visionsvisions COOPERATIVE

BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP OF GEORGIA

FEB/MAR 2010

disaster response

2 Reflecting on CBF’s Response to the

Atlanta Floods Ricky Letson

3 A Flood of Compassion

Reid Doster

4 Surviving the CrisisBeverly Stewart

5 Where Is Your Home?

Greg DeLoach

6 A Disaster Relief Testimony

John Wyatt

7 To Give Ourselves Away

Glenn & Pat Herndon

8 CBF/GA Scholarship Recipients

10 Georgia Youth Choir Festival

11 Financial Update

12 Coming Up!Events Calendar

i was in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, attending a CBF Leadership Team meeting, when word came over the internet that significant flooding had occurred north and west of Atlanta. When such events happen

my inner alarm bells go off, warning me that it will not be long before calls and emails come in from good folks wanting to help. such a situation brings forth both opportunity and danger. The opportunity is that we will have the chance to connect volunteers to people in need. The danger is that we will not be able to do this in a time frame that captures the moment. in other words, it is very difficult—almost impossible—to put volunteers on the ground in a week or so. The strength of our response is not what we do the next week but what we do over the long haul. There are a few exceptions to this, but for the most part we are not first-responders. You are likely to find us in the affected area a month later and for several months, perhaps even years, thereafter.

our experience in Austell was no different. i came home a half-day early from my conference. The next morning i contacted our national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship disaster relief representatives, Charles Ray and Reid Doster. Charles lives in Arkansas and Reid in Louisiana. i explained that our CBF/GA disaster relief leader had recently relocated to another state and that i needed to find someone to do an assessment of the area

to determine what we could do. This was complicated by the fact that we did not have a CBF-related church in the area. The closest was over twenty-six miles away. Charles and Reid agreed to visit the site and do an assessment for the national office. i agreed to contact our congregations to see if, by chance, any had a member or employee needing assistance as a result of the flood. Mike Gregg, Minister of Educational Life at northside Drive Baptist Church, was kind enough to get the ball rolling by giving us a name of someone in his church who was already receiving help. over time one contact led to another with Charles and Reid making contact with two women who live on Egret Avenue in Austell. Both of their homes had

frankly speaking

Disaster Response & ReliefWhat happened in Austell is a good example of CBF at its best. It demonstrates what can happen when the National office, the state office, and local congregations come together to make a difference. by Frank Broome

Continues to next page.

Give yourself away. (Story page 7.)

2 Visions

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia

P.O. Box 4343 Macon, GA 31208-4343

phone 478-742-1191 fax 478-742-6150

toll free phone 1-877-336-6426toll free fax 1-877-336-6425

website www.cbfga.org

CBF/GA Staff

Coordinator E. Frank Broome • fbroome@cbfga.org

Senior Assistant for Finance and Administration

Suzanne Powell • spowell@cbfga.org

Assistant for Communication and Resources

ElizaBeth Copeland • ecopeland@cbfga.org

Administrative Assistant Aimee Day • aday@cbfga.org

CBF/GA Coordinating Council

Moderator • Greg DeLoach, AugustaModerator-Elect • Mimi Walker, AtlantaPast-Moderator • Gwen Colwell, Macon

Treasurer • Jim Bruner, MaconClerk • Barbara Wood, Gray

Becky Adkins, MadisonDon Callaway, Moultrie

Adair Cox, RomeGail Duke, Dalton

Mike Hendley, St. SimonsJay Janowski, Decatur

Kim Jenkins, ColumbusJoyce McCartney, GriffinSusan Mullis, Summerville

Ricky Newsom, Union PointJoanne Owens, Rome

Bob Patterson, Warm SpringsVan Pool, Savannah

Thomas Quisenberry, MorrowLee Ritchie, CommerceMike Ruffin, FitzgeraldSteven Spencer, EvansRobin Spivey, MariettaLeDora Taylor, MariettaCarrie Veal, GainesvillePhilip Vestal, HarlemRichard West, EdisonJohn Woodruff, Tifton

Student Representatives

Hannah Coe, AthensChelsey McDade, Mercer University

CBF/National Coordinating Council Georgia Members

Renée Bennett, Macon Ruth Cueller, Newnan

Jimmy Gentry, Carrollton Ron McClung, Haddock

Stephanie McLeskey, AthensAl Shauf, Cordele

Darrell Watson, Forsyth

VISIONS is published six times a yearby CBF/GA. All questions and comments may be directed to

ElizaBeth Copeland,478-742-1191, ext. 23,

or ecopeland@cbfga.org.

