Tag: Featured

God has given me a new focus and a new mission

Igave my life to Christ 24 years ago. That Sunday I gave my heart to Christ, I was in Dorm 4 at the Bossier Parish Penal Farm in a little town called Plain Dealing, La., serving a three-year sentence. I was literally broken. I was at the point where I was like, “Look, I can’t do this no more.” I told my mom, “I can’t do three years.” She said, “Baby, you have no choice.” But when she said that … I was done. I wasn’t raised to do crime. I took my last step with the world and I took my first step with God, and I’ve never looked back. I got saved and from that moment on I started doing Bible study in prison and stayed close to the Lord, got out, and got right into the church and got baptized. I was 29 years old then.

After getting out of prison, my whole life changed—my wardrobe, everything. I worked as an electrician in Bossier City/Shreveport for about 33 years and got to a point where the Lord started blessing me in the trade. I also started a ministry called A Way of Escape Ministries, from 1 Corinthians 10:13. God gives a person a way of escape through Jesus Christ. Christ was my way of escape from the world and from repeating the negativity and the toxicity in my life. I was preaching on two radio stations in that area, sometimes preaching for local churches, and my wife, Patricia, and I spoke on building a strong marriage. All this while raising eight kids.

I was tired—we were tired—every day trying to work and take care of the ministry. My wife was working night and day, taking two or three shifts in local nursing homes. I was just working night and day, sometimes doing videos online, because we’re on Facebook. I’d work on the videos and fall asleep while I was doing that. I’m sitting at work eight, 10 hours a day doing electrical work.

“My heart’s desire is that those who don’t know God will know the God I know and serve.”

—André Blaze Tweet

Well, God sometimes just speaks out of nowhere—this is the highlight of my testimony. He spoke to my wife one day back in Louisiana and she said to me, “We got to go.” And I was like, “Go where?” She said, “We need to go to Texas. God said go to Texas—God is saying we need to move.” And I said, “Well, I need to go in prayer.” So after 90 days in prayer, we picked up everything. We started for Greenville but ended up finding a house for us in Sherman instead.

I’m building my business here, but it’s not been crazy busy yet. I have some good contacts, and many of the people of my church [First Baptist Sherman] have given me work. I couldn’t have dreamed of this. I can’t tell you [all that] God has done in the year we’ve been here. It’s been a blessing. It’s been a journey. Sherman is great for us. Our family and children are happy. God has allowed me to make enough on the jobs I get so that our needs are met. My wife works, but she just works regular hours. She’s not tired. I’m not tired, and He has blessed us. He’s just so good.

I’ve been changed, refreshed in my relationship with God—the same God who told Abraham to get up and leave the Ur of the Chaldeans, leave what you are familiar with and go to a land that I will show you. That’s the challenge, to really see where your faith is. It’s one thing to teach truth and to teach faith, but it’s another thing to live it. The Word of God is more than just ink on paper. This move has strengthened my faith. I’m refocused. I’m better than I was.

It’s changed my children’s lives. We tell them, “We’re not here to make money, but we make money. You’re not here just to go to school, but you do go to school. We are here on assignment. We are here because of God’s kingdom.”

Now I own a radio station, a gospel station, and it’s called Blaze. God blessed me with that. We’re on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I’ve got some contemporary Christian music on there, and then my messages. And then we’ve got messages with our children, Bible studies for the entire family. In other words, God has really blessed. I’m also continuing my prison ministry, preaching a few times a month in different facilities.

My heart’s desire is that those who don’t know God will know the God I know and serve. To those who know Him, I’d say be refreshed and know that God is good. Don’t become complacent with God, but know that He is going to take you higher and ask bigger things of you. Give Him what He wants and enjoy the ride.

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Western Swing

South Texas church becomes first to put boots on the ground as part of the SBTC’s Reach Nevada initiative

RENO, NEV.

“Ma’am, would you like a water? Coffee?”

It’s a little after 10 a.m. at Idlewild Park, and members of First Baptist Church of Woodsboro, Texas, are hard at work offering refreshments to passers-by. The park is pretty busy considering it’s a weekday, peppered with people sneaking in a walk or a jog before temperatures climb into the low 90s later in the day.

A few feet away from the table where the Woodsboro members are offering drinks, Scott Lamberth, pastor of Reno’s Pathfinder Church, is engaged in conversation with a woman pushing a stroller. He hands her a business card inviting her to church, and, with the Truckee River whooshing behind them, they have a conversation about spiritual things.

“If I come to your church, are you really going to ask me to believe that Jesus is the only way?” the woman asks.

“Look, we do believe Jesus is the only way,” Lamberth replies, “but we will give you the space to come and explore that at your own pace. … Come and check it out and just see what God does.”

