GARLAND?”We need to pray that God will influence the process of delegating the power of government in Egypt away from the military and into the people’s hands so they can elect a civilian government,” said Abdul, an Egyptian Christian now ministering to Muslims in the United States, and whose identity is protected in this story. “We’re talking about big stuff here,” he said. “This is very important.”

“Many American and European friends have told me they are praying for Egypt and the Mideast. They have been praying for an open door, and that door is now open. The walls of resistance are collapsing. God is moving in Egypt,” Abdul told the TEXAN during a visit to Texas Feb. 14-15 for a conference on missions to North Africa hosted by New Life Baptist Church in Garland.

Since Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, Egypt’s constitution that once restricted freedom of religion and evangelism is now void, Abdul said.

“All Christians should pray that the new constitution will offer complete freedom of religion without harassment, and that the people can experience real democracy,” he said.

Though Egyptians previously enjoyed limited religious freedoms, they have faced severe persecution from the country’s secret police force, which is now in custody, Abdul said.

Abdul also estimated the number of Egyptian converts from Islam to Christianity at 100,000, but noted that number is difficult to know because thousands of converts remain underground for fear of persecution in a culture that deems abandonment of one’s traditional religion as treason, or worse.

John, a Christian aid worker who once lived in Egypt and whose identity is also protected, told the TEXAN that quantifying the number of Muslims-turned-Christians is exceedingly difficult because of the “broad seed-sowing of the gospel” that dates from Presbyterian efforts in the 1800s to the variety of current, out-of-country media efforts by numerous Christian ministries still proclaiming the gospel. John also underscored that, though Egypt does have some religious freedoms, the cultural pressures are such that converts from Islam must either go underground or face possible severe harassment, and sometimes, deadly persecution.

“Any time you are among a small minority in a sea of change, it’s a scary place to be,” John said. “So, Christians in that situation are facing a lot of uncertainty and they don’t have a particularly loud voice at the table. While the world jumps up and down with glee that Mubarak is gone, the Christians don’t know how to feel.”

Abdul added: “Those Muslims who came to Christ are still underground. Please pray that they will come on stage in Egypt as disciples of Jesus Christ because that would lead to an incredible movement for Christianity and God in Egypt.”

According to Abdul, Coptic Orthodox Christians and members of the Evangelical Church in Egypt are, as business owners, responsible for approximately 40 percent of Egypt’s economy. As such, they can wield significant political power, he said.

“If they would, they could have a huge influence in the process of gaining more democratic rights for all Egyptians. Pray that they will stand up and make their voices heard,” he said. “They need to stand for themselves for the sake of citizens’ rights and for the sake of the gospel so Christians can be free to evangelize without fear.”
Abdul also asks for Christians to pray for the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The Muslim Brotherhood has a political agenda in that they want to turn Egypt to radical Islam,” Abdul said. “I want Americans to pray that will never happen.”

“Contrary to media reports that tout the Muslim Brotherhood as sweet, loving people, they have a definite agenda to radicalize Egypt,” said John, who suspects the Muslim Brotherhood was behind the assassination of Mubarak’s predecessor, Anwar Sadat. “They were Islamists, however, who killed Sadat,” he added.

“I want to challenge Christians not to take media at face value, but determine what recent changes in Egypt mean for the gospel and for Muslims who are prevented from hearing the clear gospel by their culture and, to some extent, the government.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood is already telling the international media that they are for rights for everyone. But they are lying,” Abdul said. “They do this so they don’t have to answer questions about Islam.”

In a Muslim nation the only religious freedom one has is to be a Muslim, he added.

“Pray that God will keep the Muslim Brotherhood from influencing the political process in my home country,” Abdul said. “But also pray that God will influence the Muslim Brotherhood so they can see him at work. I want to see God touch the Muslim Brotherhood so they are influenced by what God has done and is doing in the lives of others.”

Abdul also asks for prayers for his parents still in Egypt, who, despite declining physical health, participated in recent protests there.

“To Christians around the world, I ask them to pray that God will move in Egypt in a mighty way, and that my people will not only find political freedom,” Abdul said, “but will be free from the spiritual darkness of Islam.”

