• Eric Black to First Church in Covington as pastor.

• Dee Blasingame has resigned as pastor of First Church in Bayside.

• Nathan Buchanan to First Church in Mineral Wells as pastor, where he was minister of students and recreation.

• Ryan Busby to International Church in Abilene as minister of education.

• Mack Caffey to First Church in Mathis as interim pastor.

• Rey Cantu to Iglesia Nueva Vida in Freeport as pastor.

• Steve Fletcher to Willow Springs Church in Alvarado as pastor.

• Mike Gilchrist Jr. to South Prong Church in Waxahachie as pastor.

• Larry Grimes to Yorktown Church in Corpus Christi as associate pastor.

• Rich Klein to First Church in Damon as pastor.

• Randy Land to First Church in Carlsbad, N.M., as pastor from First Church in Brownfield.

• Gus Martinez to Iglesia La Hermosa in Skidmore as pastor.

• Chad Meeks to First Church in Venus as pastor.

• Keith Michaelis to First Church in Nixon as pastor from The Crossings Church in Katy, where he was spiritual formations pastor.

• Nathan Otto to Velasco Church in Freeport as pastor.

• Joel Perritte to Yorktown Church in Corpus Christi as student pastor.

• Don Pesnell to Lebanon Church in Cleburne as minister of music.

• Ken Petro to First Church of Oyster Creek in Freeport as pastor.

• Michael Reed to Calvary Church in Abilene as pastor. He was the Protestant chaplain at Coalinga State Hospital in Coalinga, Calif.

• Kyle Tubbs to Trinity Church in Sweetwater as minister of youth from First Church in Eula.

• John Turner to Bono Church in Godley as minister of youth.

• Ryan White to First Church in Refugio as minister of music and youth.

• A LifeWay women’s “Going Beyond” weekend will be held Feb. 19-20 at McKinney Church in Fort Worth. Keynote personalities include author and Bible teacher Priscilla Shirer and worship leader Anthony Evans. Shirer will encourage women to go beyond the everyday, ordinary life to a soul-satisfying walk with Christ. The event will be held from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The cost is $45. To register, call (800) 254-2022.

• “The Bridge” worship conference, sponsored by Dallas Baptist University and the Baptist General Convention of Texas, will be held Feb. 26-27 on the DBU campus. The conference is open to ministers and laypeople interested in growing in their understanding of Christian worship and identifying ways worship can unite church members in ministry and fellowship. The two-day conference explores the process of becoming effective bridge-builders in corporate worship by better connecting generations, relationships and styles through meaningful worship experiences. The conference includes both general sessions and break-out workshops. The general sessions will be led by Rick Muchow, pastor of worship at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and Mel Blackaby, pastor of First Church in Jonesboro, Ga. Friday night will include a free concert by Muchow. For more information, call (214) 828-5247.

• Wayland Baptist University will hold homecoming festivities Feb. 26-27, incorporating traditional activities along with a new event. An alumni-student dance will be held Friday at 9 p.m., following the traditional banquet held at 6 p.m. in the McClung Center. Other events include homecoming chapel, a baseball doubleheader, a theater presentation, various reunions and awards and an art gallery exhibit. For more information, call (806) 291-3600.

• Dillon International will hold a class addressing the needs and adjustments of newly adopted children and their adoptive families Feb 27 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Buckner Children’s Home campus in Dallas. Participants will hear from adoptive families and explore topics including attachment, grief and loss, the impact of institutionalization on child development, becoming a multiracial family, keeping children connected to their heritage and talking to their child about adoption. The fee for the class—which includes lunch and materials—is $145 per couple or $110 per single adult, and counts as six certified Hague Adoption Education hours. Call (214) 319-3426 for more information.

• A free meeting of families interested in serving as host families in Dillon International’s Angels from Abroad program this August will be held March 2 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the Buckner Children’s Home campus. The program provides older orphans an opportunity to learn about American culture, share their Russian culture and experience living with a family. It also helps raise awareness about the need for adopting older children. The children are ages 6 to 12. For more information, call (214) 319-3426.

• East Texas Baptist University will hold at Tiger Day March 6. The preview event is free and open to all prospective students and their families. Participants will have the opportunity to tour the campus, meet faculty and current students, receive admissions and financial aid information, and visit academic departments. Lunch is provided. For more information or to register, call (800) 804-3828.

• Southern gospel artists The Kingsmen and The Melody Boys will be the featured performers at Howard Payne University’s annual Singin’ With the Saints concert May 13 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $13 and will go on sale March 1. For more information, call (800) 950-8465.

• Tim Crawford, dean of Christian studies at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, will present a lecture on the Holocaust March 25 at noon as a part of the university’s ministers’ forum. He will describe the ways Christians responded to this moral and historical crisis and why they responded as they did. The lecture will held in the Shelton Theater of the Mabee Student Center. Participants are encouraged to bring their lunch to the free event.

