Month: June 2021

Churches minister to varied community needs in pandemic, rising to challenge

HOUSTON and EL PASO—Pandemic ministry can assume varied, often unconventional forms. After all, what is conventional in a worldwide crisis when the old normal is eclipsed? Southern Baptists of Texas Convention congregations have risen to the challenge by ministering to their communities in unique ways across Texas.

Churches have opened their facilities as food distribution centers, often in partnership with local food banks. Grounds have been made available for vaccination clinics. Some congregations have contributed funds to erase the medical debt of survivors. And almost every church has upped its online presence.

Many have developed creative ways to move ministries outside, where viral spread is more difficult.

Throughout, the name of Jesus has been proclaimed in diverse and creative ways.

Service of Remembrance

In a somber mode, Champion Forest Baptist Church of Houston hosted a COVID service of remembrance for those in the community who had lost loved ones to the disease. The livestreamed and in-person April 18 service lasted just over an hour and featured worship, prayer, Scripture reading, shared stories and a message from Pastor Jarrett Stephens. Those grieving were invited to light candles in memory and honor of those lost.

“Jesus has such a tender heart for people. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Many in our community are grieving and could not hold services because of COVID protocols,” Stephens told the TEXAN prior to the service, which was open to the public and announced via social media and a press release.

“Six weeks ago, I lost my dad. My hero,” Mike Haney told those in the sanctuary and online watching the service. Haney’s father, a 42-year Houston police veteran, developed COVID symptoms just after receiving the second dose of a vaccine.

“It didn’t seem fair that my dad, who had helped so many others, would have to die alone,” Haney said, describing his family’s final visits with his father via Zoom and then in-person. COVID had hit much of the family by then. Haney’s siblings, who had contracted the virus, were allowed on the COVID ward of the hospital to visit their dad while Haney donned a hazardous material suit to do so.

Still, good had come from the sorrow, Haney told the congregation, describing restored relationships and spiritual growth that had occurred in his family.

“God can take the mess of something and turn it into a masterpiece if you will allow him,” Haney said.

Some 200 candles illuminated the sanctuary, each representing a soul lost physically to the coronavirus. The service was covered by local media outlets, including the Houston Chronicle, which posted a story on it.

Gospel Fest

Realizing that the community needed an outlet not just to mourn, but to relax, Immanuel Baptist in El Paso sponsored Gospel Fest this spring. About 550 attended the March 13 outdoor event which was held on the church’s parking lot and featured a day-long car show and competition combined with music, testimonies, skits and Christian rappers.

Proud owners showed off their cars’ battery-powered hydraulic lifts as onlookers witnessed a “car jump” in mid-afternoon.

As events wound down by 4 p.m., trophies were awarded by judges in various categories such as best paint job, best-looking car, most original car—in addition to the “car hop” prize.

Such competition is a “cultural thing,” Immanuel Pastor J.C. Rico told the TEXAN, adding with a chuckle, “Sometimes they pay more attention to their cars than to their girlfriends.”

Around 60 car owners paid a small fee to enter the show while attendees came for free to walk among the fancy cars and visit with the competitors.

Besides enjoying the car show, rappers and other entertainment, attendees also partook of free hot dogs, chips and water.

The event’s purpose was to “reach unchurched people and present the gospel of Jesus through messages, testimony and music they connected with,” Rico said.

Testimonies from ex-gang members, car club officers and others resonated with the crowd. Eight people trusted Christ for salvation, Rico noted.

The spring event will be repeated in October, Rico added, urging churches to think “outside the box” in these challenging times. In the case of Gospel Fest, Rico said the church had planned the event earlier, only to cancel because of COVID. By spring 2021, “they just wanted to get out,” and Gospel Fest was one of the few events available then, he said.

A tribute to a friend

I am personally grateful for Jim Richards. His retirement affords me the opportunity to pay him tribute for his leadership, and thank him publicly for his friendship. For the last 10 years, I’ve served on the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention board, and in that time I’ve worked closely with him. I have known many outstanding leaders in Southern Baptist life, and I rank Jim Richards among the best.

I met Jim Richards in the early 1990s when neither of us lived in Texas yet, and I served on the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention while he was on the Christian Life Commission. Then, later, when the SBTC was forming, and I was already the pastor of Hyde Park Baptist Church, I invited him to Austin to visit with me about the future, and the formation of the new state convention. (He only half-jokingly reminds us today that in those earliest days, the SBTC office was the front seat of his car and the switchboard was his cell phone.) His tireless efforts on behalf of our convention since its inception have produced nearly miraculous results. His convictional leadership has helped make the SBTC what I believe is the best state convention of them all.

When the time was right for our church to examine our state convention alignment, our leaders interviewed two state convention executives representing different bodies. Both made appealing arguments about why we should align with their conventions. For us, however, the decision was made easier when our church leaders asked the two executives one simple question: Do you believe in the inerrancy of Scripture? One executive said he could not commit to that.

Jim Richards, on the other hand, enthusiastically assured us of his personal convictions about biblical inerrancy, and of the doctrinal conviction of the SBTC concerning inerrancy, which is woven into our founding documents and our statements of who we are and why we exist. Our church enthusiastically decided to align with the SBTC because they represent our beliefs about the Bible and the Great Commission. Executive Director Richards was a powerful and persuasive voice in helping our leaders know where the SBTC stands, and we have never regretted our decision.

Jim Richards is, in some ways, a local church pastor at heart. He has preached for us at Hyde Park Baptist Church and will again. He has led conferences which our people have loved. His book on Revelation ought to be on every believer’s library shelf. His commitment to personal evangelism and the proclamation of the gospel in his frequent preaching opportunities is representative of where we should all be. He has been the consummate leader of the SBTC and its ministry to our churches because he understands our churches.

He has called me on confidential and sensitive matters over the years related to convention business, and I’ve always admired his clarity of thought, and precision in decision making, backed by a spine of steel. I once heard a preacher describe another leader he trusted as “12 inches to the foot and 36 inches to the yard.” I trust Jim Richards like that. He’s the real deal. I’m certain the blessing of God has rested on our Southern Baptists of Texas Convention in part because Jim Richards has those remarkable leadership qualities that have gotten us here.

One day, he told me in confidence he was considering retirement. I had hoped it wouldn’t have come as soon as it did. He later made that public announcement while the SBTC Board was meeting at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin. If anyone is keeping score, please don’t blame me that I’ve been SBTC president during a global pandemic and while Jim Richards retired. It just happened that way.

I’m a big Nathan Lorick fan, too. I was on the search team that recommended him. He is the best man to lead us into the future. I’m here to assist him in any way, and I’m excited about what God wants to do through all of us in the days ahead.

So as I look forward, I feel a lot of confidence because of what I see when I glance back. Jim Richards has done the impossible in one sense. From leading the SBTC in its infancy, less than 25 years ago, to the day when he passed the baton to Nathan Lorick, the SBTC has become, in one generation, the greatest state convention of them all.

Thank you, Jim Richards. You are a blessing to many and a leader with a lasting legacy in Texas and beyond.

What happened in Nashville?