Ministry is happening, and the partnership between FBC Woodsboro and Pathfinder Church is playing out as planned—with the Texas team working the drink giveaway table so Lamberth is free to break off to the side and have more in-depth spiritual conversations with local residents.

“More spiritual conversations, more invitations to church, more bridges built— the work that the Woodsboro team has been doing here has just led to such a good result.”

—Scott Lamberth Tweet

The previous evening, the Woodsboro team was at another park with Lamberth, running an arts and crafts outreach. With children and adults from the nearby neighborhood participating, Lamberth—and even several members of the Woodsboro team—went table to table, striking up conversations and inviting people to church.

“The amount of spiritual conversations I’ve been able to have this week is the most I’ve had in any single week in the year we’ve been here,” Lamberth said. “More spiritual conversations, more invitations to church, more bridges built—the work that the Woodsboro team has been doing here has just led to such a good result.”

In July 2022, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention entered a partnership with the Nevada Baptist Convention to strengthen its existing churches and plant new ones. As part of that partnership, the SBTC committed to not only provide financial resources, but also connect its affiliated churches with those of the NBC.

Since then, the NBC has hosted an Equip Conference similar to the one put on by the SBTC each summer. In 2023, NBC’s Equip Conference held in the Vegas area attracted 300 attendees. This year, it hosted two Equip Conferences in different parts of the state and saw more than 500 attend total.

And in June, FBC Woodsboro became the first SBTC church to travel to Nevada to serve side by side with an NBC church.

An exciting mission field

The SBTC has partnered with the Nevada Baptist Convention to plant churches and strengthen existing churches. Here’s a glimpse at the opportunities this mission field offers:

3.1 million

Population

2.3 million

Las Vegas population including 700,000 Hispanic/Latino residents and 250,000 Asian/Pacific Islander residents)

500,000

Reno/Sparks/Carson metro area population

by 2060

Nevada is expected to double in population

10

Number of Send Network endorsed church planters in Nevada

177

NBC affiliated churches

An open frontier, a great gospel need

Reno is home to roughly 265,000 people, comparable in population to the Texas cities of Irving, Laredo, and Lubbock. That population swells to about a half-million when considering all the residents of nearby Sparks and Carson.

Much of Reno’s booming population is attributed to an influx of Californians trying to escape soaring home prices, high taxes, and even higher crime. Though Reno is 450 miles northwest of sister city Las Vegas, it’s just 12 miles from the California border—making it a natural landing spot for many fleeing east.

Lamberth said the people of Reno are friendly and open to conversation, which is why he commits time most weeks to set up a table at a local park offering free drinks to those passing by. Many people Lamberth talks to describe themselves as spiritual, though pinning down exactly what that means can be difficult. One thing usually becomes clear in those conversations—a great number of those he speaks with do not agree Jesus is the only way to be reconciled to God.

According to the latest numbers available, nearly two out of every three Reno residents are unchurched. In 2017, Lifeway Research declared Reno the second most unchurched city in the U.S., trailing only San Francisco, Lamberth said.

The Reno metro area offers contrasting extremes. Tesla’s Gigafactory Nevada, which claims to be “one of the world’s highest volume plants” for the production of electric motors, energy storage products, vehicle powertrains, and batteries, is located about a 30-minute drive east on I-80. Gigafactory has grown into one of the state’s largest employers, offering high-paying jobs that can provide life-changing financial stability.

But just outside the Sparks city limits sits the state’s largest legal brothel which—along with the area’s gaggle of casinos and an out-of-control substance abuse problem—is tearing lives apart with increasing efficiency. In 2020, Nevada experienced a more than 300% jump in the number of people who admitted using marijuana, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. Alcohol and drug-related deaths have spiked in recent years, with fentanyl overdose deaths rising more than 200%.

Reno, once known as the “biggest little city in the world,” sadly is now referred to by many as the “Sodom of the Sierras,” Lamberth said.

“But one of the positives is, people here are open and hungry,” Lamberth said. “People who are needy are ripe, and there are a lot of needs here.”

That makes the call to not only plant churches in Reno, but strengthen existing Southern Baptist churches like Pathfinder, all the more urgent.

“It’s our God-given responsibility to support churches like this. We’re just a small church ourselves, but that don’t matter. Church size don’t matter when it comes to the Great Commission.”

—Carroll Borden Tweet

A call to get involved

So how can churches of the SBTC partner with NBC churches?

First and foremost, NBC churches need prayer, said Damian Cirincione, NBC’s executive director. Some churches need help putting on events such as vacation Bible schools, while others have buildings in disrepair that need to be remodeled or rebuilt. Ideally, longterm relationships would form between SBTC and NBC churches that would allow them to work together for years to come.

“[Our churches] need people to come alongside them, love on them, love on their pastors, and encourage them to continue to reach their community,” Cirincione said. “The most important thing is sharing the love of Jesus and making His name known in these small communities.”