Disaster Response (Continued from page 1.)

several feet of water in the first floor and had sustained significant damage. not being in a flood plain, neither had flood insurance. over the next several weeks a number of pastors and staff contacted us, including John Wyatt at FBC Fort oglethorpe, Randy shepley at FBC Tucker, Edward Bolen at Milledge Avenue Baptist Church in Athens, and Ricky Letson at Johns Creek Baptist Church in Atlanta. volunteers from the FBC Pendleton, south Carolina, came as well. CBF/GA was able to contribute $5,000 from disaster relief funds. That went a long way toward buying sheetrock and paint. The good volunteers did the rest.

some of the pictures in this issue of Visions will give you a glimpse of what was done. You will also hear about Beverly and Lana, two very nice individuals. not only did our congregations help them, but also they helped us. They helped us understand better what can be done when trust is established and individuals decide to work together.

What the pictures do not convey is the behind-the-scenes work that goes on when responding to a disaster. Phone calls, emails, and site visits abound. A site coordinator has to be found. someone has to make a list of what materials are needed. someone has to determine which crew will do what work on what day.

it is a complicated process. Yet somehow by the grace of God and the good work of folks like Charles Ray, Reid Doster, and several local church lay and clergy leaders who

joined hands with two hard-working home owners, the work got done.

What happened in Austell is a good example of CBF at its best. it demonstrates what can happen when the national office, the state office, and local congregations come together to make a difference. indeed we made a difference, and for that i am very grateful.

Frank Broome Coordinator fbroome@cbfga.org

The strength of our response is not what we do the next week but what we do over the long haul.

the power of cooperation: Reflecting on CBF’s Response to the Atlanta FloodsWe are at our best when we do exactly what our name suggests—cooperate. by Rickey Letson

This has never been more evident to me than in recent months through the response of numerous Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregations to the fall floods in the metro Atlanta area. As was the case with many others, my first response to the floods was to ask how our congregation

could respond to the needs of our near neighbors. My second response was to get in contact with the leadership of CBF Disaster Response to gain their insights and suggestions. That initial email led to both a chance for our congregation to minister to families in need and the opportunity to have a front row seat for witnessing Baptists at their best.

Continues to page 11.

www.cbfga.org 3

A Flood of Compassion

After last fall’s flash floods devastated communities west of Atlanta, CBF/GA, under the leadership of Frank Broome, resolved to intervene, trusting the Lord to provide the work

force and materials.

Frank invited Charles Ray, CBF national Disaster Response Coordinator, and Reid Doster, CBF Louisiana Coordinator, into the disaster area to help identify needs and formulate a response plan.

Charles and Reid made their way to Austell, a relatively new subdivision with homes in the $150,000 range, where sewerage-contaminated floodwaters had risen above the eaves and wrecked the bottom floors of many structures.

To credit, FEMA had already issued emergency checks, which did offer some immediate, temporary relief. However, in no event could the amount of those checks exceed $28,000, while actual repair costs could involve tens of thousands more. To compound the misery, residents had never been able to obtain federal flood insurance, because this particular Austell neighborhood had not been designated officially as a flood plain. Complicating things even more, many residents were automatically disqualified from low-interest sBA loans, due to having been laid off recently by a depressed economy.Bottom line, many residents were between a rock and hard place—unable to repair their homes or sell them.

Charles and Reid were first greeted in Austell by Randy shepley, Pastor of FBC Tucker, and his team of volunteers already on the ground mudding out a home. Randy had gone there to check on another homeowner, LeAnna Anantaran, whose brother is involved in a CBF church. LeAnna’s restoration work was already well underway, and she unselfishly introduced Randy to a neighbor with more urgent concerns.

