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April 2009 issue of Baptistlife
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Newsjournal of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware • www.baptistlifeonline.org
April 2009
Newsjournal of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware • www.baptistlifeonline.orgNewsjournal of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware • www.baptistlifeonline.org
April 2009
™
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
March online highights..................6-7 CP/BCM/D giving...........................8-9CP Insert and Poster................. 11-14 Iron Sharpens Iron Event................15Associationlife...........................20-21
In October, Deep Creek Lake resort minister, Julie DuVall, and ministry volunteers participated in the Autumn Glory Festival in Oakland. page 21.
Byron DayBCM/D President
and Pastor of Emmanuel Church,
Laurel, Md.
David LeeBCM/D Executive
Director
BaptistLIFEVol. 93 No. 3
Serving Baptists since 1849
BaptistLIFE (ISSN 331-640) is published bimonthly except for January as a Cooperative Program ministry of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.
BaptistLIFE 10255 Old Columbia RoadColumbia, MD 21046-1716
(Phone) 800-466-5290(Fax) 410-290-6627
Send address changes to: [email protected] or call 443-250-2553
BaptistLIFE StaffBob Simpson Executive EditorIris White Managing Editor/Mailing Shannon Baker Design Editor/ BCM/D National CorrespondentSharon Mager BCM/D CorrespondentLauren Rodriguez Media Specialist/Billing
Address change: Send the new address with the old mailing label at least three weeks prior to move.
Advertising rates are available. We do not automatically accept all advertising. We typically accept ads for services provided to Maryland and Delaware Baptists related to or assisting in starting new churches and strengthening existing ones. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute an endorsement of any advertiser’s products or services.
The deadline for news and advertising is the first day of the month preceding the next issue.
Subscription: free of charge by request.We welcome letters from readers, press
releases and photos of topics of interest to Maryland/Delaware Baptists. Digital photos sent electronically are preferred. If you send glossy prints, please include a SASE for return.
Letters to the Editor (LTTE) do not reflect the views or opinions of BaptistLIFE. We prefer letters from Maryland and Delaware. Only letters marked clearly for publication as a LTTE, signed with addresses will be considered. Please include a daytime telephone number for verification purposes. Letters may not exceed 300 words. Letters attacking churches or individuals will not be published. Letters will be edited for clarity, BaptistLIFE style and space considerations, but not for content. We regret that we cannot respond to all letters not accepted for publication.
BaptistLIFE is a member of the Association of State Baptist Papers, Baptist Press News and Evangelical Press Association and is printed by Carroll County Times, Westminster, Md.
Page 2 Perspectives... April 2009
More than ever our focus
has turned to “return on invest-ment.” The eco-nomic downturn has forced us to re-evaluate our priorities and make sure that our spending is in line with what makes the biggest
difference.As a result we examine more
carefully and hold to a higher stan-dard of accountability those areas where we make investments these days. That is not a bad thing. Ongo-ing evaluation is a good thing for us in every area of our lives. Too often in times when the pressure is low, we are prone to float. Things that feel urgent begin to replace things that are really important. “First
things, really important things,” can get displaced by less important things just because we can “afford” to add other things to the agenda. Yet, when the pressure is on and times get tough, we are forced to re-assess, re-evaluate, and make some hard choices about our investments.
Churches face the same chal-lenge. I have been listening to pas-tors and other church leaders. Many of you have shared with me the challenge you face of re-evaluating what you do in light of the economic climate.
I want you to know that I am praying for you and your church. I know these are difficult times.
I am praying that God will give us faith. Difficult times re-mind us that we are not in control. Such times re-introduce us to the reality that we are indeed dependent upon God.
I am praying for boldness. There is a delicate balance between
the exercise of wise stewardship and bold discipleship. One of my concerns has been that God’s people will retreat from the battle in search of a more comfortable place.
I am praying for wisdom. There is no doubt that choices are going to have to be made. All of us hope that these are short-term adjustments. No one knows except God. In the meantime, I pray that God will help us be discerning as we set priorities and as we evalu-ate what we are to do and be as the Great Commission people of God.
Inside this issue you will find a report highlighting the “return on investment” that you have made through the Cooperative Program. I hope you will display the poster in your church. If you have questions, call me. And by all means, if I can assist you as you journey through these interesting and challenging times, please give me that opportu-nity.
Return on investment
There is a term that is used today
to express joy and happiness. It is used to express excitement and enthusiasm. People use this term to convey the idea that it is now time to relax, rest, and rejoice. Moreover, they use it to communicate the idea that it is
now time to cease from our labors, put away the troubles of the week and escape from the office, escape from the classroom, escape from the truck, and to escape from the boss. The expression is T.G.I.F.
This saying T.G.I.F. at one time had the meaning Thank God It’s Friday. In times past its intended idea was thank God for bringing me through another week. It stood for thank God for allowing me to be healthy, it stood for thank God for keeping me safe, for providing food, clothing, and shelter. T.G.I.F. used
to signify thank God for His many blessings.
T.G.I.F. was a God-honoring term. It recognized that God was the reason for our existence. It gave glo-ry to God and acknowledged God’s right to rule in our lives. It acknowl-edged His sovereignty and majesty and it demonstrated man’s reliance and dependence on God. TG.I.F. was once a God-honoring term. But like so many other things the world has taken God out of T.G.I.F. to Thank Goodness It’s Friday. T.G.I.F. is no longer a God honoring term, but a God ignoring term.
There is however, a Friday for which I am eternally grateful. A Fri-day that occurred about 2000 years ago. For me, what has traditionally come to be known as Good Friday along with Resurrection Sunday is my favorite time of year. Not only is there the beginning of the Spring season which reminds us of the new life we have in Christ but also the blessed hope of our own resur-rection. Good Friday was a great Friday, and I always get excited, joyful and glad during this time of the year. I thank God for that Good
Friday because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through his blood I have the forgiveness of sin, because of Good Friday I have peace with God.
What a great time for Mary-land/Delaware Baptists to remem-ber God’s grace towards us all. Re-gardless of the economic conditions or other life challenges we face, we can all say thank God for that Good Friday. We can all join in with the songwriter who wrote:
At the cross at the cross Where I first saw the lightAnd the burden of my sin rolled
awayIt was there by faith I received
my sightAnd now I am happy all the
day.
T.G.I.F.
Bob SimpsonBCM/D Assoc.
Executive Director, BaptistLIFE Editor
He could have been distracted
April 2009 Perspectives... Page 3
Captain Chesley B. (Sully)
Sullenberger and I have something in common. He is the same age as I am. After that, the compari-son denigrates quickly. So much has been written about Sully’s cool, calm demeanor in
the face of certain disaster. You will recall that he was the pilot of the ill-fated U.S. Airways flight 1549 that hit a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia airport on Jan. 15, 2009. Sully is credited with saving the lives of all 155 souls on board that plane. It was the first time in 50 years of commercial jet flight that the captain of a major aircraft executed one of the most technically challenging maneuvers, landing a jetliner on water without any fatalities.
How did he do it? He did it with incredible, laser-like focus. Somehow he was able to overcome the negative thinking that distractions always engender. There were so many things that could have distracted him. For example, he could have been distracted by the fact that he had no thrust from his silent en-gines. Sully was 3,200 feet in the air, without power, quickly falling to Earth. That would have freaked out most of us right from the outset.
He could have been distracted by how to keep the nose of the plane lowered so the plane would glide and not drop quickly.
He could have been distracted by all the choices of where he might possibly be able to put the plane down. They included going back to LaGuardia or trying to get to an alternative airport in the New York metropolitan area.
He could have been distracted by what he knew to be the fact that no pilot in modern jet aviation had ever pulled off a successful water landing.
He could have been distracted by how to align the plane with the river so as not to hit the George Washington Bridge.
He could have been distracted by how to calculate the projected glide path and then set the plane on water at just the right angle so the nose was up and neither of the wings tipped. If the nose or a wing-tip hit the water as he approached, the plane could flip, spin out, or snap in two.
He could have been distracted by the location of the boats in the Hudson River. He knew he would have to pick a spot on the river that would give his passengers and crew the best advantage to be rescued.
There were these distractions and many more. But, Captain Sul-lenberger’s focus never wavered. He knew what he had to do. He had trained his entire career for this kind of eventuality. He did not let any distraction dissuade him from the main thing.
This reminds me of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Scripture says
“he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” If there ever was a person who embodied the essence of focus, it was Jesus. Even at the age of 12, he told his parents, “I must be about my Father’s business.”
Focus is always the main issue. Most of us are too easily distracted. Even churches can be distracted do-ing good things instead of the main thing. Our main focus is, and must always be, to do what our Lord has commanded us to do. His last words to us before he left the planet were to “go and make disciples of all nations.” That is all we need to stay focused on. We need to simply ask, “What now?” “What next?” and “What not?”
It’s the “What not?” part that is the most critical to developing focus. We need to jettison anything that distracts us. We need to free up more bandwidth to be able to move forward and do it with maximum focus. Jesus (and Sully) can teach us a lot about how to focus!
LATEST BCMD.E-QUIP.NET TRAINING RESOURCES AVAILABLE
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ONGOING SUBJECTS:
Church PlantingMinistry to ChildrenMissionsMusic and WorshipPastors/Pastoral StaffSharing ChristSingle AdultsSmall GroupsSpanish Language ResourcesTechnologyWMU ResourcesWomen’s MinistryYouth Ministry
Page 4 Your Convention... April 2009
By Sharon MagerStaff Correspondent
COLUMBIA, Md.—Baptist
editors from across the country gathered in Horseshoe Bay, Texas in February for their annual Associa-tion of State Baptist Papers (ASBP) editors meeting to encourage one another, refocus, listen to special speakers, network and worship God. At the close of this year’s meeting, Bob Simpson, BaptistLIFE’s execu-tive editor, was elected as president of the association.
Simpson will plan next year’s meeting, invite the guests and give the annual presidential message. That meeting will be Feb. 9-12 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
The new president takes his position at a time when printed state paper subscriptions are declin-ing. Many believe it is due partially to the economy, but mostly because younger Christian leaders prefer to receive their news electronically. Simpson said that in the foresee-able future there is still a market for printed papers, but looking ahead, he sees a time when printed state papers will be no more.
“The younger crowd clearly prefers to get their information and news, religious and secular, in the electronic format,” he said.
Simpson is planning a program for next year’s meeting to help edi-tors meet the changing news needs and inevitable transitions. He has invited John Yemma, named editor of the Christian Science Monitor in July, to be the keynote speaker.
Prior to his new position at the Christian Science Monitor, Yemma served in senior editing positions for the Boston Globe, most recently as the Globe’s deputy managing editor for multimedia, helping the paper make the transition from an all print to a more diversified deliv-ery system. Yemma is expected to guide the Christian Science Monitor through a similar transition process.
Simpson believes Yemma’s ex-perience will be a great resource to Baptist state paper editors, and that Yemma will be able to share the nec-essary steps to take as well as those to avoid when moving to an all or partial electronic delivery system.
Mississippi Baptist Convention executive director, James Futral, will also be a special guest at the meeting, bringing morning devo-
tions for the three-day meeting. Reflecting on his 10 years as
editor of BaptistLIFE, Simpson said he’s proud of how the paper has evolved.
“We have a unique position from many of our sister state papers in that we are 100 percent Cooperative Program funded. Our paper is free of charge to any Maryland or Delaware Baptist who wishes to receive it.
BaptistLIFE has a rich heritage. We have been published in some name or another for over 150 years,” he said.
Simpson explained that like other papers, BaptistLIFE has had to adjust to today’s trends – smaller attention spans, less denominational loyalty and reader desire to hear good news as opposed to investiga-tive journalism. The paper uses shorter stories, in a positive, infor-mative manner, focusing on what God is doing in our churches and associations across the two-state convention.
BaptistLIFE’s distribution has also changed from being delivered in printed form eleven months out
of a year to printing six and now offering an electronic version for the alternating months. In order to receive the electronic version, all someone has to do is provide his or her email address and the non-printed version will be sent di-rectly to them. Break-ing stories between regular issues can also then be sent to a person’s email address. Just go to
www.baptistlifeonline.org to sign up.Simpson said state papers, in
whatever form they eventually take, will always be used to continue to tell how God is working through His people.
“Each state and each editor does it differently depending on the local context. But the tapestry woven by each state’s papers produces a pow-erful glimpse into the health and soul of who Southern Baptists are in each respective state.”
Simpson named president of the SBC Association of State Papers
Gary Ledbetter, out-going ASBP president, hands the gavel to the new Association of State Papers president, Bob Simpson, Editor of BaptistLIFE.
Local and national SBC agencies sponsor new raceway ministry outreach, ‘Race with the King,’ at Alleghany County fairground
By Sharon MagerBCM/D Correspondent
COLUMBIA, Md.—Western and Blue Ridge Associations and the Baptist Convention of Mary-land/Delaware are partnering with Potomac Highlands, Cone-maugh Valley, Monongahela and Tri-County Associations; the West Virginia and the Pennsylvania/South Jersey Conventions and the North American Mission Board to sponsor a new raceway ministry outreach. “Race With the King,” on May 3, is expected to draw NA-SCAR fans from near and far to the Allegany County fairgrounds to meet racing personalities, check out cars, take pictures in car cut-outs, listen to bands, eat lots of food and win NASCAR related prizes.
The family-friendly event starts at 11 a.m. with a worship service.Racing personalities from the three top series are expected to participate, sharing how God has changed their lives and how that change has affected them on and off the track.
Mark Joseph, pastor of Canaan Valley Church and a NAMB resort missionary for the Canaan Val-ley area, is the coordinator of the outreach. Joseph was a director of innovative ministries for the Kan-sas/Nebraska convention around the time the Kansas speedway was being built and began work-ing to start a Kansas City Alli-ance Raceway Ministries there. When he came to West Virginia in 2005, he brought his race ministry background with him and saw the
potential for the West Virginia/western Maryland area.
Joseph began talking to associ-ations and conventions to get sup-port and was pleased that everyone embraced the idea. And he knew all about the legendary enthusiasm of racing fans.
“Racing people go anywhere there’s racing or where there’s any-thing to do with racing,” Joseph said. While many won’t listen to just anyone share about Christ, they will listen to Christian rac-ers, Joseph said, emphasizing that there will be opportunities to make decisions for Christ and there is a follow up plan with participating churches to contact new believers and those who are seeking help.
Everything is free throughout the day except for food, which will
be provided by local concession businesses.
Kenny Heath, Western As-sociation director of missions, is excited about the new venture and believes it will be a big hit with race lovers.
“We have many in this area who routinely make the trips to tracks in Dover, Richmond, Bristol and other semi-nearby lo-cations,” Heath said. Those folks, he believes, will appreciate getting a taste of raceway life closer to home while offering new ministry outreach opportunities.
Bruce Conley, Blue Ridge Asso-ciation director of missions, agrees with Heath. “It’s a wonderful op-portunity to share the gospel in a exciting setting,” Conley said.
April 2009 Your Convention... Page 5
By Sharon MagerBCM/D Correspondent
COLUMBIA, Md.—Recently at Severn Run Church folks were using words like G’day mate, Aussie and Dingo. There were rumors of a kan-garoo hopping around, though some whispered it was actually someone with a costume. Severn hosted a BCM/D annual regional VBS train-ing expo. Visitors even got to watch Severn Run kids sing the music and do the motions for this year’s LifeWay VBS “Boomerang Express—It all comes back to Jesus,” set in the land down under—Australia.
Teachers become “outback guides” and students “kidaroos.” Their rotation sites include worship rally central, Bible study outback, music opera house, crafts crossing, missions harbor, recreation rock and G’Day café.
