Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
Baptist and Reflector
To help promote the launch of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board’s 2020-21 Tennessee Mission Emphasis, the TBMB will host a Facebook Live Premiere event on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Central (8 p.m. Eastern).
The event will include a viewing of all the 2020-2021 Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions promotional videos, and will be
available through the TBMB’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/tnbaptist.
[Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
FRANKLIN — “Flexible” has always been the watchword for mission volunteers no matter whether they were preparing for an international trip, a trip to another state or a mission project just down the road.
In a world turned upside down by the COVID-19 virus, the ability to be flexible and to adopt new approaches is more important than ever before, according to a group of mission leaders on a webinar — Missions in COVID Days — held July 7 and sponsored by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
The webinar was intended to help Tennessee Baptist churches find creative ways to be involved in missions while dealing with challenges caused by the pandemic, said Bill Choate, collegiate ministries director for the TBMB and host of the webinar. [Read more…]
By Leslie Peacock Caldwell
IMB News Office
Through Send Relief, Southern Baptists have helped more than 900,000 people worldwide affected by the coronavirus.
RICHMOND — International Mission Board senior leaders are urging Southern Baptists to use extreme caution if they are considering overseas missions travel for the remainder of 2020.
As many countries continue to require quarantines or have not yet opened their borders, travelers could face unexpected circumstances, including quarantines upon re-entering the U.S. The future threat and spread of COVID-19 also remains an unknown factor.
The IMB decision also impacts volunteer missions through the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
-LifeWay photo
FRANKLIN — Though World Changers began as a program of the former Southern Baptist Convention Brotherhood Commission, it made a lasting impact on Tennesseans who both participated in the hands-on missions ministry and those who benefited from the work of countless teenagers and sponsors. [Read more…]
By Phil Young
Director of Missions, Knox County Association of Baptists
Last month I shared with you a quote from Tod Bolsinger regarding the rapidly changing culture we live in. Bolsinger writes, “The world in front of you is nothing like the world behind you.” Without question, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world we live in. We have all made adjustments in our lives – some we like, some we don’t, and some we never dreamed possible.
As the time period extends, our thoughts and efforts are beginning to shift from “how do we get through this” to “how do we emerge out of this better and stronger.”
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
FRANKLIN — For the past three years, Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union prayer warriors have traveled to Colorado as part of the Send Denver partnership to meet and pray with church planters on their home turf.
Six teams which included 24 women were able to work with 14 church planters in and around Denver, said Vickie Anderson, executive director of Tennessee WMU.
Two trips were scheduled for April and May of this year before COVID-19 changed everyone’s plans. [Read more…]
By Shawn Hendricks
Contributing Writer, Baptist and Reflector
HENDERSONVILLE — For members of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, the news that their church led 30 people on a mission trip last week to New York City in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis could have seemed a little shocking.
“That’s right. They traveled right into the hotbed of the COVID-19 virus,” Bruce Raley, executive pastor of the Nashville area church, announced April 23 in his afternoon e-mail. But he quickly clarified by noting, “they did so through our first Virtual Mission Trip.” [Read more…]
By Matt Tullos
TBMB Special Assistant to the Executive Director
2020 will be remembered as the Year of the Pandemic. A new normal swept across our country as leaders grappled with circumstances that previously were only portrayed in doomsday novels and disaster movies. We’ve seen the best and worst of humanity. Mass graves, food lines, and market crashes flood our news feeds. The death tolls and statistics overwhelm us each day. [Read more…]
By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org
TAZEWELL — The mission statement of Region Education Center Ministries doesn’t mention anything about furniture. But as it turns out, couches, loveseats and footstools have certainly become an important part of what REC Ministries does.
Roger Hansard, a former Tennessee pastor, and his wife, Judy, are the founders of REC Ministries, which provides career job training for individuals by teaching computer skills, GED, adult literacy and other skills. The organization operates with the primary purpose of “winning the lost to Christ” and strives “to educate, elevate, and evangelize the people in our region.” [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Darrell and Sharon Bottoms of Philippi Baptist Church deliver food to the Cleveland Emergency Shelter.
FRANKLIN — Compassion ministries almost always involve a personal touch, whether it’s a hug, handshake or simply sharing the gospel up close and personal.
With the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing requirements, the personal touch may be gone but churches and associations across the state are still showing God’s love through compassion ministries. [Read more…]