It’s been a while since a meeting of the SBC garnered so much interest from outside press. For that reason, convention goers heard from friends and family asking, “I heard (insert dire and distorted report) happened at the SBC!” This interest from those who didn’t attend, or who aren’t even Southern Baptists, was keener this year, and it was driven by non-Baptist media. I’d even go so far as to say that some outlets tried to put a finger on the scales of a deliberative body in which they had no personal investment. Here are some things you might have heard:

The SBC elected a liberal as president. Nope. Yes, “liberal” is a relative term, but it is also very loaded. In the SBC, in my lifetime, we’ve had professors teaching in our schools who denied the deity of Christ and the truth of Scripture. That is a fair definition of “liberal.” Ed Litton is not a liberal. He is an inerrantist, a complementarian and an evangelistic pastor. Yes, he has a different view of some convention issues than many of us, but his is an arguably biblical viewpoint. I can’t imagine how it can be helpful to throw that term around as if the SBC is over. It’s not. More on that later.

The SBC has been saved from Philistines. Again, this is unhelpful rhetoric that tempts us all when we win a vote. Several votes were very close, usually indicating a difference in two reasonable ideas, and most of us lost one or two. Those votes we lost were not the end of the world; neither were the ones we won the answer we’ve all been waiting for. In a year when it’s common to speak about unity, I find it unbecoming to speak of half of our fellow conservative, inerrantist, mission-loving brothers and sisters as the problem we came here to solve. Maybe we’ve all done it, but that doesn’t make it right. We’re not Democrats and Republicans for those two days each year.

The convention wavered in its opposition to abortion. In an unusual event, a resolution was brought from the floor and placed on the agenda. You can read the details here in the July TEXAN, but the debate highlights a divide concerning strategy among those passionate to see the horror of abortion ended. Those who did not favor the “abortion abolitionist” resolution were not guilty of compromise with the abortion industry. The debate was over a strategy that has seriously curtailed the number of abortions over the past 40 years. One pro-life group wanted us to abandon the strategy of making abortion rarer by insisting we go “all or nothing”—making all abortions illegal becoming our only strategy. A small wording edit gave us a strong but confused pro-life resolution that allows us to continue to work alongside other pro-life Christians in the fight to end abortion.

The convention was contentious. In a sense it was—people contended strongly for more than one way of accomplishing agreed-upon goals. One article referred to a “vicious” debate going on between Southern Baptists. It wasn’t that. If by “contentious” you mean that we were ugly to one another, that was rare and not encouraged. I heard booing a couple of times, but it was quickly reproved. The hallways were crowded; the food lines were long; the convention center was very large and spread out so that everyone was a little stressed by the context. But the crowd was also polite and good humored. You will almost never see a sporting event of any size where the people are this nice. And we were discussing things far more important than a ball game. I am not ashamed of my brothers and sisters after spending too much time with them in Nashville.

Messengers came to do business. I don’t know if you’ve heard this anywhere, but it’s true. It’s been a while since we had this much time devoted to business. The moderator and committee leaders bent over backward to allow folks time to talk, add items to the agenda, extend the time for discussion and amend anything they wanted to. These things plus an unusual number of candidates for elected office blew some of our agenda items out of the water. Albert Mohler, in his interview with the TEXAN last year, said that we have shortened the program so much that people don’t have time to hang out and eat together. I’m sympathetic with that point but was surprised this year to see that maybe we have shortened the program so much that we are not prepared for people to be active in convention business. It might be good to build into the program more time than we need for messengers’ participation and then let us out early for lunch if we don’t need the time.

A final note: The Southern Baptist Convention is more durable than one year’s business can permanently fix or break. I guess we’re a little like the U.S.—presidents and congresses come and go, never making as much impact as they threaten or promise. I’ve found it helpful to remember that when I’m in the minority. If the other guys are wrong, they won’t be as wrong as I fear. If I’m right, it won’t matter as much as I’d hoped. Perhaps you disagree, but that perspective helps me grant others the grace to outvote me from time to time.

If you want a good report on SBC business, read Baptist Press or the TEXAN. Maybe the outside media is doing their best, but your Southern Baptist journalists are the gold standard for the story of our convention.

87th Texas Legislature wraps up till fall sessions

AUSTIN—The 87th Session of the Texas Legislature closed at the end of May but unfinished business will draw lawmakers back to Austin in the fall for two more sessions. New laws protecting unborn babies from abortion and promoting criminal justice reform highlight some of the pro-life, SBTC-backed legislation. But key bills failed to get a hearing and must be addressed in one of the upcoming special sessions according to Cindy Asmussen, an SBTC advisor.

As of June 9, Gov. Greg Abbott had not set a date for either special session.

During one of the upcoming sessions lawmakers will redraw voting district boundaries based on data from the 2020 U.S. Census. That information has been delayed due to modifications in data processing. But, according to the U.S. Census press office, “states are expected to receive redistricting data by August 16, and the full redistricting data with toolkits for ease of use will be delivered by September 30.”

After studying the data, Texas lawmakers will meet, possibly in October, to draw voting districts.

When the regular session ended May 31 without passing bills related to bail bond reform, social media censorship and election reform, Abbott pledged to call a special session to finish that work.

A special session lasts 30 days and the governor determines what bills will be addressed. But Asmussen, SBTC advisor to the Texas Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee, urged Texans to contact the governor to press for consideration of life-affirming, religious liberty and transgender bills that failed in the regular session.

Bills failed

High on the TERLC priority list are bills addressing the rapid, unchecked promotion of transgender ideology by medical associations, public schools and influential corporations.

Texas lawmakers introduced bills as proactive measures against the Equality Act looming in Congress. If passed, the law would add gender identity and sexual orientation to the list of protected classes in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equality Act includes no provisions for religious or conscience objections—in contravention to the First Amendment.

We need freedom of conscience bills. [Bills] protecting girls sports and protecting children, protecting against gender modification procedures on minors. We need these things protected in Texas law from what we’re being threatened with on the federal level.

Cindy Asmussen, SBTC advisor Tweet

“That’s what’s so egregious coming out of this session,” Asmussen said. “We need freedom of conscience bills. [Bills] protecting girls sports and protecting children, protecting against gender modification procedures on minors. We need these things protected in Texas law from what we’re being threatened with on the federal level,” she said.

Some bills sought to protect people who could lose their professional licenses and their jobs for not affirming the gender identity of children and adults.

Other potential losers this session include female athletes forced to compete against biological males who identify as female. House Bill 1458, the Fair Play in Women’s Sports Act, is comparable to laws passed in seven states and would have required public school and university athletes to compete on teams based on their biological sex. The measure had 77 co-authors yet failed to pass.

“This is a no-brainer,” said Asmussen. “Other states are blazing a trail in front of us and we’re not even pulling up the rear on this.”

Asmussen questioned whether pressure from outside Texas stopped the bill in its tracks.

“I think we need to go back and look at bills like this and we need to look at campaign donations,” Asmussen told the TEXAN.

Her suspicion is not unfounded.