The most immediate need was for workers to remove soaked carpet, sheetrock, and furniture, and to help homeowners salvage and clean what they could. Dumpsters were at a premium, with soaked carpets and sheetrock piled high to the curb. City officials were overwhelmed and could not keep up, which created even more anxiety for the traumatized residents who possessed a growing concern about contamination from a nearby sewerage treatment pond.

Charles and Reid selected two homes, owned by Lana Lorde and Beverly stewart, for a focused CBF restoration effort. Both two-story dwellings needed mudding out on the first floor, followed by electrical and plumbing work, insulation, sheetrock, paint, doors, cabinets, and so forth.

The beauty of this experience is in how so many caring people worked together

Volunteers to assist Lana and Beverly came from the following churches and partnering organizations:

— FBC Tucker, with Randy Shepley as Team Leader— FBC Fort Oglethorpe, with John Wyatt as Team Leader— FBC Pendleton, South Carolina, with Wayne Patterson as

Team Leader— Johns Creek Baptist Church, Alpharetta, with Rickey

Letson as Team Leader— Volunteers of America, with Paul McLendon as Team

Leader— Hub1 Logistics, with Marvin Walton as Team Leader

Funding for the project came from:

— CBF/National Disaster Response— CBF/GA— CBF/FL— Bridgewater Church, Madisonville, Louisiana— Volunteers of America

Accommodations for the South Carolina team were graciously provided by Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, Atlanta.

… extending the unconditional love of Jesus Christ to the most needy, neglected, and forgotten, without any expectation of return. by Reid Doster

Photo left: Standing: Tyrus Land, Russ Blackburn, Mason, Randy Strickland, Tom Carter and Wayne Patterson. Sitting: Beverly Stewart and Lana Lorde.Photo below: Beverly Stewart, Frank Broome, Lana Lorde

Continues to page 11.

4 Visions

Late one Monday evening, i arrived within a half mile of my home when i saw that the street had been blocked due

to flooding. i could not even get close enough to see my house. i stood there stunned and confused. Later i went to a store and bought toiletries and clothing. i ate dinner at a restaurant and then checked into a hotel.

The water receded on Wednesday. i returned to my home to see the damage. i had a difficult time opening the front door because it was swollen. i entered the house to see mud everywhere. There was furniture tossed about. My refrigerator was lying flat on the floor. There had been five feet of water. The first floor was damaged; however, my upstairs was not affected.

That saturday i started gutting my house. My neighbor Lana came by to see how i was doing. she had made a lot of progress on her house the previous three days. she volunteered to help me with my house. she said that the wet drywall and insulation had to be removed as soon as possible in order to avoid mold formation. she stopped working on her house and brought her friends to help me. My neighbor LeAnna sent two of her friends to help me also. on sunday, Mormon Church volunteers came to help.

We removed all first floor contents. We threw the debris in the front yard. We pressure washed the interior and exterior. i salvaged what i could. For the next few weeks, i continued to go to the house to clean and disinfect what remained.

i obtained quotes to repair the damage. The quotes were much higher than the FEMA grant i had received. i was not sure how i would get all the repairs completed. i did not have flood insurance. Additionally, i did not qualify for a loan because i was unemployed.

My neighbor LeAnna sent me an email that CBF might be able to help. she provided me the contact information for Pastor Reid Doster. i spoke to him via phone and described my situation.

Pastor Reid was able to find some volunteers to assist with repairs. one team came to take measurements and order supplies for the project. A second team came to fix termite-damaged studs, caulk penetrations, install insulation, and start hanging drywall. A third team came to continue hanging drywall. A fourth team came to finish the drywall work and fix electrical damage.

We made a lot of progress with the repairs. The help from the volunteers allowed me to get on the path to recovery. i enjoyed meeting all of the volunteers. Everyone was very friendly and caring. i survived the crisis. The lessons learned will stay with me for the rest of my life. i learned to be grateful for the generosity of both neighbors and strangers. There are caring people in this world who are doing God’s work by helping individuals facing adversity.

Beverly Stewart lives in Austell, where she continues recovering from flood damage to her home.