The Reach Nevada initiative is one of several partnerships the SBTC is building using an Acts 1:8 model, developing statewide, nationwide, and global ministry partnerships to accomplish the Great Commission. In addition to Nevada, the SBTC has a similar relationship with Southern Baptist churches in Puerto Rico, and it is considering other such partnerships in Europe and Asia.

SBTC missions mobilization associate Colin Rayburn said local churches often lack the connections to engage in missions opportunities with other churches. In other words, they have a heart to do cooperative gospel work on multiple levels, but they just don’t know where to start. By using the SBTC’s connections with Southern Baptist churches on the state, national, and international levels, churches will be able to find partners more easily, he said.

“We realized we have this unique opportunity born out of this desire to amplify what the Lord is doing in other places to help mobilize our churches to find the partnerships that they need,” Rayburn said. “There’s no reason a small, local church would naturally have connections with other small churches all over the world, but when we all come together, we get to create something profound.”

Carroll Borden, an FBC Woodsboro elder who came on the Nevada trip, said the call to work with other churches outside one’s own context is not only a desire, but a command from the Lord.

“It’s our God-given responsibility to support churches like this,” he said. “We’re just a small church ourselves, but that don’t matter. Church size don’t matter when it comes to the Great Commission. You just have to have a passion for spreading the Word of God.”

‘We know the way’

When the Woodsboro team arrived in Reno, Lamberth asked members to begin not by prepping supplies or even knocking on doors, but by praying over some of the areas where they would spend hours over the coming week meeting people and building relationships.

At the first stop, in a park, Newberry said he was walking and praying when he came across a bench. Someone had used a marker to scrawl a message into the wood: “Make Life Beautiful—Smile.” For reasons he still doesn’t understand, the words gave Newberry pause. His mind swirled as he considered them, and he soon found himself recalling a conversation he’d had earlier with some people who believe there are many ways—aside from Jesus—to be right with God.

“There are a lot of good people here, but they are good people who are lost,” Newberry said later. “When I read that written in Sharpie, about making life beautiful, I thought, ‘Someone here is searching. They’re searching for the point, for the purpose, looking for something good, and they just don’t know where to find it.’

“But we know the way—it’s the gospel. … The gospel is the key to everything they’re searching for.”

Equip attendees encouraged to change the world through acts of obedience

PLANO—History could have been different.

Acts 16 records Paul’s desire to take the gospel into Asia and Bithynia during his second missionary journey. In both instances, Scripture teaches the Holy Spirit did not allow Paul to make those journeys.

Guided by a vision from the Lord, Paul instead went to Macedonia. While there, he shared the gospel with a woman named Lydia—who became what many scholars believe was the first convert in what is now modern-day Europe.

Believers who follow Paul’s lead by putting God’s plans before their own have an opportunity to change history today, according to Nathan Lorick, executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Lorick spoke about Paul’s obedience and selflessness during the keynote address at the SBTC’s annual Equip Conference held Saturday, July 27, at Prestonwood Baptist Church.

“God can take any of us in this room—who are fully obedient, fully surrendered, and laying down our desires for the kingdom and for His glory—and do things that make us [say], ‘How in the world did that happen?’” Lorick said.

Lorick said SBTC churches can follow Paul’s example and, in doing so, experience the fulfillment of three truths set forth in the Acts 16 passage:

Obedience puts kingdom needs above personal desires;
Obedience brings clarity to our own mission; and
Obedience postures the lives of His followers in a way to be used by Him.

Paul’s obedience paved the way not only for the gospel’s arrival in Europe, but it started a chain of events that influenced the Baptist faith, ignited cooperative missional work, and started a church planting movement that continues today.

It was a timely message for Equip attendees who came from all over Texas to receive leadership training in a wide variety of ministry areas. This year’s conference offered more than 200 breakout sessions taught by leading ministry practitioners. It also included a Spanish track that included a keynote address delivered by Lázaro Riesgo, director of Spanish ministries at Sagemont Church in Houston.

“Our heart’s desire [as a convention] is that you are encouraged, equipped, and edified,” Lorick said, “but really deep down, our heart is that you will take back a heart of radical obedience to the Lord, fully surrendered, and say to Him … ‘God, whatever it is, would you allow me to exhaust my life so that your glory may be my reward?’”

‘If there’s something to be done, we’ll be there’

Despite suffering damage of its own, Houston church reaches out to hurting community following devastating storms

HOUSTON

It was May 16, and the northern part of Houston was experiencing spectacular weather. But in Texas—especially in the springtime—the weather can change in an instant.