• The Baylor Alumni Association has presented its Price Daniel Distinguished Public Service Award to Sen. Kirk Watson and the Abner V. McCall Religious Liberty award to Melissa Rogers. Watson, a 1981 graduate of the Baylor Law School, was mayor of Austin four years and has served as a state senator since 2007. Rogers, a 1988 graduate of the university, has written numerous book chapters and articles about the religion clauses of the First Amendment and other religious liberty issues. In 2009, President Obama appointed her to the Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

East Texas Baptist University student Trevor Middleton turns the grass embankment at Ornelas Stadium into a ski run after snow fell Feb. 11. The ETBU campus experienced one to two inches of snow. (PHOTO: ETBU/Jason John Cowart)

• Dennis Gable has been named president of the medical staff of Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano.

• Manny Vela, senior vice president and corporate counsel for Valley Baptist Health System in Harlingen, has been named to the Texas Task Force for Children with Special Needs.

Anniversaries

• Scott Chadwick, fifth, as pastor of First Church in Hutchins, Feb. 13.

• Armando Rodriguez, 1oth, as pastor of Primera Iglesia in Robstown.

• First Church in Rosebud, 120th, March 26-28. Friday’s activities will focus on youth and former youth ministers, while Saturday will focus on the music program and former ministers of music. Former pastor Glen Foster will preach Sunday morning, and former minister of music Larry Reeves will lead worship. A catered luncheon will follow the service. For more information or to make lunch reservations, call (254) 583-7563. Carl Jennings Jr. is pastor.

Retiring

• Paul Pinyan, as pastor of First Church in Rio Vista. He served the church more than 15 years.

Deaths

• Ira Cooke, 86, Jan. 21 in Marshall. He was a retired minister and East Texas Baptist University staff member. After serving as a pastor seven years, he joined the university’s staff in 1968 and served more than 18 years, finishing his service as associate vice president for financial affairs. After retiring, he continued his preaching ministry, was a Mission Service Corps volunteer and served as a chaplain at Marshall Regional Medical Center. He was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Madge. He is survived by his son, John, daughters, Catherine Crawford and Dorcas Faulkner; four grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

• Graves Francis, 80, Jan. 22 in San Antonio. He was a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Church in Del Rio after moving there in 1972. He also was a volunteer chaplain at the hospital and taught two Bibles each week at a local prison. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Zoe; sons, Jeff and Tim; daughter, Anna Riegel; sister, Mary Annette Willard; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

• Robin Mueller, 52, Jan. 23 in Dallas. Her father is pastor of Gambrell Street Church in Fort Worth. She was a member of Park Cities Church in Dallas for many years and recently had joined First Church in Richardson. She is survived by her parents, Clyde and Kaye Glazener; sons, Garrett, Keegan and McKenzie; and brothers, Randy, Rusty, Roger and Rodney Glazener.

• George Hine, 88, Jan. 23 in Brownwood. A graduate of Hardin-Simmons University, he also served on the journalism faculty and public relations staff there. He served more than 16 years as assistant vice president for development and publicity and vice president of public relations at Howard Payne University. He also served the school many years as sports information director. He retired after serving seven years at Houston Baptist University as assistant to the president. He was a longtime member of First Church in Early. He was preceded in death by his brother, James; and his sister, Marie Herb. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Maxine; son, Kevin; and two grandchildren.

• Dale Moon, 75, Jan. 29 in McKinney. He served in the U.S. Army 27 years, retiring as a colonel in 1994. A chaplain, he served in numerous stateside posts as well as Vietnam, Korea and Germany. He received the Silver Star for heroism under fire. After retirement, he served congregations in Pickton and Bells as pastor. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Mary Helen; sons, Mark and Brian; sister, Joan Finch; and five grandchildren.

• Goldia Naylor, 100, Jan. 31 in Fort Worth. She came to Southwestern Seminary in 1928 to study voice, and while a student there, met Robert Naylor, whom she married in 1930. She served churches alongside her pastor husband more than 30 years in Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. In 1952, they moved to Fort Worth, where he became pastor of Travis Avenue Baptist Church. Six years later, he was chosen as the fifth president of Southwestern, and she served as the school’s first lady 20 years. While there, she had involvement in the design and decoration of the Naylor Student Center, the Goldia and Robert Naylor Children’s Center and the president’s home. After retirement in 1978, they remained in Fort Worth and were involved in ministry in churches and the seminary. She was honored by the seminary in 1977 as a distinguished alumnus. In 1989, she and her husband received the B.H. Carroll Founders Award. In 2001, the Southern Baptist Ministers’ Wives organization recognized her as the Distin-guished Minister’s Wife of the Year. She was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years. She is survived by her sons, Robert Jr. and Richard; daughter, Rebekah Naylor; three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Events

• The Mwangaza Children’s Choir from Uganda will sing at First Church in Irving Feb. 21. The will sing a song in all three morning services and present a full concert at 6 p.m. For more information, call (972) 253-1171. John Durham is pastor.

• The Blackwood Gospel Quartet will present a concert at First Church in Marlin March 13 at 5 p.m. Eric Moore is pastor.

Licensed

• Marshall Fields and Jeff Brown to the ministry at Adamsville Church in Lampasas.

Ordained

• Brett Williams as a deacon at Pilot Grove Church in White-wright.