This year’s program follows the life of Peter, from his first encoun-ter with Jesus, through his denying
Christ, Jesus’ forgiveness of him and Peter then going into all the world to share the gospel.
“This is an especially good one,” June Holland, BCM/D’s children’s ministry missionary, said of ‘Boo-merang….’ “It’s set in a place most people will never go to and they get to say fun things like ‘G’day mate’ to each other.” Holland said the themes work together beautifully and having the music scenes filmed in Israel help drive home the salvation message.
The ABC song, which teaches kids how to admit they’re sinners, believe Jesus is God’s son and confess Him as their Lord and Savior, was filmed with Jerusalem in the back-ground. Jeff Slaughter, LifeWay’s VBS music man, who writes the lyrics and music and performs them on video, sings the annual ballad in front of Jesus’ tomb.
“To shoot a video there with a song I wrote about salvation is so amazing,” Slaughter said in a previ-ous interview by BaptistLIFE.
According to LifeWay’s website, “Vacation Bible School is the pre-miere outreach event of the year for many churches.” In addition to providing age appropriate minis-try, VBS gives all church members a chance to be involved either in classes or helping. Teachers and as-sistants get valuable reusable train-ing and opportunities for growth.
Holland said churches are learning from VBS. They’ve found that using a rotation system with kids moving from one area to an-other works best. Also, Holland said churches are growing and not just in numbers. They’re learning from year to year what to do to prepare for the next year. They’re getting wiser and planning earlier, networking with other churches and finding ways to promote and follow up.
She urges churches to come to the training sessions to prepare ear-ly. The conferences are held through-out the BCM/D area. They offer VBS workers hands-on training, tips and
networking ideas for setting goals, establishing a VBS prayer ministry, all aspects of promoting, kick offs, administration, teaching and every-thing else VBS-related. Churches also get tried and true strategies for follow-up. And follow-up isn’t just about making phone calls and visits.
“Keep it going,” she encourages churches. “Have thrilling Tuesdays or wacky Wednesdays.
“Don’t let VBS end on Friday,” Holland said, reading from a LifeWay article of the same name.
Holland also urges churches to observe safety policies.
“Church is still looked at as a safe haven,” she said.
Holland said VBS is fun, easy and effective. People are saved and lives are forever changed. With “Boo-merang Express…,” she said, “It does all comes back to Jesus.”
For more information about VBS, including safety information, see www.bcmd.org.
Climb aboard the Boomerang Express
April 2
6:30-9 p.m. Valley Church 1401 N. York Rd. Lutherville, Md. 21093
April 189:30 a.m.-12 noon
Maugansville Church18024 Maugans Ave.
Hagerstown, Md. 21740
April 258:30 a.m.-12 noon
Georgia Avenue Church12525 Georgia Ave.
Wheaton, Md. 20906
April 266:30-9 p.m.
Calvary Church206 East Courtland Place
Bel Air, Md. 21014
May 2 9:30 a.m.-12 noonTrinity Church
2671 Mattawoman Beantown Rd.Waldorf, Md. 20601
For more information, contact June Holland,
(800) 466-5290 ext. 233 or [email protected].
Vacation Bible School Regional Training
Interesting VBS Facts:
• The first VBS was held in a New York City beer hall in 1898. It was designed to minister to street children and it ran for four weeks.
• The SBC began using VBS as an outreach in 1924.
• 25 percent to 28 percent of all baptisms each year in SBC life are a direct result of VBS.
• In 2007, there were 2.8 million enrolled in VBS, 88,097 confessions of faith, 2,380 deci-sions for church-related ministry and 37,888 new Sunday school members (LifeWay).
• VBS conferences are held throughout the BCM/D. The conferences offer VBS work-ers hands-on training, tips and networking ideas for setting goals, establishing a VBS prayer minis-try, all aspects of promoting, kick-ing off, administration, teaching and everything else VBS-related. Churches also get tried and true strategies for follow-up.
Page 6 BaptistLIFEonline... April 2009
Online March issue of BaptistLIFEIn March 2009, BaptistLIFE’s premiere
online issue was launched. Many signed up to receive a copy via email, but it was also avail-able at our website: www.baptistlifeonline.org.
We didn’t want you to miss the wonderful stories about what God is doing in our conven-tion, so article highlights are provided below. To read the rest of these articles or to sign up to receive them via email, go to www.baptistlifeonline.org.
The following items can only be found online:• AssociationLIFE• Classifieds• VBS Training Schedule• Church Media Resources
Spring sowing time is here again By Bob Simpson
The cycle of nature is such that
every Spring a farmer must re-seed the ground in order for there to be a harvest in the Fall. This law holds true in many other areas of life as well.
The writer of Ecclesiastes says that “for everything there is a season, a time for every activity under the sun.”
As we move into the Spring of 2009, it occurs to me that there are some life principles worth remem-bering about the sowing/harvesting cycle:
(1) We must sow before we har-vest. (2) We harvest more than we sow. It is so like God to build into the nature of sowing and harvesting a result that far exceeds the initial expectation.(3) We must never stop sowing.
Bottom line: Never stop sow-ing the seed. Just because we don’t perceive that God is at work in someone’s life, should never stop us from sowing the Gospel seed in the first place. Sow it every day, in sea-son, out of season. Someday we will rejoice in all that God will bring to harvest as a result of our sowing!
Strength for the Journey By Byron Day
Sometimes life can drain us of our
strength. Deci-sions, pressures, and commitments can overwhelm us. There are also temptations and guilt that weakens us so that we find
ourselves in dire need of help.I have learned over the years
that God often allows me to see or hear the testimony of others to re-mind me that maybe things are not as bad as I thought. An example of this is the story of Nick Vujicic (you can view Nick’s testimony at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtweZxNGk1Y&feature=related) an Australian Christian man who was born without limbs. That’s right no arms and no legs. Yet Nick has a powerful testimony for Jesus Christ that reminds us all that God has a purpose and plan for each of us.
Reisterstown Church discovers and meets community needsBy Sharon Mager, For Embrace Baltimore
Through partnership ministry Reisterstown Church has discovered physical and spiritual needs they didn’t know existed in their own
community—kids without shoes and those who didn’t know who Jesus is. The church has had over 30 baptisms since last summer. They started a second service and they’re planning a third service.
Peabody students teach music and share Christ through The Church on Warren Avenue’s Fine Arts AcademyBy Sharon Mager
The Church on Warren Avenue is reaching its community in a fresh new way through its fine arts acad-emy directed and taught by Chris-tian Peabody students.
Mosaic Language Conference April 3-5By Sharon Mager
The Mosaic Language Confer-ence will offer training, resources, fellowship and worship for various language churches. Sessions will be offered in Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Spanish and English ending with a grand music celebration.
The event will be Friday eve-ning, April 3 and Saturday, April 4 with a grand language music cel-ebration at Global Mission Church on Sunday, April 5. “Growing the church; Growing the kingdom” is the theme.
“Let’s Go!” from missionsinterchange.com By Gayla Parker
Then Jesus came to them (the dis-
ciples) and said, “…Therefore go and make disciples…And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” (Matt.
28:18-20 NIV) The Great Commis-sion is probably the most quoted passage of scripture when studying the Biblical basis of missions. As a missionary it is a passage I have referenced many times.
God has given us all unique gifts that are just right for sharing God’s love. Our mission field will change with life stages; the key is not missing a single moment. Wher-ever you are, know that the Lord is there, we are His light, He loves the lost and conquers giants. He wants us to love others and follow His mandate, “Make disciples!”
Living life with purposeBy Dan Hyun, Pastor ofThe Village Church, Baltimore
The Village Church was started as
a core team of 11 commissioned by Grace Life Church in Baltimore. We began meeting in
January 2008 and after months of prayer, planning and outreach, we
Perspectives
Your Church
Your Convention
April 2009 BaptistLIFEonline... Page 7
launched publicly this past Septem-ber. We continue to be humbled by the many new faces God brings our way. Though we are obviously open to anyone connecting to The Village, we have specifically been focused on leading our generation into a thriv-ing relationship with Jesus.
Even as many have joined our community, we have also experi-enced a few who have fallen away in the battle. Yet, in the midst of the often-challenging journey, there have been some practical lessons to take to heart: 1) Present the Gospel; 2) Be honest and 3) Have a mis-sional focus.
Spiritual Formation retreats offer pastors a chance to hear God’s voice By Sharon Mager
BCM/D is of-fering pastors a chance to get away and truly hear God’s voice at spiritual for-mation retreats. The goal is to discon-nect, re-center and focus on hearing God.
RENAISSANCE 516 connects students, art and faithBy Shannon Baker
On July 23-25, 2009, Lamp-lights Artists will host RENAIS-SANCE 516: The Performing and Visual Arts Conference for Students in grades 7-12 at First Church, Laurel.
A shortened version of Lamp-light Artist’s previous Youth Per-forming Arts Camps (YPAC), this
year’s RENAISSANCE 516 confer-ence features learning tracks in film (scene development), theater (im-prov/storytelling), orchestra, vocal, praise band, dance/creative move-ment, photography, and web design/new media.
Joel Goddard, worship pastor at First Church in Bethlehem, Ga., will serve as conference pastor.
This year’s theme focuses on the art of storytelling.
CentrePointe Counseling - School Anxiety
Dear Counselor,We have a daughter in the
fourth grade who has always been a good student. However, recently she has had repeated absences due to “illnesses” that seem to disappear by mid-morning when she stays home from school. –Perplexed Parent
Dear Perplexed Parent,Your daughter may be suffering
from School Anxiety, a problem that is not a psychiatric disorder, but affects about five percent of school-aged children. –Tom Rodgerson
Takin’ out the trash in Jesus’ nameBy Sharon Mager
Kids at the University of Delaware are taking out the trash
in an effort to build relationships. Blake Hardcastle shares how campus ministry at the college has evolved over the past 13 years.
First, Laurel, hosts Worship Together Live event, March 20By Shannon Baker
First, Laurel, is bringing in the nation’s top worship leaders for an all day training event created specifically for worship leaders, worship team members and worship enthusiasts followed by a special celebration concert on Friday, March 20.
Children’s Ministry Day allows children to shine By Shannon Baker
Organized by the national WMU, Children’s Ministry Day encourages children’s groups in
churches to actively serve in their communi-ties for a one-day, concerted effort to minister and witness together. The ef-
fort also helps children understand the needs of others and grow in their ability to minister to others as Christ did; and to impact the lives of children, leaders, parents, and recipients of ministry across North America with God’s love.
‘Church 2.0’ harnesses technology to share the GospelBy Shannon Baker
Could it be that today’s blogs, Twitter, Facebook, iPods, Skype, YouTube, and Flickr ... are the
stained-glass windows of yester-year?
Throughout history, the stained-glass windows found in churches and cathedrals told the story of the Gospel, using elaborate art and decoration. But today’s tools are much different. Are they effective?
Greg Atkinson believes they are.Director of technical arts at
Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, Atkinson believes that there is a shift in the way the Church looks, functions and minis-ters to the world.
‘Fireproof’ actress praises God for church’s outreachBy Shannon Baker
Erin Bethea, the actress who portrayed Catherine Holt, the wife of Kirk Cameron’s character Capt. Caleb Holt, in the nationally ac-claimed movie, Fireproof, is a pas-
tor’s daughter. In fact, she
is the daughter of Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood Church in Al-bany, Ga..—and one of the execu-tive producers of the 2008 film, which garnered
national attention as the No. 1 inde-pendent film in theaters last year.
A must read–Todd Starnes’ book–“They Popped My Hood and Found Gravy on the Dipstick”By Joni Hannigan, Managing Editor of Florida Baptist Witness
Readers will experience a roller-coaster of emotions while Todd Starnes delivers truisms that take them from the family dinner table to the streets of New York. Avoiding slap-stick humor in exchange for truth, which can be stranger than fiction, Starnes takes those, who won’t be able to put down the book, with him on a vivid journey where he reaches to the bottom of his soul for answers. And when he comes up chuckling through it all, readers, both through smiles and tears, will have connected in a profound way with a storyteller who has found his voice.
