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A home-grown religious movement had its beginnings in the 1820s in Evansville, Indiana. General Baptists came into existence because of the revival preaching of Elder Benoni Stinson. He boldly and frequently proclaimed the good news of the gospel that “Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man” with the result that “whosoever will may be saved”. This preaching from texts found in the New Testament books of Hebrews and Romans resulted in the planting of new churches, a networking with other like-minded groups, and the birthing of a national organization in 1870. But why General Baptist? The name is actually a summary of the core theology of the movement reflecting belief in a general atonement that anyone who is willing to trust Jesus as Savior may be saved. This theological name stood in contrast to those groups of the 19th century who advocated a particular or limited atonement for in their theology only a few, not the many, could be saved. Though the term “atonement” is not in the General Baptist Statements of Faith, few terms are more important to our historical identity. The “general” in General Baptist is derived from our position on atonement. Atonement can mean the compensation, the restitution paid, or expiation given by God through Jesus Christ for our sin. Atonement can describe the actions of Jesus to secure our salvation, and thus the redemptive work of Jesus can be described as the atonement. Many Protestants continue to disagree over whether atonement is general (i.e., for all) or particular (i.e., only for those who are “elect”). General Baptists argue that the atonement is for all, but the benefits of the atonement “can be received only through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Statement of Faith IV). Because we believe in a general atonement we are naturally evangelistic and intentionally missionary. How else will our world hear the Good News? For more information visit: www.GeneralBaptist.com.
B O O S T T H E I M PAC T O F YO U R S E R M O N S E R I E S Eve ry Pastor kn ows it takes lots of plan n i ng to pre pare a n ew se rm o n se ries for the ir ch u rch . The stu dy, the research, the praye r — all n ecessary to pre pare for the n ex t se ries . We ’ d Love to partn e r with yo u r visio n an d the m e to he lp yo u g et the word o ut abo ut yo u r n ex t se ries!
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Messenger General Baptist
Spring 2020
Table of Contents 6 A Letter from the Executive Director 8 To the Thirsty 12 Pastors Advancing the Gospel in India 14 Reaching Women in Crisis 17 An Update from Honduras 18 GBIM Announces 2020 Offerings 20 25 Years Later 22 There’s a New Name Written Down in Glory
To the Thirsty
24 News from Niger 26 Permanent Marker or Washable Ink 30 2020 Summit Overview 34 2019 Year in Review 36 Ed Stevens Offering 2019 38 On a Mission for Jesus 41 Raising Up Young Leaders 42 Women Need Women 46 Trending Now
Pastors Advancing the Gospel in India
Reaching Women in Crisis
8 12 14
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Messenger General Baptist
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A Letter from the
Executive Director by Clint Cook, Executive Director
A
H ow can I kn ow what Go d wants m e to do with my life?
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s a pastor, I am frequently asked how people can know what God wants them to do with their lives. That question comes from teenagers who are at the beginning of their lives who are wondering which careereducation path to take. It is also asked by adults, many who have traveled several different paths, often wrong paths, in an effort to try and determine how to get on and stay on the right path. Both young and old alike want to know: How can I know what God wants me to do with my life? Let’s admit it; this is a big question. I remember facing this question as a teenager in sensing that God was calling me to ministry. For me it was frightening when I thought of the prospect of God calling me to a place that perhaps I didn’t want to go. Would I up and run like Jonah and find myself in a whale of a lot of trouble? Or was God just wanting me to do ministry within my own community? I deciphered God’s call for ministry during that time, but it was on my first international mission trip that I would truly learn the difference between compassion and a call. On my first International Missions trip, I still recall vividly the work our team did and what I saw and felt. That experience continues to have a deep impact on my life all of these years later. I was a member of a medical team visiting Honduras. The year was 1999. Just one year prior to our arrival, Honduras had been decimated by a historic, devastating hurricane called Mitch. Even one year later the nation was still trying to recover and rebuild. Our work there was critically important, not only for medical reasons, but also for sharing the gospel with people who had suffered so much. Soon after we arrived, we took a short bus trip to the property of Faith Home. This field had two missionary families serving General Baptists at that time: Mark & Kim Powell, and David & Martha Kelle. Thanks to Mark Powell, I was given a quick overview of what life and ministry was like on an international field.
I was d rawn to th e child ren b eing cared fo r at Faith H o m e. I loved s eeing peo ple res po n d to th e go s pel m es sage... I remember always wanting to be a part of a short-term missionary team. In my first exposure to international ministry, I discovered that I enjoyed immensely meeting and ministering to the Honduran people. I was drawn to the children being cared for at Faith Home. I loved seeing people respond to the gospel message, whether it was in response to my preaching or someone else’s preaching. It was just so rewarding and encouraging to see God working throughout my trip on that international mission field. I must admit I started to wonder if God was calling me to leave my current church assignment as pastor and transition to an international mission field. As I sought God’s direction for me at that time, He showed me a few things that have proved to be incredibly important to me. He reminded me of the incredible compassion and sympathy I had for the people I encountered. I wanted to do all that I could to ease the Honduran people’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. But He whispered to me that the compassion and emotion I felt for the people of Honduras on that trip was not affirming His call to me to be a missionary to Honduras. The burning desire, the heavy weight upon my heart and mind to proclaim His Word and pastor my local church never let up. It never eased. In fact, it grew stronger because pastoring a local church was my calling. As Christians, no matter where we go, whether it be an international field, an inner-city work, or even a Sunday school class in a local church, all of us can and should feel compassion for those around us. But a deep emotion or connection with people that we are ministering to does not necessarily mean God is “calling” us to that field or that community work as a vocation. Such a decision should be made carefully, prayerfully, and with much counsel and guidance. This issue of The Messenger is focused on International Missions. The book of Matthew tells us: “Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38. May you enjoy the pages of this issue with a prayerful heart, discerning mind, and attentive ear to what God may be asking or affirming in you.
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TO THE THIRSTY... By Rev. Mark Powell
As John grapples with the visions he tries to record in Revelation, he comes to a place where he quotes the One who is seated on the throne (Revelation 21:5-7). He reveals Himself as the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He extends an invitation “to the thirsty…” An invitation with a promise, “To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.” General Baptist Ministries Living Water project was initially funded by the 2019 LAUNCH offering. Churches, youth groups and Bible study groups pitched in to help provide water projects for our various international fields. The result was one of our most successful VBS/LAUNCH offerings, totaling nearly $50,000. This doubled the goal we had set. To date, two international locations have received the most benefit from this generous offering. The first project funded from the Living Waters Project was to assist Saipan Community Church and School with new catchments
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designed to help the church/ school campus with water. Catchments designed to catch and store rainwater are essential on the small island of Saipan. The old catchments had been worn by time. Following damage by two major typhoons over four years, they simply burst. With fresh funds on hand from the Living Water Project, General Baptist Ministries was able to quickly offer assistance to help purchase new catchments for the water. A substantial amount of the funds for the offering were earmarked for the Calvary Grace Association in India. Pastor Jessey was in the United States at the time of the offering and was actively promoting the offering as he visited churches. To date, we have placed more than fifteen (15) wells in India through the Calvary Grace ministries. Risen Church in Dexter, Missouri contributed nearly $20,000 to the Living Waters Project, so it was appropriate that a recent team from Risen Church was able to participate in several well dedications during their visit. It was humbling to observe the group as we made our way from location to location to say a few words, read some scripture, and offer a prayer of dedication over these new wells.
placed in appreciation for the gift of water. The water wells were often located near churches as a living testimony of the One who had graciously provided not only the water of life but the true living water as well. Other times the wells were placed in communities without churches as a living witness to the Savior of the world. In several communities the spokesperson expressing the gratitude was not the local pastor, or Christian leader, but a Hindu expressing appreciation to these visiting Christians for remembering them and sharing with them this wonderful gift. There were a couple of communities where the presence of Christian outsiders was not appreciated, and prayers of dedication were offered in haste. In most cases ribbons were cut, the wells were anointed with oil in the name of the trinity and prayers for God’s blessings were offered. If it was a community with electrical power, the breaker would be turned on so the pump could operate and water would begin to flow. In others, where electricity was not available, the hand pump on the well would be primed and pumped for the life-giving water to begin to flow. In one community one little boy was given a bath in front of locals and visitors alike as a demonstration of the well’s potential usefulness. The little boy did not seem to appreciate the well nearly as much as mom did!