Surviving the CrisisI survived the crisis. The lessons learned will stay with me for the rest of my life. There are caring people in this world who are doing God’s work by helping individuals facing adversity. by Beverly Stewart

www.cbfga.org 5

Where is your home? over the years my wife Amy and i have been pretty good at nesting for ourselves in many places we called home—even when we knew our stay would be temporary. our first “home” was

a tiny garage apartment in Rome, where i was finishing my last year of college. Whenever our landlady would crank her 1972 Buick, the roar of the motor would shake books off our shelves. our next home for three years was our seminary apartment. it was an efficiency unit, which meant that you could place your hand in every room in the apartment while seated at the kitchen table. We loved our apartments, and they were as much a home to us as if we lived in a sprawling subdivision.

in the years following seminary, we have lived in two very fine parsonages and one church-owned furlough house that we also called home. The addresses changed and so did the churches.

Home is more than a slice of real estate or a postal address. it is as much a residence of the spirit and province of the consciousness. Do you remember when Jesus reminded his disciples, “... do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matt. 6:25). These words may not mean much to those of us who stay air-conditioned in the summer and centrally-heated in the winter, but what about those families who lost their homes to disasters? Hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes so often render many homeless.

My first disaster relief project involved taking a church van loaded with food down to south Florida after

Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992. i was a newly minted father, as well as months into my first full time pastorate. natural disasters, however, know no season. over the last two decades, i have been part of churches responding to floods, fires, and hurricanes—all displacing citizens from their homes.

Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “We can serve the God who feeds and clothes and shelters by doing some of that ourselves, but always with the knowledge that it is God who provides—no, who is— our true and only home, in whose household there is plenty—for the birds of the air, for the lilies of the field, and for every one of us.”

Part of the mission of the people of God is making homes for one another. sometimes this calls on us to respond in practical ways through construction, feeding, or temporarily housing. Even when there is nothing to clean up or fix up, however, there is still work to do in every community. Calamities are brusque reminders of the temporal natures of all houses. To be truly home has a lasting permanence. For ancient israel, to be home was not necessarily to be in a certain geographic region, but to be with God.

All of us will spend the rest of our lives searching for and making homes. Let us not confuse them with bricks and mortar, for one day, whether by disaster, neglect, or age, our homes will come to nothing. When our home is with God, we are empowered to go to the far corners of the globe or simply down the shaded street, responding, building, and providing shelter for one another. Either way, we are calling one another home.

Greg DeLoach Pastor of FBC Augusta and CBF/GA Moderator GDeLoach@fbcaugusta.org

Home is more than a slice of real estate or a postal address. It is as much a residence of the spirit and province of the consciousness.

Where is Your Home?All of us will spend the rest of our lives searching for and making homes. Let us not confuse them

with bricks and mortar, for one day, whether by disaster, neglect, or age, our homes will come to nothing.

by Greg DeLoach

6 Visions

in 2004 the horrific Hurricane Katrina devastated the Texas-Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama Gulf Coast to such a degree that the televised images of the homeless and forsaken called for more than groups of us gathering to merely pray. in our church at FBC Fort oglethorpe, several of us said, it seemed in unison, “We must go down and help.” Thus was born our CERT Ministry (Christian Emergency Response Team), which, since that time, has averaged four or five annual responses to assist with victims of hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. We have held fund-raising events in order to purchase a tool trailer, tools, and a truck, and we have built a garage to house our equipment. our group of involved persons totals some forty-five to fifty men and women who participate at varying levels.

What is required to have such a ministry? i would say the first thing is genuine concern, a passion to help. Every congregation has people with some kind of basic skill that is viable in clean-up, muck-out, and re-build situations. volunteer organizations which will utilize the particular skill-level of your group in the work abound. Every state CBF organization has persons who help network local churches in the need areas with volunteer groups. needless to say, our resources are restricted due to the limits of funds, but volunteers are doing a pretty good job.

our first trip was to Bayou la Batre, Alabama, in early 2005, where we were able to partner with the volunteers of America organization. The gentleman in charge shared a profound discovery he had made there in the wake of the devastation and almost overwhelming need. The discovery was that, for the first time in his sixty years, there was no competition and nit-picking as to doctrine and polity among the denominations, but that Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Presbyterians, and others were working side-by-side, sharing resources, and encouraging one another, with nobody’s trying to exercise control over the others. it was to him a beautiful picture of the servant church of our Lord Christ, meeting people at the point of their need.