Days before the Texas legislature gaveled to a close, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill protecting female athletes from competing against biological males despite warnings from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In April, the NCAA reaffirmed its commitment to transgender athletes and threatened to direct championship tournaments away from locations that “cannot commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination” and “welcoming and respectful of all participants.”

One bill that would have prohibited the medical “transition” of minors was House Bill 68, the Innocence Protection Act. It also labeled as “child abuse” the prescription of puberty blockers to children and the surgical removal of children’s and teenagers’ healthy reproductive organs.

House Bill 1424 would have provided protection for doctors who refuse to provide such gender treatments. The measure failed.

Asmussen was grateful for the demise of some bills. Dozens of lobbyists wagered their influence could influence lawmakers to legalize casino and online gambling in Texas. Their efforts failed.

What passed

Despite the demise of some key legislation, Asmussen and Rep. Scott Sanford, R- McKinney highlighted TERLC-supported bills that made it to the governor for his signature.

Most notably, Abbott signed Senate Bill 8, the Heartbeat Bill. The law prohibits abortions once a baby’s heartbeat is detected. Several states have passed similar bills in hopes of challenging Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court. The Texas law’s unique enforcement mechanism allows private citizens to file complaints against abortionists for violating the law.

The Trigger Abortion Ban will ban the procedure in Texas if the Supreme Court overturns all or part of Roe v. Wade. That ruling began as a Texas lawsuit when “Jane Roe” challenged the state’s abortion ban. The high court’s 1972 ruling effectively abolished laws against abortion nationwide.

In an effort to usurp the controversial ideology of critical race theory making its way into public school curriculum, lawmakers passed House Bill 3979. The law shores up the required social studies curriculum with writings and documents representing the historical figures and significant events in American history without glossing over the nation’s troubled history regarding race and women’s suffrage.

“The bill is substantive enough that they can’t teach the critical pieces of critical race theory. The whole idea of the bill was to say ‘No’ to critical race theory, however, teach the complete and unvarnished truth of history,” Sanford said.

Pandemic push-back

Early in the pandemic, local and state authorities hastily drafted COVID-19 mitigation rules that ran afoul of state and federal constitutions, particularly as they relate to the freedom of worship. In response, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 525.

The law states: “Notwithstanding any other law, a religious organization is an essential business at all times in this state, including during a declared state of disaster, and the organization’s religious and other related activities are essential activities even if the activities are not listed as essential in an order issued during the disaster.”

A joint resolution sent to the Office of the Secretary of State proposes a constitutional amendment essentially codifying House Bill 525 in the Texas Constitution.

An especially draconian rule enacted by long-term nursing care facilities barred all but staff from entering those facilities during the pandemic. The rule separated ailing—and sometimes dying—patients from family members.

Bills offered by Democrats and Republicans sought to remedy this problem. Senate Bill 25 is the result. It ensures patients have the right to “essential caregiver” visits.

“It is the intent of the legislature to ensure that residents of long-term care facilities and other residences have a guaranteed right to visitation by family members, friends, caregivers, and other individuals. The legislature expects facilities and program providers to ensure that the guaranteed visitation rights are available to residents every day of each year, consistent with existing resident rights,” the law states.

Those visits can be limited, but not disallowed, during a declared public health crisis.

Senate Joint Resolution 19 was also sent to the Secretary of State’s office for a vote by Texans.

Lawmakers came together for a majority of the bills, Sanford said.

“The ones that are of particular interest to Christians, I think, are coming together for criminal justice reforms,” he said.

Sanford’s bill, the Bonton Farms Act, eliminates many of the fees and fines that accumulate over the years while someone is in prison.

“And when they get out, they’re not able to get those paid off in order to get a drivers license, in order to get a job. And so, they will get credit for time served against those fees and fines that accumulated from warrants that preceded their incarceration,” Sanford said.

Republicans and Democrats also passed laws banning choke holds and “no-knock warrants” by law enforcement.

For more legislative analysis, visit the Texas Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee’s website at sbtexas.com/terlc.

Families relocating to Texas find a place at Currey Creek

BOERNE—As thousands of people relocate to Texas, some are finding a new church home at Currey Creek Church in Boerne, a growing Southern Baptist congregation about half an hour northwest of San Antonio on I-10.

“They Google ‘great places to live in Texas,’ and Boerne comes up,” John Free, pastor of Currey Creek, told the TEXAN.

“It’s mind-bending that one guy from California said, ‘We knew we were moving. We’ve been watching you online for a year and a half,’” Free recounted. “They were involved in their church, but they would watch Currey Creek online, so when they moved here they knew this was where they wanted to go to church without ever attending.

“So then they attended for three or four weeks and a membership class comes up, and they’re in,” he said. “It’s a phenomenon that would have been very unlikely 10 years ago in our ministry context.”

In a recent class for potential new members, about half—30 people—were from out of state. Several were from the West Coast, and the top two reasons given for moving were to escape the deteriorating culture and to be closer to family, Free said.

Boerne appeals to families because of its highly-rated public school system and because it’s in the Hill Country. Though it’s close enough to San Antonio to serve as a bedroom community, it maintains a flavor of its own, the pastor said. “It’s picturesque.”

Currey Creek is a strong supporter of the Cooperative Program in part because Free’s ministry began thanks to the generosity of Southern Baptists, he said. A graduate of Texas A&M, Free earned a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1990 and then served as a church planter in New Mexico through the Home Mission Board, funded with CP dollars, he noted.

After pastoring a small church in East Texas for a few years, Free answered the call from First Baptist Church in Boerne to plant what would become Currey Creek in 2001. When it was time to build a campus, God provided space one mile from the interstate with prime visibility.

“The Lord is just way ahead of us. He knows what’s best, and here we are in the middle of all this growth,” Free said, referring to thousands of new homes going up fast on previously undeveloped ranchland.

“It’s wonderful to be situated where the Lord is bringing people to us.”

The area is growing so rapidly, and the church planting conviction is so strong at Currey Creek that they recently sent 300 members out to plant The Bridge Fellowship, also in Boerne.

Before COVID, Currey Creek’s attendance had pushed 1,500 for three Sundays, Free said, and now, despite sending out a core group and weathering the pandemic, attendance is “well over 1,000 again.”

In addition to giving through the Cooperative Program because their pastor is a product of it, Currey Creek gives because they believe strongly in its power to reach unreached people groups.

We believe that through Cooperative Program giving we're going to be a part of reaching places in the world and in North America that we could never do as a single entity. We take very, very seriously the mandate of Christ to go and make disciples.

John Free Tweet

“We feel a need to be a part of the Cooperative Program for that reason—because we’re going to reach people and have an impact on people that we would not even know about unless we were cooperating through giving.”

Currey Creek has established missions partnerships with workers in Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Nepal, Poland, Kosovo and India, among others. They partner with Northeastern Baptist College in Vermont, and they helped start a church in Abilene called The Well, Free said.

The pastor commended an associate pastor, Eric Cate, who was in the business world before Currey Creek asked him to be on staff as an administrator.

“He really has a heart for the world, and he oversees all of our missions partnerships, and that ministry really keeps the world in front of our people, especially during the COVID year when everything seemed self-preserving,” Free said.

