Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

CHURCH ACCEPTS MISSIONS WORK AT HOME

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Dan Parker, pastor, Parkway Baptist Church, Smyrna, holds the small towel presented to each new member of the church to symbolize the ministry focus of the church. Each new member is invited to join one of Parkway’s 38 ministry teams.

Dan Parker, pastor, Parkway Baptist Church, Smyrna, holds the small towel presented to each new member of the church to symbolize the ministry focus of the church. Each new member is invited to join one of Parkway’s 38 ministry teams.

SMYRNA — Missions work is never easy but Parkway Baptist Church here is ready for challenges, said Pastor Dan Parker recently.

In fact, Parkway Baptist sees God work the most when it accepts the greatest or most unusual challenges, he explained.

“It’s crazy,” said Parker.

So when he learned that a church in nearby Shelbyville needed to be revitalized, he prayed about it and soon a new ministry team of Parkway — the Macedonia Team — was organized to help revitalize El Bethel Baptist Church.

And, just like a lot of occurrences at Parkway, which are “crazy,” the Sunday morning attendance has doubled from about 35 people to about 80 and one person has been baptized. El Bethel didn’t have a pastor until recently when it called an interim pastor. [Read more…]

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IMMIGRATION: A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

By Rondell Treviño
Evangelical Immigration Table

silhouette-man-behind-fenceAs Christians, we know the Bible is the breathed out Word of God (II Timothy 3:16), and our blueprint on how to morally live vertically in relationship to God and horizontally in relationship to others in the world. We know God Himself has graciously given us the Bible, comprised of 66 books filled with more than 750,000 inspired and relevant words so we might be informed on a plethora of topics, one being immigration.

Therefore, when it comes to the hot topic of immigration in the United States, which has dominated a huge portion of this election season, one of the healthiest things we can do as Christians is simply open up the Bible and see what God has to say about it. Now, although we have the right to have different perspectives on immigration politically and economically, we must seek to have a biblical perspective, first.  [Read more…]

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DO YOU NEED TO HEAR A GOOD STORY?

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBC

Chris Turner

Chris Turner

At one time, I was a correspondent for the International Mission Board traveling throughout Latin America writing stories for The Commission magazine. I was in Honduras working with a missionary who was at the end of a very long year of helping the people rebuild their country following the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch. He was spiritually, physically and emotionally exhausted, and with a sound of desperation asked, “Is God at work anywhere in the world?”

By His grace, God had given me a front row seat to reporting His activity in Central and South America. He was moving with incredible speed to redeem people all across the southern hemisphere. I’d seen churches planted in some of the most unlikely places, formed with people who had been saved from the most unbelievable of circumstances. Like Luke writing to Theophilus in Luke 1:1-4, I gladly shared with my beleaguered colleague one story after another of how God was alive and active, and bringing people into His Kingdom by the scores. It was obvious by his response that the stories energized him to keep pressing his hand faithfully to the plow. The harvest belongs to the Lord. [Read more…]

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GOTM UP 5.3 PERCENT

Baptist and Reflector

160913gotmBRENTWOOD — When the books closed on Aug. 31 for the 2015-16 Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions, the final tally for the year totaled $1,713,258.

The total was a 5.3 percent increase over the amount given for the 2014-15 GOTM. In addition, 1,220 churches gave to the offering in 2015-16, a net increase of 44 over the previous year.

This year’s increase is an important step as Tennessee Baptists move forward in their GOTM goal of realizing an increase in annual giving for the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions that reaches at least $3 million by 2024 (Objective 5). [Read more…]

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FUTURE BRIGHT FOR IMB, PREDICTS SCOTT HARRIS

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Scott Harris, missions minister at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, will serve as chairman of the trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board for the coming year.

Scott Harris, missions minister at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, will serve as chairman of the trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board for the coming year.

BRENTWOOD — As Scott Harris enters his eighth and final year as a trustee of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, he has witnessed a lot of change.

He became a trustee in 2009 just after the economy had bottomed out. He has served with three different presidents (Jerry Rankin, Tom Elliff, and David Platt) in addition to Clyde Meador who served in an interim role.

What’s more, the IMB has had to deal with drastic changes in denominational life and throughout the world. Any one of those would be hard enough to deal with, but “all of them at the same time is significant,” said Harris, who will lead the IMB trustees as chair in his final year of service.

He considers it an honor to serve as chair. He is an “MK” (missionary kid) and he also served as an IMB missionary in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. He has been the missions minister at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, since 2002. [Read more…]

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3,202 DECISIONS FOR CHRIST REPORTED IN BRAZIL

By Will Hall
Baptist Press

A church helper and a volunteer interpreter react with tears of joy upon learning an elderly woman could now see with the help of donated prescription eyeglasses fitted by Sue Johns, a member of First Baptist Church in Graceville, Florida, and mother of Brent Johns, administrative and discipleship pastor at First Baptist Church in Houma.

A church helper and a volunteer interpreter react with tears of joy upon learning an elderly woman could now see with the help of donated prescription eyeglasses fitted by Sue Johns, a member of First Baptist Church in Graceville, Florida, and mother of Brent Johns, administrative and discipleship pastor at First Baptist Church in Houma.