Along the coast of Mississippi and Louisiana, where our group has been focused since 2005, it has been refreshing to hear over and over the testimonies of storm victims who declare that if it were not for the assistance of volunteer Christian groups they would be homeless. one man said to me, “i’m ashamed to admit it, Rev, but i had no use for the churches ‘til this storm. i was wrong about y’all.” With wet eyes, he shook my hand and said, “Me and my family thank you very much.”

John Wyatt is Pastor of FBC Oglethorpe. You may email him at johnw@fbcfo.org.

A Disaster Relief Testimony“I’m ashamed to admit it, Rev, but I had no use for the churches ‘til this storm. I was wrong about y’all.” With wet eyes, he shook my hand and said, “Me and my family thank you very much.” by John Wyatt

in 1992 Hurricane Andrew slammed the Miami-Homestead, Florida, area. one of our member families at Tucker First Baptist had a daughter living there whose property was demolished. When her brother-in-law loaded his pickup truck with water, tarps, and food items, and drove down alone, we agreed to pray for his trip. i remember feeling at this time that praying was just not enough. it never is.

We have held fund-raising events in order to purchase a tool trailer, tools, and a truck, and we have built a garage to house our equipment. Our group of involved persons totals some forty-five to fifty men and women who participate at varying levels.

www.cbfga.org 7

on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, affecting 9.7

million people over an area of ninety thousand square miles. A thirty-foot storm surge alone destroyed ninety percent of the buildings along the Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi, shoreline. This was the picture smoke Rise Baptist Church Missions Minister, Rev. Tim Adcox, and volunteers faced when they went to Biloxi to see how smoke Rise could help in this time of need.

Adcox was looking for a partner church to help rebuild homes and lives in the region. As he talked to pastors of Mississippi churches, one church stood out: LeMoyne Boulevard Baptist Church, Biloxi. This church wanted to partner with a church to help them rebuild their community. Although the church was looking at the damage of four feet of water in their sanctuary, this church was already out in the community helping people outside their church membership. Pastor Bill Renick said, “it took a hurricane blowing down the walls of the church for the congregation to be able to see the needs of the community around them.”

smoke Rise members, Jim and Ruth Huston, wanted to do more than go down and work for a few days or weeks. The Hustons bought a motor home, moved to Biloxi, and parked it in the LeMoyne church parking lot. Then they began to coordinate the estimated six thousand volunteers who came over a four-year period (2005- 2009) from all over the United states to rebuild the area. According to FEMA, the piles of debris are gone and only four hundred residents are still living in temporary

housing in st. Martin. Huston says that there are still many empty lots that have not been rebuilt. He states, “our biggest problem, i still have volunteers wanting to come, but we’ve run out of funds. Money is tight all around.”

The mission philosophy of smoke Rise is that they give themselves away in ministry. smoke Rise members began to respond to the needs and to partner with the LeMoyne Boulevard Baptist Church. some responded by going. smoke Rise Baptist has sent more than forty teams with a total of 481 workers to help rebuild the st. Martin community. others responded by giving. To date, smoke Rise has contributed over $110,000 to Katrina Disaster Relief.

volunteers from smoke Rise and other churches, working through LeMoyne, have helped more than four hundred families get back into houses, including building fourteen

from the ground up. These families did not have to be associated with the church to get help; however, some of them are now attending LeMoyne.

smoke Rise has partnered with FBC Augusta, FBC Eatonton, second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta, and other Baptist churches to assist LeMoyne Boulevard in recovery. Rev. Bill Renick, Pastor of LeMoyne Boulevard, said that smoke Rise’s volunteers have been at the heart of

the operation from his church. “They send groups and bring funds to help buy materials, and they have served as an encouragement to our staff.”

in september when Metro Atlanta was devastated by six to eight inches of rain, another response was needed to a disaster close to home. smoke Rise members made donations of over $1,300 and then volunteered their

To Give Ourselves AwaySince Smoke Rise believes that every member is a minister, each member is challenged to partner with God and one another to meet local and global needs. by Glenn and Pat Herndon

Continues to page 11.