Last year, at the height of COVID, Currey Creek took up a special missions offering to distribute to their ministry partners for hunger relief, “and it was a quarter of a million dollars,” the pastor said, marveling at the provision. “That’s the generosity of God’s people here at Currey Creek.”

As Free is halfway through a doctoral program at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he said he feels “very connected to Southern Baptist causes in a lot of ways because they’ve been committed to the authority of God’s Word and committed to sharing the gospel. Those are non-negotiables for Currey Creek.”

Grateful for my family

I am grateful for my family. Yes, of course I am grateful for my wife and kids and extended family. However, the family I am referring to is my SBTC family.

I still remember hearing about the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention back in 2001 when I went on staff at First Baptist Church of Waskom. Though somewhat still a new convention, the SBTC was well on its way to becoming the incredible family of churches it is today. Eventually as I became a pastor at Martin’s Mill Baptist Church, I knew I wanted my first church to be fully engaged in the life of the SBTC. After we uniquely affiliated, I immediately began seeking out opportunities to be involved as a pastor. What I would come to learn and to love about the SBTC was not what I thought when I first began engaging in the convention.

I did not take the traditional seminary route. Therefore, I did not get the opportunity to live on campus and begin developing ministry friendships and relationships. I knew I needed to find a network in which I could build those relationships. What I found at the SBTC would forever change my life and ministry. While I knew the convention would provide assistance in ministry, funding, strategy, care, encouragement and all kinds of other things I needed as a pastor, the one thing I didn’t expect was to find a family.

For me, the SBTC has gone far above and beyond the usual expectations of a convention. This body of churches has been such a blessing to me.

On one occasion about 15 years ago, I remember walking into a room full of pastors. Those in the room ranged from bi-vocational pastors to pastors you see on TV. There were rural pastors and urban church planters. There were small and mega-church pastors, all in the same room. I felt somewhat honored yet unworthy to be there. As I scanned the landscape of that room, although I didn’t know many people there, it felt like home.

It wasn’t home because of where the meeting was being hosted. It wasn’t home because of those on the program or even the theme. It was home because I knew I was in a room full of like-minded believers with a common purpose to serve Christ and his Church. The thing about families is that we stick together. We are better together. Through the good and bad times, we are family.

Fast forward 15 years and I am in awe that God allows me to serve our family of churches in this new capacity. I want you to know that I will give it all I have and will pour out my life to serve you and your church, to the glory of God. It’s my desire that you will also find family in the SBTC, if you haven’t already. I encourage you to reach out to fellow pastors, engage in our ministries and attend our events. The SBTC desires to come alongside you in ministry.

I want to thank you, my SBTC family, for this opportunity. I consider it the greatest ministry privilege of my life. I love my family!

Seminary presidents report growth amid challenges in reports to messengers

NASHVILLE (BP) – Presidents of the six Southern Baptist seminaries gave reports to messengers and guests attending the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting Wednesday (June 16). A common theme of the reports was God’s faithfulness during the challenges of 2020. Below are summaries of each report submitted by the seminaries.

IORG: Gateway reflects kingdom diversity; celebrates milestone

By Tyler Sanders

Gateway Seminary’s mission is exemplified in biblical diversity and by a significant graduation milestone, President Jeff Iorg told messengers. “Gateway is your daily demonstration of the power of the Gospel to unify people from a wide variety of cultural and racial perspectives,” he said.

Photo by Karen McCutcheon

Iorg said in the past semester the seminary offered master’s level courses in English, Korean and Mandarin, and diploma training at its learning centers in English, Korean, Spanish, Burmese, Cantonese, Chin, Thai, Lao, Karen, Main, Nepalese, French, Haitian-Creole, Hmong, Vietnamese and Mongolian. Anglo students have made up less than 50 percent of Gateway’s student body for more than 25 years.

“We have current employees who are African American, Mexican, Romanian, Chinese, Korean, Pacific Islander, Filipino, Australian, Zambian, Taiwanese and Anglo,” Iorg said.

“Because of this diversity, Gateway has been addressing racial issues and the global problem of racism for decades.”

Iorg said Gateway faculty depend on biblical, theological and missiological tools to train students to confront racism. He told messengers that following his April report to Gateway trustees, a trustee asked if the seminary could produce a document detailing how faculty address racism in the classroom.

“Our faculty responded to this request with pages of examples of how they address racism and racial issues throughout the curriculum – from biblical studies to theology to church history to counseling to spiritual formation to early childhood development and every discipline in between,” Iorg said. The document is available at gs.edu/curriculum.

Iorg shared a personal story, relating his invitation to serve as the first Anglo elder of a historic African American church, Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Ontario, Calif.

“My relationships with the leaders at Mt. Zion have become a profound source of spiritual strength for me,” he said.

“For the past six years, we have been tithing our income, helping start a second site, going to prayer meetings, and giving to the building program. Ann teaches Sunday School, and I preach a few times each year.

“It has been a life-changing experience to build leadership credibility in a church where we are learning new ways of being the church as white minority members within a majority black culture.”

Iorg asked messengers to share in celebrating Gateway’s 10,000th graduate, Yoon Sagong. Sagong earned the master of divinity and serves as a pastoral intern alongside a Gateway faculty member in a southern California church plant.

“Some of you may be surprised [by 10,000 graduates] because you think of Gateway Seminary as your small seminary out West. We are now a leader-producing powerhouse making a global impact,” he said.

“We thank you Southern Baptists for standing with us, giving through the Cooperative Program, praying for us and sending us students.”

Allen emphasizes MBTS’ commitment to local churches

By Michael S. Brooks

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Jason Allen’s report to the messengers at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting reflected the institution’s ongoing determination to serve the local church.

Photo by Karen McCutcheon

Citing God’s faithfulness to the seminary over the past year, Allen noted that Midwestern Seminary is standing strong, remaining faithful and enjoying continued growth.

“I am delighted to report that our Convention’s youngest seminary is standing strong, serving faithfully, and, once again, enjoying another year of record enrollment,” Allen said. “Our ambition is to be undeniably faithful when it comes to serving the local church. In sharper focus, our desire is to serve Southern Baptist churches faithfully.

“We are not here to lecture to you; we are here to hear from you. We are not here for you to serve us; we are here so we can serve you. That is a precious stewardship that we enjoy. We are for the church and will continue to persist in that vision on your behalf.”

Alongside the seminary’s sustained efforts to serve Southern Baptist churches, Allen pointed to the institution’s theological convictions as an additional reason for the seminary’s progress.

“We are proudly, wholeheartedly, and unreservedly a Southern Baptist institution,” Allen said. “We hold to the Baptist Faith and Message, the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, the Nashville Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality, and the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, all with full confidence and conviction.”

Allen further suggested it is necessary for Midwestern Seminary to do more than merely affirm the collection of doctrinal statements, saying, “It is also our role to defend and advocate for these statements.”