• Robert Allman, David Bartee and Michael McNeal as deacons at First Church in Temple.

• Carol Cabaniss, Mary Carver, Susan Elliott, Nathan Farmer and Jill Granberry as deacons at Wilshire Church in Dallas.

HOUSTON—In the final worship service at the Hispanic Evangelism Conference in Houston, Christians who had signed commitments the previous year to share the hope of Christ with others through Texas Hope 2010 efforts slowly stood, a few scattered about the room.

Hispanic Evangelism Conference participants follow along in their Bibles as the Scriptures are read.

Frank Palos, Hispanic evangelism director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, shared the vision of reaching every Texan with the gospel by Easter 2010 through praying for the lost, caring for the hurting and hungry and sharing the hope of Christ. He challenged more than 1,000 adults to make a commitment to help with the cause, noting the brief time remaining to finish the task.

One by one, every person in the room stood, raising hands in commitment to share the gospel with their families, friends and communities.

This worship service was part of a two-day evangelism conference focused on the issues faced by Hispanics as they attempt to influence and care for their communities and spread the gospel in their spheres of influence.

The conference, breakout sessions and worship experience drew more than 1,200 adults and students, and 56 people made professions of faith in Christ during the event.

More than 200 youth participated in the student track at the Hispanic Evangelism Conference that included worship, breakout sessions and panel discussions about sharing their faith and obstacles they may encounter.

For Hispanic believers to follow through with their commitment to Texas Hope 2010 and see others come to Christ, they must realize that Christ is the light of the world, be willing to be anointed by God’s Spirit and then obey, said Sammy Fuentes, an international Hispanic evangelist based in Corpus Christi.

“Often, we know all these things, but we don’t obey,” Fuentes said. “When believers do this, they will experience God’s anointing in their lives, the Lord will be glorified through people coming to salvation and seeing lives transformed and personal and church growth will take place to impact the community.”

For the church to have a tangible impact, it must utilize every method possible to project God’s message, helping the needs of the people spiritually, physically and psychologically, Fuentes said.

Victor Rodriguez, pastor of South San Filadelphia Baptist Church and president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, and Jorge Zapata, Buckner director of border missions, both agreed and taught about church involvement in the community during breakout sessions at the conference.

The worship band from South San Filadelphia Baptist Church in San Antonion led conference attendees in worship during the Hispanic Evangelism Conference.

In his breakout session, Rodriguez asked a pointed question to those who attended: “Would the community miss your church if it left the community?” He stated that the church has to be doing ministry out in the community to make an impact, following the example of Jesus healing, ministering and loving those in the midst of the community, even in the midst of sin.

“The reason many followed Christ is that he accepted people where they are at,” Rodriguez said. “He didn’t approve their sin, but he met them where they were. Jesus’ approach is practical and relevant.”

In addition, Rodriguez said, pastors need to preach a message following Jesus’ example—Christ taught with the needs, hurts and interests of people in mind; he taught the good news; and he told stories and parables to help the crowds understand his message.

To touch the community with the gospel, the church may need to do ministry differently than in the past. In the process of making changes, criticism may come from others inside the church, but changes may need to happen so that the church can reach people for Christ and make disciples, Rodriguez said.

Victor Rodriguez, pastor of South San Filadelphia Baptist Church in San Antonio and president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, and his wife, Olga, participate in worship during the Hispanic Evangelism Conference.

Zapata agreed, saying communities and families are changing, so the church needs to be willing to address the problems and struggles now faced by people around them.

Much of Zapata’s session focused on helping Christians understand the types of families that now exist and learn how to share the gospel with the traditional, divorced, remarried, homosexual, foreign, military, adoptive and poor families or units.

“The church needs to be in the ministry of restoration,” Zapata said. “You have to live and walk with (the community) in order to understand them. Out of love, they learn to trust. And out of trust, they begin to let God bring transformation. Our job is to love them.”

But, Zapata stressed, in order to minister to the community and bring restoration to broken lives, Christians first must be willing to let God correct and restore their lives.

“Today we live in a society that if we are going to be relevant to the community and transform the community, we must first be healed and transformed and ministering to each other inside the church,” he said. “We then have to have a vision—to take Christ to the lost community. If we don’t have a vision, we won’t have a passion to go out to the lost community.”

To bring transformation through the gospel, the people of God must have faith and hope, believing God is the one who can change communities, Zapata said.

Sammy Lopez, pastor of the Fellowship Church in Houston, challenged students to make a difference in their communities by radically following Christ in their everyday lives. (See video at left)

“We serve a radical Christ and a radical God who calls us to a radical life,” Lopez said. “If you are going to serve a radical Jesus, you must live a radical life by living for him, trusting him and obeying him.”

To help students be prepared to answer faith questions, Lopez led a panel discussion including area youth workers. The panel addressed topics such as how to address people when they are open to God but also other ways, when they say they can’t believe in a God who would send people to hell, or when they are atheists who don’t uphold Scripture as a basis for truth.