8 Visions

CBF/GA scholarship RecipientsParker Aziz grew up in northwest Georgia in Ringgold. He spent his first two years of college at Shorter

College in Rome. While at Shorter, Parker served as Family Ministry Intern at Second Avenue Baptist Church, where he was surrounded by the love of Christ from so many families and staff. He is majoring in senior public policy at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He plans on enrolling in law school after graduation and pursing a calling of advocacy for youth offenders and the indigent. Parker volunteers with the Andrew P. Stewart Center, Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, and Touching Taliaferro with Love and works as a park guide at the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site. Parker enjoys CBF/GA because of its rich diversity and commitment to social justice. He is looking forward to marrying his fiancée Molly Harlan of Smyrna in May.

Parker Aziz

Samuel Raj was born in Chennai, India, to missionary parents who still work among the slums and fishing villages

in Tamil Nadu. He was called to ministry when he was the fifth World Vision Youth Ambassador for India in 1999. Sam

joined Habitat for Humanity International in its headquarters in Americus in 2001, where he served in the IT/Web department and later in the Disaster Response Office as the Technical Researcher. Sam also founded The Daily Bread Communications Company, which serves as the IT provider to many

ministries and cooperatives around the world. He was appointed as the Director of IT at the Fuller Center for Housing in 2006. In June 2008 Sam listened to God’s call and resigned from the Fuller Center in order to do full time ministry. Two months later Sam joined Druid Hills Baptist Church, Atlanta, as a minister in training. He is also a student at McAfee School of Theology, where he is pursuing an education grounded in research. Sam is happily married to Sharmi, and they have one daughter, Hanna Karen.

Samuel Raj

Megan Broadhead grew up in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. After graduating from high

school, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend Belmont University, originally pursuing a degree in music business. However, she later became a religion major and decided “the care of God’s people” would be her life’s work. She has always been attuned to the issues of young women, such as sexual pressure, body image, abuse, and knew she wanted to work with these victims. After graduation, she married Jonathan and moved to Atlanta. At McAfee School of Theology, she is pursuing master’s degrees in divinity and professional counseling. Her hope is to counsel and serve women and children dealing with the interrelated issues connected to trafficking, abuse, and addictions. She wants to create awareness of these issues within the local church and to challenge the church to advocate for those without a voice.

Megan Broadhead

At an early age, Peyton showed a strong interest in missions through her participation in

service initiatives. While studying at Valparaiso University in Indiana, she devoted much of her time to volunteer service organizations. Peyton worked with the Christian Appalachian Project of Kentucky for one year before committing to two years as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines. She grew through these ventures and decided to pursue a seminary education in order to strengthen the relationship between her call to service and her spirituality and faith. Her primary interest in

missions continues to show through her commitment to further God’s kingdom by actively loving people through service. Peyton is a native of Moultrie and continues to be active in her home church, Trinity Baptist Church. Serving as a ministry intern at

FBC Decatur, Peyton is in her third year at McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta.

Peyton Montooth

www.cbfga.org 9

Mark grew up in the mountains of Toccoa and on a farm in Baxley. His parents, David and Betty

Sauls, taught him what it means to love the Lord and seek first the Kingdom of God. Mark graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2007, earning a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science. During his college years, Mark participated in the Wesley Foundation and discovered his passion for global missions. He has been a part of medical efforts in Ecuador and Honduras, including serving for three months as an intern under Hope Works International in La Ceiba, Honduras. Mark served as the Interim Youth Minister for FBC Baxley in 2008 and is currently serving at Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Atlanta, as a Mission and Recreation Intern. He has declared a concentration in global Christianity. His future plan is to serve God abroad in Latin America with his wife, Sarah, and to equip local leaders with Biblical knowledge and spiritual development so they may be more effective leaders.

Mark Sauls

Natalie Vinson is a 2007 graduate of Georgia College and State University with a bachelor

of business administration degree. She will be attending McAfee School of Theology in the fall to pursue a master of divinity degree. She has hopes to work with a non-profit organization doing community development. For the 2008-2009 school year, Natalie interned with Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Mercer University in Macon. She is not only a former intern but also a former Youth and Children’s Director and Camp Counselor. Outside of pursing an education and discovering her niche in the ministry, Natalie enjoys spending time with her friends and family, wakeboarding, sewing, and reading.