“What is more, we refuse to be forced into false binaries,” he continued. “We can be and are cheerfully, convictionally, and confidently complementarian while, all the while, honoring and protecting our sisters as joint heirs in Christ. We can clearly and confidently reject secular ideologies and critical theories, such as Critical Race Theory, that have a negative impact while, all the while, being intentional to bear the burdens of our African American brothers and sisters. We can bring them into our midst, serve and grow with them, and honor them as brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Regarding enrollment, Allen credited God’s kindness and the resolve of the seminary community as contributing factors in the seminary’s continued growth. He announced the past year’s total student headcount was 4,374, more than four times the number of students enrolled at MBTS 10 years ago. In addition, the total number of full-time enrolled students for the past year was 1,615, an increase from just over 400 students 10 years ago.

Allen closed his address by thanking messengers for their continued prayers and support, saying, “This is your seminary: Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, founded in 1957. If you know much of the history of the past 60 years, you know it took a while for this institution to hit its stride. But, by God’s grace and with your support, we are pursuing and growing in greater faithfulness to the great truths we hold. And we are doing so, I believe, in ways that make Southern Baptists proud.”

Dew: NOBTS to prioritize servanthood, devotion, Gospel proclamation and missions

By Gary D. Myers

In his report to the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College President Jamie Dew expressed hope for the future of the SBC and excitement about what is happening in New Orleans. Dew also pledged to prioritize servanthood, devotion, Gospel proclamation and missions at NOBTS.

Photo by Karen McCutcheon

Due to the COVID-19-related cancellation of the 2020 annual meeting, Dew’s Wednesday (June 16) address marked his first opportunity to present the seminary report to SBC messengers since his 2019 election.

“When I went down to New Orleans and moved our family there, I discovered all sorts of beautiful and wonderful things about this calling,” Dew said. “It is a life of deep joy and great meaning in doing this work for you and for the kingdom.”

Dew commended the students and faculty at New Orleans Seminary and Leavell College for their humility and the way they serve Southern Baptists. He said it has been a joy to do the work God has called him to, and the convention has entrusted to him with the NOBTS team.

While acknowledging the problems and difficulties in New Orleans, Dew sought to reframe the way believers think about the city. Dew sees real beauty and Gospel opportunities in New Orleans.

“We believe that New Orleans is the perfect laboratory for men and women to come to prepare for ministry,” Dew said. “In short, if you can do ministry in our city, then you can do ministry anywhere that God puts you.”

“That’s why we say, ‘Prepare Here. Serve Anywhere,’” Dew said.

Next, Dew shared hopeful words regarding the Southern Baptist Convention. Social media can give a skewed perception of Southern Baptists and cause despair, he said. However, spending time with faithful Southern Baptist pastors and visiting churches across the country has given Dew a truer picture of the SBC and given him reasons for optimism.

“At the end of the day, Southern Baptists are faithful people. They are humble people. They are servant people,” Dew said. “They just love Jesus and want to win the world for Christ.”

“Despite what other problems we have. Despite what other difficulties we may face, I have hope. I see your work, and I am honored to join with you.”

When Dew began serving NOBTS, he took time to listen and learn about the school and understand the city of New Orleans. After this time of reflection and discovery, Dew and his leadership team drafted a new mission statement for the school extolling servanthood, devotion, proclamation and missions. The statement, “New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College prepares servants to walk with Christ, proclaim His Truth, and fulfill His mission,” became the blueprint for every class, program and initiative at NOBTS.

“Brothers and sisters, if we are anything as Christians, we are supposed to be servants,” Dew said. “We are supposed to be people who take up the towel and basin and serve not just each other but the broken of this world and there in the darkest places, shine the light of Jesus.”

Devotion is essential for any Christian Dew said. He said the faculty seeks to shape students spiritually to become who God has called them to be.

NOBTS has long been known for training preachers and evangelists, Dew said. Proclamation of the gospel remains a top priority for the school.

“In the last year, our students shared the gospel 11,313 times. They have led 1,087 people to faith in Christ,” he said. “Since 2014, students and faculty have shared the gospel 94,190 times, that we know of, and they have led 9,203 people to faith in Jesus Christ. We have been, and we are a school of proclamation.”

NOBTS and Leavell College are reprioritizing missions to meet the needs identified by the two SBC mission boards.

“Paul Chitwood reminds us that there are 155,000 people who die every day without Christ and that they need 500 new missionaries every year to do their work,” Dew said. “Kevin Ezell said we need to plan 1,200 new churches each year.”

To help with these tasks, Dew appointed missiologist Greg Mathias to the NOBTS faculty and relaunched the school’s Global Missions Center to help train missionaries for service with the International Mission Board. NOBTS also partnered with the North American Mission Board to start a new church planting center on the NOBTS campus.

“It is time for NOBTS to stand up and give back to you and to the kingdom the very best that we can,” Dew said.

SEBTS continues to fulfill the mission, Akin reports to messengers

By Lauren Pratt

During his report to Southern Baptist messengers and guests June 16, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) President Danny Akin celebrated the many avenues by which students are training to fulfill the mission around the world. Akin highlighted how this is happening through training the school’s nearly 6,000 students, through Global Theological Initiatives and through the North Carolina Field Minister Program.

Photo by Karen McCutcheon

“When we say at Southeastern, ‘every classroom a Great Commission classroom,’ and ‘every professor a Great Commission professor,’ that is not a slogan. That is who we are.”

Akin also celebrated the Global Theological Initiatives (GTI) at SEBTS, which works with strategic partners on six continents to create cohorts of selected, positioned leaders from their seminaries, mission boards, denominations and key churches. GTI’s goal is to equip these national leaders so that they will train the local pastors and missionaries from within their various contexts. GTI is currently equipping more than 2,800 vetted, positioned leaders in more than 30 nations and global cities. This is done through partnership with educational and missions entities in these countries and by locking arms with these global leaders in helping to develop curriculum, organizational strategies and more.

“We’re training leaders in these various countries to disciple and to raise up more leaders within their particular people group,” Akin said, adding that SEBTS is continuing to train Farsi-speaking believers through its Persian Leadership Initiative by offering a Bachelor of Science in pastoral ministry, the only such program offered in the world.

Also highlighted in Akin’s report to messengers was The North Carolina Field Minister Program, which trains incarcerated men to fulfill the Great Commission even behind prison walls. In December of this year, the program will be celebrating its first graduating class of 26 students. The program, which began in 2017, was launched in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Joe Gibbs Racing and Game Plan for Life. The program is designed for incarcerated men with a sentence of 12 or more years in the North Carolina prison system. These men are equipped with a four-year bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry that allows them to bring the Gospel and fulfill the mission in a highly inaccessible context.

Akin celebrated the continual growth of Southeastern’s ever-growing student population, which has surpassed 5,800 students. The Master of Divinity still proves to be the seminary’s flagship degree.

In all of the degree programs offered at SEBTS, the desire is to see every graduate come away loving God, the truth, the Church and the world more deeply, Akin said. These four loves are what compel a Great Commission lifestyle no matter the cost, and these are the kind of students SEBTS seeks to train and send out for the glory of King Jesus.

“All of this is being done because of your generosity, your kindness, and your gifts,” Akin told messengers.