{ The communities were predominately Hindu. The majority greeted us with warm smiles and open arms. Most of the communities had been overlooked or ignored by other programs because the people were lower caste and lived on the outskirts of communities. In a couple of communities, they made their living hunting birds, in another raising hogs; humble people who are poor by the world’s standards. Few were Christians, mostly they were Hindu. But Christian and Hindu alike came to show their gratitude for the gift of water. The team was given gifts by most of the communities. Garlands of flowers were placed around their necks, and sometimes beautiful shawls were
They don’t only need physical water more importantly they need spiritual water. --Addie Roth, Risen Church Team Member
It was especially moving for the team as they approached the first well with the name Risen Church on the plaque. Addie Roth, 11 year old daughter of Pastor Jeff Roth, noted: I think it is pretty crazy to see the wells that my church put in India and to say that you could give water to people for many years for just 1000 to 2000 bucks. It’s nuts! Also to see how thankful they were, just makes me feel so happy. It makes me feel like we should try to put more wells there. I feel like we need more wells so that more people can hear the gospel. On each well they see the verse John 7:37 “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink,” in their language. Before the trip was over the group had dedicated several wells with Risen Church plaques. Each well bore the passage from John 7:37 (“If anyone is thirsty, let him come
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to me and drink) in English and the local language, the location of the well, and the well number in the project. The pastors in Calvary Grace were also the first to receive water filters, which are also part of the Living Waters Project. The filters are produced by a company that markets in the United States to the outdoor community. Internationally they work with several NonGovernmental Organizations responding to the world water crisis. General Baptists partnered with them to purchase and provide filters that can filter water to 99.9% purity. The filters, if properly cared for, and back washed, can last a lifetime. Pastor Jessey later sent a message expressing how much the pastors appreciated the gift of these filters. He also mentioned that there are currently many more requests for wells in India – more than we currently have funds for and so the Living Water Project is one that will continue for the foreseeable future. Living Waters Project is part of General Baptist
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Ministries international community development program. The program includes the Living Water Project, community health evangelism, community uplift development through repeated Mission One team visits, and Mission One medical teams. Typically, a 250 foot well in India costs approximately $1500. In some communities well projects have failed because water was not found within 250 feet. In these communities, additional attempts will be made to look for water, but at a greater cost, as equipment will be needed to go beyond 250 feet. Words fail in an effort to express what it feels like to go into a community to provide a gospel testimony to be greeted so generously and graciously by the Hindus and Muslims you are there to impact with the gospel. The testimony is clear and strong and mostly well received, “To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the springs of water of life…” (Revelation 21:6)
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Since 1823, General Baptists have been growing our ministry here in the United States, continually trying to reach new people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Since 1911, we have been sending missionaries overseas, to go where many of us will never go, to reach people groups many of us will never meet. This global ministry is only made possible through generous financial support from General Baptist churches and individuals. The Unified Giving Fund was created to organize this support and give where it was most needed. We can plant new churches because of Unified Giving. We can send missionaries to new countries because of Unified Giving. We can aid in relief efforts because of Unified Giving. And people are being won to Christ because of YOUR gifts to Unified Giving.
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Pastors Advancing the Gospel in India By Rev. Mark Powell
G
eneral Baptists have two regional associations in India. The older of the two associations is the India Association of General Baptists located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The newest association is Calvary Grace Association located in the state of Telangana. The Prakash family oversees the India Association ministry area, and the Vemula family oversees the Calvary Grace ministry area. Both associations have a variety of ministries, but one important ministry for each of them is the care of pastors connected with associated churches in both areas. A group from Risen Church in Dexter, MO recently had an opportunity to visit India and, among other activities, also ministered to the pastors in the Calvary Grace Association. During their time in India, the Risen team helped conduct two pastor’s seminars with Mark Powell and Dr. Jim Pratt from General Baptist International. The team also was able to give a variety of gifts to the pastors they visited. Calvary Grace pastors received water filters from this
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years LAUNCH offering. The LAUNCH offering not only provided water filters for the pastors, but the team also participated in the dedication of several water wells also funded from the 2019 LAUNCH offering. Risen Church was one of the largest donors to the offering, giving nearly $20,000. A key regional pastor for Calvary Grace ministries assisted the pastors in his area with assembly of their water filters and also plans an instructive video in the local language for future expansion of the program. Pastors also received a micro-SD card with a variety of Bible tools and references. Cell phones are astonishingly popular around the world (even in developing countries). Source material in a variety of languages was located by the GBIM office for micro-SD card evangelism and resources for pastors. Resources were found from the “Jesus” film project of Campus Crusade for Christ, www. Bible.is, and the Digital Bible Society. A great blessing was to give bicycles to five pastors to assist them with their ministries. It may not seem like much to us, but this gift will be a tremendous blessing to
these pastors and their families as it will relieve them from walking from place to place as well as save time in the process. Mark Powell and Dr. Jim Pratt then conducted a couple of pastors conferences in the India Association area. Pastor Prakash also took Jim and Mark to visit several churches which was a great blessing. GBIM Director Mark Powell commented, “It is always a joy to be able to meet pastors and their families and see their churches. It has always been my conviction that every community needs a pastor to love the people of God, perform dedications and marriages for their kids, and bury their dead when this worldly journey is over.” Pastors in the India Association area also received Christmas gifts. Both conferences in this area were well attended. GBIM assists churches with construction needs in both associations. During the visit, churches in various stages of construction were noted. Some were simply stick structures, while most were stucco covered brick structures. As in most areas, construction takes place in phases as funds are available. It would be great if GBIM could provide even further assistance to construction projects in both areas. Bicycle projects cost $85, micro-SD cards $10, and church construction projects vary considerably, so donations of any amount would be appreciated. Calvary Grace ministries has a beautiful ministry center, but the main church of the association in Siddepet is wanting to relocate with land cost at a staggering $65,000 to $100,000 dollars in that area. India Association has a ministry building in progress. Eventually it will be a four-story building with family residence on the first floor, guest accommodations on the second floor, a workshop center on the third floor. Cost per floor will be approximately $20,000. General Baptists Ministries has exciting work in India with potential for even greater impact. Both ministry locations are within the 10/40 window, and Christians make up less than 3% of the population. With a hostile pro-Hindu government currently, it is very difficult for Christian work and ministries. Please keep all our pastors in your prayers.
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Reaching Women
IN CRISIS
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General Baptist ministries in India continue to impact the Kingdom of God by touching the lives of women in need. The stories are too numerous to mention them all, but mission director Mark Powell was particularly touched by four stories on a recent visit to India. The first report is of a lady who is the proud mother of twin girls. The girls sang a special song at an event that included a medical clinic, pastors conference, and Lydia Sewing Center graduation. The girls were nervous to be singing for so many but did a wonderful job. The mother was there to participate in a Lydia Sewing Center graduation ceremony that included her receiving a new sewing machine, since she had recently completed the sixmonth class on tailoring. She had decided to take the class because her husband had tragically been killed in a tractor accident just a few months prior, and she was left to care for herself and her children on her own. Widows in India find life particularly difficult, especially if they do not have a marketable skill. Widows can remarry legally but tend to be socially ostracized and few remarry due to this. As a Lydia graduate, with her new sewing machine, this dear lady can now expect to earn a few dollars a day to care for herself and her family. As her story was being told to us she was overcome with both grief and gratitude. It was an amazingly touching moment. She was obviously still grieving from the loss of her husband but so very
grateful to receive training and tools to give hope for the future of her and her precious twins. The second story surfaced during a visit to dedicate a water well where I was touched by the possibilities that exist in the act of investing in the lives of these women. The community was a group of lower caste people who raised hogs for a living. Sometimes wells are in areas near churches, and other times potential areas for kingdom growth are selected. This community would be in the later. Pork is not consumed by most Hindus and is taboo to Muslims, so this community of hog raisers is very poor. There was no church in the area, but there was a lady living nearby who had previously received training through a Lydia Sewing Center. It was late when the group arrived to dedicate this particular well, but among those there to greet us was this precious lady who had been through the Lydia program. She expressed her appreciation for the skills she had learned at the sewing center and how those skills had helped her better provide for her family. But what really touched me was the next day. This lady with a group of ladies from her community showed up at the pastor’s conference. This whole group of Hindu women had come a considerable distance to once again express their appreciation for the water well and for the General Baptists bringing much needed water. Again this lady expressed her appreciation for the Lydia Sewing Center and the blessing it had been to her family. Thanks to a Lydia Center graduate and now a water well, the
gospel seed has firmly been planted among this Hindu community that currently has no church. A sewing center had planted the gospel here, now a water well was watering the seed (in more ways than one), now we pray for God to give the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). The third story relates to an article by Rev. Phil Warren in a 2018 Messenger featuring a Dorcas Sewing Center graduate. A group visiting from the United States had been introduced to her by Prakash and Jemima Pamu. In my recent visit to the area it was a pleasure to see this precious lady still serving the church faithfully. In fact, she was not only still faithful but had become a leader in the Bible woman program at the church in Pithapuram. This Sunday was the first Sunday of the month when communion is commonly served. In the Pithapuram church the distribution of the communion elements is the responsibility of the Bible Women. One of the two women now assisting in the serving of communion was the lady Pastor Phil had featured two years ago! To refresh your memories, this dear lady has also been widowed. Before coming to Christ and enrolling in a Dorcas Sewing Center she had no hope or future. Now she is making a decent income for her family and serving God faithfully as a Bible woman in the church at Pithapuram.