Natalie Vinson

Laura Wheeler is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, and a graduate of North Carolina State

University with a degree in business management. After graduation, she spent a year in Birmingham, Alabama, serving

as an intern at Passport, Inc., and as Ministries Intern at Baptist Church of the Covenant. She is currently a third-year student at McAfee School of Theology, pursuing a master of divinity degree and working as a student recruiter in the McAfee Admissions Office. A member of Northside Drive Baptist Church, she serves the church as a seminary intern, gaining experience in

preaching, pastoral care, and adult education. After graduating this May, Laura hopes to pursue her passion for full-time congregational ministry.

Laura Wheeler

Congratulations

to all of our CBF/GA

scholarship

recipients!

Godspeed as you continue your educational journeys.

More about CBF/GA Scholarships …Through your contributions, CBF of Georgia provides scholarships to students who demonstrate a potential for leadership within CBF and who are connected to CBF/GA.

scholarships are available to upcoming seniors and students in a master’s level degree program at an accredited institution.

interested applicants may visit http://www.cbfga.org/church_life/scholarships.html for information about the application process and to download an application.

All application materials are due on or before April 1, 2010. Completed applications are received onCE annually. Award amount will be divided over two semesters and sent directly to recipients.

Award recipients must attend the CBF/GA General Assembly on november 7-8, 2010, at Highland Hills Baptist Church in Macon.

For more information, interested applicants should visit the CBF/GA website or contact Frank Broome at fbroome@cbfga.org.

10 Visions

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2010 Participating Churches

Briarcliff Baptist Church • AtlantaFBC Athens

FBC Chattanooga • TennesseeFBC ColumbusFBC DecaturFBC ForsythFBC Griffin

Peachtree Baptist Church • AtlantaSmoke Rise Baptist Church • Stone Mountain

Vineville Baptist Church • Macon

Thank you for supporting the Georgia Youth Choir Festival!

About 180 youth and adults participated in the annual Georgia Youth Choir Festival, sponsored by the churches and individuals of CBF/GA and the McAfee-Townsend institute of Mercer University.

The festival was held over the Martin Luther King, Jr., weekend on January 15-17.

on sunday the choir led worship at FBC Griffin in the morning service and at FBC Columbus in the evening service.

www.cbfga.org 11

Financial Update (June-Dec 2009)Budget Receipts as of 12-31-2009

Year to Date........................................ $288,352.43Requirement....................................... $339,696.00Over/Under..........................................<$51,343.57>

Month to Date..................................... $46,540.59Monthly Requirement....................... $48,528.00Over/Under............................................ <$1,987.41>

A Flood of Compassion (Continued from page 3.)

seamlessly to make a real difference in the lives of two people who were profoundly discouraged.

it was a fleshing out of the CBF Disaster Response mission statement: Reaching across racial, religious, and cultural barriers, extending the unconditional love of Jesus Christ to the most needy, neglected, and forgotten, without any expectation of return.

There is still work to do in Austell, Georgia. To volunteer, contact Reid at the email below, or call him at 985-778-6049. Donations for this ongoing project may be sent to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, 2930 Flowers Road south, suite 133, Atlanta, GA 30341, and designated for “CBF Response Fund #17006.”

Reid Doster is Coordinator of CBF Louisiana. He may be emailed at reid_doster@hotmail.com.

It was the fleshing out of the CBF Disaster Response mission statement ….

To Give Ourselves Away (Continued from page 7.)

My email to CBF Disaster Response helped me to quickly learn that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was already at work responding to real human needs. CBF quickly adopted two families in Austell whose homes had been significantly damaged by the flooding. These two fine families wanted to rebuild their homes but simply did not have the resources to do so on their own. My email also helped me to instantly realize that this was no small task and that lots of time, minds, hands, and dollars were going to be needed if the homes were going to be rebuilt.