Southern emerges from pandemic stronger than before, Mohler says

Photo by Karen McCutcheon

In his report to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting Wednesday morning (June 16), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler told messengers the seminary had withstood the challenges which the pandemic posed and had come out on the other side in a healthier state than before it began.

“We have more young men at SBTS training to be preachers and pastors than at any time in SBC history and more M.Div. students than at any other time in Christian history,” Mohler said. “During the trial of COVID-19, we had a higher enrollment than when it began. We expect to have more than 70 different nations represented on the SBTS campus when we begin fall semester later this year.

“We are told that in heaven there is great rejoicing over one sinner who repents, so just imagine the rejoicing in heaven amongst those who have gone before us to see what the Lord has done in our time and in our midst and what He will do in the future.”

Greenway addresses CRT query, explains college name change

By Art Toalston

A messenger’s question about critical race theory during the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary report to the Southern Baptist Convention June 16 led President Adam W. Greenway to explain the theory’s incompatibility with the Baptist Faith and Message, while also apologizing to African American believers who have been offended by the Council of Seminary Presidents’ statement about the controversial subject.

Photo by Karen McCutcheon

“For any way in which I personally have hurt you, I apologize, and I ask you to forgive me,” he said. “That is not my heart, that is not our heart at Southwestern Seminary.”

Before addressing the question, Greenway announced that Texas Baptist College is the new name of the seminary’s undergraduate school and noted Southwestern Seminary became majority non-Anglo in enrollment last year for the first time since its founding in 1908.

“I am thankful to serve as president of a seminary that the Lord is bringing back to new life,” Greenway said, quoting the “Amazing Grace” stanza with the words, “Through many dangers, toils and snares we have already come.”

With Texas Baptist College replacing the name of Scarborough College (named for Southwestern’s revered second president, L.R. Scarborough), Greenway said people have asked, “What’s the real reason you did that?” thinking there was “some nefarious political scheme involved by this group or that group.”

A primary reason, he noted, stemmed from being weary “of hearing from people who’ve said, ‘I searched Google for Baptist colleges in Texas, and I can’t find yours.’

The new name of Texas Baptist College denotes “a distinctive, Scripture-driven, Christ-centered, student-focused undergraduate education,” Greenway said. “When others run away from our Baptist identity and distinctives, we’re going to run toward and embrace these things because we believe being Baptist means something valuable.”

The question-and-answer time for Greenway’s report to the SBC moved to critical race theory after a first-time messenger, Conner Smith, senior pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Perris, Calif., said he was discouraged by the lack of resources for “defining these ideologies for pastors to help us pastor our people through some of those questions.” Smith asked whether the seminaries or a task force could provide help.

Greenway recounted that a statement by the SBC’s six seminary presidents in November 2020 was “something that at a bare minimum we felt like we needed to say, but it is not all that all of us could say” about the issue.

He read from Article 15 in the Baptist Faith and Message on the Christian and the Social Order: “All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ.”

Emphasizing the second sentence, Greenway said, “Critical race theory as an academic, philosophical theory rejects that claim,” noting that a book on the sufficiency of Scripture by Southwestern Seminary faculty members will be published next year by the school’s Seminary Hill Press to help examine a key facet of Christian response to such theories.

“However, many of our African American brothers and sisters, when they hear critical race theory, what they hear and what they heard from us [as seminary presidents] was that we were denying the reality of structural or systemic racism,” he continued.

“And I want to say not only as president of Southwestern Seminary but as a pastor at heart … it breaks my heart that anything that we could have done as a [Council of Seminary Presidents] could in any way hurt or alienate or estrange our African American brothers and sisters in Christ.

“I will say publicly: For any way in which I personally have hurt you, I apologize and I ask you to forgive me. That is not my heart, that is not our heart at Southwestern Seminary.”

Earlier in his report, Greenway had described Southwestern Seminary as “committed unreservedly, unswervingly to the inerrancy, infallibility, inspiration, authority, sufficiency, indestructibility, indescribability” of Scripture. “Our confidence is in the Bible as the written Word of God. And it is the primary textbook in every classroom at Southwestern Seminary.

“We are a confessional seminary,” he continued.

The faculty’s adherence to the Baptist Faith and Message, the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and the Nashville Statement on Gender and Sexuality make clear that “Southwestern Seminary is committed to upholding the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints,” Greenway said.

“With confidence and conviction, you can be assured that your Cooperative Program dollars are going to invest in a theological education that echoes the heartbeat of our Southern Baptist Convention of churches.”

IMB panel emphasizes Southern Baptists’ involvement in past, present and future of missions

Charlie Worthy, IMB European student mobilizer who serves in Italy, reported that more than 400 students will be serving around the world this year.

Directly following the IMB report on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, IMB President Paul Chitwood hosted a panel discussion featuring global highlights of God’s work through IMB around the world.

The panel included John Brady, vice president for global engagement, Victor Hou, associate vice president for global advance, and Charlie Worthy, European student mobilizer. The IMB leaders spoke to Southern Baptists’ long-term commitment to reach the world’s lost with the gospel and thanked churches for their continued prayers, financial gifts and service.

John Brady told the crowd of church messengers and guests that someone came to Christ from a people group in Northern Africa. This believer was the first one in their history. God has used Southern Baptists from the beginning, Brady said, recounting the history of how this woman came to faith.

Twenty years ago, a missionary from Texas who worked in the region asked churches to pray that workers would be sent to this people group. Among the churches who began to pray were two children who were discipled in their faith and their understanding of God’s heart to reach the nations. The children grew up, went to college, served on short-term mission teams, married, and followed God in obedience to serve in Northern Africa. They learned to teach more than 35 Scripture passages in this people group’s language. In 2020, one woman committed her life to Christ. She is the first believer from this people group and is being discipled to teach others.

“Because of Southern Baptists’ commitment, this people group will now be represented around the throne!” Brady said.

A panel discussion of IMB leaders shared global highlights of God’s work around the world. Pictured left to right: Charlie Worthy, Victor Hou, John Brady, Paul Chitwood (IMB photo)

Brady also reported on two Christians who met at seminary after one served as a journeyman, married and answered God’s call to South Asia. Few people came to faith in the early years of their ministry, but they remained steadfast. Through leadership training and broad seed-sowing efforts, they have seen thousands come to Christ in the past year. Though their financial support, Southern Baptists provided audio devices with gospel recordings that are being distributed so more can hear the gospel, have an audio Bible and discipleship tools, and be trained to share the good news. Send Relief efforts have also been important in this “new movement of God.”

In Brady’s final story, he reflected on the December 2002 murder of IMB medical workers Bill Koehn, Martha Myers and Kathy Gariety at Yemen’s Jibla Baptist Hospital. Through the years, people have watched Southern Baptists live in Christ and die in Christ, Brady said. Today, the church is growing, and people are responding to the gift of salvation.

“God is on the move and God is working!” Brady exclaimed as the crowd applauded. “I thank you, Southern Baptists. We want to be on the move together!”

