be divided equally between the BGCT evangelism department and Texas Baptist institutions according to the distribution formula. The amendment passed.

In other business, messengers to the annual meeting:

• Elected as officers President Jerry Carlisle, pastor of First Baptist Church in Plano; First Vice President Jeff Johnson, missions strategist and former pastor of First Baptist Church in Del Rio; and Second Vice President Byron Stevenson, pastor of Fort Bend Baptist Church in Sugar Land.

• Voted in favor of a constitutional change giving the Executive Board authority to adopt the annual budget every fifth year, when the annual meeting is held in the summer rather than the fall. As a constitutional amendment, it will require approval by messengers at two consecutive annual meetings.

Last year, BGCT messengers approved a study committee proposal regarding ways to increase involvement in the annual meeting. One recommendation focused on holding the meeting in the summer once every five years in conjunction with the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas and the African-American Fellowship, rather than in the fall. The first summer event is scheduled for July 14-17, 2013, in San Antonio.

• Approved a constitutional amendment allowing mission congregations to be considered as churches for the limited purpose of sending four messengers to the annual meeting, provided it contributes to the BGCT, practices the ordinances of a church, addresses a specific mission need and identifies, aligns and generally endorses the convention’s work.

• Rejected a constitutional amendment that would have given full voting membership on the BGCT Executive Board to the presidents of convention-recognized fellowships. Instead, the convention voted in favor of a motion to grant voting rights to the presidents provided they are “supportive of the BGCT.”

The annual meeting drew 983 messengers and 568 registered visitors.

CORRECTION: The original cutline for the newly elected officers photo erroneously listed the convention's new first vice president as Jerry Johnson, rather than Jeff Johnson. It has been corrected.

AMARILLO—Sparks of hope spread throughout Amarillo as Texas Baptists participated in 12 mission endeavors across the city, taking the message of Christ to places like a community center, children's field day, high school lunch and college campus during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

A Texas Baptist volunteer reads to children at City Church in Amarillo. (PHOTO/Robert Rogers)

Members of Iglesia Bautista Fuente Viva in southeast Amarillo joined with 12 volunteers from Houston, Kerrville, Lubbock and Fort Worth to provide a free lunch for students at Caprock High School, just two blocks from the church.

Freddy Pavez, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Fuente Viva, said the event provided opportunities to plant gospel seeds and to pray for students. Volunteers engaged students and strived to minster to them.

"This is our way to get involved with missions and evangelism," Pavez said. "I want them to know that we are here, and we want to face them with the truth."

Before the lunch took place, the volunteers went door-to-door in a neighborhood near the church to pass out Texas Hope gospel compact discs.

"It's exciting to put the gospel in their hands," Shelby Smith said.

Uriel Avalos, a student at Amarillo College, receives a hamburger from Texas Baptist volunteers during a cookout sponsored by the school's Baptist Student Ministry. Volunteers served about 450 students. (PHOTO/Eric Guel)

When asked why he participated in the outreach effort, Smith said missions and evangelism is at the core of who a Christian is, and therefore, a passion of his.

"How can people claim to be Christian and not have a burden for the lost and a passion for sharing the gospel?" Smith stated.

Amarillo College Baptist Student Ministry partnered with 10 BGCT annual meeting volunteers, as well as members from Trinity Baptist Church and Paramount Baptist Church, to spread hope to college students on the campus.

They held a free burger cookout near the center of campus. More than 450 students came to the outreach event, many leaving their contact information so the BSM can follow-up with each one and attempt to reach out to them in additional ways.

Volunteer Marla Herrera helps clean the grounds at Buckner Family Place in Amarillo. (PHOTO/Eric Guel)

Other volunteers dug in and got dirty at the Bruce Ford Community Center, an after-school program of Buckner International that serves vulnerable children at the Whittier and Robert E. Lee elementary schools.

Terry Thomas, program director for the center, put the volunteers to work outside on the playground, loosening compacted mulch with shovels and pitchforks to make it into a softer cushion for the children when they fall.

"Really, it's hard to describe what it means to have them out here working today," Thomas said.

"They're making this a safer environment for our kids. It's very meaningful to us that they took time out of their day—they didn't have to come out here. I think it really puts in action the word 'servant ministry.'"

It was dirty, sweaty work, but the group was up to the challenge and excited about serving.

David Dinkins (cowboy hat and plaid shirt) and Mike Bearden spent a morning during the BGCT annual meeting serving at the Bruce Ford Community Center in Amarillo. (PHOTO/Lauren Sturdy)

"I've been coming to the convention a long time, and so I was real excited not only to see that we were convening in the building, but also taking what the Lord's put in us and being able to impact Amarillo," said Jeff Humphrey, minister of education at First Baptist Church in Allen. "And it's just fun to be with Texas Baptists doing stuff like this."

A few Texas Baptists also spent their morning at the Buckner Family Place apartments helping with the upkeep of the property.

Dianne Samaniego, program supervisor for Family Place, said she is thankful to have volunteers' help, since she doesn't have a full-time maintenance crew.

After a quick introduction to Family Place and what the ministry does, Samaniego sent the Texas Baptist volunteers to the front yard and playground area to gather leaves.

They also cleared out vines that had been growing over many of the windows and gave the windows a good washing.

"They have been a huge help cleaning up our front common area where the kids play," she said.

"It's just those time-consuming things that we haven't had a chance to get to that just make the property look a lot better."

"Volunteers are increasingly becoming such good partners to us, and we're so thankful for their help," Samaniego said.

Other projects included a children's field day complete with games and clowns at the preschool at City Church.

Another group went to the school to read books to the kids and pass out books donated by Texas Baptists and bookcases provided through Literacy Connexus.

Texas Baptists and Buckner International donated more than 600 shoes to "A Step Up" shoe ministry at Mission Amarillo, and 10 volunteers went to the center to sort the shoes, which will be given to Amarillo-area school children in need.

Not only was the gospel proclaimed at each of the mission projects, but a helping hand and the care of Christ also were extended by about 200 Texas Baptists.

"Through this, I hope that Amarillo sees what we do as Baptists and that we care about this community," Smith said.