That evening, a weather advisory was issued suddenly, warning residents to seek shelter from a fast-moving and potentially destructive thunderstorm headed toward the area that had the potential to spawn tornadoes. Soon after, straight-line winds of more than 100 mph and a tornado barreled into the area, throwing the region into chaos. According to local news reports, the storms caused flooding, downed trees and power lines, some deaths, and nearly a million homes and businesses were left without power.

Among the places affected was Bethel Baptist Church, where, according to Senior Pastor Jaime García, the storm ripped off part of the roof allowing rain to pour into the sanctuary—causing extensive damage, including to sound equipment and musical instruments.

García is no stranger to storms. In addition to his duties as Bethel’s pastor, he is a storm chaser. That day, he was in another city recording video for a local news affiliate. As soon as he heard about the danger threatening his community and his people, he returned home to Houston.

“I saw all the destruction and people who were desperate and scared,” said García, noting that the drama only intensified once he learned how the storms had impacted his church and members of the congregation.

And yet, they were not deterred.

“We are constantly inviting our church to serve and love the community, because we may be the only Bible they will read.”

—Jaime García Tweet

The next day, Bethel members mobilized to clean and repair the church as best they could, then went to work serving the community. The following Saturday, they came together to help the community by going to homes to cut down trees and “extend a hand of love,” García said.

God also opened doors for the church to distribute food provided by an aid organization from Mississippi while the power was being restored. Church members set up a distribution site in their gym to distribute food, cleaning supplies, and toiletries to those impacted by the storm.

Though hurting themselves, García said the storms provided a great opportunity for Bethel to fulfill its mission: to love God, love people, and serve others.

“That’s part of who we are,” García said. “If there’s something to be done, we’ll be there to serve and show them the love of Christ.”

So far, Bethel has not been able to fully repair its building because insurance only covered part of the damage. So, church members are trying to raise the funds to rebuild the church as soon as possible. In the meantime, Bethel continues to meet in the youth center to praise the Lord and share the gospel of Jesus.

“With all this experience, the church is growing in its faith. Our desire to worship God does not change,” García said. “We do not have the comforts of before, but God has not changed.”

García has served as Bethel’s pastor for 25 years—13 as youth pastor and 12 as senior pastor. He is also the director of Unique Student Ministries, which is dedicated to equipping and discipling students in evangelism through a conference that hosts 400 to 500 young people from area churches each year.

He said families have come to their church because they have lost all their food, and they have tearfully expressed their deep gratitude, not only for what they are being given, but also for the church’s willingness to serve in a part of the community where many shy away from helping due to the high crime rate.

“We are constantly inviting our church to serve and love the community,” García added, “because we may be the only Bible they will read.”

‘A great encouragement’: SBTC DR Hurricane Beryl response continues in Southeast Texas

SOUTHEAST TEXAS—The man’s bruised face said it all. A limb had flown back, striking him hard as he used a chainsaw to cut up a tree felled by the EF2 tornado that ripped through Jasper County on July 8 in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.

“We had eight tornadoes in our area on that date,” veteran Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief chaplain Wayne Barber said. “Not all hit the ground.”

The disaster—as disasters tend to do—provided opportunities for spiritual and physical assistance.

Eight tornadoes, nine salvations

Almost immediately after the tornadoes, Barber and other SBTC DR volunteers from Hillcrest Baptist Church in Jasper moved into the community, joining their neighbors to see who needed help. Soon, other SBDR crews would come to the area to help.

Barber, among those who responded, approached the man struck by the limb and they began talking.

“What would you do if that limb had taken your life?” Barber asked the man and his friend who was there to help.

“He didn’t know what to say,” Barber later recalled.

After Barber presented the gospel, both men prayed to trust Christ as their Savior. Seven more salvations ensued over the next few days as SBTC DR chaplains ministered to survivors.

The Hillcrest Baptist SBTC DR volunteers were in the right place at the right time to minister quickly following the storms. Hundreds of SBDR teams from Texas and other states hurried to Southeast Texas soon after Beryl made landfall between Corpus Christi and Galveston as a category 1 storm about 4:30 a.m. on July 8, striking a region already inundated by pre-hurricane rains.

SBDR crews set up mass feeding units and shower/laundry trailers to serve immediate needs. Chaplaincy, chainsaw, and mud-out crews followed, their work overseen by SBDR incident management teams and unit leaders, also known as “white hats.”

As is typical in such situations, neighbors and community members also pitched in to help those affected.

“It’s the biggest mass deployment since Hurricane Harvey,” Stice said of the ongoing effort. “ … There’s still work to be done.”

A coordinated effort

Much work has been done by SBTC DR teams in addition to other Baptist DR teams from Texas and across the nation.

“Our SBTC DR teams, together with others, have served from Spring to Conroe, down into Houston. We’ve had work orders from Cleveland, Livingston, Jasper, and elsewhere,” Stice said. “We’ve fed folks in Wharton … and we’re still at it helping survivors recover.”