Victor Hou reported about recent needs in Ukraine and how Southern Baptists responded. An IMB team saw a great need for medical care among Ukraine’s internally displaced refugees. They worked with a local church to set up mobile clinics, but the need for medical professionals was great. When a request for healthcare volunteers was spread to U.S. churches, Southern Baptists responded and flew to Ukraine to staff the clinics. They were able to meet medical needs and share the gospel with hundreds of refugees.

Hou further explained one of IMB’s 2025 targets – to engage 75 global cities with comprehensive strategies to ensure every segment and people group have access to the gospel. As an example of the need to understand how people intersect in large cities, Hou reported that in Johannesburg, South Africa, which is a city of more than 12 million people, 2 million refugees currently live in the city’s abandoned buildings. Hou said he is joining the local team and partners by praying for 200,000 new believers among these refugees.

“Will you pray with me?” he invited the crowd.

Charlie Worthy, IMB European student mobilizer who serves in Italy, reported that more than 400 students will be serving around the world this year.

Charlie Worthy, who serves with the IMB in Italy, encouraged the event’s participants with news that students are on mission and anxious to go to the nations. In addition to journeymen, who make a two-year commitment to serve, Worthy reported that more than 400 students would be going across the globe this year, as borders reopen.

He also shared the positive news that the IMB would once again be sending high school students on mission trips to the nations. Pointing out how many missionaries first felt God’s call to missions during an overseas experience as teenagers, Worthy said that involving this age group would be a strong priority for IMB’s student work.

Chitwood closed the panel discussion by adding his thanks to Southern Baptists for their continued commitment to the Great Commission and encouraging every believer to find their place in God’s call to reach the nations.

Join the Seven Nine Community to be a part of spreading the gospel 365 days a year. Ready to go or explore options for serving overseas? Visit imb.org/go for more information or email info@imb.org to get started.

Leslie Peacock Caldwell is managing editor for IMB communications.

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Korean Baptists gather for fellowship, business

NASHVILLE – The 973 Korean Southern Baptist churches in the United States unanimously passed one resolution at their annual fellowship meeting in mid-June. It was to tell the government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) they oppose that nation’s efforts to pass an “equality act” that would in effect silence preaching on biblical marriage.

The fellowship’s executive board dealt last summer with the same issue in the United States.

“It was important to act quickly,” Executive Director James Kang told Baptist Press. “We agreed last summer to send a letter to all the [Korean] churches in America to ask them to pray about this and sign a petition to their senators objecting to it because it could limit what a pastor could preach about a biblical view of marriage.”

This year’s resolution was to send to the South Korean government notice of the fellowship group’s objection to what is going on in the Koreans’ homeland.

Photo by Chinsop Chong

Praying, worship and preaching formed the basis for each day’s schedule, supplemented by reports from each of the Korean Council’s ministry departments, small group breakout sessions for in-depth training and network-building, and fellowship times at breaks and at meals. Business matters were handled in morning and afternoon sessions of the group’s final meeting day.

That’s when the Korean Council discussed a constitutional amendment, passed a “conservative” budget and elected officers during its three-day meeting.

Of the 2,017 Asian American churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, 973 relate to the Korean culture, according to 2020 ACP reports. That’s up more than 100 from 2019 statistics.

They gather each summer for a three-day annual meeting at the same time and in the same city as does the SBC and its auxiliary meetings. Known formally as the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America, the fellowship group drew nearly 600 people June 14-16 to First Baptist Church of Goodlettsville, a north Nashville suburb.

“Everybody was really happy to meet and excited to meet,” Kang said. “We missed each other after a year. Every speaker focused on this year’s theme of evangelism and missions, and truly everyone’s heart has been revived with passion for the global mission.”

Volunteers from Tennessee Korean churches as well as the host church worked from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day on kitchen duty. Korean churches in Georgia and Florida also helped support the ministry of providing Korean cuisine to people who prefer bulgogi and rice to hamburgers and fries.

James Kang was re-elected nearly unanimously to his second four-year term as the Korean Council’s executive director. Photo by Chinsop Chong

“It’s been a great experience for our church,” Lyle Larson told Baptist Press. Larson has been pastor of First Goodlettsville for 14 years. “It gives you a taste of what international worship is like, what heaven will be like, and cooperating together like this helps us grow in our love for Christ.”

The heart of the Korean Council’s annual meeting starts each day with early morning prayer, a typical Korean practice. Men and women alike entered the worship center at 6 a.m., bowed their heads before the Lord, and made their petitions aloud to Him. The ebb and flow in the spacious worship center of multiple soft and loud voices simultaneously seemed to encourage more and more impassioned prayer.

Each day’s messages focused on an aspect of the Korean Council’s 2021 theme: Revive the passion for the Great Commission.

Preaching

Ki Dong Kim, pastor since 2011 of Precious Community Church in Yorba Linda, Calif., and a former evangelist in Korea, preached Monday evening from Romans 1:16-17 on four basic components of a Gospel presentation: God, humans’ sin, Jesus and faith.

Kim spoke of a sweet potato as a way of discerning a person’s readiness to give his/her life to Jesus. To find out if a sweet potato is fully cooked over an open fire, it is poked with a chopstick, he said. If it’s not ready, the chopstick won’t go in. Keep poking, a bit at a time so as not to injure the sweet potato, and in time it will be ready, Kim said. Poke easy. The first poke might be, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ?” If they say no, back off and come back later with another poke.

“By asking different questions you can measure how ready they are to receive the Gospel,” Kim said. “Keep saying, ‘It is good to believe in Jesus.’”

Before Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, preached Tuesday morning, he announced that Midwestern has more Asian students than any other Southern Baptist seminary: 790 Asian students, out of a campus – online and in person – of 5,000. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a distant second, with 270 Asian students, Allen said.

Allen preached from 2 Timothy 2:2-4 about the resolutions pastors need to make: to have courageous ministry, to endure through hardship, to keep a focused ministry, to guard their heart, and to be Christ-centered.

After a “free afternoon” so Koreans could vote at the Music City Center for 2021-22 SBC officers, Johnny Hunt brought the Tuesday evening message from Psalm 126:5-6. Hunt is senior vice president of evangelism and leadership at the North American Mission Board.

In addition to sharing his testimony, Hunt talked about Who’s Your One, a NAMB evangelism strategy.

“His message was very well received,” Kang told Baptist Press. “People were very touched by his passion, his personal testimony. We could really feel his love.”

When Hunt finished talking, Kang took the unusual step of interrupting the planned order of events to approach the podium and ask permission of Hunt to translate the Who’s Your One materials into Korean, which already are available in English and Spanish.

“We will work on translation in cooperation with NAMB, and make it available to churches,” Kang said later. “That will be a good result that came from this annual meeting. Johnny Hunt was very happy. He said, ‘No problem. We are with you.’”

Edwin Y. Lim, pastor of Shining Star Community Church in Falls Church, Va., spoke Wednesday evening from Daniel 12:3 on the blessings that come from being missions-minded.

The church he pastors has sent out 100 missionaries so far, Lim said. When he planted the church in 2005, he set a goal that 75 percent of the church’s income should be used for missions. To date, about $1.5 million is used for missions, which is at least 50 percent of its income.

“I have many examples of how God meets needs when it comes to missions,” Lim said.