Regarding Christians who see such events in the Middle East more from a perspective of the biblical End Times, John said: “I don’t claim to know the hour of Jesus’ return, but I don’t think it’s that soon, really. Jesus said he’d return when the gospel had been preached to all peoples, and we haven’t done that yet.” Instead of focusing on eschatology, he said, Christians should “get on with the task of taking the gospel to those who have yet to hear.”

Redemptive History
“From a biblical perspective, Egypt has always played a big role under God’s sovereignty in redemptive history,” said Tony Maalouf, associate professor of missions and director of the Islamic studies program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

“‘Out of Egypt I called my Son’ (Hosea 11:1) means that Messiah’s salvation has a universal outlook, and Egypt is highlighted as a primary beneficiary of this universality,” he said. “If we keep this end-time purpose of God for Egypt in mind, we cannot but be optimistic as history unfolds in that country and freedom is appropriated once again by the people.”

Maalouf told the TEXAN he is “optimistic that some sort of democracy will take place in the country of Egypt. The success of the revolution of the people is only the beginning of the process. It will be a long process of reform on many levels.”

“From a Christian perspective, I hope and pray that this will eventually affect positively religious freedom as well,” said Maalouf, author of the book, “Arabs in the Shadow of Israel: The Unfolding of God’s Prophetic Plan for Ishmael’s Line.”

Regarding evangelistic opportunities related to the revolt, Maalouf said many Egyptians living in America have family ties in Egypt.

“Therefore, whatever affects their family members overseas will eventually have an impact on them as well,” Maalouf said. “A potential turning to the Lord of family members in Egypt will mean a greater witness and influence on Egyptian-Americans here. A freer church life in Egypt and a bolder church witness will for sure impact Egyptians in the U.S.A. as well.”

In the short time that Kevin Ezell has led the North American Mission Board he has skidded Southern Baptists’ largest bureaucracy into a turn few thought it could make. I’m optimistic that the organizational changes and priorities he has staked out will give our denomination a mission board that makes a difference in North America.

For instance, we can discern some of the board’s priorities as we look at the five regions. Four of the five regional directors will be directed toward areas with relatively few Southern Baptists. It’s more than symbolic. Three of the four directors working the United States will focus on regions that contain the largest population centers in our country. All of those three regions contain population groups and cities that are 90 percent or more unreached with the gospel. By any reasonable estimation, a population is that is more than 90 percent lost should go on the urgent list. NAMB has placed them there.

I also affirm the plan to send less money back to states of relative strength. So long as Texas or Arkansas or Georgia have a strong state convention and churches able to resource missions in their state, these state conventions need to be mission senders and not mission receivers. Until our southern states become like New England, lost and unable to help themselves, our priority should be to give.

Efforts to establish a standard definition of what constitutes a “church start” will doubtless lower our numbers in some locations but is a step toward greater integrity. I have little doubt that some will give NAMB greater credibility for this effort.

I don’t take lightly the challenges that remain. Our state conventions will be a big part of the changes, and they’ll need to have visions for their ministry that are at least compatible with NAMB’s strategy if this is going to be all it should. Neither am I naēve regarding the difference between organizing for change and actually implementing change successfully. Others have written reams about the challenges of what NAMB is trying to do. The challenges are noted. No one really knows how anything is going to turn out until it does. For the first time, though, the North American Mission Board seems to have a focused plan to reach North America. They won’t do everything, and shouldn’t, but they will do more than they have previously, I’m expecting.

There is urgency in the North American mission. I know that “urgency” is most often applied to international missions, and appropriately, but large populations within our own country are also pagan and foreign to biblical Christianity. No legislation, no election, no revolution will do what evangelistic churches can do for our nation. Without those churches, our nation will be less and less a resource for world evangelism. The anchor for our international mission is set in a crumbling rock, not a crumbling denominational rock, but an increasingly Christ-less American culture. It is a culture that permeates our families and churches and parachurch denominational institutions. The answer to our denominational problems does not lie within; it will be found when our people and churches are empowered and obedient to reach America for Christ.

The ability of state conventions to continue their ministries without millions of dollars that Kevin Ezell plans to send to population centers mostly outside the Bible Belt will depend on their focus, and on the Great Commission commitment of the churches that make up those conventions. There is no way that the money will be there until church members stop robbing God and Southern churches of all sizes devote less money and staffing to nest feathering. The same is true of our desire to send more to reach other nations. We’re just shifting a finite number of workers and amount of funding until newly devoted Baptists, and churches newly devoted to God’s work beyond their own control and area code, join in our cooperative mission.