Your World
Page 8 Your Convention... April 2009
CP BCM/D CP BCM/D CP BCM/D CP BCM/DArundel Association Abundant Life Korean 660.00 0.00 Broadneck 0.00 0.00 Centerpoint, Annapolis 150.00 0.00 Christ’s Community 500.00 0.00 College Parkway 17,531.61 2,664.35 Crossroads 0.00 0.00 Elvaton 10,893.52 0.00 Emmanuel, Gambrills 8,937.04 0.00 Faith, Glen Burnie 128,238.71 0.00 FBC, Crofton 21,628.94 1,111.32 FBC, Eastport 1,497.00 0.00 FBC, Edgewater 2,746.24 0.00 FBC, Kent Island 6,625.42 0.00 FBC, Shady Side 100.00 0.00 Glen Burnie 101,956.88 0.00 Grace Mill, Hanover 300.00 0.00 Grace, Sunset Beach 28,243.23 0.00 Heritage 500.00 0.00 Iglesia El Camino 104.23 0.00 Iglesia Hispana Nueva Esperanza 937.23 0.00Jessup 16,802.26 0.00 Lake Shore 2,880.00 2,503.47 Living Water Comm. 2,225.00 0.00 MD Central Korean 1,000.00 0.00 New Beginnings Church & Ministries 75.00 0.00 New Hope Community 8,656.17 0.00 North Arundel 6,136.08 0.00 North Glen 1,861.67 0.00 Riva Trace 9,258.29 0.00 Severn Korean 550.00 50.00 Severna Park 17,755.31 0.00 South Shore 31,088.72 0.00 The Bridge 9,256.52 0.00 The Church at Severn Run 26,909.50 0.00 The Journey Church 1,385.40 0.00 The Life 0.00 0.00 Weems Creek 47,730.71 0.00 Total CP Arundel 515,120.68 6,329.14 Baltimore Association Arbutus 0.00 0.00 Beacon 100.00 0.00 Bethlehem 200.00 0.00 Brantly 3,000.00 0.00 Calvary, Towson 250.00 0.00 Canton 2,037.83 0.00 Catonsville 5,043.55 0.00 Chestnut Ridge 2,600.00 0.00 Cockeysville 504.00 0.00 Colgate 282.32 0.00 Colonial 51,360.96 0.00 Cristos 150.00 0.00 Crossroads 2007 0.00 0.00 Crossway International 0.00 0.00 Edgemere 1,164.40 0.00 Emanuel Baptist Church 0.00 0.00 Faith International Bible 0.00 0.00 FBC, Brooklyn 9,394.63 0.00 FBC, Dundalk 7,986.00 10,594.00 FBC, Essex 4,253.84 0.00 FBC, Gray Manor 0.00 0.00 FBC, Lansdowne 3,000.65 0.00 Forest Park 0.00 0.00 Gallery Church of Baltimore 750.00 0.00
Garden Community, Baltimore 100.00 0.00 Gethsemane Bible 250.00 0.00 Grace Life Stepping Stone 700.00 0.00 Grace Life, Baltimore 1,250.00 0.00 Grace Life, The Light 2,250.00 0.00 Graceway 750.00 0.00 Hampden 3,504.00 0.00 Harbor Heights 0.00 0.00 Hazelwood 10,221.62 0.00 Horizon Church of Towson 0.00 0.00 Iglesia Bautista de Middle River 184.18 0.00 Iglesia Bautista de Patterson Park 390.00 0.00 Iglesia Cristiana de Armistead Gardens 156.74 0.00 Immanuel, Baltimore 9,571.54 0.00 Joppa Road 2,766.63 0.00 Lee Street Memorial 200.00 20.00 Loch Raven 2,145.00 0.00 Long Green 24,967.40 0.00 Mars Hill 7,560.38 0.00 Middle River 30,422.98 0.00 Nepal, Baltimore 1,585.95 0.00 New Christian Bible 1,100.00 0.00 New David 0.00 0.00 New Day 10,998.58 0.00 North Point 650.00 0.00 Northeast 0.00 0.00 Northside 7,040.63 7,365.71 Open Bible House 0.00 0.00 Parkville 26,962.56 0.00 Patterson Park 4,596.84 0.00 Peninsula 300.00 0.00 Pilgrim’s Way Bible 405.00 0.00 Pleasant Rock 100.00 0.00 Reisterstown 19,562.85 0.00 Riverside, Baltimore 6,850.68 0.00 SBC Global Mission, Balt. 1,274.00 0.00 Second & Fourth 1,963.91 0.00 Seventh 1,000.00 0.00 Shelbourne 3,322.50 0.00 St. Timothy’s 0.00 0.00 Streetlight 0.00 0.00 Tabernacle 21,530.03 0.00 Temple 10,108.40 0.00 Total Praise Fellowship 4,971.15 0.00 Valley, Lutherville 12,912.32 0.00 Vietnamese 794.00 0.00 Watersedge 9,703.06 0.00 White Marsh 7,166.75 0.00 Woodbrook 603.62 4,400.00 Woolford Memorial 2,000.04 0.00 Total CP Baltimore 346,971.52 22,379.71 Blue Ridge Association Covenant, Shepherdstown 32,000.00 0.00 Crossroads Community 5,998.42 497.63 Daybreak 2,518.49 0.00 Destiny Church 0.00 0.00 Faith, Knoxville 25,510.41 0.00 FBC, Brunswick 4,940.63 0.00 FBC, Frederick 4,982.57 7,170.71 FBC, Hagerstown 4,456.28 0.00 FBC, Thurmont 11,093.71 0.00 Fellowship, Middletown 0.00 0.00 Frederick Korean 3,600.00 0.00
Greenbrier 2,483.98 0.00 Iglesia Bautista Fuente de Vida 0.00 0.00 Maugansville 837.91 0.00 Myersville 7,087.49 0.00 New Life Community 400.00 0.00 North Star 6,619.00 0.00 Paramount 50,759.84 0.00 Pinesburg 0.00 0.00 Pleasant Valley 16,698.00 0.00 Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Hagerstown 0.00 0.00 Real Life Community 600.00 0.00 Rock Spring Church 0.00 0.00 Smithsburg Valley 17,793.50 0.00 South End 72,549.34 0.00 Summit Trace 1,712.56 0.00 Valley, Middletown 4,646.00 0.00 Virginia Avenue 8,445.00 0.00 Waynesboro Korean 0.00 0.00 West End 749.76 0.00 Zion of Jesus Community 0.00 0.00 Total CP Blue Ridge 286,482.89 7,668.34 Delaware Association Bethany 11,296.36 0.00 Campus Christian Church 0.00 0.00 CenterPoint Community 600.00 0.00 Community Mission 330.90 0.00 Covenant, Chestertown 405.00 0.00 Delaware Korean 1,400.00 0.00 Emmanuel Haitian 0.00 0.00 FBC, Marydel 0.00 0.00 Filipino American Christian 170.39 2,668.21 First Korean 1,300.00 200.00 First Pilgrim Haitian 0.00 0.00 First Southern 39,346.36 0.00 Friendship, Newark 7,583.73 0.00 Greensboro 70,690.15 0.00 Harrington 1,855.76 0.00 Healing Water 100.00 0.00 Hockessin 54,395.00 0.00 Iron Hill Community 1,200.00 0.00 Latter Day 750.00 0.00 Lighthouse Comm., Smyrna 345.37 0.00 London Village 1,300.00 0.00 Mission Fellowship Church 1,101.78 0.00 North Baptist 600.00 0.00 Ogletown 94,518.52 0.00 Seaside 7,745.60 0.00 Solid Rock 160.00 0.00 Total CP Delaware 297,194.92 2,868.21 Eastern Association Allen Memorial 41,888.95 0.00 Berlin FBC 467.17 0.00 Cordova 360.00 0.00 Faith Baptist Fellowship 8,000.00 0.00 FBC, Cambridge 44,252.52 0.00 FBC, Crisfield 13,544.89 0.00 FBC, Delmar 12,512.90 0.00 FBC, East New Market 1,351.90 0.00 FBC, Easton 59,953.63 0.00 FBC, Fruitland 2,336.36 0.00 FBC, Girdletree 4,093.62 0.00 FBC, Hurlock 8,007.31 0.00 FBC, Mardela Springs 3,792.99 0.00 FBC, Pocomoke City 25,730.35 0.00
FBC, Princess Anne 10,709.99 0.00 Fenwick Island 7,200.00 0.00 First Haitian, Seaford 50.00 0.00 Gathering Tree 2,784.64 0.00 Goodwill 4,853.01 0.00 Grace, Seaford 10,231.56 0.00 Harvest 10,639.97 0.00 High Tide Mission 15,743.40 0.00 Immanuel, Salisbury 47,131.50 0.00 Laurel 1,198.21 0.00 Lynnhaven 43,781.31 0.00 Marion 0.00 0.00 New Bridge 0.00 0.00 Nuevo Amanecer 844.88 0.00 Oak Ridge 70,082.95 0.00 Ocean City 15,742.10 0.00 Pitts Creek 1,326.07 391.44 Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Cambridge 1,255.39 0.00 Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana, Seaford 0.00 0.00 Rehoboth 0.00 0.00 SonRise Church 2,966.91 0.00 Soul Discovery 7,893.05 0.00 Spence 20,552.42 0.00 Templo Bautista para todes as Nacoes 1,805.10 0.00 World Mission 1,200.00 0.00 Total CP Eastern 504,285.05 391.44 Mid-Maryland Association Antioch Korean 420.00 0.00 Bethany Lane 5,200.00 0.00 Bethel 47,769.03 0.00 Church of New Nations 0.00 0.00 Church of the Wonderful Light 660.00 0.00 Columbia Fellowship 500.00 2,955.28 Columbia Chinese 800.00 0.00 Cornerstone 700.00 0.00 Covenant Korean 300.00 0.00 Covenant, Ellicott City 31,139.60 0.00 CrossLife Community 3,889.15 0.00 Elders 68,968.00 0.00 Elkridge 7,640.92 0.00 Faith Family, Finksburg 17,235.00 0.00 Faith Renewal 114.14 0.00 FBC, Savage 7,368.70 0.00 Forest 381.00 0.00 Fountain Community 600.00 0.00 Friendship 89,511.05 0.00 Gethsemane 43,893.02 0.00 Gethsemane Korean 1,800.00 0.00 Gunpowder 30,135.00 0.00 Hampstead 200.00 0.00 Hanover Fellowship Church 2,077.44 0.00 Hope 29,847.09 0.00 Hope Fellowship, Greenbelt 2,356.13 0.00 Horizon 0.00 1,200.00 Hosanna Korean 1,320.00 0.00 Iglesia Cristiana de Columbia 3,488.56 0.00 Iglesia Hispana de Reisterstown 168.65 0.00 Laurel 1,700.00 0.00 Liberty 15,746.80 0.00 Linthicum 15,609.65 0.00 Manchester 4,200.00 0.00
Churches giving to the Cooperative Program and BCM/D in 2008
April 2009 Your Convention... Page 9
Mason Dixon 12,060.00 0.00 Metanoia Church 2,393.16 0.00 Mount Airy 26,654.15 0.00 Nadulmok Community 1,785.00 0.00 Northwest 37,506.00 0.00 Open Korean 300.00 0.00 Rolling Hills 4,320.00 0.00 South Columbia 84,440.00 0.00 Tamil Christian 100.00 0.00 Taneytown 21,210.10 0.00 The Village 3,700.00 0.00 Tri-County 4,000.00 0.00 Tyrannus Korean 12,000.00 0.00 Westminster 65,819.53 0.00 Total CP Mid-Maryland 712,026.87 4,155.28 Montgomery Association Agape BC of Washngton 500.00 0.00 Ashton 20,895.47 0.00 Barnesville 21,412.79 0.00 Burtonsville 12,000.00 0.00 Calverton 1,849.27 0.00 Christian 0.00 0.00 Colesville 5,574.00 0.00 Crossroads Mont. County 0.00 0.00 Disciples Fellowship Int’l 2,200.00 0.00 Eglise Baptiste du Calvaire 500.00 0.00 Ebenezer Church, SBC 0.00 0.00 FBC, Damascus 5,309.85 0.00 FBC, Rockville 62,243.70 0.00 First Hispanic, Adelphi 0.00 0.00 Georgia Avenue 14,984.90 499.00 Germantown 31,945.00 0.00 Glen Echo 0.00 0.00 Global Mission 66,000.00 0.00 Glory Korean 200.00 0.00 Greenridge 140,602.00 0.00 Hoi Tranh 2,692.00 0.00 Iglesia Bautista Alpha Y Omega 75.00 0.00 Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel 825.00 0.00 Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Gaithersburg 300.00 0.00 Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Rockville 0.00 0.00 Iglesia Bautista Comunidad de Fe 2,637.63 0.00 Iglesia Bautista de Washington 200.00 0.00 Kensington 921.82 0.00 Korean of Washington 0.00 0.00 Liberty Korean 0.00 0.00 Maryland Chinese Mission 0.00 0.00 Montgomery Chinese 2,400.00 0.00 Montrose 500.00 0.00 MorningStar Community 0.00 0.00 New Life Korean 450.00 0.00 Olney 13,629.06 0.00 Parker Memorial 0.00 0.00 Phillippine Int’l 2,600.00 0.00 Poolesville 200.00 0.00 Redland 21,173.02 0.00 Seven Locks 1,500.00 0.00 Sizang Burmese Mission 3,380.39 0.00 Together 165.00 0.00 Travilah 3,912.00 0.00 Upper Seneca 7,686.68 0.00 Viers Mill 12,852.96 0.00 Viers Mill Spanish 500.00 0.00 Wheaton Woods 0.00 0.00
Wildwood 5,950.00 0.00 WorthyLife 1,500.00 0.00 Total CP Montgomery 472,267.54 499.00 Potomac Association Bayside 1,336.83 849.59 Callaway 5,436.00 0.00 Calvert/Charles County Hispanic 0.00 0.00 Christian Family 800.00 0.00 Christian Fellowship Calvert 0.00 0.00 Christian Unity 0.00 0.00 Cobb Island 483.00 0.00 Dunkirk 51,284.45 0.00 Emmanuel, Huntingtown 3,000.00 0.00 Faith Family Fellowship, Waldorf 0.00 0.00 FBC, La Plata 22,124.96 0.00 FBC, St. Charles 0.00 8,186.65 FBC, Waldorf 64,860.80 0.00 FBC, Welcome 874.62 0.00 Grace, Bryans Road 11,096.65 0.00 Hughesville 21,837.00 0.00 Indian Head 16,890.00 0.00 Joy Christian Fellowship 0.00 0.00 Kingdom 0.00 0.00 Leonardtown 70,267.98 0.00 Lexington Park 37,805.44 2,786.56 Lighthouse 1,200.00 0.00 Marbury 24,506.00 0.00 Maryland Point 1,328.48 0.00 Ministry of Christ in Love 2,355.76 0.00 Nanjemoy 15,815.14 805.00 Potomac Heights 44,008.69 0.00 Southern Calvert 19,403.66 0.00 The Potter’s Place 2,170.98 0.00 Trinity 6,276.60 0.00 Waldorf Korean Baptist 80.00 0.00 White Plains 22,107.56 0.00 Total CP Potomac 447,350.60 12,627.80 Prince Georges Association Abyssinia 0.00 0.00 Atlantic Street 0.00 0.00 Belair 0.00 0.00 Berean 0.00 0.00 Berwyn 3,002.94 0.00 Bowie Holy Spirit 0.00 0.00 Calvary, Upper Marlboro 500.00 0.00 Cedar 100.00 125.00 Cedron Brook 50.00 0.00 Central 60.00 0.00 Christ Creative 100.00 0.00 Church of Great Commission 0.00 0.00 Clinton 0.00 0.00 Clinton Korean 250.00 0.00 Cornerstone Peaceful 0.00 0.00 Cresthill 5,139.87 7,709.81 El Bethel 1,500.00 0.00 Emmanuel, Laurel 18,750.00 0.00 Expectation Bible 0.00 0.00 Faith Community 0.00 0.00 Faith, Laurel 5,000.00 0.00 FBC, Beltsville 3,902.00 0.00 FBC, Capitol Heights 3,000.00 1,500.00 FBC, Laurel 45,169.30 0.00 FBC, Mount Ranier 7,894.15 0.00 FBC, Suitland 32,066.84 0.00 FBC, Temple Hills 0.00 0.00 First Vietnamese 0.00 0.00 Forestville New Redeemer 0.00 0.00
Freedom Way 0.00 0.00 Galilee 1,100.00 0.00 Glenn Dale 3,276.88 0.00 Good Shepherd 135.00 0.00 Greater Fellowship 0.00 0.00 Greater Spiritual 0.00 0.00 Greenbelt 2,400.00 0.00 Holy House Community 0.00 0.00 Iglesia Bautista Nueva Jerusalem 250.00 0.00 Infinity 2,700.00 0.00 Jesus Christ Good Shepherd 0.00 0.00 Joshua Bible 588.90 0.00 Kent 19,136.00 0.00 Kettering 27,000.00 0.00 Landover Hills 19,146.31 0.00 LeDetroit 0.00 0.00 Little David 0.00 0.00 Maryland 0.00 0.00 Maryland City 6,692.92 0.00 Meadows 0.00 0.00 Mt. Sinai 0.00 0.00 New Bible Church 600.00 0.00 New Fellowship 0.00 0.00 New Hope of PG 1,944.00 0.00 New Horizons, Landover 0.00 0.00 New Image 650.00 0.00 New Solid Rock 0.00 0.00 New Song Bible Fellowship 2,000.00 0.00 New Zion 0.00 0.00 Open Bible Deaf 0.00 0.00 Oxon Hill 3,983.00 0.00 Riverside, Oxon Hill 0.00 108.00 Sharon Bible Fellowship 0.00 0.00 St. James 750.00 0.00 St. James Inspirational 0.00 0.00 Tabernacle 0.00 0.00 Threshing Floor 0.00 0.00 Tumaini 800.00 0.00 Unity 0.00 0.00 Uplift 0.00 0.00 Victory Filipino 0.00 0.00 Victory Temple 0.00 0.00 Village 600.00 0.00 Washington Street 0.00 0.00 West Hyattsville 0.00 500.00 Whitehall 26,875.35 0.00 Total CP Prince George’s 247,113.46 9,942.81 Susquehanna Association Aberdeen Church of Md. 1,990.00 0.00 Bel Air Korean 300.00 0.00 Bel Forest 0.00 0.00 Calvary, Bel Air 89,949.31 0.00 Calvary, Rising Sun 8,559.53 45.00 Carsins Run 500.00 0.00 Church at Riverside 14,508.00 0.00 Conowingo 20,686.57 0.00 Dublin Missionary 2,373.19 0.00 Edgewood 2,050.00 0.00 Faith Southern 10,457.38 0.00 FBC, Aberdeen 8,923.00 0.00 FBC, Elkton 8,434.50 5,270.50 FBC, Havre de Grace 13,670.04 0.00 FBC, Kingsville 1,036.81 0.00 FBC, North East 20,315.57 0.00 FBC, Perryville 16,539.01 0.00 Grace Community 828.85 0.00 Maple View 5,599.37 235.00
North Harford 31,972.28 0.00 Oak Grove 289,765.17 0.00 Pathways 2,255.00 0.00 Pine Grove 36.00 0.00 Pleasant View 31,551.62 0.00 Prince of Peace 1,364.31 0.00 Real Life Church 2,000.00 0.00 Room at the Cross 30.00 30.00 Towne 35,109.63 0.00 Vision 600.00 0.00 Total CP Susquehanna 621,405.14 5,580.50 Western Association Christ Memorial 6,285.79 0.00 Cumberland Community 6,066.38 0.00 Deep Creek 5,496.30 0.00 Ebenezer Full Gospel 300.00 0.00 FBC, Cumberland 2,400.00 0.00 FBC, Keyser 1,437.00 0.00 FBC, Westernport 5,053.00 0.00 Ferndale 0.00 0.00 First English 6,541.49 0.00 Grace, Cumberland 13,697.47 0.00 Graceland 3,101.00 465.00 LaVale 9,674.92 0.00 Little Meadows 637.64 0.00 Oldtown 2,765.70 0.00 Pleasant View 10,256.54 0.00 Rush 500.00 0.00 Second 16,486.55 0.00 Stoney Run 2,324.00 0.00 Welsh Memorial 3,353.27 0.00 Total CP Western 96,377.05 465.00 BCM/D Non-Associational Alpha 0.00 0.00 Baltimore Chinese 4,800.00 0.00 CrossRoads Comm., Harford 1,344.81 851.92 Disciples Bible 50.00 50.00 Emmanuel United 0.00 0.00 FBC, Baltimore 0.00 0.00 FBC, Upper Marlboro 73,073.25 44,505.94 First Haitian Berachah 350.00 0.00 Germantown Korean 480.00 0.00 Good News Bible 0.00 0.00 Grace, Baltimore 0.00 0.00 Grace, Westminster 250.00 0.00 Hanuri Korean 0.00 0.00 Huber Memorial 0.00 0.00 Huntingdon 0.00 0.00 Ichthus Mission 0.00 0.00 Kendall 9,101.80 0.00 Life Church, SBC 40.00 0.00 Living Word Bible 500.00 0.00 Maryland Korean Church of Love 0.00 0.00 Memorial Heights 16,836.00 0.00 Merritt Park Baptist 0.00 0.00 Miracle Korean 0.00 0.00 Mt. Calvary 0.00 0.00 New Beginning Bible 160.00 0.00 New Covenant Fellowship 0.00 0.00 Onnuri Korean 0.00 0.00 Power House 100.00 0.00 Progressive First, Baltimore 650.00 0.00 United 13,349.92 0.00 University 500.00 500.00 Washington Sung Hyun 0.00 0.00 Total CP Non-Assoc. 121,585.78 45,907.86
CP BCM/D CP BCM/D CP BCM/D CP BCM/D
Page 10 Your Church... April 2009
By Randall Blackmon Pastor, Faith Fellowship,
Cambridge, Md.