“When you go home tonight, get into his word and seek him, fall in love with him,” Lopez said. “You need to know the word. There must be personal conviction in your heart when you tell people about Christ, because they are watching you, and they are searching for answers.”

Two Baptist churches within three miles of each other burned Feb. 8, the ninth and 10th in a rash of suspicious church fires in Texas since Jan. 1.

Firefighters from several departments responded to a call about 8:30 p.m. to Dover Baptist Church near Lindale. According to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, flames were breaking through the roof about 20 minutes after the first witnesses spotted the blaze.

A short time later a second fire was reported at Clear Springs Missionary Baptist Church, located on a county road near the Smith-Van Zandt county line. Witnesses told local media the building was destroyed in minutes.

Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were on the scene at both fires. Earlier in the day the ATF determined that a fire that destroyed the sanctuary of Russell Memorial United Methodist Church in Wills Point, Feb. 4 was set intentionally. The Methodist church was the eighth suspicious church fire in East Texas since Jan. 1. Officials are now also investigating fires in December to see if there is any connection.

According to the Tyler newspaper, Carl Samples, pastor of Dover Baptist Church, said the fire appeared to have been centered at the back of the church near the pulpit area. The church, founded in 1865 with a current membership of about 50, is affiliated with Smith Baptist Association, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention.

Earlier fires were said to be started with some kind of accelerant.

The first fire ruled arson occurred New Year's Day at Faith Church in Athens.  Two more Athens churches burned Jan. 12, Lake Athens Baptist Church and Grace Community Church. 

Tyland Baptist Church in Tyler went down in flames Jan. 16  . The next night Tyler's First Church of Christ, Scientist, burned to the ground.

Arson hit Jan. 20 at Prairie Creek Fellowship in Lindale. A fire that gutted the historic sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Temple Jan. 19 was determined to be arson Jan. 29.

The ATF is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the fires. 

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. 

Previous stories:

Church fire forces closing of day care

Fire that destroyed historic Texas church ruled arson

Texas church regroups after historic sanctuary burns
 

GIDDINGS—As seven teenage boys filed out of the van into the parking lot of the Texas Youth Commission lockup in Giddings, they saw just where following the crowd would take them if they continued down a path of crime.

Baptist Child & Family Services’ juvenile justice program is designed to ensure that a life of uniforms and cinderblock cells doesn’t become a reality for these young men.

Treyvon Barnes gained a fresh start with the help of BCFS’ juvenile justice program.

“One aspect of our program is to get these kids outside their neighborhoods, showing them not only where they will end up if they continue on their current path, but we take them to college campuses, allowing them to see the possibility of a bright future if they stay in school and out of trouble,” said Tim Nava, BCFS case manager supervisor.

The young men on the trip, all facing charges of theft, substance abuse, possession, assault or truancy, are getting their lives back on track with the help of BCFS.

Treyvon Barnes was arrested for bodily assault and possession in 2008 and sentenced to participate in BCFS’ program as part of his probation. With the agency’s help, he completed his probation in recent weeks and has completely turned his life around.

Today, Barnes plays the drums in his high school band and is on the basketball team. His future looks bright with plans for college. He speaks openly about the tough trials that come with making bad choices, encouraging his siblings and peers not to make the same mistakes he did.

“It’s really hard to climb your way out once you fall in a hole with school and the law,” said Barnes. “After visiting my cousin who ended up at TYC for gang-related activity, I knew I had to make a drastic change.”

Barnes knows that following the wrong crowd is what got him in trouble in the first place. But thanks to what he learned through the BCFS juvenile justice program, his life is headed a different direction.

In a crowded parking lot filled with chrome and horsepower, Jeff Claes finds himself most at home. Weaving through a maze of leather-clad, patch-decorated bikers, he talks with others about motorcycles, rides and miles of open road.

But as a biker chaplain, he seeks more than the next ride. He’s looking for the next opportunity to point people to God.

Jeff Claes (left) and Rod Stalling (right) serve as Texas Baptists’ first biker chaplains (PHOTO/Courtesy of Jeff Claes)

As the first two biker chaplains endorsed by Texas Baptists, Claes and his ministry partner Rod Stallings are a spiritual presence in the horde of metal and machinery. The chaplains are sources of comfort, hope and spiritual guidance for the bikers—a largely unchurched subculture.

“When they’re going through stuff, they turn to me and ask ‘Pastor, will you pray with me?’” Claes said. “Basically I’m in a pastoral role with many people due to loose connections and involvement with the local church. I’m constantly trying to point them toward God.”

The duo serves the American Eagle Harley Davidson Owners Group, a North Texas association of about 500 riders. They also pray with people individually and sometimes distribute tracts at events.

“Biker chaplaincy is a ministry of presence,” Stallings said. “Ninety percent of what we do is just being there.”

Claes, who is licensed by First Baptist Church in Carrollton, also has performed weddings and funerals.

“I always say the parking lot is my church and the curb is my pulpit,” Claes said.

Having ridden thousands of miles across the country, Claes and Stallings also understand biker culture and how to create opportunities to share the gospel. Although many bikers claim not to be spiritual, Stallings notes many of them hang items from their motorcycles to keep bad things from happening to them.