Your church and mine can be missionaries to North America on our own, I know. NAMB’s part in this is like that of our state convention and the International Mission Board, each within their own realms. The job of missionary entities is strategic, to ensure that not only are we sending and going but that we’re sending and going to the priority places?eventually every place. We won’t and mostly can’t do that on our own. That’s why we need NAMB, and why we really need NAMB to succeed. Join me in praying that they will succeed in what seems to be a worthy and God-honoring strategy.

Please consider how you or your church can enthusiastically support our Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions this March. You’ll find other stories and information on the offering on page 10.

BALTIMORE, Md.–In what is shaping up as a pivotal moment for the future of “gay marriage” in America, a dozen or so state legislatures are expected to debate the issue this year, with two or three potentially legalizing it and at least seven states moving in the opposite direction by possibly protecting the traditional definition in their constitutions.

It likely will be the busiest year since 2004, when Massachusetts’ “gay marriage” law went into effect and 13 states passed marriage amendments. It is legal only in five states and the District of Columbia.

Traditionalists are eyeing victories in Indiana, Minnesota, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, all of which now have legislatures controlled by Republicans, who have generally been friendlier to conservative arguments on marriage. Each of those states could see legislation passed placing constitutional amendments on the ballot defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Elsewhere, New Hampshire’s legislature might consider a bill that would reverse its “gay marriage” law, while in Iowa–where “gay marriage” also is legal–conservatives will continue to pressure the Democratic-controlled senate to take up a marriage amendment that already passed the GOP house there.

Other states, though, are going in the opposite direction.

Homosexual groups are hoping for gains and are pushing for passage of a civil unions bill in Hawaii–it likely is headed to the governor soon–and “gay marriage” bills in Maryland, Rhode Island and New York. Just last month, Illinois’ governor signed a bill legalizing civil unions, which grant same-sex couples all the state legal benefits of marriage minus the name.

For the moment, though, the spotlight is on Maryland and Rhode Island, two states where homosexual groups are hopeful that “gay marriage” bills will advance in the coming weeks and make those states the sixth and seventh ones nationally to redefine marriage to include homosexuals. Democrats control the legislatures in each state, and each state has as a governor who supports “gay marriage.” Opponents warn that passage of the bills could impact the tax-exempt status of religious organizations, the religious liberty of private businesses, and the curriculum in elementary schools.

The votes figure to be tight. A Rhode Island house committee heard testimony on a bill Feb. 9, a day after a Maryland senate committee heard testimony on that state’s bill. Neither committee has voted yet.

Despite what some supporters say, passage in either state is far from inevitable, said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), an organization that played a crucial role in defeating “gay marriage” in Maine, California and New York. NOM has launched TV and radio ads in Rhode Island, criticizing independent Gov. Lincoln Chafee and urging legislators to let citizens decide the issue.

“We’re going to have a big fight in Rhode Island, and I think that is a top priority for proponents of same-sex marriage. In Maryland, it’s also going to be a tough fight,” Brown told Baptist Press. “… What they’re trying to do is to pass these things as quickly as possible so that they can avoid having all their constituents call them and tell them, ‘We don’t want you to pass same-sex marriage.’ That’s clearly the attempt in Rhode Island.”

Rhode Island is of primary concern for Brown and other traditionalists because, unlike initiative states such as California–where voters can gather signatures to place items on the ballot–citizens would have no direct recourse if the legislature passes the bill. Even if Maryland’s legislature passes its, citizens there would be able to collect signatures to place the issue on the ballot in 2012 and potentially overturn the law, similar to what happened in Maine in 2009.

“Lincoln Chaffee is seemingly staging his governorship on this issue in making it priority No. 1 and that is definitely a very serious fight ahead,” Brown said.

In Maryland, traditionalists are hoping to defeat the bill in the senate, but it may already have the bare minimum–24 votes–needed to pass. It also will need 29 votes to prevent a filibuster. Some of the bill’s supporters–such as Republican Sen. Allan Kittleman, the lone GOP supporter–have called it a civil rights issue. Kittleman released a statement noting that his father “joined with others in fighting racial discrimination in the 1950s and 1960s” and that, similarly, he is joining with supporters of “gay marriage.”