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Finally, among the blessings of this trip was also the giving of gifts to women in Grace Home for Widows. Grace home is not a physical home, but rather a ministry of the India Association to widows due to the difficulty of their circumstances. Pastor Prakash explained to us that the role of Grace Home has changed a little over the years. The ministry has always provided monthly gifts to the widows but also provided a small stipend of income for them in the past. Pastor Prakash explained that the state government in this region was now providing a small stipend for widows, and so Grace Home has suspended the financial support but continue to give the monthly gifts. During this visit in early January, the gift was a blanket to protect the women from the cool evenings and nights along the Bay of Bengal. Mission One coordinator Dr. Jim Pratt assisted in these distributions at various locations. As the blankets were being given, one dear lady who could not stand upright moved forward to receive her blanket. Due to her years and the physical condition that would not allow her to stand, she chose to show appreciation to Jim for the gift by reaching out and placing her hands on Jim’s feet. As the small group of gift givers walked away, Jim was heard to say, “How do you ever describe an experience like that?” General Baptist ministries to poor women in India are indeed indescribable. But lives are being touched (137 Dorcas graduates in 2019 alone), families are being fed, the kingdom is growing. Every General Baptist must know that they are making a difference in ways that cannot possibly be described – but are life transforming for those who experience it. General Baptist ministry to women in crises and poverty in India include the sewing centers. Lydia Sewing Centers serve the Calvary Grace Association in Telangana, and the Dorcas Sewing Centers serve the India Association in Andhra Pradesh. The Grace Home for Widows serves poor widows and is a ministry of the India Association. You can help with the sewing machine ministry with a $100 donation. Funding for Grace Home for Widows comes from Unified Giving.
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A N U P D A T E F R O M
Honduras 2019 was an exciting year for GB in Honduras. The “Iglesia Bautista General de Honduras” was formally organized with legal standing in Honduras. This is a significant step in the work here. In time, the pastors/churches will assume more and more of the control and direction of the GB movement in Honduras. It is a true step of growth. The churches here baptized 27 people! The pastors/churches are making a difference in their country. God has also blessed with several new works in 2019. This is the first year in many that we can report new churches. The group in Las Laureles under Pastor Saul in Pimienta. Pastor Saul travels to this remote community each week. This start is now a couple of years old, but in 2019, it has begun to grow. It is located on the side of a mountain and the community is smaller, but they gather to worship and praise God. The mission has been working with them to get them electricity. We hope that this becomes a reality in 2020. The new church plant in Nueva Plan is doing great. Land was purchased and a church building is being built where God’s people in El Plan will gather to worship and grow in their faith. The location of this church has the potential to truly grow large. It is in a developing community, and there are two other subdivisions close as well. Currently, the church meets on the front porch of a small house. Normally, there are 40 to 50 people who attend. Pastor Guada baptized 9 in 2019. We also have a new work near Choluteca in the south (El Carizon) that is under the direction of our Pastor Ramon. This is our first new effort in the Choluteca area after many years. The community is poor but thirsting to hear the gospel. Ramon is working with Pastor Cruz (great name for a pastor!). This group has already purchased land and have begun building their place to worship. Pastor Miguel and I visited the site in November. The poverty is real, the need is great, but grace is greater. May God bless this new work! Also, we have a new connection with Pastor Juancito in Villanueva, an industrial town located about 20 minutes from Faith Home. Pastor Juancito started this work several years ago and has been on his own. He got acquainted with a couple of our pastors. He told them he wanted to connect with a group for support and encouragement. He has been attending our meetings and will start the HBI next year. He is a dedicated man of God seeking to reach his community for the Christ. As this relationship develops, it will mean another GB church in an area where there are many who need to hear about Christ. It is fun to be a part of what God is doing in the realm of GB in Honduras. 2019 was a good year, and based on how things have developed, 2020 looks even more exciting.
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GBIM ANNOUNCES 2020 OFFERINGS General Baptist International exists to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to work to extend the ministries of the General Baptist movement internationally. A key element to that task are our General Baptist missionaries. Missionary safety and well-being automatically become key components in the success of our international outreach. The 2020 LAUNCH offering (formerly VBS offering) will be used to help provide for the well being of our missionaries in a very tangible way. We will have two sets of missionaries leaving the comforts of home to serve General Baptists internationally in 2020. The Brantley family will be serving the churches of central Mindanao in the Philippines and work out of the Matigsalug Bible Institute (MBI). Robin Lowery will be moving to Honduras to assist with the ministries of Faith Home. Both assignments necessitate the purchase of vehicles for missionaries. The Brantley family will need a good
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4-wheel drive vehicle to traverse the rugged hills and mountains around MBI. In Honduras we have sufficient vehicles for when missionaries need to leave campus, but there is a real need for utility vehicles (like a John Deere Gator) to help missionaries quickly conduct their business around the rather large campus of Faith Home. Two JD Gators have served us well for many years, but it is time to provide some new wheels for Robin as well as the Faith Home Clinic and Faith Home itself. Our offering goal is $30,000.00 this year and we believe that you can help us provide for the needs of our missionary families. Your church can help by designating your annual VBS missions offering for this project or by hosting a Day of Poverty (www.dayofpoverty.com) with your youth department and designating the funds raised for the LAUNCH offering. You may also want to use your youth group Day of Poverty to meet some need in your local community and sending some for the LAUNCH
ROBIN LOWRY
THE BRANTLEYS
MISSIONARY TO HONDURAS
MISSIONARIES TO THE PHILIPPINES
offering. That would be a great way to LAUNCH your youth into missions involvement both at home and around the world. Perhaps your church has sports (or other) camp rather than or plus VBS. You can also involve your sports camp in missions by teaching your children and youth to sponsor projects in and out of the local community. The Ed Stevens Offering will help us provide muchneeded improvements to the Matigsalug Bible Institute. It has been some time since General Baptist have invested in the improvement of the MBI campus, yet MBI still provides many of the pastors for our 400 churches in the Philippines and provides educational opportunities for many tribal workers and pastors who would not otherwise have access to such training. Currently there are 23 students enrolled in MBI. General Baptist were pioneers of the gospel to various indigenous Manobo groups of central Mindanao. Reverend Angel Digdigan, a General Baptist Bible College graduate, pioneered this work in the mid 1970’s. General Baptist missionaries arrived in the late 1970’s in the form of the Carr and Trivett families to further expand the work and open the Matigsalug Bible Institute. A documentary film “Miracle Among the Matigsalug” was produced in 1986 covering the early history of this mission
and is available on the General Baptist International Ministries YouTube channel. This ministry has been of extreme strategic importance to General Baptist and continues to be so. It will be a great encouragement to our MBI staff, students, and alumni if we can help provide these much needed improvement to campus life. Ed Stevens Day this year will be on September 20, 2020. Ed Stevens Day is named for one of the most prolific missionaries we have ever had. Through the influence of Ed Stevens we opened missions on Saipan, Tinian, Chi Chi Jima, and the Philippines. Although Ed Stevens died young, while serving General Baptist in the Pacific, his influence remains to this day. The Ed Stevens offering goal is $50,000.00. Perhaps your church can designate the entire offering on September 20, 2020 to this mission project or perhaps your church can set a goal and work several weeks ahead to harvest a great offering for missions. This would also be a great opportunity to collect a mission offering for both Ed Stevens Day and some worthwhile cause in your community. Your support for the two international offerings will allow us to do together what we cannot do alone. Thank you and God bless you for your generosity.