Last January, while on a discov-ery mission trip to Mali, West Africa, Scott Mills and I were
approached by a young boy who wel-comed us with the words, “Welcome to the ends of the earth.” An earlier acquaintance quipped, “You’re going to the ends of the earth…and a little farther.”
Our church is trying to be faith-ful to our Lord Jesus’ command, and the church’s purpose statement; “Go and make disciples of all na-tions.”
Working with International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries and other Great Commission part-ners in the West African region of Timbuktu is part of fulfilling Faith Fellowship’s Acts 1:8 strategy.
Scott Mills, chairman of the
church’s Acts 1:8 missions group, jumped at the opportunity to lead the church to partner with IMB mis-sionaries, Brad and Sally Womble, and share the message of Christ with people who had little or no ac-cess to the gospel.
Almost two years ago, Faith Fellowship entered into a “Prayer-PLUS Partnership” with the IMB to pray for the gospel to penetrate the spiritual darkness of the 3.5 million, almost all Muslim Songhai people of Nigeria, one of the least evange-lized regions of the world. Through much prayer and God’s leading, the Wombles, strategy coordinators for the Songhai of West Africa, directed the outreach to take place in Mali, instead of Niger, more specifically to the villages of Gourma-Rharous and Bamba, a three-hour, desert road trip from Timbuktu.
In a place where there is no electricity and no running water, we
were privileged to be among the first to introduce people to the Source of Life and the Water of Life, Jesus Christ.
January’s mission objectives were to prayerwalk and to distrib-ute cassette tapes of biblical stories translated in the Songhai language.
One of the most memorable miracles occurred in Rharous, a village with a population of ap-proximately 25,000 people. The day after we arrived in the village, the local solar-powered radio station began broadcasting the cassette that we distributed. The radio station was co-sponsored by the United Kingdom Islamic Relief Co-op. So, for an hour, God used that Islamic-supported station as a mouthpiece for the gospel.
The Lord knew that we wouldn’t be able to visit the village of Bamba. So, He arranged to beam the gospel by radio to Bamba instead.
Though the travel was long and expensive, we planted the seed of the Word and we trust that others will be obedient to water the seed.
This trip wasn’t just two men going on a safari. Faith Fellowship Church partnered with many others, including IMB and BCM/D.
We attribute the success of the mission to the Mustard Seed Prayer ministry of the church, which began shortly before we left for Africa. Many in our congregation continue to fast and pray one day each month for the salvation of the Songhai people.
Faith Fellowship is partnering with other churches in Texas and South Carolina to plan return trips to the Songhai villages.
For more information and to learn more about the efforts of sharing the gospel with the Song-hai, visit the web at www.seek-ingthesonghai.net.
To the ends of the earth and beyond
By Fernando and Marcella Mangieri and Sharon Mager,BCM/D Staff Correspondent
SILVER SPRING, Md.—Three-year-old Joel Mangieri clings tightly to his father. His eyes follow when his daddy gets up from the table. He doesn’t want him too far away. Little Joel doesn’t really understand the trauma his family faced. He only knows he had to move to a foreign country and had to leave his father.
“Until Sept. 29, 2008, we were living a very comfortable life in Juarez, Mexico. I was serving in a church as the pastor, teaching in the seminary, coordinating mission trips and leading two church plant-ing groups. My wife took care of our home and we were enjoying our two kids and our own house, bought with effort and provision from God,” Fer-nando Mangieri said.
“The terror began when I an-swered the phone. When I hung up, our lives had changed forever,” Mangieri sadly recalls. The caller, suspected to be a member of a group known as Zetas, demanded $20,000 within 48 hours.
“They said they would come to
our house in 30 minutes. I could either give them a first down pay-ment or one of my children. I hung up and trembling, I tried to explain to my wife what was unexplainable,” he said.
Marcela, Fernando’s wife, knew it wasn’t a joke. Her uncle had been kidnapped for ransom. An-other uncle was shot in the leg. She quickly picked up their one-year-old baby girl, Sarai, and little Joel and the family immediately left to stay with a cousin who lived in a secure area. They contacted local officials but weren’t taken seriously. Fer-nando and Marcella then went to the United States Consulate. Marcella was born in El Paso and was a U.S. citizen. Consulate officials suggested Marcella and the kids go to El Paso, but said they were not able to help Fernando.
“After leaving the Consulate those were days of fear, tension, confusion and feeling powerless,” Fernando said.
The family went to various friends’ homes to stay at nights.
“Our children were confused. They couldn’t understand why we could not go back home,” he said.
Finally, Fernando said good-bye to his family as he watched them leave to go to Texas.
“The people from my church were my only support,” he said. Fernando pastored a local Baptist church that his brother, Guillermo Mangier, now pastor of Iglesia de Bautista de Washington, had earlier started.
Fernando had to return to the house to look for documents. Several church members went with him. While Fernando entered the house, his friends waited, hidden. After a few minutes, a truck with no tags came and began circling the house, slowing down in front and looking for movement inside. Those wait-ing called Fernando who ran out of the house. He and his friends left in three different vehicles. The truck chased one of the cars, but not the one Fernando was in.
“Our church was praying con-tinuously. I was also told that there were people praying for us in Mexico, United States, Argentina, Spain, Uruguay and other countries. Know-ing this refreshed my heart and brought peace in the storm,” Fer-nando said.
Meanwhile, Guillermo Mangier
contacted Texas U.S. Senator, John Cornyn, who helped expedite getting Fernando out of Mexico.
“On Thursday, Oct. 17, I received a Visa. That same night I crossed the international bridge and reunited with my family. There are no words to describe the feeling of seeing my (then) two-year-old boy as he ran to me. All we could do was to hug each other, cry together and thank God for freeing us from death.”
The couple came to Maryland to stay with Fernando’s parents and felt this is where God wanted them to stay. They are now finishing BCM/D’s church planting assessment and hope to start a Hispanic church in Annapolis.
Marcella said after they left, four other Baptist pastors were threatened. One, in Tijuana, was kidnapped and tortured.
The couple acknowledges that leaving their home and church fam-ily was extremely difficult and that they’re all still trying to adjust. But they believe God allowed all of it to happen for His purpose.
“We know God did this. That is what keeps us in peace,” Marcela said.
Terror in Mexico used by God for His purposes
April 2009 Cooperative Program... Page 11
By Tom Stolle,BCM/D Chief Financial Officer and Missionary for Ministers’
Compensation/Church Treasurers/Stewardship
As I am writing these words, I am taking note of the following news items:
• The U.S. Census Bu-reau reports new home sales declined in January 2009 to their lowest level since the Census Bureau began tracking this back in 1963.
• The DOW and the S&P 500 have fallen to their lowest level in approximately twelve years.
• Weekly jobless claims have risen to a 26-year high.
While the facts and many of the other continuous flood of the financial “doom and gloom” news reports that we seem to hear constantly certainly weigh heavy on us, believe it or not I actually have some good news:
Unlike the economy, our God is unchanging.
Aren’t you glad that God does not suspend his faithfulness or his promises based on current global economic indicators? The Bible says in Hebrews 13:8 that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
I have more good news! The Bible states the following in Phil. 4:19
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus”.
In these tough financial times, I believe we as Christians need to examine our hearts, asking ourselves a question: “If I really trust God,
shouldn’t I be confident that He will meet my needs?”
Concerning God, there is no eco-nomic depression, no plunging stock values, no massive job losses and no failing banks. God still owns it all and is in control.
Consider this: perhaps instead of responding to this economy by “pulling back” on giving perhaps we should demonstrate our trust in God and belief in His word by GIVING MORE! Sounds crazy? Maybe, but
consider these verses from God’s Word:
Ecc. 5:10 “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never sat-isfied with his income. This too is meaningless.”
Matt. 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Mark 12:41-44 “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their mon-ey into the temple trea-sury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only
a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
In this issue of BaptistLIFE, the 2008 total year giving figures for Cooperative Program and BCM/D Cooperative Gifts are published by
church for your reference. If your church has not partici-pated in giving through the Cooperative Program, I encour-age your church to consider giving in this manner. If your church does give through the Cooperative Program, I encourage you to continue practicing biblical giving through the Coopera-tive Program. I also want to thank you for partnering with us to share the Good News of Jesus to the world!
I believe that the Cooperative Program is the single most effective method for missions giving!
Did you know that Coopera-tive Program giving supports vari-ous evangelism efforts, new church starts, missions education, domestic and foreign missionaries, train-ing future leaders through Baptist seminaries, and many other Christ-centered causes?
Enclosed in this issue of Bap-tistLIFE, you will find an insert highlighting some of the many ways that your generous giving through Cooperative Program impacts Mary-land, Delaware and the world.
Our God is still doing great and mighty things! I look forward to see-ing the wonderful things that God will do in 2009.
Our God is in control
By Conrad Burch
COLUMBIA, Md.—In the cur-rent economic condition that find many of us looking back and saying, “If only …”, the Baptist Founda-tion of Maryland/Delaware offers four seminars to help members of our churches to better plan for the future (listed to the right).
The seminars help Baptists to look forward to a financial future that will be a blessing to themselves, their heirs and to God’s kingdom here on earth. For additional infor-mation, please call Tom Stolle, ext. 207 or Conrad Burch, ext. 206 at 800-466-5290.
Planning for the future seminars available
Christian Estate Adults Estate planning basics—why you need a Will; making provisionPlanning Basics for children and other dependents; planning for incapacity; and death taxes.
Ways to Make Gifts Ages 30+ Legacy giving ideas to encourage church members to taketo Your Church stewardship to a deeper level— what to give, how to give, and why they should give.
A Budget/Savings Ages 18+ A plan for financial management— how to save and how to Plan for Everyday Life get out of debt.
Stewardship Management Ages 18+ Explore the scriptures about putting God’s financialfrom a Biblical Perspective principles into practice.
Planning Basics death taxes.
stewardship to a deeper level— what to give, how to give, and why they should give.
get out of debt.
principles into practice.
Adults Estate planning basics—why you need a Will; making provision
death taxes.
Ages 30+ Legacy giving ideas to encourage church members to take stewardship to a deeper level— what to give, how to give, and
why they should give.
Ages 18+ A plan for financial management— how to save and how to get out of debt.
Ages 18+ Explore the scriptures about putting God’s financial principles into practice.
Did
you
kno
w th
at in
the
Sout
hern
Bap
tist C
onve
ntio
n:
-- S
outh
ern
Bap
tists
are
the
3rd
larg
est d
isas
ter r
elie
f pro
vide
r in
the
natio
n.--
AID
S vi
ctim
s in
Afr
ica
have
bee
n m
inis
tere
d to
sinc
e th
e 19
80s.
-- O
ver 1
2,00
0 in
ner c
ity h
omes
have
bee
n re
stor
ed si
nce
1990
.--
73 n
ew c
hurc
h st
arts
are
repo
rted
ever
y da
y by
Sou
ther
n
Bap
tist m
issi
onar
ies a
nd B
aptis
t pa
rtner
s wor
ldw
ide.
-- 1
bap
tism
eve
ry 3
8 se
cond
s
is c
eleb
rate
d (th
at is
a 8
36,8
98
wor
ldw
ide
annu
al to
tal).
Sour
ce: S
outh
ern
Bap
tist C
onve
ntio
n
Did
you
kno
w th
at in
the
HOW
YOUR
200
8 CO
OPE
RATI
VE P
ROGR
AM D
OLL
ARS
CHAN
GED
LIVE
S!Th
roug
h yo
ur f
aith
ful gi
ving
to
the
Coop
erat
ive
Prog
ram t
hrou
gh t
he B
aptist
Con
vent
ion
of M
arylan
d/De
lawar
e (w
hose
staf
f pr
ovid
ed s
ervice
s an
d re
sour
ces
to 8
4% o
f ou
r ch
urch
es w
ithin t
he la
st 12
mon
ths), yo
u wer
e ab
le
to a
ccom
plish
muc
h fo
r Go
d’s K
ingd
om, i
nclu
ding
the
following:
Assist
ed c
hurc
h pl
ants
, inc
ludi
ng K
orea
n, C
hine
se, H
ispa
nic, A
nglo, a
nd
Bhut
anes
e ch
urch
es! W
orke
d with
sev
eral
lang
uage
minisry
gro
ups, in
clud
ing
Chines
e, D
eaf,
and
Kore
an a
nd h
eld
a Hi
span
ic p
asto
r re
trea
t an
d a
Lead
ersh
ip
retr
eat; t
he B
CM/D
also
spon
sore
d a
Lang
uage
Mus
ic C
eleb
ration
at
Glob
al
Mission
Chu
rch,
whi
ch h
ighl
ight
ed 1
1 lang
uage
gro
ups;
Esta
blishe
d a
new w
ork
at M
orga
n St
ate
Univer
sity, w
here
fou
r st
uden
ts a
re
going
to B
razi
l as
sum
mer
mission
arie
s; a
nd m
inist
ered
to
stud
ents
on 21
of
54 c
ampu
ses
acro
ss M
arylan
d an
d De
lawar
e;
40 f
amili
es p
articipa
ted
in t
his
past
sum
mer
’s W
MU-
spon
sore
d Fa
mily
FEST
in B
altimor
e; m
any
othe
r fa
milies
hav
e be
en t
ouch
ed b
y Em
brac
e Ba
ltimor
e;
4 te
ams
wen
t to
Chi
na la
st y
ear
(19
peop
le
tota
l) th
roug
h BC
M/D
’s Pa
rtne
rshi
p M
ission
s;
also
, sev
eral
BCM
/D c
hurc
hes
have
estab
lishe
d pa
rtne
rshi
ps w
ith K
entu
cky
Bapt
ist
chur
ches
and
eve
n mor
e ch
urch
es s
ent
mission
tea
ms
to K
entu
cky
last
yea
r.