Many, though, say linking the issue to civil rights is wrong. Among those is Robert Anderson Jr., pastor of Colonial Baptist Church in Randallstown, Md.

“We didn’t choose to be born black. To be black or African American is not sin,” Anderson told Baptist Press. “The fact that we fought for civil rights, we were just fighting for justice for any man, any woman–regardless of their skin color.

To be black is not sinful, but to be homosexual is sinful. Therein lies the difference. To try to create a system and special laws for a group of citizens that are living in immorality and wanting to force all of us to embrace that as if it is morally equivalent, that is wrong.

Anderson added, “Jesus still saves. Homosexuality, lesbianism–you can still be delivered from it. It’s sin, and there’s an answer to sin.”

New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he plans on making a major push this year for passage of a “gay marriage” bill in his state, although it’s unclear if he’ll get his way, being that Republicans took control of the state senate after the November elections. Such a bill was defeated in 2009 in the then-Democratic-controlled senate, 38-24.

Approval of a civil unions bill in Hawaii would be a major victory for homosexual groups, less than a year after then-Republican Gov. Linda Lingle–who was term-limited–vetoed such a bill. She was replaced by Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who won in November and is a civil unions supporter. Different versions of the bill have passed the House and Senate.

Rick Lazor, pastor of OlaNui Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, said if the bill becomes law, then the next related political or legal battle likely will be “gay marriage.” He opposes civil unions.

“I think it will be, but I think these guys may be smart enough to not throw that at us immediately,” Lazor told Baptist Press. “The other side could sue and complain that civil unions make gays a lower class in the state. In most other states that now have marriage, it was almost to a name the very people who fought for civil unions then came back and demanded marriage from the same legislators.”

But a host of states are moving to prevent marriage from being redefined. State legislatures in North Carolina, Minnesota and Wyoming could place a constitutional marriage amendment on the 2012 ballot, while the Indiana and Pennsylvania legislatures–it’s a lengthier procedure in those two states–could take the first step toward placing an amendment on the 2014 ballot. Already, 29 states protect the traditional definition of marriage in their constitutions.
“Many of these states would already have passed them had they had direct initiative and referenda,” Brown said. “The remaining states have to go through the legislature, which is often a much more difficult task.”

Supporters of traditional marriage, he believes, have reason to be optimistic.

“One of the things that proponents of same-sex marriage do is promote this myth of inevitability, and they do this both long-term and short-term, and they do it in every state,” he said. “What they try to do is to say, ‘This is a done deal, so if you’re on the fence you might as well side with us.’ That is an attempt to make a myth the reality.”

Brown points to the 2009 defeat of a “gay marriage” bill in New York as an example.

“The lead sponsor of the bill said he had votes to pass it, and the day of the vote he lost 38-24,” Brown said.

The movements on the state level came as a handful of key legal cases, including the high-profile one related to California Prop 8–wind their way through the federal courts toward a potential landmark hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a gentle voice true to her northern Louisiana upbringing, June Richards said she was humbled by and grateful for the establishment of a scholarship that will bear her name at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The seed money for the June Richards Endowed Scholarship came from Dorothy Patterson, who wanted to honor Richards for her commitment to the Lord’s work as exemplified in her life as wife, mother and selfless partner in the work of her husband, SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards.

“I am so grateful. I just teared up,” Richards said when she recalled Patterson privately telling her of plans for the scholarship during the 2010 SBTC Annual Meeting last November.

Somewhat taken aback by the recognition, Richards asked, “Who am I?”

But Patterson, professor of theology in women’s studies and wife of SWBTS President Paige Patterson, already had an answer. She was at the SBTC meeting to address the annual women’s luncheon. Knowing her audience was filled with pastors’ wives and women serving their churches and communities, Patterson seized the opportunity to encourage them by recognizing their often behind-the-scenes work?as typified by June Richards.

In a January letter addressed to Jim Richards, Patterson expounded upon her reasons for singling out his wife.