Often, bikers also are interested in having their motorcycles “blessed,” Stallings said, allowing the chaplains to pray over the bikers and for the upcoming ride. The blessings invite the chaplains to talk about Jesus.

Together, Claes and Stallings recently created www.bikerchaplain.com, an Internet resource that trains other people to become biker chaplains. About 30 from across the country have participated in the training. The curriculum helps people understand biker culture and how to minister in it effectively.

Bobby Smith, director of chaplaincy relations for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, praised the ministry of Claes and Stallings and looks forward to seeing how God continues to move in people’s lives to share the hope of Christ in biker culture.

“Biker chaplaincy is a very new and exciting opportunity to meet the emotional and spiritual needs of many people who have no other venue to receive a caring, Christian pastoral touch,” Smith said.

“It is so exciting to see how God is working in the lives and ministries of these biker chaplains. It is my privilege to minister to these biker chaplains and help them as they minister to bikers.”

“We feel God’s call to not only be chaplains and serve our community, but provide training to all biker ministry organizations because they don’t have this type of training available to them,” Claes said.

Through chaplaincy, the pair connect with people, Stallings said. By caring about people as Christ would and sharing the gospel when the Holy Spirit prompts, they see lives changed.

Lay ministry of this sort is a glimpse of what effective ministry will look like in the future, Stallings observed.

“We really strive for people understanding that we believe the coming age of ministry is not one of megachurches and all that,” Stallings said. “It’s going to be schmoes like me and my partner pulling off the road into a gas station with our colors on and people asking, ‘What’s that all about?’”

DALLAS—An aging congregation is experiencing renewal through outreach to ethnic churches in its area.

During the past year and a half, Gaston Oaks Baptist Church has opened its doors to Karen, African and Hispanic congregations in North Dallas, partnering with them in ministry and growing the Gaston Oaks family.

“The church is right in the center of a lot of ethnic groups, and it now has a new spirit with these language congregations that are meeting here and essentially becoming a part of Gaston Oaks,” Pastor Gary Cook said.

In 2008, a Karen man who had been attending the church for some time brought several Karen families who had just arrived in Dallas from Burma to Gaston Oaks Baptist Church. Gradually, more Karen came to the church, and Gaston Oaks members began ministering to them, giving many rides to the church services and assisting in resettlement tasks and issues many of them face each day.  

“The church is growing in this missionary attitude,” said Dick Matthies, an 82-year-old church member who volunteers his time to help the Karen refugees.

“Within this North Dallas neighborhood that we live, there are many cultures. We have established great relationships with the Karen church and with the other culture groups that meet in our building. As a mission-minded church, we are very optimistic of how we can function in this neighborhood and in this city.”

Mary Ellen Crossland, another longtime member of the church, said hosting the ethnic congregations has given the traditional church a new mission in the community.

“We have always been so mission-minded and have sent missionaries overseas in the past,” Crossland said. “We are now a much smaller church and pretty elderly, and there aren’t many who are sent or going anymore. It is just terrific that we now can reach out right here in this way.”

Members of the Afrika Community Church represent multiple African nations. Pastor Kambali Samisi (on guitar) leads the congregation.

As more and more Karen came to the worship services, Gaston Oaks Baptist Church members set up sermon translation headsets so that the group could participate in their own language. Eventually, the Karen had enough members to select Hsa Twell as their own pastor and begin holding separate services in their own language.

“For a while, we were trying to have the whole congregation in the Gaston Oaks worship service,” Cook said. “The Karen were in favor of having their own worship service, and now they basically are their own congregation and called their own Karen pastor.”

More than 275 Karen now attend the services held each Sunday morning at the Gaston Oaks building. Out of this church-to-church relationship, additional refugee assistance such as English-as-a-Second- Language classes and a clothing ministry has been offered to the Karen. 

Also, a couple of members of Gaston Oaks Baptist Church have organized and started a refugee ministry called Hope 4 Refugees to help with the resettlement process.     

In 2009, La Promesa, the Hispanic congregation, began meeting in the building, and about 25 people are participating in this group. David Etheridge, a retired missionary who worked in Mexico for many years, serves as the bivocational pastor for this congregation.

After La Promesa joined with Gaston Oaks Baptist Church, Dallas Baptist Association referred an African church, and Gaston Oaks invited the group to meet in its building. The Afrika Community Church of about 80 members represents various African nations and is led by Congolese Pastor Kambali Samisi.

To bring growth and unity among the groups, Cook began meeting monthly with the pastors of the three congregations to encourage and mentor them in their ministry.

Members of Gaston Oaks Baptist Church care for the children from the varied ethnic congregations that share its facility.

“I started working with these congregations a little closer as I met with the pastors and tried to help them with leadership issues and just tried to encourage them,” Cook said.

As the men met, they decided to have a joint worship service with all of the congregations once a quarter. Cook and worship leader Royce Dowell led the pastors in planning the services, making sure each congregation had an opportunity to contribute to the worship experience and that they chose hymns that were familiar to all groups.