Stice explained that SBTC DR serves in such situations as part of a larger coordinated effort among state Baptist DR teams, whose units deploy in strategic locations to avoid duplicating efforts. Feeding teams often work in conjunction with workers from the Red Cross and Salvation Army, who distribute food prepared by the Baptists.

Such was the case in Wharton, where an SBTC DR mass-feeding kitchen and a shower/laundry trailer operated until the site closed July 14. SBTC DR teams prepared more than 15,000 meals, in addition to providing showers and laundry services, logging a total of 1,100 volunteer hours.

Among other tasks, SBTC DR continues to operate a HAM radio communications network to help coordinate the overall response. SBTC DR and out-of-state Baptist DR partners are still responding to chainsaw needs in Spring, Texarkana, Huffman, and Jasper.

As of July 24, volunteers headquartered at Spring Baptist Church have logged nearly 3,000 volunteer hours, completing chainsaw and roof-tarping jobs. A single SBTC DR chainsaw team working out of Hillcrest Baptist Church has contributed 1,624 volunteer hours to complete more than 70 chainsaw jobs in the Kountze/Jasper area. Another SBTC DR team and a crew from Louisiana Baptist DR have worked in Lumberton out of Calvary Baptist Beaumont’s North Campus.

Arkansas disaster relief chainsaw teams are laboring in Texarkana, while Alabama and South Carolina crews have joined SBTC DR to work in Huffman, logging more than 6,000 volunteer hours.

By the grace of God

For Robert Frank, a maintenance staffer at Spring Baptist Church, the efforts of SBDR to assist his mother will never be forgotten.

Mary Frank, 76, has lived in the same Spring house since childhood. The massive pecan tree that once graced her half-acre yard was large when she moved in at age 12. Mary recalled climbing the tree often as a kid.

At the end of the storm, Robert—who lives in the family home and helps his mom care for the place—left to check on the Spring Baptist Church campus. Then he received an unexpected phone call from home.

“The tree fell and I can’t see my car,” Mary exclaimed. Shortly after this, neighbors arrived to cut the tree away from the car and clear Mary’s driveway.

“That more than 80-year-old tree had been leaning toward the house. It should have fallen on the home,” Robert said. “By the grace of God, that tree fell onto a narrow 10-foot space between the house and the fence.”

Robert put in a work order request to SBDR teams headquartered at the church, and a DR crew from the Tennessee state convention came to finish cutting up the tree, leaving only its stump.

“They did an awesome job,” Robert said. As a bonus, Mary loved the company, he added. “Miss Jane, the lady [who showed up with] the crew, talked with her. They gave her a Bible. It was a great encouragement.”

To contribute to Hurricane Beryl relief efforts and/or learn how to receive DR training and become a credentialed SBTC DR volunteer, visit sbtexas.com/disaster-relief/.

Central Texas pastor finds community, support through Young Pastors Network

‘They take you to the feet of Jesus’

HEWITT

For Michael Visy, senior pastor of Grace Church Hewitt, connections make the difference. Through a series of divine connections, he has found friendship, encouragement, and accountability via the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Young Pastors Network.

The Maryland native was on staff at Grace Church Waco when a non-denominational church in Hewitt, its attendance declining, closed its doors. The cornfields once surrounding that church, nine miles south of Waco, had given way to neighborhoods full of families, with many adults commuting to Waco or nearby Temple for work. The members of the former church didn’t want to sell the property and see it become just another development.

Instead, they gifted 6.5 acres and buildings to Grace Church Waco to start a new work. Grace Church Hewitt was born in 2018.

“They said they didn’t want a school or park or another apartment complex to go in. They wanted the gospel preached in that location. They wanted a church,” Visy said, adding that representatives of the closing church found Grace Church Waco through connections with the SBTC. Dick Wooten, pastor of the former church, is the father of Bryan Wooten, teaching pastor of Remedy Church in Waxahachie. Bryan and fellow Remedy teaching pastor Aaron Clayton contacted Grace Waco about the Hewitt opportunity.

“They see me as a person, not a pastor. A friend. And they are great guys to hang out with. They help you press into Christ.”

—Michael Visy Tweet

Dick Wooten has since become a friend and encourager to Visy. In addition to some 30 from Grace Waco who came south to help the new church plant, around eight to nine from the elder Wooten’s former congregation ended up joining Grace Hewitt. Wooten himself stayed. He preaches from time to time at Visy’s invitation.

“He has been really encouraging to me, especially seeing us through a very rough first year,” Visy said of Wooten. “He said, ‘Michael, I’m retired. I just want to love on people, invest in them, care for them.’”

Visy added that “having a seasoned guy in his 70s” to walk alongside him in ministry has been a blessing. Visy asked Wooten to share recollections of the church at Grace Hewitt’s fifth anniversary.