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By Dr. Jim Pratt
In 1994 the Mission Volunteer Program (MVP) was started. (Currently the Mission One Program.) Bob Brockett, with much assistance from his wife Ruth, was employed as the first MVP director. The first MVP team, led by Brockett, was March 19-26, 1995. My wife, Kris, and I had the privilege of traveling to the Brockett’s house in McLeansboro, Illinois, to visit with them and ask some questions about the MVP program throughout the years. PRATT: What was going on in your life when you were approached about becoming the MVP director? BROCKETT: I was working in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, for a Heating and Cooling guy and felt impressed that I needed to go to the 1994 General Association (GA) in Nashville, Tennessee. When I arrived at the GA I was approached by Foreign Missions Director Charlie Carr and asked if I would speak at the Men’s Brotherhood meeting at the GA. Ruth and I had been on a few mission trips to Jamaica and Honduras and I was to speak about my experiences. I simply shared from my heart. Shortly after the GA, Charlie approached me about beginning a new program to try to get teams to go to Honduras to build Faith Home. I said, “Yes I would be interested.” He asked me to start in November of 1994.
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PRATT: So you were hired November 1, 1994 and the first team under the MVP went to Honduras March19-26, 2019. Before you were hired, had there been other mission teams go to various international fields but not in an organized fashion? BROCKETT: I had been to Jamaica on a few teams. One of the times it was to help rebuild Faith Home Jamaica after it had been damaged after a hurricane. I put together a team to go. After I arrived in Jamaica, I realized that God put together the exact team we needed. That experience opened my eyes to the importance of being available to go when God calls. PRATT: Were both you and Ruth hired for the position? BROCKETT: No, Ruth was an added bonus. Charlie and then Jack Eberhardt (former International Missions Director) received two for the price of one. Ruth cooked for many of the teams. PRATT: Were you able to keep your position working for the Heating and Cooling Company you mentioned or were you full-time as MVP Director? BROCKETT: Ruth and I had a couple of small businesses for 18 years. We had a Sears Catalog Store and a Heating and Air Conditioning business. Sears bought us out and we then sold the Heating and Air Conditioning business. I told Ruth that we needed to get passports just in case God would want to use us. Shortly after that, we went to Jamaica.
PRATT: At the time you were hired, on how many international mission trips had you participated? BROCKETT: From 1985 to 1993 we went on approximately 6 trips to General Baptist works in Jamaica, Honduras, and the Philippines.
PRATT: After you resigned as director, did you quit going on mission trips? BROCKETT: We did not go on trips for about 3 years but then started going back on some teams once every 2-3 years.
PRATT: So when you were hired as MVP director by Charlie Carr, what was the described purpose of the MVP? BROCKETT: The purpose was to organize the General Baptist denomination into more mission-minded people. I was to organize teams. I spent time looking at other programs to develop guidelines for the development of the teams and the program. One of the things I did was to talk to pastors to find point people in various parts of the denomination that would serve as point people for me. One of the pastors I spent time with was David Kelle and his wife when they were pastoring in Flint, Michigan. The Kelle’s’ would become the first directors at Faith Home. We also visited with Ray Phelps and he was very supportive. He introduced me to two men in his church with one of them being Mark Taylor a dear friend of mine who became involved in helping to build the first buildings at Faith Home in Honduras.
PRATT: What is the biggest blessing you received as MVP director? Brockett: It would have to be being at Faith Home when Allan, Jorge, and Ericka, the first three kids came to Faith Home.
PRATT: How many years did you serve as MVP director? BROCKETT: I served as MVP director for 6 years. I had two back surgeries during my time as director and Ruth and I also became grandparents. PRATT: I understand that in those first few years as director, you and Ruth traveled back and forth with every team. BROCKETT: Yes, that is true. We flew back and forth with every team. We did this for about 2 years. It became too much to do, but thankfully we were able to identify team leaders and hosts that could travel with some of the teams.
PRATT: Tell me about a blessing you have received as a result of your involvement through the years in the MVP (Mission One) program. BROCKETT: I shared my testimony at the leadership conference at Faith Home and the person that translated for me was Odalin Garcia. Odalin is one of the original children at Faith Home that has grown into a lovely young lady that is doing well. I have been blessed with so many friendships. I have made friendships with people such as David and Martha Kelle, Ray Phelps, Ed and Juanita David, Archie and Virginia Crawford, Mark and Kim Powell and their little girls. I have often pondered in my heart all the blessings I have received as a result of my involvement. PRATT: What would you say is the biggest reason why someone should be a part of a mission team? BROCKETT: I love to take young people on mission trips. A few years ago, I was able to take most of my family on a mission trip. It was wonderful. I would say that if you really want your life to be forever changed, if you are serious about your walk with God, if you want to encounter God then go on a mission trip.
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THERE’S A NEW NAME W RI TT EN D OW N I N G LO RY By Dr. Jim Pratt
As a child growing up in the Bethel General Baptist Church, we would sometimes sing a song titled, “A New Name in Glory”, written in 1910 by C. Austin Miles. The chorus repeats a key sentence “There’s a new name written down in glory and its mine, oh yes it’s mine” The Bible addresses the subject of gaining a new name upon conversion when it states, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:17 NIV) The idea of a new name addressed in the song and Bible verse mentioned above has taken on a special meaning to me since my trip to India December 27, 2019 – January 8, 2020. GBIM Director Mark Powell and myself were a part of a mission team that included nine individuals from the Risen Church in Dexter, Missouri. The trip was transformational for each of us but especially for Pastor Jeff Roth after he was given the responsibility of naming a baby and two converts. Pastor Jeff described his experiences this way. My wife is currently pregnant and so the name deliberations have begun at our house. It’s not easy naming a kid. They will have to live with whatever name you give them the rest of their lives. It’s a big responsibility! So when I was asked to dedicate a 45 day old baby girl while in India I was a little taken back when Jessey told me that I now had to give her a name. Who am I to name this child? I did the only thing I knew to do: said a quick prayer, looked deep into that baby’s dark brown eyes and said the first name that popped in my mind, “Elizabeth.” It means “my God is abundance.” A couple of days later I had the opportunity to baptize three people. If the converts have a Hindu name, they are given a Christian name upon their baptism. The woman I baptized was already named Mary so another name was not necessary for her. But I was to pick names for both of the gentlemen. I had a little more heads up on these names so I prayed and read my Bible looking for a name to leap off of the page. Stephen was the first name that struck me. He was the first Christian martyr and described in the Bible as a man full of faith, grace, and power. For the young man I chose the name Timothy. Timothy is described in the Bible as having a genuine faith, and Paul encouraged him to set an example for others despite his youth. It’s been a couple weeks since then and the question that still rings in my mind is, “Who am I to give these people names?” The answer is, “I am nobody.” It was a great honor to be able to do so, and my hope is that they are inspired to live up to the example set by the people I named them after. I look forward to one day in Heaven walking up to Elizabeth, Stephen, and Timothy, and telling them that I remember the day they were given their new names. May we stay committed to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible so more new names can be written down in glory.
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NEWS FROM NIGER By Kris Yeomans
We are thankful for all of you! It is because of your generous financial giving and, most importantly, your prayers, that we are able to fulfill the call of God on our lives! God has great things in store for the people of Niger, and we are thankful that you are part of it all! Your giving and your prayers means that YOU are directly involved in helping reach the unreached for Christ, so we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Your giving matters and your prayers matter! It matters to us, and it matters to God. Thank you for making a difference! For November, and going into December, we remained busy with French Classes, worked at Sahel Academy parttime, and began conversational English classes with Muslim Students from the university that is near our house. We are currently taking French lessons from a teacher who used to teach Peace Corps volunteers and students from Boston University who came here for research. He is a very good teacher, and we have made a lot of progress. He meets us at our house where we study French for two hours each day four days a week. We are planning to increase to five days in January and really do some intensive study for three months to hopefully be conversational by that time. We have already found, though, that we can converse quite a bit around town with people, and we’re making progress every day. I am actually surprised at the amount we are able to understand at this point. Please continue to pray for us, that we will continue learning the language quickly and be able to fully speak and understand it within the next few months. As a side note, our teacher is Muslim, and God is opening up doors for us to share the gospel with him. He has been asking a lot of questions. We had some great discussions about Christmas. 24 | General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020
I work every Monday morning for four hours, and every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoon for four hours, at Sahel Academy in the business office with their cash department. Nicole works at the front desk four hours each afternoon Monday through Friday as an Administrative Assistant. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, I work at the Foyer Evangelique Universitaire, where I have the conversational English classes. Nicole works there every Wednesday night for two hours. In my first classes there, I have had 11 students each time. Nicole’s first class had around 20 students. She has had smaller groups since then of maybe five to ten people each time. It is a huge opportunity, and we are thankful for it. We hope to continue it well into the future when we have our own Ministry Center as a base of operations. We are going into week three working towards our Nigerien driver’s licenses. It is quite a process. It requires documentation from the embassy. Then a lot of paperwork for us to get everything transferred. To make things a little crazier, they are currently requiring every person in the country to get a new license, as the old licenses did not have expiration dates. They are transferring everyone to small plastic cards, similar to what we have in the US. Thankfully the new licenses will have a 10-year expiration on them. Please continue to keep us in your prayers! Kris and Nicole Yeomans along with their daughters were commissioned as General Baptist Missionaries at the Mission & Ministry Summit in 2018. Their assignment is to open the new field in Niger. They currently reside in Western Niger and one of their primary areas of interest is the Hausa and Zarma tribal peoples.
