Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
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…]
Carson-Newman news office
Love from a distance
Logan Lewis, a volunteer at Carson-Newman University’s Appalachian Outreach, helps prepare food for distribution. The ministry, which has seen a surge of people in need since the COVID-19 outbreak (see story, page 13), is just one example of how believers, all across Tennessee, have jumped into action to help others during this unprecedented time. Today, the Baptist and Reflector is recognizing some of these heroes in this edition of the B&R, which is packed full of stories about Tennessee Baptists who have responded to the call during the pandemic.
JEFFERSON CITY — Carson-Newman University’s Appalachian Outreach Ministry continues to see a surge from those in need brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have seen an increase in numbers,” said Jean-Ann Washam, executive director of AO. “We are seeing people who have never received services before who have not been able to go back to work.” Washam cited that some are employees in the retail and restaurant business. “This past month we served over 400 families; that is over 100 new families for us,” she said. [Read more…]
By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org
Marlin Curnutt, left, of FBC Morristown, talks with Sharon Wildner, the director of God’s Warehouse Coronavirus Plan, as they organize boxes for delivery from God’s Warehouse in Morristown.
FRANKLIN — Wes Jones is accustomed to dealing with the unpredictable. It’s his job.
He’s been involved with flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, power outages and all in between.
But even Jones, the Disaster Relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, admits that the current confluence of instability, uneasiness and confusion — created by the COVID-19 pandemic — has been a major challenge. [Read more…]
By Kim Cruise
Missions discipleship specialist, Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union
While COVID-19 spreads sickness and death across many countries, responses vary, but the most common response is fear. Fear of a loved one contracting the virus and suffering alone because no visitors are allowed. Fear of doctors and nurses being spread too thinly to meet the needs. Fear of retirement savings being reduced to a pittance. Fear of not being able to pay this month’s bills or provide food for the family. Virtually no one is untouched by this pandemic.
Missionaries who are serving far from home are in a unique situation. Missionaries, with few exceptions, are helpers and givers. That’s why they have left everything to give the gospel and serve through meeting human needs in a myriad of ways. Being told to stay at home while surrounded by so many dire needs, many struggle with the tough decision: “Do I follow government and WHO advice, or do I take the risk and go help anyways? When I chose to follow Christ, wasn’t there an inherent risk involved?” During our years of service in the Philippines, we were often called upon to be the “ambulance” since most families do not own a vehicle. What does a missionary do when asked to drive a seriously ill person to the hospital but doing so may risk their own family’s lives? This is the same basic issue facing frontline doctors and nurses right now.
Many missionaries serve in countries where the income and standard of living is far, far below that of America. They often use portions of their own support to help the poor around them with medical expenses, food, etc. With many businesses closing down, those who live “hand to mouth” have no savings and will suffer the most. Missionaries often feel overwhelmed with the needs around them and that is going to be multiplied exponentially right now. Ask if they need extra funds right now to help out and take up a special offering to help them help others. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Outgoing Tennessee WMU president Martha Pitts of Germantown Baptist Church, Germantown, accepts the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board’s “Light Award,” in recognition of her volunteer service in Tennessee.
— Photo by David Dawson
FRANKLIN — Missions has been an integral part of Martha Pitts’ life since she was a GA (Girls in Action) at Whitehaven Baptist Church in Memphis and was asked to pray at an associational event.
“I was nurtured through GAs,” said Pitts, who will be concluding her four-year term as president of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union during the annual WMU Get-Together scheduled for March 20-22 in Gatlinburg.
And, Pitts never forgot what GAs meant in her life. She served as a GA camp counselor during her teenage years and taught GAs as an adult. “I still love teaching kids about missionaries and the places they serve.” [Read more…]
By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBMB
FRANKLIN — In an unprecedented move, leadership of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board made the decision to “suspend” both the 2020 Youth Evangelism Conference and the Woman’s Missionary Union annual Get Together/Connection.
“We did not make this decision to suspend these two great events lightly,” said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. “The COVID-19 situation moved very rapidly Wednesday evening with the National Basketball Association suspending the rest of its season, the SEC basketball tournament here in Nashville moving forward with no spectators and President [Donald] Trump’s address to the nation. [Read more…]
By Tess Schoonhoven
Baptist Press
RICHMOND — In light of the continuing global expansion of the COVID-19 virus (coronavirus), the International Mission Board’s coronavirus task force and senior leadership recommend that mission volunteers from U.S. churches postpone international mission-trip travel through April 30. This date could be extended and will be reevaluated by April 15.
IMB also recommends that people who have not yet purchased tickets for future travel wait and monitor continued risks of travel before buying tickets. Individuals with pre-existing conditions or immunocompromised health issues are encouraged not to travel.
The task force, which was formed to monitor the situation and make recommendations on behalf of the global organization, is extending recommendations to churches based on personal health risks, risks of spreading the virus, and the possibility of quarantine or delay by local governments including the U.S. [Read more…]
By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director
There is a growing reality that causes me great concern. I’m scanning the horizon looking for the billowing dust of reinforcements charging toward the spiritual battle, but all I see are wisps from the few. Where are the supply of recruits enlisted for world conquest?
Where are the pastors and ministers to shepherd Christ’s bride during these most desperate of days?
Where are the missionaries to carry the gospel to faraway lands?
Increasingly, too many of our pulpits stand vacant rather than filled by a God-called man filled with biblical authority proclaiming Jesus’ all-sufficient death, burial and resurrection on behalf of sinful humanity. [Read more…]