During two services that were held last fall, Cook shared the sermon in English, but translators were available to share the message with anyone needing clarification in their mother tongue through translation headsets.

“When we come together there is excitement in the air because of just being together,” Dowell said. “Our worship center seats close to 400 people, and when they all come together, it’s virtually filled. The different groups tend to sit together. They don’t mix a great lot in the service, but they appreciate what each of the groups does. They are excited to do something different and to do something together.”

In each service, Swahili, Spanish, Karen and English hymns, prayers and testimonies were lifted up by the congregation, showing the diversity but bringing unity because they all were worshiping the same God, Crossland said.

 “When we sang hymns with all the different languages, I really enjoyed it,” she said. “There are so many hymns that have the same tune and then everyone can sing in their own language at the same time.”

The congregations plan to continue with the joint worship services once a quarter in the future so that all the members can celebrate what God is doing in the different groups.

“I think that God has given us just a tremendous opportunity by placing these people in a very short distance from our church, and I’m very pleased that our church is responding,” said Joy Fenner, a member of the church and president of the Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas. 

As Gaston Oaks Baptist Church provides a meeting place for the groups, they are receiving a wonderful blessing and learning much about the Christian walk from the ethnic congregations, Cook said.

“I hope that we can maintain a vital church for them as a result of what we are doing and how we are doing it,” Cook said. “We are doing hands-on missions right here by working with these groups, not only through providing a place for them but by encouraging them and learning from them. This could become a model for the future, and there could be a viable group of traditional folks that provide an opportunity for other language groups. We even hope in the future to add some more.”

Fenner agrees, stating this opportunity has enabled many of the original Gaston Oaks Baptist Church members to see missions in a new light and reach out to the world that has been brought to the doorstep of the church.

“I hope that all these language congregations continue to grow,” Fenner said. “I also hope that those who want to be part of the Gaston Oaks family will see that this is a church that is doing missions very different to reach out to the people around us.”

TEMPLE (ABP) — First Baptist Church in Temple has suspended operation of its 40-year-old Child Development Center indefinitely due to smoke and water damage from a Jan. 19 fire that authorities ruled arson.

The decision, announced to church members in a letter Feb. 2, displaces 36 workers and 110 children currently enrolled in the program started in 1969 as a day care and kindergarten to meet the needs of families in the community.

Pastor Martin Knox called it "a difficult and painful decision" forced by damage to many areas of the church's 70-year-old sanctuary and five buildings housing offices, classrooms, offices, and library and the fellowship hall.

Knox said the building used for children's ministry received smoke and water damage on both floors. It has no electricity, and all floors, ceiling and major components will need to be cleaned, repaired or replaced.

State regulations allow a child-care facility to be inoperable for no longer than three months, Knox said, and it is "very unlikely" the CDC building will be ready that soon.

"There is nothing more beautiful than to hear a child laugh and to have a child hug me," remarked Carolyn Gunter, director of the program for the last 11 1/2 years. "That will be deeply missed."

Church leaders said employees of the ministry would receive "generous severance."

Currently the congregation has only one building that is useable, the Edge Youth Center. A contemporary worship service meets there on Sunday mornings. The traditional blended service has moved to First United Methodist Church.

Sunday school classes are meeting at scattered locations including homes, offices and the public library. One group meets in the family building of a funeral home.

Knox said the different Bible study locations are working well. Some classes are being moved this Sunday to more permanent locations than the ones they have been using. "We now have a place for all of our children's classes," he said. "This will be a big help."

The church has signed a lease for office space and hopes to be moving from temporary offices in the youth building soon.

A Fire Relief Fund has been established at Extraco Bank. Knox said it has not been determined how the fund will be used.

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Previous stories:

Texas church regroups after historic sanctuary burns

Fire that destroyed historic Texas church ruled arson

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—Servando Silva and Matt Johnson packed for a mission to Haiti before a mission even was planned.

The nurse and doctor from Baptist Temple in McAllen had prayed for an opportunity to help meet medical needs in the wake of the Jan. 12 killer earthquake.

Haitians take shelter in tent cities in Port-Au-Prince after the devastating earthquake Jan. 12.

Within 24 hours of that prayer, Texas Baptists provided a chance for them to put their medical expertise to work leading clinics in a suburb of Haiti’s capital. The Baptist General Convention of Texas connected medical professionals with opportunities to put their skills to use following the disaster.

“I have some medical skills,” said Johnson, a family doctor. “I have a desire to go and show the love of Christ.”

Hundreds of people lined up to be seen by doctors who conducted the clinics alongside medical professionals from around the globe working through Baptist World Aid’s Rescue 24 quick strike relief team.

Silva and Johnson treated a variety of ailments ranging from backaches to racing heartbeats to respiratory infections, most likely caused by increased dust in the air following the earthquake.

“You get to noon, and then the line is even longer,” Johnson said.

Silva and Johnson aimed to treat each patient to the best of their ability, as well as with dignity and respect. At one point, Silva talked with a small group of young men who were having problems sleeping due to nightmares about the earthquake. Silva prayed with them, then the group spontaneously began singing Amazing Grace.