Unified GIVING ... . doing together what we cannot do alone The early Church knew while not all were called to travel the known world preaching the Gospel, all were expected to financially and spiritually support the work of those who were, as well as give toward emergency relief. Paul mentions on numerous occasions the help he receives from the established churches and the offerings he delivers to the poor. (Romans 15:23-24, Galatians 2:10, Philippians 4:16) People from all over would come together in support of a few, so that the Gospel could branch out to even more places. Unified Giving allows us to follow the example of the first believers and gather our resources to send and support more missionaries than ever before to all corners of the world, and to provide relief to the poor, the widowed, the orphaned, and the disaster-stricken. It enables us to do greater things together than what we can do alone.
General Baptist Ministries 100 Stinson Dr. | Poplar Bluff, MO 63901 573.785.7746 | www.GeneralBaptist.com
By Dr. Franklin R. Dumond, Director of Congregational Ministries
C
hurch by-laws are one of the least glamorous elements of church life. They introduce most church leaders to a world of legal detail and collective oversight that seems inconsistent with worship, service and ministry. Yet in the 21st century this less glamorous element is of primary significance. They are often like those parts of the body that are weaker but indispensable (see I Corinthians 12). Many church leaders have noted common weaknesses in church by-laws and have offered corrections. The content included here attempts to identify, from the author’s perspective, several of these common weaknesses. The advice included here should not be used as a substitute for sound legal advice, although it is drawn from several years of ministry experience as well as dozens of church consultations. Church by-laws are only one of several levels of organizing documents. As such they should be viewed within their legal context to help define their expected content. At the apex of the organizing documents for a local church are the articles of incorporation. These articles, filed with the Secretary of State in the state where the church is located, bring the congregation into legal existence. Through incorporation the church becomes a legal entity with a declared purpose, identified agents or trustees and a formal legal contact through its registered agent. All subsequent documents and actions of the congregation should conform to the language of the articles of incorporation. These articles generally are not changed although periodic reporting required by the state does
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update officers and agents of the corporation. (To receive a copy of “Why Churches Should Incorporate” contact cmofc@generalbaptist.com .) Next comes the constitution. This establishes a local organization with officers, doctrinal stance, affiliation, membership provisions and other elements. Constitutions generally change only with agreement by a super-majority and prior notice. At a third level bylaws provide guidelines for operation. A budget process, membership on the church board or church council, provisions for the call or dismissal of the pastor, conflict resolution among members, nature and times for business meetings and other elements will comprise the bulk of these by-laws. Generally a simple majority may change by-laws when prior notice is given. Policy and Procedures provide a fourth level of organizing documents. These include such items as building use, work schedules for employees, employment practices, job descriptions for volunteer leaders and other elements like reporting procedures that guide day-to-day operations of the church. Many churches do not have a policy manual yet much of the same content can be developed by establishing job descriptions and time expectations when folks are nominated or recruited to serve and by identifying in the business meeting minutes those preferences agreed to by the congregation. Policies and procedures typically may be adjusted rather easily by the church staff, the church board or leaders of the program ministries of the church.
6 COMMON SHORTCOMINGS OF CHURCH BYLAWS.
1. By-laws are too complex and become both unwieldy and sometimes even contradictory. Sometimes complexity comes from the accumulation of changes over time. An issues arises. The by-laws are amended but elements are never removed. Complex, unwieldy by-laws allow power brokers to master the details and manipulate them to their own advantage rather than allowing them to be used for the overall advantage of the congregation. For example, in one church setting the by-laws named a long list of auxiliaries that were granted the right to elect members to the church council. One such auxiliary dwindled to only three members yet the chair of the group continued to appoint herself as the voting representative to the church council. Had the by-laws specified that auxiliaries should communicate with, rather than represent on, the church council, church governance in that setting would have been much less divisive. 2. By-laws are reactionary. A problem arises so a by-law is written and approved to address the problem. For example, in one set of by-laws the pastor was prevented from taking vacation or being absent on Palm Sunday or Easter. When problems are reacted to in the by-laws over time the by-laws become complex, unwieldly and even contradictory. 3. By-laws are dated. In the church council illustration referenced earlier the by-laws were constructed to reflect the program ministries in place at that time. The assumption was that these programs would always be in place. Yet anyone with ministry experience learns that program ministries change over time. The rise of the Me-Too Movement, new definitions of sexual harassment, zoning and building codes, security and safety concerns are all arenas of concern that were not present a few years ago and may require adjustments in by-laws. 4. By-laws are stop signs rather than guidelines. The legal world and its influence on the church shows up here. Parliamentary process introduces an adversarial system that describes what cannot happen or that establishes pre-conditions before something can happen. Sometimes by-laws use more space to prevent rather than to guide activity. 5. By-laws haves no process for regular review. By-laws should be reviewed every three to five years. The lack of regular review may result in overly complex, reactionary and dated by-laws. 6. By-laws contain reversion clauses that are general and vague. These clauses are generally required by states for incorporation and by the Internal Revenue Service to insure that should the church be dissolved its assets will be properly conveyed. When these clauses are general and vague they meet only the minimal legal requirements but do not safeguard the ministries and objectives of the congregation. More than once the assets of General Baptist churches that closed have been used to pay manufactured salaries of church employees who claimed back-pay or have been given to non-General Baptist causes because the reversion clauses were absent or incomplete. For our churches General Baptist Congregational Ministries has produced a resource packet to provide models and templates for local church organization. For additional information or to secure a digital copy of The Organizational Planning Packet contact cmofc@generalbaptist.com
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We hear time and again from pastors about their need to feel connected to other folks in ministry. The vast majority of General Baptist pastors work in a solo ministry where they are the sum total of ministerial staff in their congregations. Also the majority of General Baptist pastors serve as bi-vocational pastors who must balance work and career with home and church. For more than a generation now General Baptist Ministries has helped meet these needs for connection through the General Baptist Minister’s Conference. This year’s conference will once again meet at Kentucky Dam Village State Park near Paducah, Kentucky on May 26-28, 2020. The General Baptist Minister’s Conference provides healthy networking among, and mutual support for, those pastors and staff ministers who are in the trenches. Unfortunately, many General Baptist pastors never take advantage of this conference designed to meet their
JONAH CARPENTER Pastor, Norris City, IL & Student at OCU
DAVID MITCHELL Pastor, Strong Towers Church Westmoreland, TN
personal needs. Thus they unnecessarily face isolation, burn-out and discouragement rather than taking time to refresh and refocus to gain 2020 Vision. Following through on a strategy designed by younger participants the conference will convene at Kentucky Dam Village State Park near Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Many bi-vocational pastors will find this location and the schedule will minimize time away from the job. The conference center is within a 2-hour drive of a large number of our churches. With a start time late in the day on Tuesday and an easy commute back following the Thursday evening session, time away from work and home is minimized. The conference will begin on Tuesday evening, May 26 with a picnic reception at the lakeside pavilion. The sessions on Wednesday and Thursday will feature presentations from several of our own General Baptist pastors who will help us gain 2020 Vision.
DR. RON DEMPSEY President, Oakland City University
TYLER FELLER Pastor, McLeansboro, IL
STEWART ALLEN CLARK Pastor, Malden, MO 2021 G.A. Moderator
Wednesday and Thursday afternoons are unscheduled to allow recreation, personal time or networking. See www.GBMinCon.org or www.generalbaptist.com for additional information and on-line registration. Registration may be done on-line, by mail, or by phone. Of course if you have questions, please call General Baptist Ministries at 573-785-7746 or e-mail cmofc@generalbaptist.com By organizing this event and by working through the Barnabas project to establish personal connections we are taking intentional steps from the denomination to meet the needs of pastors.