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (BP) — Southern Baptists returning from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, are sharing testimonies of widespread revival in churches, communities, prisons and schools, following an 8-day schedule of crusades, medical ministries and other outreach efforts in this South American country.

Wayne Jenkins, director of evangelism and church growth for the Louisiana Baptist Convention, said there were a recorded 3,202 salvation decisions resulting from events conducted July 10-17.

“God did exceedingly above all that we could think or ask,” Jenkins said.

“Even working for the first time with this Brazilian association, the way was smooth in constructing three church buildings in five business days and reaching the number of people who came to know Christ, especially in some difficult areas. [Read more…]

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NATIONAL WMU ELECTS SANDRA WISDOM-MARTIN

By Julie Walters
WMU Communications

Sandra Wisdom-Martin

Sandra Wisdom-Martin

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Sandra “Sandy” Wisdom-Martin, executive director of WMU of Texas, was unanimously elected executive director/treasurer of Southern Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union, by the WMU executive board during a special called meeting July 29-30.

Wisdom-Martin succeeds Wanda Lee, who has served as executive director of the 128-year-old missions organization for the past 16 years, effective Oct. 15. Wisdom-Martin was presented to the board by a search committee appointed in February following Lee’s announcement of her intentions to retire.

Prior to leading WMU of Texas since 2010, Wisdom-Martin served as women’s missions and ministries director for the Illinois Baptist State Association, 2001-2010; and as Cooperative Program missionary with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1991-2001. [Read more…]

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‘THE WORLD HAS COME TO TENNESSEE’

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Some participants of “Coffee and Conversation” pause during one of their weekly gatherings at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry center of the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. This group includes students from Japan, China, and Thailand. Samantha Hawes, fourth from left, associate campus minister, UTK BCM, was a part of the group.

Some participants of “Coffee and Conversation” pause during one of their weekly gatherings at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry center of the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. This group includes students from Japan, China, and Thailand. Samantha Hawes, fourth from left, associate campus minister, UTK BCM, was a part of the group.

KNOXVILLE — A student from an Asian country visited the Baptist Collegiate Ministry Center at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville with her friend, Ladda Reed, who is from Thailand.

She felt comfortable as she enjoyed the luncheons for UTK students and met other students, even internationals just hanging out, playing ping-pong, and relaxing on some of the sofas.

She told Jiaxin He about “Coffee and Conversation” for international and American students at the BCM which Jiaxin He visited. Soon she was attending regularly, making a friend of her partner, practicing English, and getting to know America. She and Reed began talking about Jesus. Her mother was a Christian but she wasn’t.

Today, just about a year later, Jiaxin He is a “follower of Christ,” reported Samantha Hawes, associate campus minister, UTK BCM. She also is the international ministry coordinator of the BCM and lives in one of its apartments. [Read more…]

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YEC TEAM SERVES IN GUATEMALA

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Jania Howe, left, of First Baptist Church, Manchester, leads some public school students in an activity in Guatemala.

Jania Howe, left, of First Baptist Church, Manchester, leads some public school students in an activity in Guatemala.

BRENTWOOD — “We went to Guatemala to change people there and show them Jesus, but we came back with changed hearts and opened eyes,” said Jania Howe, 17, who ministered recently in Guatemala.

Howe and 77 other teens and adults served in Guatemala as a part of the Youth Evangelism Conference missions team. They went to support the Tennessee/Guatemala Baptist Partnership. The team served June 3-11. Offerings given at the 2015 and 2016 YEC helped fund the trip.

The team was made up of students from 11 churches, reported Bruce Edwards, youth specialist, Tennessee Baptist Convention, and team leader. “It was an incredible experience for all of us. We left a part of our hearts in Guatemala!

“Seeing these students boldly share their testimonies and the gospel through interpreters was amazing and we saw many Guatemalans, especially youth, accept Jesus Christ and make professions of faith,” he added. Assisting Edwards was Wes Jones of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief and his wife Pam, who are former Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries to Guatemala. [Read more…]

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THOMASES LIVE OUT MISSIONS CALLING

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

John and Kaye Thomas, left, of First Baptist Church, Sevierville, who serve as full-time missions volunteers, pause recently in Palmer, Alaska, with Southern Baptist missionaries Gary and Shirley Bearce. The Thomases will assist the Bearces this summer with missions teams coming to serve there.

John and Kaye Thomas, left, of First Baptist Church, Sevierville, who serve as full-time missions volunteers, pause recently in Palmer, Alaska, with Southern Baptist missionaries Gary and Shirley Bearce. The Thomases will assist the Bearces this summer with missions teams coming to serve there.

PALMER, Alaska — John and Kaye Thomas can be found in their Sevierville home about 100 days a year — mostly for Kaye’s part-time job. The rest of the time they are away doing missions work. Even while they are at home they often are found plugging into missions opportunities.

Currently they are based out of their RV in Palmer, Alaska, on an assignment which will extend through July. Then the journey home will require an additional three weeks.

The couple’s job there is something they are looking forward to and experienced at — coordinating missions teams coming to assist Gary Bearce, a Southern Baptist church strategist in Alaska. [Read more…]

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