Silva noted he and Johnson invested themselves into their patients.

“They needed help,” Silva said. “We gave ourselves to that individual.”

Johnson and Silva capped their weeklong medical service by working overnight in the emergency room of a hospital, serving 24 hours straight—the clinic during the day, the emergency room that night.

In the emergency room, the Texans treated a young boy with pneumonia, a woman suffering from life-threatening seizures and a variety of other serious issues.

“Forget about going to bed,” Silva said. “The need was still there. You just have to say, ‘The only help these people have at this moment is me.”

Silva and Johnson have returned home, but they know what needs to be done most to help people recover. Each day when the volunteers closed their clinic, there were still people who wanted to be seen. Earthquake victims who have had limbs amputated need to see a doctor regularly.

New teams of volunteers have come to serve with the Baptist World Aid team, but more volunteer medical personnel are needed, Silva said.

“There’s still a big need,” Silva said. “It’s not over. These people still need help – medications, treating people.”

For more information about how individuals can help in Haiti through praying, giving and serving, visit www.texasbaptists.org/haitiearthquake.

PORT-AU-PRINCE—Nearly three weeks after an earthquake left an estimated 200,000 people dead, life in Haiti remains in as many pieces as the buildings toppled throughout Port-au-Prince.

Carroll Prewitt (2nd from right), a Texas Baptist Men volunteer from Lindale, leads in prayer at a makeshift medical clinic across from the collapsed Haitian palace.

In large pockets of the city, the needs are as basic as the struggle for life itself—water, food and shelter.

Residents have erected impromptu communities of sheets, blankets, sticks and strings in many places across the nation’s capital. At least one of these areas is serving as the makeshift home for more than 19,000 people.

Despite the efforts of nonprofit groups, few of the tent cities have access to clean drinking water. Residents take showers in front of their blanketed shanties. At best, the water they collect in buckets comes from dirty pipes, water trucks or wells. At worst, they draw it from streams polluted by sewage.

Two weeks after the disaster, at least 31 orphanages lacked food, water or both.

“I see people here wanting hope, wanting to live.” said James Cundiff, a disaster relief veteran from Dallas and Texas Baptist Men volunteer.

Mike Oliver, a Texas Baptist Men volunteer from First Baptist Church in Plano, works on the water purification system for an orphanage outside Port-Au-Prince.

Yet it’s here in the orphanages that hope has started to blossom as spontaneously as the disaster that rocked this nation. A team of Texas Baptist Men volunteers arrived Jan. 29 and within days had installed a water purification system that provided drinkable water for more than 100 orphans and hundreds of relief workers in the area around Grace Village, a church-run orphanage and hospital here.

Shortly after the water system began running, Cundiff helped arrange for the delivery of more than 27,000 meals for the orphans and the 19,000 people in the makeshift city around the orphanage. The meals came from the U.S. Marines who also agreed to continue providing food for the tent city as long as it was needed.

“God has provided today,” said Carroll Prewitt, who is leading the TBM team. “He has provided food and water.”

Cundiff praised the ministry of Texas Baptist Men and the military’s decision to provide food as “miracles” that would save lives now and into the future.

Christian groups are traversing Port-Au-Prince, providing clean water, distributing food and staffing medical clinics.

One woman from the Dominican Republic with connections to Youth With A Mission came to Port-Au-Prince with a pair of tents, a desire to help and a prayer that God would show her how to do that. The result has been the birth of a multiple-location medical clinic where doctors from around the globe are serving more than 600 patients a day. Medical supplies daily arrive as answers to prayer.

Doctors from Texas Baptist churches serve in medical clinics, and medical staff and supplies from Baylor Health Care System are aiding the relief effort.

Carroll Prewitt (center) of Lindale and James Cundiff (right) of Dallas talk to a U.S. Marine about getting food for 19,000 people living in a tent city around the Grace Village orphanage and hospital in Carrefour, Haiti.

Mike Roberts, a member of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, donated the use of his corporate jet to the Baptist General Convention of Texas to transport supplies, disaster relief volunteers and medical personnel. Roberts said he wanted to help hurting Haitians however he could. He took the first group of doctors to Haiti Jan. 26.

“When you’re able to genuinely help someone from your heart and they know you are out of your heart, that’s Christlike,” Roberts said of Christians serving others.

In one week, medical personnel coordinated by Texas Baptist disaster response leaders treated several thousand patients in clinics and a hospital near Haiti’s capital. In some cases while working in the emergency room, Texas Baptist doctors saved Haitian lives through their work alongside the Baptist World Aid Rescue 24 team.

“They’re fighting for survival,” said Matt Johnson, a doctor and member of Baptist Temple in McAllen who served in a hospital alongside a Baptist World Aid team. “They’re fighting for basic things.”

The actions of Christians speak volumes to people, Cundiff said. People understand who is helping them and want to know more about what motivates them to serve.

Christian groups often have been among the first to respond to needs here, said Cundiff, who was in Haiti six days after the earthquake. They are on the frontlines assisting people, often responding before other relief groups.