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G E N E R A L
B A P T I S T
INVESTMENT FUND 45 YEARS
1974
2019
DOUBLE SAPPHIRE ANNIVERSARY
45
MILLION AS SETS
CD OP TIONS WITH MINIMUM DEP O SIT $ 100 DEMAND
ONE YEAR
TWO YEARS
THREE YEARS
FIVE YEARS
2.50%
3.00%
3.05%
3.10%
3.25%
GENERAL BAPTIST INVESTMENT FUND, Inc.
100 Stinson Drive • Poplar Bluff, MO 63901
573-785-7746 Barbara Williams, Steve Naff,
NEW OR RENOVATED C h u r c h e s , Pa r s o na g e S , & C h u r c h T r a n s p o r tat i o n
JULY 20 – 22, 2020 • ORLANDO, FLORIDA MISSION & MINISTRY
SUMMIT
WHY ATTEND SUMMIT 2020? General Baptist Ministries provides 40+ workshop settings for intentional training in a variety of topics. Experience worship with hundreds of fellow General Baptists. Hear impactful Keynote messages from dynamic church leaders. There will be networking opportunities with General Baptist leaders from across the country. WHO MAY REGISTER? Summit events are open to all General Baptists. For voting on General Association business, churches belonging to an association and churches that are direct affiliate members “shall select delegates to the General Association—two delegates for each 50 members or fraction thereof.” In addition, pastors and staff employed by the church are automatic delegates. WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Ministers and Pastors • Youth Leaders • Worship Leaders • Sunday School Workers • Ministry Team Leaders Women’s Ministry Leaders/Members • Small Group Leaders • Children’s Workers • Outreach Leaders/Workers Technical Arts Workers GROUP RATES Our group rate is $119 for the Standard Single King Suites and Double Queen Suites and is available July 20-22, 2020 (plus 3 days pre and post). Our group rate for the Two-Bedroom Villas is $219 which include a full kitchen, living and dining room, one double queen bedroom, one king bedroom, two full baths, plus stacked washer and dryers. This is really perfect for families turning the trip down for the Summit into a vacation! Cut off date for reservations is June 25, 2020. All Suite rates are based on single/double occupancy. Villa rates are based on up to four adults. Additional charges for additional adults. The Hotel Fee, normally $25, has been waived for our rooming block. There is an additional charge for parking. Early R e gi s tr ation end s June 1 s t , 2 02 0 . R e gi s ter O nline @ w w w.gb summit .or g Contac t G ener al B apti s t M ini s trie s at 57 3 .78 5 .7 74 6 f or mor e inf ormation 30 | General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020
SUMMIT GUESTS JON SA NDE R S Jon is a pastor in Flandreau, South Dakota, population 2,341. His vision is to reach rural America and assist other pastors ministering in small towns. Jon is the author of “Rural Church Rescue” and also the founder of the Small Town Big Church Network, a resource for pastors in rural settings. He and his wife Jessica have three children. Jon will present several workshops at this year’s Mission & Ministry Summit. On Monday and Tuesday afternoons he will address “How to Make a BIG Impact in Your Small Community” (Parts 1 and 2). Then on Wednesday afternoon he will teach on “Mindset, Multi-site, and Money”. On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings he will be part of a Rural Church Forum that will allow Q & A from rural church leaders. HOW TO MAKE A BIG IMPACT IN YOUR SMALL TOWN - IN TWO PARTS Some people thing the worst thing that could happen to their church would be for people to think or speak poorly of it. Far worse than that, however, would be for people to ignore your church or fail to recognize that you even exist! In this session we will explore 12 practical ways your small church can show up in a big way in your community. MINDSET, MULTI-SITE, AND MONEY: EXAMINING THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FACING THE RURAL CHURCH In this session we will explore three major problems that rural church leaders are facing today and the opportunities that these problems make possible.
ROBE R T J. MORGA N Robert J. Morgan is the teaching pastor of The Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee, where he has served for 38 years. He is a best-selling, gold-Illuminations, and gold-medallion winning writer with more than 35 books in print and more than 4.5 million copies in circulation in multiple languages. “The Red Sea Rules” first published in 2001 remains one of his most popular titles. Rob will be leading workshops every afternoon using content from his recent and/ or soon-to-be-released titles. These personal enrichment workshops at this year’s Summit will include “Worry Less, Live More”, “Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation” and “The Jordan River Rules”. WORRY LESS, LIVE MORE - What if the Triune God descended into your presence and asked you what was troubling you. What advice would God the Father give you? God the Son? God the Holy Spirit? In three great passages, the Lord Himself tells us how to manage our fears, frets, and burdens. RECLAIMING THE LOST ART OF BIBLICAL MEDITATION - We should have the Bible circulating through our mind like water through a pump. How do we move from reading Scripture and studying Scripture to actually thinking Scripture. Biblical meditation is crucial for developing a healthy soul. The practice is as easy and portable as your brain, as available as your imagination, as near as your Bible, and the benefits are immediate. THE JORDAN RIVER RULES - After we’ve been through a Red Sea experience, how do we press successfully and joyfully into the next stage of life? That’s what the Israelites did in Joshua 1-6, and the ten steps God used with them are exactly what we need today. The same God who led you out will lead you on.
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MEET OUR
2020 SUMMIT
KE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR G E N E R A L A S S O C I AT I O N OF GENER AL BAPTISTS L E A D PA S TO R REAL LIFE CHURCH
PA S T O R C L I N T COOK
PA S T O R G A R Y BALDUS L E A D PA S TO R NE W WA L K CHUR CH
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YNOTERS
L E A D PA S TO R T HEC H U R C H AT
PA S T O R A L E X H I M A YA
PA S T O R T R OY GRAMLING L E A D PA S TO R POTENTIAL CHURCH
U M M I T General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020 | 33
2019 YEAR IN REVIEW General Baptist Ministries working from the denominational offices in Poplar Bluff, Missouri functioned throughout 2019 under the mandate to “maximize Kingdom impact by starting, equipping and inspiring local churches to accomplish the Great Commission.” This mission found expression in the 2019 Strategic Plan submitted, reviewed and approved by the Council of Associations. This missional objective draws from the larger mission envisioned for General Baptist Ministries of “fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus Christ through equipping Christians in the local church and challenging them to become actively involved in the mission and purpose of the Church (C of A Bylaw VI. A.).
These missional objectives of General Baptist Ministries are identified in the organizing documents of the General Association of General Baptists and the General Baptist Council of Associations, Inc. as adopted by the various representatives of the churches and associations affiliated with General Baptists.
A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MINISTRIES UNDERTAKEN IN 2019 FOLLOWS. Congregational Ministries continued to provide a response system to local churches. On-site consultations, phone and digital communications and sharing custom designed resources all assist in this process. In 2019 several downloadable resources addressing pastor search, pastor compensation and organizational models were popular. Church turnaround resources remain available at http://www.turnaround2020.net. Church Rebrand Pilot Project. In 2019 a grant was given to the First General Baptist Church of Clay, Kentucky to assist them with a Rebrand/Restart in their community. The grant from the denomination helped provide coaching, web site development and local advertising. As a result of this effort the church re-launched in the fall with 151 members and guests present on their first Big Day. In the following weeks they continued to see first time guests with a steady increase in average attendance. Pastor Johnny Hibbs reports that folks have discovered new avenues of service and witness with a genuine atmosphere of spiritual renewal in every service.
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THE GENERAL BAPTIST FOUNDATION
General Baptist
FOUNDATION
One little known aspect of General Baptist Ministries is the | 1Corinthians 3 :10 –13 on-going work of the General Baptist Foundation. This permanent fund provides a way to advance the work of General Baptists beyond our years on earth by providing perpetual assistance for the causes designated by the grantors. This endowment is held by a board approved by the Council of Associations. The board provides general oversight for investments to insure both the safety of the principal while generating a fair return on investment. In calendar year 2019 nearly $50,000.00 was dispersed to various departmental ministries as designated by the original grantors. Additional amounts were sent to other ministries as identified in the various bequests. Women’s Ministry serves in a support role to the larger mission of General Baptists. The fall of 2019 saw record attendance at their newly developed conference Inside Out. A recent newsletter compared designated giving for 2018 and 2019.