1,20
0 st
uden
ts p
articipa
ted
and
110
mad
e de
cision
s fo
r Ch
rist
at
Unch
arte
d, la
st y
ear’s
You
th E
vang
elism C
onfe
renc
e; 16
chur
ches
(60
0 ki
ds
and
their
families
) pa
rticipat
ed in
wee
k-long
sum
mer
Chi
ldre
n’s A
rts
Camps
(Al
l Ab
out
Kids
Pro
duct
ions
) co
-spo
nsor
ed b
y th
e BC
M/D
and
Lam
plig
ht A
rtist
s;
103
boys
wer
e di
sciple
d at
thi
s ye
ar’s
Boys
Cam
p in A
ugus
t;
130
BCM
/D e
-quip.ne
t on
-dem
and
trai
ning
vid
eos
wer
e fi l
med
with
ove
r 3,
000
view
ings
. BCM
/D p
rovide
d
cont
inuing
edu
cation
for
pas
tors
and
lead
ers; t
rained
ove
r 30
0 sm
all g
roup
lead
ers;
pro
vide
d ta
x
trai
ning
in m
ultiple
lang
uage
s fo
r 10
0 pa
stor
s; t
rained
1,5
00 V
BS le
ader
s; a
nd p
rovide
d su
ppor
t fo
r minist
ers,
their
wives
and
fam
ilies
as
wel
l as
long
-ter
m c
oach
ing;
Prov
ided
sch
olar
ships
to 1
2 se
min
aria
ns a
nd s
ix c
ollege
sch
olar
ships
thro
ugh
WMU
to p
asto
rs a
nd p
asto
rs’ k
ids; a
nd s
uppo
rted
the
olog
ical
edu
cation
thr
ough
the
six
SB
C se
minar
ies.
Last
yea
r, six
trai
ned
disa
ster
relief
team
s wer
e de
ploy
ed in
res
pons
e to
Hur
rica
ne I
ke:
one
team
ser
ved
as p
art
of a
meg
a-kitc
hen
site
in G
alve
ston
, Tex
as, t
hat
prep
ared
ove
r
500,
000
mea
ls in
two
wee
ks w
hile o
ther
s di
d mud
out
wor
k in h
omes
along
th
e Gu
lf o
r op
erat
ed a
mob
ile la
undr
y un
it. A
cha
insa
w tea
m r
espo
nded
to
torn
ados
in
Kent
ucky
and
25
Kore
an p
asto
rs w
ere
traine
d in D
isaster
Relief.
Minist
ered
to 2,
585
inte
rnat
iona
l stu
dent
s in O
cean
City
, Md.
,
(rep
rese
nting
31 c
ount
ries
, inc
ludi
ng K
azak
hsta
n, Y
emen
and
Tur
key)
. 1,7
23
child
ren
wer
e minist
ered
to
thro
ugh
the
Surf
and
San
d Cl
ubs
summer
out
reac
h in
Oce
an C
ity; 1,86
0 ad
ults
att
ende
d ca
mpg
roun
d wor
ship; an
d 13
dec
isions
for
Chr
ist w
ere
reco
rded
!Ad
dition
ally, B
CM/D
hel
d St
ewar
dshi
p Se
minar
s; p
rodu
ced
30 P
od-c
asts
, ful
l of
tra
ining
and
Q&A;
tra
ined
155
chu
rch
lead
ers
thro
ugh
Horizo
ns t
raining
retr
eat; p
rovide
d Co
nfl ic
t In
terv
ention
for
chu
rche
s;
prov
ided
gui
delin
es f
or in
tern
al a
udits
and
estab
lishi
ng b
usines
s an
d
acco
unting
con
trol
s fo
r ch
urch
es; an
d of
fere
d fr
ee s
ubsc
ript
ions
to
Bap
tist
LIFE
to
all ch
urch
mem
bers
.In
the
Sou
ther
n Ba
ptist
Con
vent
ion, y
our
Coop
erat
ive
Prog
ram d
ollars
supp
ort 5,
611
NA
MB
mis
sion
arie
s (a
s of
Dec
. 200
8);
(Nor
th A
mer
ican
Mission
Boa
rd p
rovide
d fu
nding
for
32 m
ission
arie
s an
d
22 c
hurc
h plan
ters
ser
ving
in M
arylan
d/De
lawar
e); an
d 5,
363
IMB
m
issi
onar
ies
(as
of J
an. 0
9).
in B
altimor
e; m
any
othe
r fa
milies
hav
e be
en t
ouch
ed b
y Em
brac
e Ba
ltimor
e;
Did
you
kno
w th
at in
the
Sout
hern
Bap
tist C
onve
ntio
n:
-- S
outh
ern
Bap
tists
are
the
3rd
larg
est d
isas
ter r
elie
f pro
vide
r in
the
natio
n.--
AID
S vi
ctim
s in
Afr
ica
have
bee
n m
inis
tere
d to
sinc
e th
e 19
80s.
-- O
ver 1
2,00
0 in
ner c
ity h
omes
have
bee
n re
stor
ed si
nce
1990
.--
73 n
ew c
hurc
h st
arts
are
repo
rted
ever
y da
y by
Sou
ther
n
Bap
tist m
issi
onar
ies a
nd B
aptis
t pa
rtner
s wor
ldw
ide.
-- 1
bap
tism
eve
ry 3
8 se
cond
s
is c
eleb
rate
d (th
at is
a 8
36,8
98
wor
ldw
ide
annu
al to
tal).
Sour
ce: S
outh
ern
Bap
tist C
onve
ntio
n
HOW
YOUR
200
8 CO
OPE
RATI
VE P
ROGR
AM D
OLL
ARS
CHAN
GED
LIVE
S!Th
roug
h yo
ur f
aith
ful gi
ving
to
the
Coop
erat
ive
Prog
ram t
hrou
gh t
he B
aptist
Con
vent
ion
of M
arylan
d/De
lawar
e (w
hose
staf
f pr
ovid
ed s
ervice
s an
d re
sour
ces
to 8
4% o
f ou
r ch
urch
es w
ithin t
he la
st 12
mon
ths), yo
u wer
e ab
le
to a
ccom
plish
muc
h fo
r Go
d’s K
ingd
om, i
nclu
ding
the
following:
Assist
ed c
hurc
h pl
ants
, inc
ludi
ng K
orea
n, C
hine
se, H
ispa
nic, A
nglo, a
nd
Bhut
anes
e ch
urch
es! W
orke
d with
sev
eral
lang
uage
minisry
gro
ups, in
clud
ing
Chines
e, D
eaf,
and
Kore
an a
nd h
eld
a Hi
span
ic p
asto
r re
trea
t an
d a
Lead
ersh
ip
retr
eat; t
he B
CM/D
also
spon
sore
d a
Lang
uage
Mus
ic C
eleb
ration
at
Glob
al
Mission
Chu
rch,
whi
ch h
ighl
ight
ed 1
1 lang
uage
gro
ups;
Esta
blishe
d a
new w
ork
at M
orga
n St
ate
Univer
sity, w
here
fou
r st
uden
ts a
re
going
to B
razi
l as
sum
mer
mission
arie
s; a
nd m
inist
ered
to
stud
ents
on 21
of
54 c
ampu
ses
acro
ss M
arylan
d an
d De
lawar
e;
40 f
amili
es p
articipa
ted
in t
his
past
sum
mer
’s W
MU-
spon
sore
d Fa
mily
FEST
in B
altimor
e; m
any
othe
r fa
milies
hav
e be
en t
ouch
ed b
y Em
brac
e Ba
ltimor
e;
4 te
ams
wen
t to
Chi
na la
st y
ear
(19
peop
le
tota
l) th
roug
h BC
M/D
’s Pa
rtne
rshi
p M
ission
s;
also
, sev
eral
BCM
/D c
hurc
hes
have
estab
lishe
d pa
rtne
rshi
ps w
ith K
entu
cky
Bapt
ist
chur
ches
and
eve
n mor
e ch
urch
es s
ent
mission
tea
ms
to K
entu
cky
last
yea
r.
1,20
0 st
uden
ts p
articipa
ted
and
110
mad
e de
cision
s fo
r Ch
rist
at
Unch
arte
d, la
st y
ear’s
You
th E
vang
elism C
onfe
renc
e; 16
chur
ches
(60
0 ki
ds
and
their
families
) pa
rticipat
ed in
wee
k-long
sum
mer
Chi
ldre
n’s A
rts
Camps
(Al
l Ab
out
Kids
Pro
duct
ions
) co
-spo
nsor
ed b
y th
e BC
M/D
and
Lam
plig
ht A
rtist
s;
103
boys
wer
e di
sciple
d at
thi
s ye
ar’s
Boys
Cam
p in A
ugus
t;
130
BCM
/D e
-quip.ne
t on
-dem
and
trai
ning
vid
eos
wer
e fi l
med
with
ove
r 3,
000
view
ings
. BCM
/D p
rovide
d
cont
inuing
edu
cation
for
pas
tors
and
lead
ers; t
rained
ove
r 30
0 sm
all g
roup
lead
ers;
pro
vide
d ta
x
trai
ning
in m
ultiple
lang
uage
s fo
r 10
0 pa
stor
s; t
rained
1,5
00 V
BS le
ader
s; a
nd p
rovide
d su
ppor
t fo
r minist
ers,
their
wives
and
fam
ilies
as
wel
l as
long
-ter
m c
oach
ing;
Prov
ided
sch
olar
ships
to 1
2 se
min
aria
ns a
nd s
ix c
ollege
sch
olar
ships
thro
ugh
WMU
to p
asto
rs a
nd p
asto
rs’ k
ids; a
nd s
uppo
rted
the
olog
ical
edu
cation
thr
ough
the
six
SB
C se
minar
ies.
Last
yea
r, six
trai
ned
disa
ster
relief
team
s wer
e de
ploy
ed in
res
pons
e to
Hur
rica
ne I
ke:
one
team
ser
ved
as p
art
of a
meg
a-kitc
hen
site
in G
alve
ston
, Tex
as, t
hat
prep
ared
ove
r
500,
000
mea
ls in
two
wee
ks w
hile o
ther
s di
d mud
out
wor
k in h
omes
along
th
e Gu
lf o
r op
erat
ed a
mob
ile la
undr
y un
it. A
cha
insa
w tea
m r
espo
nded
to
torn
ados
in
Kent
ucky
and
25
Kore
an p
asto
rs w
ere
traine
d in D
isaster
Relief.
Minist
ered
to 2,
585
inte
rnat
iona
l stu
dent
s in O
cean
City
, Md.
,
(rep
rese
nting
31 c
ount
ries
, inc
ludi
ng K
azak
hsta
n, Y
emen
and
Tur
key)
. 1,7
23
child
ren
wer
e minist
ered
to
thro
ugh
the
Surf
and
San
d Cl
ubs
summer
out
reac
h in
Oce
an C
ity; 1,86
0 ad
ults
att
ende
d ca
mpg
roun
d wor
ship; an
d 13
dec
isions
for
Chr
ist w
ere
reco
rded
!Ad
dition
ally, B
CM/D
hel
d St
ewar
dshi
p Se
minar
s; p
rodu
ced
30 P
od-c
asts
, ful
l of
tra
ining
and
Q&A;
tra
ined
155
chu
rch
lead
ers
thro
ugh
Horizo
ns t
raining
retr
eat; p
rovide
d Co
nfl ic
t In
terv
ention
for
chu
rche
s;
prov
ided
gui
delin
es f
or in
tern
al a
udits
and
estab
lishi
ng b
usines
s an
d
acco
unting
con
trol
s fo
r ch
urch
es; an
d of
fere
d fr
ee s
ubsc
ript
ions
to
Bap
tist
LIFE
to
all ch
urch
mem
bers
.In
the
Sou
ther
n Ba
ptist
Con
vent
ion, y
our
Coop
erat
ive
Prog
ram d
ollars
supp
ort 5,
611
NA
MB
mis
sion
arie
s (a
s of
Dec
. 200
8);
(Nor
th A
mer
ican
Mission
Boa
rd p
rovide
d fu
nding
for
32 m
ission
arie
s an
d
22 c
hurc
h plan
ters
ser
ving
in M
arylan
d/De
lawar
e); an
d 5,
363
IMB
m
issi
onar
ies
(as
of J
an. 0
9).
Retu
rn o
n Yo
ur I
nves
tmen
t =
eter
nal re
war
dsLe
arn m
ore
at
ww
w.b
cmd.o
rg
Page 14 Cooperative Program... April 2009
By Sharon MagerStaff Correspondent
COLUMBIA, Md.—In the February “Baptist Digest,” the Leadership News Journal of the Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptist Convention, Editor Timothy Boyd wrote an intriguing column about the Cooperative Program (CP).
Here is a portion of that article with Boyd’s permission:
“Recently, I was wondering what the Southern Baptist Convention would look like in a post Cooperative Program world. The thought was scary. I could imagine two or three of our seminaries going out of business. I could imagine the North American Mission Board and the In-ternational Mission Board combining to make the best use of severely decreased resources.
What would a Southern Baptist Convention without the Cooperative Pro-gram be? One thing is for sure. It would be much weaker. Some might ask, “How do you know?” I know because that is what the Conven-tion was like before the Cooperative Program. All of our agencies struggled. Churches were constantly harassed by agents seeking funds. All in all, it just did not work well.
There are days when I believe that we are heading toward the end of the Cooperative Program. I hope it doesn’t happen, but I know that the trends show a continuing decrease of support by churches. It may not happen while I am still active in ministry, but those who are just beginning their ministries may have to face that reality.”
Imagine a pastor getting really sleepy at a church business meeting and stepping out for a few minutes to take a walk in the woods behind the church. He falls asleep in a re-mote area and no one can find him. He does a Rip Van Winkle sleep for 20 years. His congregation has moved on, calling another pastor. When Pastor Rip wakes up, amaz-ingly the church is without a pas-tor again so he steps back in. The church is amazed and thrilled.
What Rip doesn’t realize is that a lot has happened since he fell asleep. While counseling a youth who feels called to the ministry, Rip enthusiastically encourages him to attend Rip’s alma mater, a Southern Baptist seminary near and dear to his heart. But when he calls, he finds that it closed many years ago. In fact, he finds there is only one seminary operating and the tuition is very high. He makes
a call to the North American Mis-sion Board (NAMB) to realize it’s now NAIMB—that NAMB and the International Mission Board (IMB) joined together to send out a fraction of the missionaries they once did. Rip frantically seeks information on Centrifuge, disaster relief, and the RA and GA curriculum—it’s all gone! The state newspaper is gone. He reads Baptist Press and realizes the reason for the sad shrinking of resources is due to a drastic reduc-
tion in CP giving. In fact, the re-ports say CP is dying. Missionaries have had to leave the mission field; baptisms are at an all time low. The energy of new church planting has gone. Rip wants to go back to sleep.