“I wanted the congregation to see that God was faithful to His people and His church long before we were in this building,” Visy said. Now in his 30s, Visy was only 26 when he became pastor at Grace Hewitt.

“I was fresh out of seminary, newly married. Why in the world would you want to follow a 26-year-old?” he recalled mentioning to the congregation back then.

“We’re not following you. We’re following the Lord,” members replied.

Today, Grace Hewitt is thriving, running around 150 with members and regular attenders, children, and visitors, demonstrating steady growth despite population mobility in its “suburban-rural” setting.

“Hewitt is a family-centered community,” said Visy. He and his wife, Michelle, have become parents to Harper, 4, and Gus, 2, during their time at the church.

“There are a lot of kids running around our church,” Visy said. “And there’s only one full-time staff person: me,” he added with a chuckle.

Finding a pastoral community

Visy has likewise found encouragement and friendships through YPN, an organization of pastors 40 years old or younger and mentors. Visy said he has been involved in YPN since its founding by Spencer Plumlee, pastor of First Baptist Mansfield.

Within the YPN, Visy has developed a core group of four fellow pastors in his region with whom he meets regularly. Among these is Drake Osborn, Grace Waco pastor of teaching and liturgy. Bracken Arnhart, pastor of Hope Church in Robinson, is another YPN member with whom Visy is close, as is Matt Byrd, pastor of Wellspring Church in China Spring.

“We’re all kind of young, all in the same theological world,” Visy said. “[We thought], ‘Let’s hang out and encourage one another.’ …We get together once a month.”

Visy also serves on the YPN leadership team. “It consists of a dozen of us from all over the state, representing churches of different sizes and dynamics from West Texas, DFW, Houston, Austin, South Texas,” he said.

He credits YPN connections for assisting him in his role as pastor. “Guys in the state have helped me with logistical pieces of ministry: bylaws, member care things, church discipline matters. … How do we do this? Having other friends in other churches in other parts of the state in other contexts is invaluable,” Visy said, adding, “They help with everything.”

Of YPN support, Visy said, “They see me as a person, not a pastor. A friend. And they are great guys to hang out with. They help you press into Christ. … They are true friends who take you to the feet of Jesus.”

Sometimes, it’s the little things

Each month, we keep our eyes open looking for ways God is moving in our churches across the state. That’s what this Leading Off page is all about—as you read each month’s issue, we want to start you off with something to encourage you.

Though a relatively new feature, we’ve already highlighted churches with members helping their neighbors recover from deadly storms and a dispatch from our ever-busy Southern Baptists of Texas Disaster Relief team.

Jesus is using His people to do big things. Count what follows as a small one—with the potential to have a huge impact.

Parkhills Baptist Church in San Antonio is asking its members to use technology for something good. Each Sunday, on the church’s rotating video announcements that scroll prior to the beginning of the worship service, Parkhills encourages members to pick up their phones and text an encouraging message to someone—anyone—who could use a pick-me-up.

The point, as posted on the church’s Facebook page, is simple: “Let’s share the love of Jesus and make someone’s day a little brighter. It doesn’t take much to make a positive impact on someone’s life, and a simple message of kindness can go a long way.”

We often talk about planting seeds, and SBTC churches all over the state are finding creative and effective ways to do just that. We think this one is worth adding to your toolbelt.

You never know how God is going to use a simple message of love to lift up the spirits of His people—or even draw people to Himself for the first time.

What encouraging thing is happening at your church that you wouldn’t mind sharing with other churches across the state? Email jlarson@sbtexas.com.

Fire engulfs historic sanctuary at FBC Dallas

DALLAS (BP)—The historic sanctuary at First Baptist Church Dallas burned Friday evening, July 19. The cause of the blaze is not yet known. The Victorian-style, red brick sanctuary building was erected 1890 and is a recognized Texas Historic Landmark.

According to media reports, Dallas Fire and Rescue received a call at 6:05 p.m. Friday evening regarding a building on fire in downtown Dallas. Firefighters responded and within 15 minutes of the first call, a second alarm was requested. Then around 7:30 p.m., the scene was upgraded to a three-alarm fire. A fourth alarm was called in around 8:15 p.m. The Dallas Morning News reported that “more than 60 units were dispatched to respond to the structure fire.”

The church released a statement on X at 9:34 p.m. saying the primary fire was extinguished but firefighters were still working at the scene.

First Baptist Church Dallas has an indelible history within the Southern Baptist Convention having been pastored by former SBC presidents George W. Truett and W.A. Criswell. Currently led by Robert Jeffress, First Baptist Dallas reported a membership of nearly 16,000 in 2023. The church currently worships in a state-of-the-art facility, which opened in 2013, adjacent to the historic sanctuary.