MISSION & MINISTRY
SUMMIT
Since 2007 General Baptists Ministries has hosted the annual Mission & Ministry Summit. The Summit serves to provide meaningful worship, practical training and up-close-and-personal missionary connection. In its most recent years The Summit has welcomed nearly 2,000 adult leaders from across the nation. Those churches sending teams to The Summit continue to enjoy a head-start in local ministry development and church outreach. The 2020 Mission & Ministry Summit will be hosted at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida on July 20-22, 2020.
LAMP (Leaders Advancing in Ministry Program) is a home-based, self-paced ministry preparation course. Each student works with a mentor and all submissions are reviewed by the LAMP Director before course credit is given. LAMP enrollees who complete all three levels satisfy minimum educational requirements for ordination as a General Baptist Minister. At the end of 2019 there were: • 169 active students • 26 newly enrolled in 2019. Nearly 300 course credits were given based on the certificates completed and the work submitted. Level 100 completed by 12 persons. Level 200 completed by 7 persons. Level 300 completed by 5 persons. In addition to those students directly enrolled in the program LAMP extends the Level 300 Certificate of Ministries to those who complete the training curriculum of the Christian Training Institute currently offering classes in Portland, Tennessee, Madisonville, Kentucky and Morgantown, Kentucky. General Baptist International’s Mission One included mission trips, Launch Internships and short-term missions for more than 225 people in 2019. Over 50% of the participants were under age 40. The Mission One program is a wonderful way for people from multiple generations to serve together. If you would like to become involved in a Mission One Program, please e-mail Mission One Coordinator Dr. Jim Pratt at jim.pratt@generalbaptist.com
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2019 TYPES OF INCOME
Brotherhood Mutual Support. Through an agreement with Brotherhood Mutual Insurance General Baptist Ministries qualifies for a grant based on the claims history of the General Baptist churches purchasing property and liability insurance from them. In 2019 a gift of $25,000 was received. Gwyn Jowers with James Greene & Associates presented the ministry partner check to Executive Director Clint Cook and Financial Officer Linda McDonough. He added, “It is exciting to know that these dollars will be used to impact mission and ministry”. These dollars are earmarked for Ethnic Ministries in California where they continue to make a positive impact on the church planting and church development ministries guided by Pastor Rene Rodriguez through Sheffield Association. General Baptist churches that wish to participate in this program may gain additional details by calling 800-422-3384 and speaking with Esther. Conferences and workshops were an important part of Congregational Ministries in 2019. In addition to the National Youth Conference, Camp Meeting Days, and Pastor’s Conference a partnership with Freedom Association provided a Small Church Essentials workshop. Presented by Karl Vaters and hosted by Main Street Church of Boonville more than 150+ leaders from more than 30 churches attended.
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ETHNIC MINISTRIES CONTINUES TO RECEIVE REGULAR SUPPORT FROM UNIFIED GIVING RESOURCES. In Jacksonville, Florida Rev. Pete Lapaz continues to lead All Nations General Baptist Church. This new congregation continues to meet in rented quarters (They are now in their 8th location.) Recently the pastor was asked to “visit another family here in Jacksonville to pray for the blessing of their home. They testified that they always have bad dreams and disturbance in their home. Without any hesitation I went along with my prayer partner and active members of the church. I suggested to the owner of the house, a single mother, that, before I pray for blessings in her home, we shall have a short Bible Study. She immediately agreed. So right away, I used the Roman Road Bible Study. Praise God, two sisters from the Catholic background received Christ as their Lord and Savior…soon they too will follow their Lord in baptism.” Pastor Pete came to faith in Christ in his native Philippines under the ministry of Rev. Cecil Green. He now resides in Jacksonville, Florida where he is leading an effort to eventually plant five General Baptist churches in the metro area. Rev. Rene Rodriguez and his family came to the United States to escape violence in Central America following an attack that left his wife with a gunshot wound. From Southern California he now directs outreach through Sheffield Association to a number of California communities. In addition students trained through these Bible Institutes have planted General Baptist churches in Iowa, Missouri and Virginia. His contacts throughout Mexico and Central America continue to help General Baptists explore new partnerships for new church planting. Currently seven Bible Institutes provide training in Mexico and recently a new institute was opened in Guatemala. Churches, like people, have a life cycle that includes birth, growth, maturity, aging and death. While churches can enjoy a new life cycle or renewal or replant, this is not always possible.
CHURCH UPDATES Sadly in 2019 a few General Baptist churches came to the end of their life cycles. Thankfully the closure rate of General Baptist churches has slowed in recent years when 10 or more churches were reported closed every year. The list of those churches reported closed in 2019 includes five closures and one merger. This includes four older churches in rural settings like Taylor and Union Ridge in Southeast Missouri and older churches in metro areas like Springfield Road in East Peoria, Illinois and South Side in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition a relatively new church, The Solid Rock in Marble Hill, Missouri, also closed in 2019. In Southern Indiana two rural churches merged. Cornerstone of rural Dale, Indiana merged with Little Zion to form True Life General Baptist Church. The Little Zion congregation, as a relatively new group, always worshipped in rented quarters. Now the combined group enjoys the facilities previously occupied by Cornerstone. Since 2005 records of closure have been maintained by date. In the course of the last 15 years 146 churches have been reported as closed or merged. Nevertheless at the end of 2019 the roster of stateside General Baptist churches included 797 churches. When reports from 2019 arrive over the next few months several newly planted, adopted or re-aligned churches are expected to be added to that roster. For example, Sheffield Association recently added three (3) new churches to their roster.
General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020 | 37
On A Mission For Jesus By: Amanda Ball-Knight
Isaiah and Jeremiah were both called by God. Though each had a very different response, ultimately Isaiah and Jeremiah both surrendered to God and fulfilled their callings. In Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah had a vision where he saw seraphim surrounding God on the throne. The seraphim sang of God’s holiness, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts” (vs. 3). Then the mighty voice of God was heard by Isaiah, causing him to confess that he was a sinner and unworthy to stand before God. Because of God’s amazing grace and mercy, He cleansed Isaiah! God then called for a messenger. Isaiah responded, “Here am I, send me.” (vs. 8). When Isaiah put his whole heart and trust in God, he willingly responded to the call of God. Jeremiah’s calling demonstrates that God can call anyone. Remember God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. In Jeremiah chapter one, God speaks to Jeremiah, telling him that He knew him even before he was formed in his mother’s womb. God formed Jeremiah (and us) and called him for a great work and purpose. Jeremiah responded, “I cannot speak: for I am a child.” God encouraged Jeremiah and let him know that He will always be with him to deliver him. Jeremiah then answered the call. Often we demonstrate Isaiah and Jeremiah’s responses to the call of God. If the calling is what we want to do, or simple and manageable, we tend to be like Isaiah and say,
38 | General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020
“Here am I, send me.” If the calling is scary and requires more faith and trust in Christ we tend to respond like Jeremiah with an excuse: I’m too old/young, I do not do well in that area, I have too much on my plate, I’m just one person, etc. When God calls us, He is looking for our availability, not our ability. It is essential, no matter the calling God has placed upon our lives, that we surrender to Him wholly and fully knowing He will never leave us or forsake us! God has called and ordained us each to be a disciple for Him. How will you respond? Meet Maggye, a thirteen-year-old disciple of Christ and daughter of author Amanda and Rev Joe Knight. Maggye’s birth story is a bit of a scary feat. During some routine prenatal blood work, the physician found my lab work to be completely abnormal; an ultrasound was then ordered confirming our worst fears…there was no fetal heartbeat. After much grieving and prayer, we soon found that our prayers were answered because follow-up testing and a repeat ultrasound revealed a healthy fetal heartbeat. Praises were sent straight to the Master! Our excitement though was soon met with fear again as the enemy continued to try and destroy Maggye. Throughout my pregnancy I spent countless days (weeks and months) in the hospital related to complications and preterm labor. Maggye was finally was delivered by an emergency
Be that disciple. Be that missionary. Be that servant of Christ. We are all fellow Kingdom builders working for the same purpose of sharing Jesus.
c-section five and a half weeks early. After spending some time in the NICU, she was discharged happy and healthy to go home! God is so good! We soon realized why the enemy tried so hard to destroy our girl. Maggye accepted Jesus as her personal Saviour at just seven years old and soon after she felt the call of God on her life. Through God’s call, Maggye has been able to minister to people across the world with her God-given gift of a servant’s heart. Maggye has made it her mission to share Jesus with others through her organization, Happy Ministries. The purpose of Happy Ministries, “Spreading the love and joy of Jesus to those in need.” Maggye faithfully listens to God as He reveals mission projects for her to do each month: feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, loving the lonely, seeing the invisible, and touching hearts with the Gospel. God called Isaiah. He called Jeremiah. He called Maggye. He IS calling you. How will you answer? It doesn’t matter your age, whether you are seasoned or just a babe in Christ, God wants to use you.