Rip realizes we don’t know what we have until it’s gone.
While looking at all of the incredible resources CP provides, imagine an SBC world without those resources.
The reality is that CP giving is down. Tom Stolle, BCM/D chief financial officer and missionary for ministers’ compensation, church treasurers and stewardship, be-lieves, as Southern Baptist Con-vention (SBC) leaders across the country do, that there are many reasons. The economy is certainly one, he concedes, but there’s more to it. Young pastors and planters aren’t always aware of the benefits of CP giving—not just the benefits to the
SBC but to the givers. They may not be seeing the faces of those being changed as a result of CP giving. Often, it’s just a lack of education on what CP does and how it blesses.
Stolle said many churches are taking mission trips and that’s wonderful, but without CP there may not be a steady missionary presence. How much greater is the impact of someone who is stay-ing in the field making an ongoing impact on a people group?
Because of CP there are 5,363 mis-sionaries engaging 1,170 people groups in 184 nations; there are 836,898 worldwide bap-tisms annually, SBC has the third largest di-saster relief program in the country. Children of AIDS victims and kids with the disease are rocked every day and cared for by missionar-ies, supported by CP money.
While we can’t always go, our CP dollars continue to be used 24 hours a day 365 days a year to reach the lost.
And everyone Southern Baptist can be part of that.
“The great thing about CP is ev-erybody can be on mission, through giving,” Stolle said.
What if we didn’t have the Cooperative Program?
April 2009 Your World... Page 15
By Shannon BakerBCM/D National Correspondent
COLUMBIA, Md.—Former presidential candidate Mike Hucka-bee will give the keynote address at an inaugural “As Iron Sharpens Iron” leadership training event for church leaders, to be held at The Church at Severn Run in Severn, Md., on Oct. 29.
Huckabee, who ran for the nation’s highest office in the past national election, is the former two-term governor of Arkansas from 1996-2006. He is the host of FOX News’ “Huckabee” and a daily ABC Radio broadcast show.
As a candidate who earned victories in eight primaries and caucuses, Huckabee withdrew from the campaign trail in March 2008 when Sen. John McCain secured the Republican nomination.
Huckabee’s numerous television appearances (“The Tonight Show,” “Saturday Night Live,” “The Colbert Report”), along with the release of his latest book, “Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That’s
Bringing Common Sense Back to America,” portray Huckabee’s wit and wisdom, and most importantly, his vision and values.
Huckabee also will host a book signing at this event.
With a background in advertis-ing, broadcasting and as a Southern Baptist pastor, this Hope, Arkansas native has demonstrated a God-given ability to effectively connect with people of all backgrounds, from the common man to the corporate executive.
“Although Huckabee is, by definition, a politican, this is not a political event,” shared organizer Bob Simpson, associate executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware. Simpson points to Huckabee’s Southern Baptist roots, which gives the former presi-dential candidate a unique perspec-tive of what it is like for the church leaders across Maryland and Dela-ware.
According to Baptist Press, Huckabee is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., and studied at Southwestern
Baptist Theo-logical Semi-nary in Fort Worth, Texas. He was an Arkansas pastor, serv-ing Imman-uel Church in Pine Bluff and Beech Street Church in Texarkana.
He also served as president of the Arkansas State Baptist Convention.
“Hucka-bee has been in the same shoes as many of us,” shared Simp-son, who also serves as in-terim pastor at Severna Park Church in Severna Park, Md. “He under-stands the issues in our churches. He understands the urgency of the Gospel. He understands that our leaders need to be encouraged—and sharpened.”
This event, named after the Proverbs 27:17 Bible verse that says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another,” is the first in a series of training events that will feature high profile speakers, shared Simpson, who also serves on the board of the Balti-more-based Christian Professional Network, an organization to promote Christian principles among business owners and professionals.
CPN’s goal is to provide a frame-work for practical help for busi-nesses and ministries, by integrat-ing sound business principles with Christian faith and biblical values. CPN works across denominational lines to seek a unified testimony to Jesus Christ in the business com-munity.
Simp-son, who holds a master of science degree in marketing from Johns Hopkins University, also sees the value of work-ing cross-denomi-nationally with the larger evangeli-cal com-munity to assist each other to accomplish the Great Commis-sion.
“That mandate to ‘go and make dis-
ciples’ can’t be accomplished by one group of people,” Simpson noted.
“And, it can’t be accomplished by just the pastors in our churches,” he added, noting that the “As Iron Sharpens Iron” leadership training events will move beyond church staff to include also the lay leaders who give of their time and heart to make a difference for Christ.
“I envision seeing pastors bring three or four of their leaders to these high profile training events, where their vision can be strengthened, where their efforts can be more uni-fied, and where each person feels encouraged,” he said.
The cost of the all-day event, with breakout session as well as Huckabee’s address, will be $25 per person, which includes lunch and a copy of Huckabee’s new book.
For more information, stay tuned to www.bcmd.org or contact Lauren
Rodriguez at (800) 290-5290, ext. 246.
Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to headline ‘As Iron Sharpens Iron’ event in October
Dr. James Merritt is the Senior Pastor of Cross Pointe, The Church
at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. His uncompromising preaching and leadership have brought phenomenal growth to
the church where thousands attend each week. He is a past-President of
the Southern Baptist Convention and is a noted author and speaker. He and his wife Teresa have been married for thirty years and have three sons;
James, Jr., Jonathan and Joshua. The Merritts reside in Dacula, GA.
Dr. Merritt is the speaker for Touching Lives which reaches
millions around the world every week. His ability to apply Biblical
principles to the problems and concerns of everyday life has made
Touching Lives one of the most popular and respected broadcast ministries across the nation and
around the world.
WATCH TOUCHING LIVES!with DR. JAMES MERRITT
Sundays at 8:30am EST overThe Trinity Broadcasting Network
(DIRECT TV Ch. 372)Sundays at 8:30pm EST over
The Church Channel (DIRECT TV Ch. 371)
(Consult local cable affiliates in your area for channel allocations)
Hope and Encouragement for Life!
Page 16 Your Convention... April 2009
There are many scholars that believe the
seeds for all of our foundational Chris-tian theology can be found in the first eleven chapters of the book of Gen-esis. Within these chapters, you find creation, sin, re-demption, the person and work of God,
the Trinity, the nature and purpose of man and on and on you could go. If you subscribe to this theory—and I do—then what do you do about the church? After all, the ekklesia is not found here in its most obvious form—it’s a Greek word and a New Testa-ment teaching, right?
To be sure, there is truth in that statement. Yet, one of the basic theo-logical tenets we as Southern Bap-tists firmly believe is that the church is a living organism; God, who alone is the Creator (Gen. 1:1; Col. 1:16) has brought it into being. This is not a human invention; it is a divine creation! Jesus tells us He will build His church (Matt. 16:18); the Spirit’s presence on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) “brought it to life!” Its “life” is solely due to God!
Inanimate objects are rarely (if ever) used to refer to the church in the Scripture. True, it is called
a “building” by Paul in 1 Cor. 3:9, almost in passing; but Peter later on explains this as organic, too, since we are like “living stones” and make up the material of this building (1 Peter 2:5). Jesus’ primary image was to call the church “a flock” (as with sheep). This image is thought-pro-voking in many ways; yet, all would agree that one essential characteris-tic of a “flock” is that it’s alive. Paul’s primary image in referring to the church is “the body” (of Christ). In all of these instances in Scripture and in many more, the church is seen as far more than a man-made organization or a business-run institution. It is alive with Christ as the Head!
The reality of this affects every-thing we do. We shouldn’t be talking about “what’s our vision for the com-ing years?” Rather, we should be ask-ing “what’s His vision for the coming years” and then “what’s our part in that vision?” Our vision should only be His vision; our thoughts, His thoughts; our feelings, His feelings, and so on. We talk about being “His hands and feet,” and rightly so. I’m wondering then why our view of being His living Body is not more comprehensive than what we typi-cally suggest.
All living organisms, created by their Lord, have been brought into being to fulfill His mission and to glorify Him. We know this to be true from the teachings of Scripture. We
have been given the Great Commis-sion and Great Commandment, and most churches do their best to live out these realities in their own world. But how do we do this? Is there some-thing in our “living” systems that we might be missing?
Back in Genesis, chapter one, we find that God’s fundamental com-mand to man and woman in the Gar-den of Eden was to “be fruitful and multiply…” (Gen. 1:28). We rightly understand this to mean they are to reproduce offspring. As a living entity, this chapter also teaches that one living organism after another was created by God to reproduce “af-ter their own kind” (Gen. 1:11, 12, 21 twice, 24 twice, 25 three times). The principle seems obvious to me: every living organism created by God is intended to reproduce after its own kind.
By now most of you have dis-covered the logical outcome of this progression in thought. What this means in the living church, as I understand it, is that disciples are to reproduce disciples, leaders are to reproduce leaders, cell groups are to reproduce cell groups…and churches are to reproduce churches. This is God’s plan and intent for His regen-erate flock.
A corollary truth to this is that people of character do not live their lives merely for their own survival and comfort. Rather, these people have an innate desire to provide for
those who will come after them. The cost is real, but the reward is great. It enables their life to be larger and more mean-ingful than their own personal capac-ity or longevity. After all, Christ sacrificed on our behalf; His commis-sion shouts we ought to do the same.
A couple of years ago I served as the interim pastor at one of our churches, which also operates a Christian school. At graduation in the year I arrived, the commence-ment speaker got up and made a statement to the graduates and their families that I have never forgotten. He reminded everyone, “You teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are.” I think he’s right! And if he is, what does that say about our reticence to reproduce after our own kind? If we are unwilling to model reproduction at the macro level (churches), how can we truly expect disciples to reproduce at the micro level?
God says, “Be fruitful and multiply…” What’s keeping His congregation where you attend from doing what He asks?
David Jackson can be reached at (800) 466-5290, ext. 225 or by email
‘After its own kind’
David JacksonBCM/D Missionary
for Church Multiplication
By Julie DuVall, Deep Creek Lake Resort Minister, and
Sharon Mager
DEEP CREEK, Md.—Deep Creek Lake Resort minister, Julie DuVall, and ministry volunteers gave away 230 hand warmers, labeled with the resort website and the ABC’s of becoming a Christian, to folks who came to the “Winter Dunk” in February. The “Dunk” is similar to the Polar Bear Plunge. Brave souls take a dip in the cold waters of Deep Creek Lake to raise money for Special Olympics.
“People are always grateful to receive the hand warmers,” DuVall said. “What really warmed my heart
this year was having my eight-year-old son, Elijah, help me pass them out. At first, he was not that inter-ested in standing out in the cold. Then, I read to him the label on the hand warmer and he replied with, ‘You mean someone might come to know Jesus, because I gave them a hand warmer?’ I couldn’t get him to quit giving them out after that,” DuVall said
Deep Creek Church, the Duvall’s home church, is located across the street from where the “Dunk” event happens each year. The church min-istered by opening their parking lot to visitors. Members also gave out hot cocoa and other goodies.
The resort ministry is grow-ing. Duvall and other volunteers
regularly visit the Wisp Ski Resort and share Christ casually, talking with people as they ride the lifts or relax in the lodge. They give out care packages with granola bars, hand warmers, tissues, hot choco-late packets and evangelistic tracks. Julie and her husband, Bill, also pray for those who get injured and are transported by ski patrol.
This summer, several mission teams are scheduled to help minis-ter on weekends at the lake helping with children’s ministries, camp-ground services and other events.
In October, DuVall and help-ers will man a tent at the Autumn Glory Festival in Oakland offering a baby comfort station and Kids Ministry site with free food, hand
washing, face painting and clown-ing. DuVall said she is praying that several churches will come alongside her and help with this project.
“God has been so good to us in this past year. Without His great work here and without the prayers of our churches we would not be able to do what we do. We are so grate-ful to be able to see the doors God is opening. We are also very grateful and appreciative of all of the church-es and volunteers that have sup-ported us financially or come out to help us this past year,” DuVall said.
Churches interested in helping with the resort ministry can contact Julie Duvall at (301) 501-6775 or e-mail her at [email protected].
Resort Ministry warms hands and hearts
larger and more mean-
Gayla ParkerWMU Executive
Director/WMU,SBC Missions Innovator
SpecialistMissionary for
Missions Education/Customization
April 2009 Your Convention... Page 17
T his past summer I witnessed an
attempted robbery in downtown Balti-more. It was not one of my better days downtown! Sev-eral months later I received a letter in the mail informing me that I was being summoned as a wit-ness for the pros-ecuting attorney. I spent an entire day sitting at the court-house waiting! It is amazing what all
you will read while sitting and wait-ing and sitting and waiting. I read every magazine, flier, poster, news-paper and name plate at least three times. One thing that caught my eye over and over again was the “Be on the lookout for…” posters. We have all seen them. They are often hang-ing in the Post Office, the Court-house, the Police Department and even Wal-Mart. Under the picture is a complete description of the person for whom the police are looking. Have you ever wondered what you would do if you ever actually saw one of those “Be on the look out for…” people? We might stare for a few minutes in disbelief. We might avoid the person at all costs for fear of our lives! We might call 911 to inform the police. Most likely, we do not leave the bulletin board with the intention of going out to look for one of these individuals. But there is one group of people we are to be inten-tional about looking for and those are the people who are in need of Jesus and His love. Jesus, in His ministry was always on the look out for people who needed His love. He found many throughout His ministry. Zacchaeus was one of those whom Jesus found. Zac-chaeus heard Jesus was coming to town and he was curious about this man he had heard so much about. Rather than fight the crowd he chose to climb a tree. Zacchaeus knew his own reputation and perhaps he feared Jesus would not be interested in a man like him. He may have feared the anger he might experi-ence from the crowd. It may have
been because of his short height. For whatever reason, Zacchaeus was looking for Jesus from a tree. Even though he was having a difficult time seeing Jesus, Jesus saw him. As a matter of fact he was on the lookout for him and was making plans to be at his house. When the crowd realized Jesus was going to spend the day with this man, they were horrified. Zacchaeus was hated and despised. He was a tax collector who had cheated many people. Surely Jesus could not know what kind of man Zacchaeus was; if He knew He would surely avoid and reject such a horrible man. They were expecting Jesus to react like we might react if we saw a “Be on the lookout for…” person. Not because Zacchaeus was dangerous but because he was a hated outcast. Jesus did not run when He saw Zacchaeus; instead Jesus reached out to Zacchaeus. Because of the ac-ceptance and love Zacchaeus expe-rienced when he met Jesus, he was dramatically changed. Not only did Zacchaeus change the way he did his work he took steps to correct the wrong he had done. Zacchaeus paid back all the money he ever collected with interest! He didn’t stop there, he made sure his family had the chance to meet Jesus. By the end of the day the entire household was changed. I wonder if the person I saw attempt to rob a young nurse last summer had met Jesus prior to that episode, what would be different about his life? Would he be doing something different with his life? Would he be trying to right some of the wrongs he had done? Would his family and friends see such a radical difference in him that they too would experience the love of Jesus in their lives? If his life were changed like that of Zacchaeus, I would assume yes. Unfortunately there are not “Be on the lookout for…” notices for peo-ple without Christ. But Jesus knows each and everyone of them. He came to “seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10). He will reveal them to us if we are looking. Are you on the look out? Be on a mission this month to seek the lost and point them to the One who came to save them.
Be on the lookout for... Block celebrates 20 years at Camp Wo-Me-To
Aquilla Smith, former BCM/D WMU director, with Ben Block as he celebrates 20 years of service with Camp Wo-Me-To in Jarrettsville, Md.