Business

Kyung D. Kim, pastor of Flower Mound Korean Baptist Church in Flower Mound, Texas, was unopposed as president for a one-year term, and elected unanimously. Haeng Bo Lee, pastor of Korean Unity Baptist Church of Antioch, Tenn., a Nashville suburb, was elected first vice president. Young Ha Kim, pastor of Shalom International Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., was elected second vice president. Dong Soon “Daniel” Moon was elected secretary. He is pastor of Korean-American Baptist Church in Annandale, Va. Pil Sung “Cornell” Yi, pastor of Korean Baptist Church in San Diego, Calif., was elected auditor.

James Kang was re-elected nearly unanimously to his second four-year term as the Korean Council’s executive director. He was first elected in 2017.

“I’m ready to do more work,” Kang told Baptist Press. “I’m planning to develop more software for the churches to use. You may have a really fancy computer, but without good software, the computer is not worth very much. Sometimes even a good ministry project is not effective without good software.”

The Korean Council’s 2020-21 budget was set at $950,000. Despite the pandemic, $1,231,533 was received, in part to help churches hard-hit by COVID-19. In all, 77 churches each received $1,000.

Members passed a 2022 budget that totaled $1,032,000. Of that amount, $651,200 was earmarked for missionaries supported in part by the Korean Council’s member churches. Another $130,000 was allocated for the Home Mission Board.

In all, 57 Korean missionaries serving in 20 regions received support from the Korean Council’s churches: Africa, East Asia, Cambodia, Cuba, Guatemala, Jordan, Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela.

In other business, outgoing President Sung Kwon Lee, pastor of Power Mission church in Cincinnati, discussed the need for an amendment to the Korean Council constitution, to allow for options to in-person meetings in case of obstacles such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In keeping with governing documents, the matter was tabled until the Korean Council’s 2022 annual meeting.

“The Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America is a key partner of the Asian American Collective in advancing the gospel here and abroad,” Peter Yanes told Baptist Press. Yanes is executive director of Asian American relations and mobilization for the SBC Executive Committee. “I congratulate Dr. James Kang and the officers in leading the 40th year celebration of God’s faithfulness in the life and ministry of the Korean American churches.”

Kyung Won Song, pastor of Korean Baptist Church of Binghamton, New York, reported and translated for this article.

Nashville native ministers to refugees next door and abroad

Refugee women display bracelets they made with the help of volunteers.

Meeting a refugee at a community center in Nashville, Tennessee, helped set the trajectory where Evie Tucker* finds herself today, working among Middle Eastern refugees in a community center overseas.

Nashville, Tucker’s hometown, is home to the largest population of refugees from one Middle Eastern people group. Many of the refugees live in one section of town that has become a refugee resettlement location.

Tusculum Hills Baptist Church is located in this part of town, and before moving overseas, Tucker taught at an English as a Second Language center located in the church.

Tucker, a missionary with the International Mission Board, said there are 91 different people groups in middle Tennessee and there are between 30 to 40 unreached people groups represented in a one-mile radius of the church. She recalls hearing how Tusculum Hills began praying for the Lord’s direction and how they could be involved in reaching their neighbors. The Lord answered by directing them to open their facilities for ESL classes. Tucker’s home church, Forest Hills Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and Nashville First Baptist Church partner with Tusculum Hills to minister to refugees.

At the ESL center, Tucker met a woman who shared her story of fleeing her country, living in a refugee camp for five years, losing her husband in the camp and her difficult journey to the U.S.

Through listening to her story, the Lord planted a love of the woman’s people group in Tucker’s heart. Tucker had begun the process to serve with the IMB and prayed as she drove to a job-matching conference about where the Lord would have her serve.

The Lord kept bringing to mind the faces of the refugee women at the center. She accepted a position serving among the same refugee people group overseas.

Gathering the scattered

Tucker and her IMB teammates are using community outreach to minister among refugees.

Language classes have met a particularly important need. Many of the refugee women did not go outside their houses in their home country for cultural reasons, and some assumed it would be the same in the country they fled to, so they viewed learning the language as unnecessary. Tucker said many refugees did not have a long-term mentality of staying in the country. Some expected they would return to their home country, and others planned on resettlement in another country. Since moving becomes an ever-decreasing reality, they are seeing the value of learning the language.

Evie Tucker drinks black tea as she disciples Kala, a refugee living in the country where Tucker serves.

Local Christians are teaching the language classes, and Tucker says it gives the Christians a chance to serve and show their concern.

The refugees have remarked on the untainted love they see being displayed by the local Christians.

Tucker, other IMB missionaries and Christians are often invited over to refugees’ homes after the classes. The home visits allow them to be open about what they believe, ask if they are interested in studying the Bible and build a Christ-centered community.

In their home country, refugees had strong communities, but war scattered their families and friends like shards of glass. Trust was also shattered. Refugees in Tucker’s city often reside in small communities and are reluctant to trust. Tucker focuses on helping them build connection and trust within their community,

COVID-19 necessitated the closure of many outreach efforts, but Tucker and her teammates adapted their programs to meet in smaller groups and homes.

“It’s been really amazing to see how doing it in their homes has really been transformative to build relationships,” Tucker said. “It’s gotten us more connected in those communities, and it is already planting the seeds of what a house group or house community looks like.”

The pandemic has also changed the forum for discipleship. Tucker is unable to travel to visit a refugee she is discipling who lives in another city, so the women moved their study online. At the end of one of their lessons, Tucker asked the woman, Kala*, if there was someone with whom she could share the gospel. Kala immediately named several people.

Kala began sharing with the people she mentioned, and over phone calls took the lessons she learned from Tucker to share the gospel with her sister, who still lives in their hometown. Her sister recently committed her life to Christ.

Kala is married to a non-Christian, but some of her daughters join her in the Bible study. She is faithfully sharing with them, and she prays they will choose to commit their lives to Christ soon.

Initially, when Kala started studying with Tucker, Kala didn’t feel confident enough to teach the Bible on her own, but now, Kala hopes to start a study group in her home. She is praying for the four people she plans to invite to study the Bible with her.

At home and abroad

Short-term teams from the U.S. have come to partner with Tucker. These teams have allowed Tucker different opportunities to invest in the refugee community. Each team has been able to use their gifts and backgrounds to hold different community outreach events to meet the needs of the refugee community.

Children play under a parachute during an outreach.

Tucker encourages churches to look for opportunities to serve domestically as well.

There is a natural connection between Tucker’s ministry among the refugee people group overseas and the church’s ministry among refugees in Nashville.

“This people group is in Nashville; they’re in your backyard. These people that you’re praying for me to be here working with, they live right down the street from you too,” Tucker encouraged her church.

You can come alongside Tucker and her teammates in prayer.

Pray outreach activities will resume soon.
Pray for their IMB team, as many team members will be in the U.S. over the summer.
Refugee men work long hours and often are not able to attend events. Pray for more opportunities to share the gospel with men.
Pray for the few followers in the people group to be bold and committed to Christ and for the gospel to spread through their families and networks.

*Names changed for security

Caroline Anderson writes for the IMB from Southeast Asia.

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