We are all called to share Jesus, to be disciples and missionaries in some form. Some are called to give. Some are called to speak. Some are called to go. What are you called to do? Here are a few ways to get started with a mission project: 1. Prayer should be your first step. Listen to the Lord and allow Him to lead you in your calling. 2. Know the demographics in the area you are serving. What are the needs/people groups? 3. Make a plan and set it in motion. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, so get moving! 4. Get others motivated about serving. Recruit volunteers to get your project off the ground. For project ideas or how to help current projects reach out to Happy Ministries (amandaballknight@gmail.com) or General Baptist Women’s Ministries (kris.pratt@generalbaptist.com).
General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020 | 39
GENERAL BAPTIST NATIONAL YOUTH CONFERENCE
LAKE WILLIAMSON CHRISTIAN CENTER CARLINVILLE, ILLINOIS
H OST
JEFF ROTH
KEY N OT E
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RELEVANT YOUTH MUSIC E A R L Y R E G I S T R A T I O N E N D S A P R I L 1 5 TH REGISTER ONLINE @ WWW.GBNYC.ORG WWW.GBNYC.ORG | CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRIES | 573.785.7746
Raising Up Young Leaders By Charity Julian
O
akland City University has a rich heritage of providing quality education to students in a setting grounded in Christian values. Students are eager to grow in their faith but often need encouragement and direction to put that faith into action. The Mighty Oaks Mission Club is a new organization established for the following purposes: (1) Raising students’ awareness of General Baptist missionaries, (2) Providing opportunities for students to participate in diverse methods of mission-based outreach and (3) Developing student proficiencies in leadership and discipleship skills. The need for this club was realized a few years ago while preparing for a team trip to Honduras. Several students from Oakland City University desired to go on this outing but for various reasons were unable to do so. Although their dreams of going to Honduras were not in God’s present plan, the call to serve was still lingering in their hearts. It was at that time that God cultivated an awareness that these students needed training and assistance in developing other avenues for service. The vision for this program includes training and information sharing regarding various aspects of mission work. These include the following: • Educating students about the ministries of current General Baptist missionaries; • Encouraging students to support missionary endeavors through prayer and financial support; • Preparing students to serve on short-term mission trips; • Offering seminars to aid in the spiritual formation, leadership skills, and the personal progress of each student participant. The overall goal is to produce future Christian leaders who will serve General Baptist Ministries, locally, nationally, and internationally to fulfill Christ’s mandate to evangelize to all nations. We are grateful to General Baptist Women’s Ministries for supporting these efforts. As a result of this funding and prayer support, we have observed increased student awareness of mission based opportunities and a greater understanding of their roles in supporting General Baptist missionaries. This program aids to help accomplish Oakland City University’s motto: “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve.”
General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020 | 41
Inspiring & e to find their G
Women Need “That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith---that you, being rooted and grounded in love…………..to know the love of Christ………filled with the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory………forever and ever. – Ephesians 3: 16-21 ESV I have learned over the past several years of being involved in Women’s Ministries that women love to be around other women. Women are relational. That is just the way we are wired. I have also come to realize that we all want to belong to something. We want to have a family or a relationship with someone where we feel loved, known or valued. But if we are honest it can be scary to open up to others. Vulnerability can be scary and many times it is even daunting to know how to make connections. I also believe that women are wanting to know and learn from other women who are a little bit ahead of us in life but are at a loss as to how to initiate that relationship.
42 | General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020
Several months ago, God began to speak to me about women who were in need of mentoring. In my church ministry setting at this time I have been approached more than once to mentor. Most of the time the request comes just as a simple “Can I talk to you sometime?” Over the last few months the talks have covered a gambit of subjects. Their talks range from “I just want to be closer to God”, “Is it normal for me to always feel so stressed?”, “I am in a relationship right now and I am not sure that it is the healthiest thing for me at this time.” A few months ago, a young woman in my church came to me and said, “I think God is calling me to missions and I am scared to death and I don’t know what to
& empowering women r God-potential
Women do.” That request excited me beyond measure, and I am still visiting with that young woman on a regular basis. Many times, we think of a mentoring program as focusing on younger women needing shepherding but there also are a lot of older women that are possibly empty nesters that are just looking for a younger woman to spend time with and walk with. The heart of this ministry is to see women be firmly rooted in Jesus and the word of God. A mentoring relationship between younger and older Christian women can be the perfect combination for both to grow. I have found over my years of experience in ministry that when God directs you toward a certain ministry area or need, He always calls others to walk beside you in the ministry. Well such is the case. I am excited to announce that Women’s Ministries is currently developing a plan for a mentoring program to be used in churches of
By Vicki Smith, Director of Women’s Ministries
any size. If you or your women’s group are interested in knowing more about this ministry opportunity contact the Women’s Ministries office in Poplar Bluff or email me at vicki.smith@generalbaptist.com. If you are feeling that God has a desire to use you in a special way in this ministry please call me at 417-989-1426 or email or call the Women’s Ministries office (kris.pratt@generalbaptist.com or 573-785-7746 Switchboard hours M-F, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.). We are currently looking for women to serve on the planning committee or be pilot churches for the mentoring ministry. I am excited to see the lives that will be touched and changed through this ministry.
General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020 | 43
Trending Now Most Churches Plan for Potential Gunman By Aaron Earls, Lifeway Research
Nashville, Tenn. — In the aftermath of several high-profile church shootings, most Protestant pastors say their congregations have taken some precautions to protect those in attendance. Since 2000, 19 fatal shootings have taken place at Christian churches, while gunmen have also taken lives at other religious sites like Jewish synagogues, a Sikh temple and an Amish school. Around 4 in 5 Protestant pastors (80%) say their church has some type of security measure in place when they gather for worship, according to a survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. “Churches are some of the most common gatherings in any community, and that makes them targets,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. “Most churches understand this and have responded in some way.” Which, if any, of the following security measures does your church have in place when your church meets for worship? Among Protestant Pastors
62% 18% 28%
AN INTENTIONAL PLAN FOR AN ACTIVE SHOOTER
NONE OF THESE
RADIO COMMUNICATION AMONG SECURITY PERSONNEL
23% ARMED PRIVATE SECURITY PERSONNEL ON SITE
45%
3%
ARMED CHURCH MEMBERS
METAL DETECTORS AT ENTRANCE TO SCREEN FOR WEPONS
27%
6% UNIFORM POLICE OFFICERS ON SITE
A NO FIREARM POLICY FOR THE BUILDING WHERE YOU MEET
2% NOT SURE
Read the full report online at www.LifeWayResearch.com Source: Lifeway Research One LifeWay Plaza | Nashville, TN 37234-0192
44 | General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020
In U.S., Smaller share of Adults identify as Christians, while religious ‘nones’ have grown % of U.s. adults who identify as...
... Christian 78%
Religious Landscape Studies (RLS)
... religiously unaffiliated
77% Aggregated Pew Research Center Political Surveys
26% 23%
31% 71%
16%
17%
RLS
Aggregated Political Surveys
65%
2007
2009
2014
2018/19
2007
2009
2014
2018/19
U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace By Pew Research Center
The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009. Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share. Currently, 43% of U.S. adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in 2009. And one-in-five adults (20%) are Catholic, down from 23% in 2009. Meanwhile, all subsets of the religiously unaffiliated population – a group also known as religious “nones” – have seen their numbers swell. Self-described atheists now account for 4% of U.S. adults, up modestly but significantly from 2% in 2009; agnostics make up 5% of U.S. adults, up from 3% a decade ago; and 17% of Americans now describe their religion as “nothing in particular,” up from 12% in 2009. Members of non-Christian religions also have grown modestly as a share of the adult population. Source: Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Studies (2007 and 2014). Aggregated Pew Research Center political surveys conducted 2009- July 2019 on the telephone. “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace” Pew Research Center 1615 L St. NW, Suite 800 | Washington, DC 20036 | USA
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Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest trends and research about the American religious beliefs. General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020 | 45
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