Benjamin Block, Camp Wo-Me-To’s operations manager celebrated his 20th anniversary serving the WMU camp in March. Jean Swain, WMU’s treasurer presented Block with a plaque during the Hat’s Off Retreat on March 7.
Later in the day, family, friends and camp workers gathered for a cel-ebration lunch, catered by the Eric and Debbie Jones. Eric is Block’s assis-tant and Debbie is the camp’s secretary/bookkeeper.
Page 18 Your Convention... April 2009
By Shannon BakerBCM/D National Correspondent
BALTIMORE—It’s an econom-ic reality. The poor are becoming poorer.
As the economy continues to spiral out of control, those with sixth grade educational levels are sud-denly losing their entry-level service jobs to high school and college grad-uates. And without a fair chance to work, the poverty-stricken are left to roam the streets in a survival mode that often includes drugs, crime and despair.
Nestled in a row home in what he calls the “poorest neighborhood in Maryland” in McElderry Park, Bill Simpson’s office is surrounded by this distress.
Within just a 0.33-mile radius of his office, 846 households live on less than $15,000 a year—30 per-cent below the U.S. poverty level for a family of four. The number triples to 2,559 households when extended to a 0.66-mile radius.
“Twenty-four percent of our folks live on less than $10,000 annu-ally. In any given month, about 60 percent are unemployed. Our high school drop-out rate is over 65 per-cent, and our teen pregnancy rate exceeds 80 percent,” shares Simp-
son, who serves as executive director of Open Door Community Develop-ment Corporation.
“Business as usual won’t get it done here.”
For Simpson, who moved his office to this location in the summer of 2008, it is worth the hour-long commute through 36 traffic lights to simply be a presence that “shows up” and seeks to make a difference in the hurting community.
That community is comprised of four lower East Baltimore neighborhoods: Baltimore-Linwood, Ellwood Park/Monument, McElderry Park and Patterson Place.
It is a place that Simpson feels is “quarantined” from the rest of the city, because of its overwhelming needs. But it is also a place where he knows that through Christ much can be accomplished.
“Emphasizing the redemptive principles of renewal, restoration, and recon-ciliation, we believe it’s wrong for 140,000 Baltimoreans to live in poverty in the nation’s most afflu-ent state,” Simpson shares. “We are strong advocates for addressing the generational poverty that devalues
life, immobilizes families and communities, and feeds a cycle of failure and futil-ity.”
He explained that Open Door’s mission is three-fold: “(1) to be a source of hope and encouragement for people who need a new start; (2) to be a community hub that links folks to positive and constructive activities; and (3) to be a safe haven where God’s heart for hurt-ing people and struggling families is made real every day.”
Simpson shares that Open Door’s efforts include adult learning, workforce development, life skills and soft skills training, computer literacy, family wraparound services, and information and referral.
“We also place a strong
emphasis on emergency compassion outreach and strategic community organizing,” he adds. “In the final analysis, we’re convinced that if you help parents and adults with their education, employment, housing, and other ‘felt need’ issues, you re-
ally are helping the whole family and the larger community.”
That recently became a reality when Open Door assisted a 45-year-old man finding a full-time job for the first time in his life.
“We helped him develop a re-sume, strengthened his soft skills [appearance habits, ability to fill out forms, communication and motiva-tion skills], and practiced interview-ing with him,” Simpson shares. “It felt really good to know that we helped him get meaningful employ-ment.”
Simpson notes that in spite of the great challenges, the people Open Door serves are remarkably proud, resilient, determined, and optimistic.
“Most believe that life can be better for their families. Nearly all just need a helping hand from some-one who cares,” he shares.
Simpson says that because the need in the community is so great, Open Door staff members ask that interested parties meet face-to-face with them so as to better under-standing their life circumstances.
“Our goal is to not only provide short-term emergency relief, but to also form relationships that can help
lead to larger life solutions for those in need,” he says, explaining that Open Door’s ministry is a “long-term proposition.”
It is necessary to build trust in the community and that takes time.
“Trust becomes a real commod-ity,” he affirms, noting that his goal is for Open Door to be that place to turn to if people needed food for the day or simply needed somebody to talk to them.
“We may not be fully resourced, but they can see us work to help them,” Simpson shares.
To that end, Open Door works collab-oratively with schools, civic groups, businesses, foundations, government agencies, congregations, and other nonprofits to identify resources, build community capacity, and coordinate solution-
focused holistic responses to commu-nity needs.
As part of their ongoing mission to offer compassion and encourage-ment to hurting people, Open Door provides limited “emergency” food, clothing, and financial assistance to families in crisis.
Like other nonprofits, Open Door is only made possible through the generous donations of organiza-tions and individuals.
“It is only through the dona-tions of food, clothing, and financial support from our many friends and partners that we are able to provide emergency assistance. Because we greatly appreciate their generosity, we make every attempt to be good stewards of our emergency relief resources,” Simpson says.
“Never underestimate your influence with others— many of our current individual and congrega-tional donors first became interested in supporting Open Door because someone encouraged them to get involved.”
For more information on how you can partner in this vital work, contact Open Door at (410) 522-0044, [email protected] or online
at www.opendoorbaltimore.org.
‘Open Door’ patiently and diligently opens doors to help others
April 2009 Your Convention... Page 19
By Shannon BakerBCM/D National Correspondent
ROCKVILLE, Md.—Kim Cook, a licensed clinical social worker for the state of Maryland, has been named executive director of CentrePointe Counseling, Inc.
Since 2003, Cook has served as therapist and clinical director at CentrePointe Counseling, Inc., where she helped provide mental health counseling to individuals and families; supervised, assisted in hiring and orientating clinical staff; maintained insurance credential-ing for agency therapists; oversaw the billing process; and worked to insure agency accreditation and compliance.
“I am humbled at the calling to lead this talented staff as we con-tinue to help hurting people with competent and compassionate ser-vices,” Cook shared, explaining that CentrePointe is on the cusp of doing exciting new things.
“The board is focused on tak-ing the agency to the next level of professionalism, development, and service delivery. The staff has already begun implementing the strategic plan. I will focus on helping the counselors and board to reach these goals, as we use our gifts and talents together.”
The ongoing vision of Centrepointe is to have a counselor within 45 minutes of each individual in Maryland. CentrePointe is continu-ing to grow geograph-ically—currently, the agency has 23 locations with 14 counselors, but is looking to add more staff and more sites. Cook said that CentrePointe will also continue to develop their breadth of services. The established plan calls for adding more educa-tional opportunities for churches and their com-munities.
“On the scholastic side, we’d like to offer
training events that will help pro-mote wellness and work more in the area of preventative care,” she said.
Previously, she served as program manager at Baptist Family and Chil-dren’s Services, where she handled similar management respon-sibilities as well as provided counseling and case management to clients, includ-ing agency foster care children. Cook has also worked for Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities. She has developed programs, provided counseling, and participated in community partner-ships.
While in seminary at South-western Baptist Theological Semi-nary, in Fort Worth, Texas, Cook served as a Prevention Specialist for the Fort Worth Independent School District, where she provided counseling, classroom education,
and peer mediations. In particular, she worked with students and their parents to prevent disciplinary ex-
pulsions. Prior to that,
she supervised social workers and after-school staff at five Title I schools through a non-profit social service agency. In that capacity, she handled the case management and counseling of students in specific clinical need and worked with organizations such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, YMCA, and United Way to help promote greater com-munity involvement.
Cook is a native of Maryland. She was baptized at Middle River Church as a child. However, she spent most of her school years as a member with her family at Oak Grove Church in Bel Air, Md. One formative ministry experience was serving as a state Acteen’s panelist. Her involvement
in WMU was central in her calling to study social work and to develop a specialty in church and community ministry.
Cook, received a master of arts degree in church and community ministry from Southwestern Semi-nary in 2002. She also earned a master of social work degree, with a clinical concentration and spe-cialization in family and children’s services, from the University of Maryland in Baltimore in 1999; and a bachelor of science degree in Social Work from Messiah College, in Grantham, Pa., in 1998.
While at Centrepointe, Cook had been an instructor at Villa Julie College’s Human Services Program, where she taught undergraduate classes, supervised practicums and internships, and coordinated the placement of students into intern-ships. This opportunity developed key administrative relationships for Cook at numerous social service, faith-based, government, and hos-pital agencies in the Baltimore-DC area.
Cook has written for Parent Life, a magazine published by Life-Way Christian Resources, and for
HelpMeet, a BaptistLIFE feature targeting minis-ters’ wives. She also has an established speaking ministry, having spoken to many area churches on the topics of family ministry involvement and leadership.
Cook has a heart for families and children in need. She shares this ministry passion with her husband, Bobby, who is the Associate Pastor for Family Ministry at Red-land Church in Rockville, Md. His responsibilities include children, youth, recreation, and families. The Cooks have three sons and live in Rockville.
To find out more about CentrePointe Counseling, Inc. or to schedule an ap-
pointment, please call (410) 882-1988 or toll free (800)
491-5369; or visit www.centrepointecounseling.org.
Cook named as executive director of CentrePointe Counseling, Inc.
Page 20 Your Association... April 2009
Arundel Association
Twenty-seven volunteers from New Hope Community Church, Weems Creek Church, First Church Kent Island, The Bridge and Faith Church, Glen Burnie, will travel to New Orleans April 25 - May 2. Team members will do construction work, helping to rebuild homes from hurricane damage. They’ll also do street level work such as surveys, inner city ministry, an after school ministry and an “annu-al” birthday barbecue for the home-less, celebrating everyone’s birthday at once.
They’ll work with churches in and near the Ninth Ward, the area that is the poorest and was the hardest hit from Hurricane Katrina.
The team will work with Edge-water Church; Sojourn Lakeview Church; Grace Church and Cross-roads and they’ll partner with Habitat for Humanity and Operation Noah Rebuild, a partnership project between New Orleans churches, associations, the Louisiana Baptist Convention and the North American Mission Board to help rebuild New Orleans, to start and strengthen churches and reach people for Christ.
This is the third associational mission trip to New Orleans. John Brittain, Arundel Association’s director of missions, said the asso-ciation has planned for a total of ten trips.
New Hope Church, Curtis Bay, will send a mission team to Matamoros, Mexico, July 18-25. The team will minister to children in an orphanage and others in the surrounding communities through hosting Vacation Bible School. New Hope has had an ongoing relation-ship with the people of Matamoros and has been sending teams there for over six years.
Church member Kailyn Jensen will participate in a Global Expedi-tions trip to Uganda on June 14-July 10 to minister to children living in displacement camps and to ex-child soldiers in Uganda.
North Arundel Church, Glen Burnie, will begin having services at 5 p.m. on Saturdays beginning April 4, in addition to the two they have on Sundays in Glen Burnie and one at NAC’s new campus, Grace Place, in Dundalk.
Baltimore Association
First Church, Dundalk, had a children’s movie night last month with pizza, sweets, drinks and an animated movie about missionary Jim Elliott.
Blue Ridge Association
Destiny Church, Martins-burg, W.V., will have revival ser-vices April 7-9 at 7 p.m. The guest speaker will be Stephen J. Russell.
North Star Church, Ijams-ville, had a free video training seminar taught by a former NBC video producer.
The church is planning a mis-sion trip to Guatemala in July.
Pleasant Valley Church, Rohrersville, has a card ministry. Members gather together for fellow-ship and to write cards to those who are sick, shut-ins and others who need encouragement.
Delaware Association
Bethany Church, Wilming-ton, will have a ladies tea in April.
Grace Church, Seaford, Del., has an English as a Second Lan-guage (ESL) class every Tuesday night led by Bertine Alfreide. The class size ranges from 8-12 people. A free ESL class is a great way to reach out to those who are new in the area and are struggling with English.
Ogletown Church’s middle school youth had a lock-in last month. The church’s Joy Group had a talent show/pizza night fellowship.
Eastern Association
First Church, Easton, will host games, Bible stories and a cook-out at a local apartment complex on May 30.
The church is ministering internationally with two mission trips planned for Turkey and one to Mexico.
Lynnhaven Church, Po-comoke City, is fostering some parent-child bonding time. The church recently had a daddy/daugh-ter dinner followed by a mother/son indoor campout.
The church will have their an-nual Easter egg hunt on April 4 for children in grades 2 and under. In
the evening, the older kids will meet for a “glow in the dark” egg hunt.
Mid-Maryland Association
Bethany Lane Church, El-licott City, will host an original Easter production entitled “The Payment” which portrays the events of the first Easter. Sherrie McKay, Bethany Lane’s minister of music, wrote the music for the program and Jason Brown, music director of First Church, Upper Marlboro, arranged it. The show will feature Elizabeth Miller, an internationally recognized dancer along with a cast of 100 singers, dancers and actors. Admission is free but seating is lim-ited. The performances are at 7 p.m. on April 8-10, and at 3 and 6 p.m. on April 11.
Other Easter events at the church include a pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt on April 4. About 80 children came to the hunt last year, plus their parents. Chil-dren’s minister, Rachel Williams, expects more this year.
Christian magician, John Car-rington, will be the special guest at the egg hunt. Carrington will pres-ent the gospel message through his magic act. Afterwards, the kids will be set free to hunt for more than 3,000 eggs.
For more information or to re-serve tickets for the Easter Produc-tion call (410) 465-0150 or see www.bethanylanebaptist.org.
Adam Feldman, pastor of Metanoia Church, Ellicott City, baptized nine people on Feb. 15. After an abbreviated service, church members had a big potluck dinner then headed to Bethel Church for the baptism celebration.
Metanoia Church meets at a recreation center on Sunday morn-ings, so they use the baptistery of one of its partner churches – either Bethany Lane, Cornerstone Commu-nity or Bethel. In warm weather, the church gathers at a local swimming pool, or even at the Potomac River for baptism celebrations.
South Columbia Church has many activities this month for Easter. The youth will give a ban-ner presentation on April 5. A Good Friday service will have the theme “Through the Seven Last Words of Christ.” On Easter Sunday, there will be special music by the sanctu-
ary choir and a brass ensemble. The youth will also present a dramatic interpretation.
The church’s women’s ministry will host a spring craft extravagan-za from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 30.
Ongoing women’s ministries in-clude a ladies’ Sunday school class, a Tuesday morning and a Tuesday evening Bible study; LIFT (Ladies in fellowship together ) every Mon-day evening and WOW (Women on Wednesdays), a mid-week casual small group.
The ladies also participate with “blankets of love,” a quilt making ministry for needy recipients.
Montgomery Association Kensington Church ordained
Kim Hyekyung Ock to the gospel ministry on Feb. 8 and commis-sioned him and his wife, Ihn, as missionaries to the Korean commu-nity. The couple started the Rock of Salvation Church that is meeting in the Burtonsville area.
Lexington Park Church has a divorce care ministry to help people who are or have gone through divorce or separation. For more information see their website, www.divorcecare.org.
Redland Church, Rockville, sent a team of 29 members to Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic from Jan. 10-17. They partnered with Pastor Carlos Soegaard and his church Cristiano Shalom doing con-struction projects, leading vacation Bible school and hosting a medical clinic.
The construction team built two homes for needy families from Carlos’ congregation while the VBS team ministered to over 300 chil-dren in several local neighborhoods. A medical team was comprised of two family practice physicians, one dentist, one physician’s assistant, one pediatric nurse and seven fourth year medical students. They attend-ed to, treated and prayed with over 500 patients during the week, and were blessed to see several of them make confessions of faith.
“God blessed our week with safety, team unity and the bless-ing of seeing His powerful hand at work all around us. Many of our team shared how this week in the Dominican Republic helped revive their faith in Christ and renewed
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April 2009 Your Association... Page 21
their passion for shar-ing the gospel with their neighbors at home,” wrote Daniel Adams, a team member and son of Mark Adams, pastor of Redland Church.