“She is the epitome of what I am trying to teach in my student wives class. ? I have attempted to prepare young women to be helpers and partners with their ministry husbands in the work of the Lord. Your June has certainly done that.”

Paige Patterson concurred: “June Richards embodies all those qualities that the Bible features as the classic understanding of biblical womanhood. As a consistent support and encouragement to her husband, a magnificent mother and a woman who walks close to the Lord, June Richards’ exemplary lifestyle is one that we honor here at Southwestern. Indeed, Mrs. Patterson has so profited from June’s life and witness that she really felt that we needed to honor June and help students in this way. Hopefully, Southwestern will graduate an army of young women who will follow in June Richards’ steps.”

The role of wife, encourager and prayer partner is a life Richards seemed to seamlessly assume after a “whirlwind” romance that began her first day of school at Baptist Christian College (now Louisiana Baptist University). That was the day she met Jim Richards. And, after just three dates, she accepted his proposal of marriage.

It was during those early days of marriage, school and childrearing that June said she would have appreciated the financial support of scholarships like the one being offered in her name. Especially gratifying is knowing the scholarship will help women called to ministry or wives of pastors, she said.

As her husband worked toward his advanced degrees, pastored for 21 years in Louisiana, preached revivals, and traveled to all 50 states and 19 countries, Richards readily took on a variety of roles to support and enhance those ministries.

She recalled serving as pianist, children’s director, bus captain (“When we had such things,” she said.), and Sunday School teacher?all while raising their three children and maintaining their home. Richards set aside her career as a grade school teacher to commit to full-time work as a mother and the wife of a pastor.

The role is not one that can be planned like a career after college.

Richards said if women “focus and die to self” they can discern the will of God. “I’m not trying to be pious or super spiritual. She will be able to say, ‘Yes, Lord’ and prepare herself. [She] will have such a servant’s heart,” she said.

Two women who most influenced and encouraged Richards were her mother, Ruth Swain, and mother-in-law, Betty Richards.

It was her mother who showed her, through example, how to be a lady and how to take her petitions to the Lord.
“She would speak out loud to the Lord,” Richards recalled.

As her mother was her spiritual mentor, Richards’ mother-in-law instructed her in the more practical matters of how to run a house and home. With the foundation of prayer and the framework of organization, Richards established a home that is a “haven from the rest of the world.”

Though she cannot speak individually to all those who will be recipients of the scholarship, Richards wanted to convey the very crucial nature of the role a woman accepts when she marries a pastor.

“A woman can make or break a man,” she said. Richards has had to keep many things private, especially any criticism she might have of her husband. Being publically critical of a pastor-husband can harm not only the marriage relationship but the husband’s relationship with his congregation. Even in private, Richards urged wives and wives-to-be to temper their criticism with kindness.

More often than not, Richards said, taking her concerns to the Lord in prayer first solved an issue before it became a problem.

For children brought up in a pastor’s home, Richards said, prayer cannot be overemphasized. Citing Job’s prayers and offerings to the Lord on behalf of his children, Richards said she prays God will protect her three adult children, her two sons-in-law, and her grandchildren from the distractions of this world.

It is through prayer that Richards most simply and dramatically assists in the ministries of her husband?ministries that she has made her own. Jim Richards has been the SBTC executive director since the inception of the convention in 1998. And though not a staff member, June Richards has taken on the job of praying for every convention staff member by name. She prays through each department, calling for God’s provision as they seek to do his work.

Knowing it will be wives and single women who will benefit from the June Richards Endowed Scholarship, Richards entreated all to seek God’s face, submitting their lives to him and the role God would have them play in the lives of others.

Mike Hughes, SWBTS vice president for institutional advancement, said in an e-mail statement: “The formulation of the June Richards Endowed Scholarship, as in many of our scholarships for women, is a unique way to honor the life and influence of the women in our lives while at the same time investing in the lives of tomorrow’s women who will continue that legacy.”

Once the endowed fund reaches $10,000, the scholarship will be awarded to women studying within Southwestern’s biblical homemaking program. If there is not a qualified applicant in that track any given year, the scholarship will be awarded to a woman studying in any other field at SWBTS.

Southwestern, Hughes said, welcomes all contributions to this endowed scholarship or the creation of new scholarships in an effort to honor the lives and legacies of others.