“It is the faith community” helping, Cundiff said. “Where has their help come from? Where has their food come from? Where has their water come from?”

Texas Baptists committed to serving in Haiti until they are no longer needed. With the lack of clean water and working sewage systems in the tent cities, that could be quite a long time. The city shows little sign of picking up the rubble. Some people simply refuse to return to living inside any building, fearing another earthquake.

TBM already has an additional 11,000 water purification filters, including 5,000 purchased by the BGCT, on the way to Haiti, and the missions organization is prepared to send more if needed. TBM volunteers will train Haitian Christian leaders how to operate the filters and then give them responsibility for distributing them.

The TBM water-purification team serving in Haiti has begun working on a new project that will provide clean drinking water for hundreds more people and has chosen other locations where they can help by providing clean water.

“Their homes are all destroyed,” Prewitt said of the area around the orphanage where his team installed the water-purification system. “This whole section is flattened. All the homes are not there anymore. They’re all living here. They have no means of support. They have no money. They’re completely dependent on what we can provide trough Texas Baptists and through the resources God has given us.”

Disaster response financial gifts through the Baptist General Convention of Texas support a variety of Baptist partners, including Texas Baptist Men. Those donations can be made at www.texasbaptists.org/give or through the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation by sending a check marked “disaster response” to Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, 333 N. Washington Ave., Dallas 75246.

To support Texas Baptist Men directly, visit www.texasbaptistmen.org or send a check designated “disaster relief” to Texas Baptist Men, 5351 Catron, Dallas 75227.

SAN ANTONIO—Baptist University of the Americas has stepped forward to become the lead partner with the Baptist General Convention of Texas on the Immigration Service and Aid Center Project, which seeks to equip churches to work within the law to help people with their citizenship issues.

The ISAAC Project will now be coordinated by Jesus Romero, a BUA professor of Spanish and chair of the department of modern languages. Housing the effort at the school also provides a place where church leaders and members can gain the immigration training that is necessary for congregations to become accredited to provide immigration services for Texans.

BUA President Rene Maciel said training ministers in how to serve their respective communities is central to the mission of the school, making partnerships with the ISAAC Project an ideal opportunity.

“Texas is a state populated from the beginning by immigrants. When this area was part of Mexico, it welcomed immigrants from Tennessee, Kentucky and the other Southern states. And Baptists, from those first beginnings, sought to minister to and reach with the gospel all immigrants who came to populate the region. The ISAAC program stands in that rich heritage of caring by Texas Baptists through the centuries of Baptist work here,” Maciel said.

“It is a privilege for us to be asked to partner with the Christian Life Commission and Texas Baptists in the ISAAC Project. We stand ready as a university to support and assist Texas Baptists in those programs and initiatives that fall within the realm of our mission of training leaders that can impact the world for Christ. We have great respect for (Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission Director) Suzii Paynter and we look forward to working together in this great ministry project.”

Launched in 2007, the ISAAC Project is designed to equip churches to assist people with citizenship issues as they can. Those ministries range along a continuum of holding English as a Second Language and citizenship classes to full-fledged accredited immigration aid centers in churches.

The effort was started as a partnership between the BGCT and Buckner International, but BUA has stepped forward to replace Buckner as the lead partner. Buckner is committed to continue assisting and supporting the ISAAC Project, but at a lesser level.

Before teaching at BUA, Romero worked with ISAAC to start an accredited immigration center in Brownwood. He taught 12 years at Howard Payne University and served as pastor of Iglesia Nuevo Amancer in Brownwood six years.

Romero earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, a master’s degree in Spanish from New Mexico State University and a doctorate in Spanish from the University of Arizona.  

He spent two terms on the BGCT Executive Board and also served as a commissioner of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.

Five Baptist organizations have worked with the ISAAC Project to go through the training and create accredited immigration centers. More groups are working through the process and a host of churches have worked with ISAAC to start ESL and citizenship courses.

Paynter said she believes the ISAAC Project will grow and help Texas Baptists minister through its partnership with BUA.

“This relationship provides a place where Texas Baptists can turn to for answers to the immigration questions they are asked on a regular basis,” she said. “BUA becomes the place where Texas Baptists can receive immigration training and practical ministerial assistance in addition to their development of the next generation of Hispanic ministers.”

For more information about ISAAC, visit www.isaacproject.org .

TEMPLE (ABP) — Investigators said Jan. 29 that a fire that gutted the sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Temple on Jan. 19 was set deliberately. The case is now being treated as a criminal investigation.

The finding followed a six-day investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in conjunction with the Temple Fire Department.

Pastor Martin Knox called the arson ruling "extremely sad news for our congregation."

"This information will create a range of emotions for all of us," he said in a statement to church members. "It saddens me to have to inform you of this, I am personally very shocked."

The fire destroyed the sanctuary and an adjoining building that contained the church's offices, music rooms and some classrooms. In addition, all of the other church buildings connected to the sanctuary suffered smoke and water damage.

Among the irreplaceable items lost in the blaze is the sanctuary's 2,675-pipe organ.

The ATF is also investigating a string of church fires set in east Texas since Jan. 1.