The ladies of Red-mond welcomed guest speaker Peggy Morse, a missionary to Romania as their special speaker at a ladies night out last month.
Viers Mill, Silver Spring, will host the Easter cantata “Raise the Crown” on April 5. The women of Viers Mill led worship on Baptist Women’s Day on Mar. 22. There was also a special women’s choir.
Potomac Association
Lexington Park Church had a “How to fireproof your marriage” overnight retreat at Camp Wabanna in Edgewater.
Seven Locks Church, Poto-mac, will join with other churches for a mission trip to Jefferson City, Tenn., this summer. They will help build and repair homes and work with Backyard Bible Clubs in con-junction with Appalachian Outreach Ministries.
Trinity Church, Waldorf, started a new worship service on the last Wednesday of every month. The subject matter and music is geared toward teens and young adults.
Prince George’s Association
Clinton Church recently hosted a “Practical guide to grant writing and fundraising” seminar.
Cornerstone Peaceful Bible Church moved to their new loca-tion at Frank Tippett Road in Upper Marlboro.
Faith Fellowship Church will have their annual men’s retreat June 19-21 at Refreshing Mountain Camp, Stevens, Pa.
The Prince George’s Associa-tion’s Women on Mission hosted a ladies spring tea last month. The theme was “For such a time as this…”, referencing Mordecai’s words to Queen Esther, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and
deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”
Members of West Hyattsville Church celebrated their 50th anni-versary on Mar. 7 with a community health fair.
Susquehanna Association First Church, Havre de
Grace, will host “Run to the Pantry Motorcycle Rally” on April 11. The Rugged Cross Motorcycle Minis-try will lead the worship service. Fresh Fire band will provide music. Rugged Cross will collect non-perishables as part of their ongo-ing ministry to the needy. A short run motorcycle ride, will follow the service, ending at a nearby diner for lunch.
Oak Grove Church, Bel Air, will host a National Bible Bee on Sept. 12. The Shelby Kennedy Foundation is sponsoring the con-test. The competition begins with local contests in September. The top 100 finalists from each age group advance to the national level in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 5-6. The deadline to enter a local contest is April 30. For more information see http://www.biblebee.org.
Western Association
Youth at Paramount Church
had a missions study last month focusing on North American Missionaries Daniel and Kimberly Goombi and Brenda Crim.
The Goombis serve as missionaries on a Native American Indian reserva-tion in Kansas, which is the home of the Prairie Band Po-tawatomi Indians. They use Vacation Bible School, carni-vals, and other programs to reach the Native Americans with the love of Christ and His salvation message.
Brenda Crim coordinates Southern Baptist volunteers at the Alaskan Iditarod. The volunteers do the jobs that others do not want to do like
take food to the dog teams. The volunteers also give each racing team a bucket with
candy and a Bible. They give out free hot drinks outside and work the concessions stand at basketball games while giving out Bibles and sharing Christ with people.
After watching some video clips and hearing about the missionaries, the Paramount youth were given an opportunity to help. In response, the youth signed a basketball, which has been mailed to Brenda Crim to use at the basketball games in Alaska. Also, some verses were highlighted in a Bible that was signed by the youth. This Bible has been sent to the Goombis to be given to a Native American at the reservation.
The youth who participated included Christian and Joshua Col-liflower from Williamsport, Abbie and Esther Hayes, Madison Lewis, Spencer Lunsford and Tony Owuor from Hagerstown.
The ladies of Welsh Memo-rial ministered to their local police department as a special missions project for February. The women took two large trays of cookies, cup-cakes, brownies, candies and fruit to the Frostburg Police Station. They left the “goodies” along with a card telling the police officers and staff how much they are appreciated and that the ladies of Welsh would be praying for them.
Western Association will have its annual youth camp July 12-17 at Camp Frame, Hedgesville, W.V.
Redland Church, Rockville, sent a team of 29 members to Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic. The medical team treated and prayed with over 500 patients during the week, and were blessed to see several of them make confessions of faith.
Potomac
Prince George’s
Susquehanna
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BCM/D April, May & June Events
April3-4 Mosaic Annual Conference, Friday 5 pm - Sat. 5 pm (ext. 221)
5 Language Music Celebration, Global Mission Church, 5 pm (ext. 221)12 Happy Easter!
17-18 Ministers Wives Retreat, Doubletree, Annapolis (ext. 211)
25 Bulding Powerful Ministry Teams, BMRC, 9 am (ext. 222)
MayHealth Kits (ext. 231)
5 - June 29 Rockbridge Seminary Summer Term (rockbridgeseminary.org)
8 PC Overview, BMRC, 9:30-4:30 pm
10 Mothers Day
18 Children’s Ministers Seminar, BMRC, 10 - 2 pm (ext. 233)
June21 Fathers Day
21-22 WMU Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY, (ext. 231)
21-26 Centrifuge Week 1, Skycroft, (800-536-6759)
23-24 Southern Baptist Convention, Louisville, KY
28-Jul 3 Centrifuge Week 2, Skycroft, (800-536-6759)
30-Aug 24 Rockbridge Seminary Summer Term (rockbridgeseminary.org)
For detailed information, go to www.bcmd.org/calendar or call 1-800-466-5290 and dial the
extension listed.
Page 22 Your World... April 2009
By Baptist Press Staff
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)—The North American Mission Board has many opportunities for you or your church to serve in short-term mis-sions. The Bridge (www.thebridge.namb.net) is an online volunteer/project management system where missionaries and churches post mis-sions opportunities and volunteers find places to serve.
Here are some ways to serve:Operation Noah Rebuild is a
partnership between New Orleans’ area associations and churches, the Louisiana Baptist Convention and the North American Mission Board. Skilled and unskilled workers are needed to help rebuild homes dam-aged by Hurricane Katrina. Visit www.OperationNoah.net for more information.
Wondering how you can leave a
legacy of missions to your children and grandchildren? How about a mis-sion trip for the whole family? Fami-lies on Mission is a pre-packaged, week-long family mission opportunity that allows everyone to be on mis-sion together. Visit www.namb.net/fom or email [email protected] for more information.
Every year, Baptist Builders respond to hundreds of requests for church construction assistance. Visit www.namb.net/bbuilders or e-mail [email protected].
If you like the open road, Camp-ers on Mission is your highway to spiritual fulfillment. Campers on Mission is a national fellowship of Christian campers who combine their love of the outdoors with ministry in North America. Ministry opportuni-ties are posted at www.TheBridge.namb.net. Visit www.namb.net/CampersonMission to find out how
you can join these active volunteers.Southern Baptists are the third-
largest provider of disaster relief services in North America. State Baptist conventions have trained more than 85,000 volunteers to respond to national and international disasters. To find out how you can join this volunteer force, contact your state Baptist convention disaster relief office. Also visit www.namb.net/dr.
World Changers offers pre-planned, pre-packaged, week-long mission projects for junior high and high school students, where you and your team help fix up homes and serve low-income communities in many ways. As you serve, you’ll have opportunities to share the love of Christ and tell others how He’s transformed your life and wants to transform theirs! Visit www.World-Changers.net.
PowerPlant is a pre-packaged student mission experience that involves and educates students in church planting and evangelism. During a project, students are placed on ministry teams to work alongside a church planter. Visit www.Power-Plant.net to find out how you can participate in this amazing ministry.
Student Mission Groups: Throughout the United States and Canada, hundreds of Southern Baptist ministries need your help. You can find project needs in North America by visiting www.TheBridge.namb.net. Need help planning the trip? You’ll find free resources to as-sist you in planning the perfect trip at www.StudentMissionTrips.net.
Provided by the North American bureau of Baptist Press
in Alpharetta, Ga.
What’s your mission?
By: Deborah Avery
CLEVELAND, Ohio (BP)—As you begin planning your next mis-sion trip, here are eight tips for suc-cess. Please pray about where God would lead you to serve and learn from our experiences.
Get an early start. The earlier you’re able to plan your trip, set your date and location, the better chance you have of finding affordable lodg-ing, especially if you’re planning to stay at a church; they tend to fill up quickly if a lot of mission teams are coming to that area.
Pre-trip advantages. If you plan to lead a mission team, never underestimate the value of going on a pre-project visit. A pre-trip allows you to connect with the local church or missionary you’ll be serving and get familiar with the area. Take time to scope out possible accommoda-tions, the mission site, and recreation opportunities.
Train your team. Always train prior to your ministry experience to ensure time for clarifications and overall effectiveness. We suggest requiring a couple of training ses-sions to ensure people are committed
to serving and to build community within the group. Train your volun-teers in what you’ll be doing before you leave. Make sure this training includes how to effectively share the Gospel with the culture you’re ministering to. Don’t forget to include training on your specific mission tasks. Get materials in the hands of teachers as soon as possible.
Find the right housing. Take advantage of housing opportuni-ties offered by local churches. Many churches offer space to stay, meeting space and kitchens for meals. If you plan to stay in a hotel, find one with kitchens available in some or all the rooms in order to save money, rather than eating out all the time. Take ad-vantage of hotel services such as free breakfasts. This can save around $5 per person per day. Some hotels may offer grocery service or meeting rooms in which to serve meals or have devotional time; others may even have laundry service at minimal cost. Don’t forget, many hotels offer discounts with local restaurants.
Be flexible. Enter your area of ministry with a teachable heart and a listening ear. Listen to the minis-try leaders you’re coming alongside
to serve. Remember, they know their mission field the best. Set aside your own agendas and serve alongside the local church’s purpose. Be flexible -- you may train for block parties and then it rains. Don’t get discouraged! God has you there for a reason; look for those unexpected opportunities to serve.
Ask about follow up. Ask the ministry leaders about their plan for follow up with people your team connects with. Ask about follow up in advance so the church can have a
strategy in place by the time you come.
Budget extra. Extra costs tend to come up. Budget with a minimum cushion of $20 a person. This way, should there be unex-pected expenses, you’ll be covered. If the extra money goes unused, either refund the team members or give a spe-cial gift to the ministry you came to serve. Make sure you wait until you’re home before doing this. You never know what unexpected
things can happen on the way home!Tax-exempt savings. Make sure
to take advantage of your tax-exempt status when paying for restaurants and hotels. Give your service person advanced warning so your bill can be totaled correctly the first time.
Deborah Avery served as Cleve-land Hope mobilization associate
in Cleveland, Ohio. She is currently serving alongside her husband at
The Bridge church in Perry, Ohio.
Eight tips for a mission trip
Shannon Baker, BaptistLIFE’s national correspondent, on a mission trip in Guinea, Africa.
April 2009 Your World... Page 23
By Tim Durkin
COLUMBIA, Md.—The staff, trustees, donors and clients of Baptist Family are very grateful to Maryland/Delaware Baptists for your generous and continuing sup-port.
Thanks to your prayers and donations, 2008 was a banner year for Baptist Fam-ily. Our programs served more people than ever before, and we were able to add significant capacity, improving the quality of our care in equal measure to the in-crease in quantity. We are pleased to report the following progress:
Record-break-ing material as-sistance. As in years past, Baptist Family headed efforts to pro-vide poverty-stricken families with support at back-to-school time and Christmas. Funds and supplies were raised from a variety of sourc-es, including individual donors and Baptist churches in Maryland and Delaware. Four thousand three hun-dred one kids were served in these combined events, up 60 percent from 2007. A year of strong fund raising was critical to this effort, as it al-lowed us to upgrade the staff person responsible for these two projects from part-time to full-time. Her extra hours returned extremely good results.
Families have told us many times that without our assistance they would not have been able to provide anything for their kids at back-to-school and Christmas. We have been blessed by strong partner-ships with local churches that care deeply about their communities.
Record-breaking informa-tion and referral. Strong fund raising also allowed Baptist Family to hire a part-time staffer to man our information and referral hotline. Families in all kinds of crises (fi-nancial, psychological, medical) call Baptist Family for help. To assist
families whose needs for help are beyond the scope of our programs, we have long maintained a directory of local organizations whose services complement our own. In 2008, we focused on updating and improv-ing the quality of that directory and increasing the number of hours
staff were available to answer calls for help live, rather than responding to a message left on voicemail.
These efforts paid off, as GSN staff responded to 411 calls for help in 2008, an increase of 64 percent over 2007. God has given us many opportu-nities to provide clients with a listen-ing ear, encourage-ment, and prayer. One caller prayed with Baptist Fam-ily staff and even accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord.
New opportunities in tran-sitional housing. In 2008, we also saw GSN’s acquisition and lease of two new single-family homes that the program will use to provide transitional housing services to homeless families. One home, in the Pen Lucy neighborhood of Baltimore City, is already in use. The other, in Baltimore’s Brooklyn neighborhood and a partnership with the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn, is cur-rently being outfitted with furniture and supplies.
The impact of this program is massive. The family in our Balti-more City house is a young mar-ried couple with an infant. We have been blessed to help them grow and mature, and to raise a healthy child while working and going through school.
Foster care goal well met. Our CHOSEN Treatment Foster Care program met its 2008 goal, caring for 70 children. CHOSEN receives children via referrals from county-level Departments of Social Services. It then matches referred kids with trained treatment fos-
ter parents. CHOSEN kids are treated by individual families in individual–not group–homes. The child’s treatment is implemented by our foster parents and overseen by skilled Family Treatment managers employed by CHOSEN.
Major success was accom-plished in transforming foster families into adoptive ones. Of the 70 children in our care in the past year, 12 have been adopted by their foster parents or are in the final stages of their adoption. This
is a fantastic result, which shows that we have matched our foster kids with the best possible foster families.
Two of our foster children are preparing for baptism into the churches of their foster parents. Please pray for them and for all of our kids.
In all, we at Baptist Family are proud of the work we accomplished in 2008. We took major steps in the service of our mission, and laid solid foundations for future work.
Baptist Family reports strong 2008 results
DAY SCHOOL DIRECTOR—First Baptist Church of Laurel, Md., is accepting resumes for the position of Day School (PK through 8th Grade) Director. Applicants can send their resumes to Mr. Robert Hales, Church Administrator, FBCL, 15000 First Baptist Lane, Laurel, MD 20707 or to [email protected]. This is a full-time/twelve-month paid staff position. Applicants must have a minimum of two years experience in school administration, and hold an advanced degree in Childhood Education.
MINISTER OF MUSIC/WORSHIP — Needed at Rolling Hills Baptist Church, Clarksville, Md. Approx. 20 hours per week for a loving person with music leadership experience who’s passionate about Jesus and sharing Him with others! If interested, please contact the RHBC Personnel Committee at (410) 381-5077 or the Pastor at (410) 997-1436.
PART-TIME PASTOR—Calverton Baptist Church is seeking a part-time Pastor. Applicants must be an ordained Baptist minister with at least a Master of Div. from a Baptist Seminary. The Pastor must embody the beliefs that our primary source of guidance and unity is Jesus Christ our Savior, and that the Bible represents the
inerrant and inspired Word of God. This is an ideal opportunity for a retired Baptist minister who is interested in staying involved by continuing to preach the word of God. Please send resumes to Calverton Baptist Church, Pastor Search Com., 12625 Galway Dr., Silver Spring, Md. 20904, ATTN: E. Williams.
MAIL, E-MAIL OR FAX YOUR AD Deadlines are the second Friday of each April for the following April’s issue. Classified advertising is 75 cents per word ($18.00 minimum) for BCM/D churches and church members; 85 cents per word ($20.00 minimum) for non-profit organizations; and 95 cents per word ($25.00 minimum) for commercial organizations. Word count does not include words with two letters or less. Contact us for display ad pricing. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute an endorsement of any advertiser’s products or services.
For more, visit online at www.bcmd.org and click on “Ministry Positions”
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