The most important result of my email though was the doorway to cooperation that participating in this work opened up to me and our congregation. As the work got underway countless CBF congregations from all over the country involved themselves in a variety of ways to bring the task to fruition. it was amazing to witness the numbers of ways the people pitched in—from donating funds, to providing space in their facilities for work teams to stay, to sharing equipment and expertise, to donating time to help organize and prepare teams, as well as actually sending crews to Austell to work. indeed, on the cold saturday in December that our team from Johns Creek Baptist Church worked on the two adopted homes, it was so gratifying to hear story after story from the homeowners about the churches that had come before us and those that had already volunteered to follow after us.

shortly before Christmas i received a Christmas card from one of the Austell homeowners. she simply wanted to say thanks for our work and contribution to the rebuilding of her home. Her card was a subtle reminder of what a generous gift the chance to be involved in this work had been to me. What a tremendous reminder that was of what we can do when we work together!

i don’t look forward to hearing of the next disaster in our area. But i do look forward to the next chance to work with the good people of CBF Disaster Response and with our sister congregations in the never ending task of responding to human need. Without a doubt, i can think of few better ways to put our faith into action and to link our arms together.

Rickey Letson is Minister to Adults at Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta. You may email him at rletson@jcbc.org.

Reflecting on CBF’s Response to the Atlanta Floods (Continued from page 2.)

assistance in cleaning and rebuilding several homes that were damaged by the Atlanta floodwaters.

Response to disaster relief is one way that smoke Rise fulfills its mission philosophy. Pastor Bob Browning continues to remind the church, our dream is “To Give Ourselves Away.” since smoke Rise believes that every member is a minister, each member is challenged to partner with God and one another to meet local and global needs.

Glenn and Pat Herndon serve as part-time mission assistants to Tim Adcox, Smoke Rise Baptist Church’s Minister of Missions. Glenn is from Quitman and Pat is from Madison. They help to coordinate the work of Smoke Rise’s Mission Partnerships in Appalachia, New York, Honduras, Uganda, and Tijuana, plus other local and national ministries. Email them at glennpat@smokerisebaptist.org.

CBF/GA … enabling the people of God who are committed to historic Baptist principles to carry out the Great Commission under the Lordship of Jesus Christ in a fellowship where every Christian has the freedom and the responsibility to exercise God’s gift and calling.

COOPERATIVE BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP

GEORGIA

P.O. Box 4343Macon GA 31208-4343

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE

PAID ATHENS GA PERMIT #351

Coming Up!Events Calendar

February 22-25, 2010ChurchWorks Conference Scarritt Bennett Center, Nashville, TN

March 12-14, 2010March Mission MadnessFBC of Christ Macon and Mercer University

March 16, 2010Senior CelebrationVineville Baptist Church, Macon

March 19-21, 2010March Mission MadnessFBC Dalton www.marchmissionmadness.org

March 26-28, 2010March Mission Madness Park Avenue Baptist Church, Atlanta

June 14-18, 2010Touching Taliaferro with Love Day Camp Crawfordville

June 21-25, 2010Touching Taliaferro with Love Day Camp Crawfordville

November 7-8, 2010CBF/GA Fall General Assembly Highland Hills Baptist Church, Macon

www.cbfga.org/calendar/

Both National CBF and CBF/GA are receiving donations for aiding the people of Haiti.

You can send financial support to the National CBF at www.thefellowship.info

You can send donations to the CBF/GA office at CBF/GA, P.O. Box 4343, Macon, GA 31204.

(Please write “disaster relief ” in the “For” line of your check.)

Please call us at 478-742-1191 if you have questions.

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia (CBF/GA) is accepting resumes for the position of Associate Coordinator. Qualified candidates must have an abiding commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ; a genuine respect for the mission and ministry of the CBF/GA; a commitment to Baptist principles as embraced and practiced by the CBF/GA; and excellent skills in communications, leadership, administration, and team-building. Applicants must possess a master of divinity degree (or equivalent), two or more years of experience in a ministry-related field, and a willingness to relocate to the Macon area. Compensation will be between $35K-$38K plus benefits, depending on experience. Additional information is available on the CBF/GA web site (www.cbfga.org). Applications will be accepted until March 1, 2010. send resume and a letter describing qualifications via email attachments to fbroome@cbfga.org or mail to search Committee, CBF of Georgia, P.o. Box 4343, Macon, GA 31208.