Jeffress posted on X Friday night asking for prayers for the church saying “We have experienced a fire in the Historic Sanctuary. To our knowledge, no one is hurt or injured, and we thank God for His protection. He is sovereign even in the most difficult times.”

The historic sanctuary was home to First Baptist Dallas’ contemporary service each week, called the Band-Led Service. There was a special VBS service scheduled for this Sunday, June 21. The church hosted its annual Vacation Bible School this week.

“We are grateful that no life has been lost that we know of even though we just had 2,000 children and volunteers on campus for Vacation Bible School earlier in the day,” Jeffress said in a statement to Baptist Press. “As tragic as the loss of this old sanctuary is, we are grateful that the church is not bricks and wood but composed of over 16,000 people who are determined more than ever before to reach the world for the gospel of Christ.”

The church campus consists of multiple buildings across a six-block footprint in downtown Dallas.

Church partners with SBTC DR to be hands and feet of Jesus following storm

Being a light in the community

LEVELLAND

The small Levelland church of about 75 had been praying for a way to serve its Hockley County community, 30 miles west of Lubbock. When a microburst with vicious straight-line winds swept through the city in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 28, they got more of an opportunity than they anticipated.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve been praying for an opportunity to be a beacon of light to the community,” said Tony Ward, pastor of College Avenue Baptist Church since March. “This is probably not how we wanted or expected it.”

Dinnertime on May 27 in Levelland brought more than conversation around the table. A brief storm pelted the community with hail—weather not uncommon in the flat lands of the Llano Estacado. Little did residents know that the small evening storm was a precursor of what was to come.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve been praying for an opportunity to be a beacon of light to the community. This is probably not how we wanted or expected it.”

—Tony Ward Tweet

‘It came out of nowhere’

Ward recalled waking with a start around 2 a.m. the next morning to the sound of hail pounding his property.

“It came out of nowhere,” he said. “No lightning or thunder. It just started immediately. High winds, heavy hail … probably for 20 to 30 minutes. The power went out pretty quickly.”

The Ward home, located on the south side of town, escaped the worst of the damage as the storm struck the north side with unanticipated ferocity. Some thought it was a tornado, Ward said, although the National Weather Service has only confirmed the microburst.

Ward stayed up most of the rest of the night, watching to see if anything else was coming. Dawn revealed downed power lines and trees shorn of their leaves and branches. Ward estimated that he later raked up 15 bags of leaves, as did his neighbors.

A handful of church families were affected by damage at their farms and homes. No members were injured, but some collected buckets full of dead birds, likely victims of large hailstones.

Hailstones also piled up around the church, which suffered broken windows and damage to its roof. A courtyard flooded, causing water to spread inside the foyer and into a section of the sanctuary. Members quickly showed up to help shovel hail away from the doors to prevent further water damage as the hail melted. Cleaners estimated they pumped out 600 gallons of water from the facility.

But with the inconvenience came opportunity.

SBTC DR deploys quickly

Shane Kendrix, SBTC regional catalyst for Northwest Texas, contacted Ward to check on the church and community early on May 28. Could the SBTC help?

“That [phone call] got the ball rolling,” Ward said. “By Wednesday afternoon, we had plans for a team to come.” An SBTC DR QRU quick response mobile kitchen from the Top O’ Texas association in Pampa with four volunteers arrived later that day, setting up feeding operations at the church.

Over the next three days, the SBTC DR QRU cranked out more than 1,000 meals for residents and first responders, Ward said, before power was finally restored to the town.

“All those volunteers were tremendous,” Ward said. “They served and never complained. They’ve been doing this for a while.”

From a pastoral perspective, teaming with SBTC DR was seamless and encouraging, Ward noted. “I didn’t have to do a lot,” he said. “For someone in the SBTC to reach out and tell us what our options were was great. We were all in. It was a joy to have them.”

A light in the community

The experience allowed church members to see the benefits of SBTC affiliation, Ward said, as well as how a DR ministry works in emergencies.

Members helped, too, visiting with and praying for locals who came to the church for encouragement and a hot meal.

“Several church members had meaningful conversations with visitors. We heard lots of people just being appreciative,” Ward said, adding that people were pleasantly surprised to find that the food would cost them nothing.

College Avenue announced the meals on social media. Area banks and small businesses were also organizing food giveaways, Ward said. Word spread and people flocked to the bright yellow and blue SBTC DR QRU in the church parking lot.

“For our little church, we put it on our Facebook page and the post had the most Facebook interactions we’ve ever had in the history of our church, plus 125 shares,” he added, estimating the post reached several thousand people in the Levelland area.

“We wanted to be a light in the community and to share the gospel,” Ward said. “We wanted to love on people here.”

In the wake of a devastating storm, they did just that.

SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice said of the Levelland deployment: “We were grateful for the opportunity to partner with Pastor Ward and College Avenue Baptist as we served Levelland and Hockley County. We appreciate the QRU volunteers who responded very quickly and arrived ready to serve.”

Stice also confirmed that an SBTC DR shower and laundry unit deployed to Roswell, N.M., on June 20 to support a shelter housing evacuees from Ruidoso, where wildfires continue to rage.

First Odessa’s Hispanic ministry is opening doors to reach a rapidly changing community

ODESSA

Erika Meza had been praying for her husband, Luis, to come to faith in Jesus for nine years. But spiritual conversations with Luis could feel tense and he would tell Erika he did not want to feel pressured to walk away from the Catholic religion he had always known.

But something began to change in Luis’ heart one day after he received a personal invitation from Hiram Ramos, the leader of First Baptist Church Odessa’s Hispanic ministry, and his wife, Saraí. Luis was touched by the invitation, but still guarded about the visit.

“Don’t get excited,” he told Erika and their two children that Sunday.

But God began to do a work in Luis’ heart through that first visit.

“The first day I went, I felt I was part of something,” Luis now admits. “God moved something in my heart and in my mind, so I started going regularly.”

Hiram, sensing the Lord at work, began to pull Luis closer. He invited Luis to his home. He was a sounding board to which Luis could voice his questions and doubts. Most importantly, Hiram presented the plan of salvation to Luis.

On April 7, 2023, First Odessa Senior Pastor Byron McWilliams preached his annual cross service—a special message he delivers on Good Friday while simultaneously using an ax to craft a life-sized cross on the church stage. Luis said something “clicked” in his soul as he listened to the message, and he gave his life to Jesus that evening. Luis became the first person Hiram baptized at First Odessa Español—the first of many.

“The first day I went, I felt I was part of something. God moved something in my heart and in my mind.”

—luis meza Tweet

Expanding its reach

Long before that day, First Odessa—with a mission to reach its city and the world with the gospel of Christ—saw an urgent need to connect with the growing number of Hispanic people coming to the community to work in the oil industry. With nearly 60% of the city’s population being Hispanic, church leaders wondered, “How are we going to reach Odessa if we don’t speak Spanish?”

First Odessa already had a Spanish Bible class meeting at the church. It was led by its only Hispanic couple at the time—Roberto Chavez and his wife Aracely, who is Hiram’s sister. As the class began to grow, church leaders began to pray about taking the next steps to broaden its reach. They eventually purchased a building across the street to use for a Hispanic church. All they needed was a pastor.

At the time, Hiram lived in his native Mexico and, other than making an annual visit to Odessa to visit Aracely and her family, had never considered leaving. During one of his visits, in 2019, Aracely told Hiram about First Odessa’s vision of starting a Hispanic work and asked him to join her in praying for the man God would call to serve as its pastor.

“So I crossed the street from the church and started walking around the building [the church had purchased for the Hispanic work],” Hiram said, “praying that God would bring a pastor who would love the work.”

He never imagined he would be the one God would choose to call to lead the Hispanic work.

“How are we going to reach Odessa if we don’t speak Spanish?”

—Byron McWilliams, First Odessa Senior Pastor Tweet

A couple years later, in January 2021, Hiram returned to visit his sister and help preach the funeral of her father-in-law. Hiram preached part of the funeral message in Spanish, while McWilliams preached in English. Afterward, McWilliams said he and some other members of the church staff began texting one another about Hiram, saying, “This is the one we’ve been praying for.”

At McWilliams’ request, he and Hiram met a couple months later to discuss what God was doing to reach the Hispanic population through First Odessa’s ministry. Heading into that meeting, Hiram remembers praying the words of Philippians 2:13: “If it is your will, work in me both to will and to do” so that I may fulfill your purposes.

The conversation ended up with the two men standing in front of the altar facing the pews inside the building where Hiram had prayed for First Odessa’s planned Hispanic ministry a couple years earlier.

“This is the place God wants to fill with Spanish-speaking people,” McWilliams said to Hiram. “When can you start?”

“At that moment,” Hiram recalls, “God produced the ‘will and the doing’ in me.”

Hiram answered the call to lead the Hispanic work and he and Saraí moved to Odessa. They said God affirmed their call to the work by allowing their work visas to be granted rapidly—faster than their attorney said she had ever seen. Hiram and Saraí prepared to launch the Hispanic work by hosting Sunday Bible classes, as well as men’s and women’s Bible studies during the week.

“We are all part of the same vision where the Spanish ministry is being formed with the support of the whole church.”

—Hiram Ramos, First Odessa en Español Tweet

One church, one mission

First Odessa en Español held its first service on Dec. 3, 2023, with 28 people in attendance. Since then, the church has seen more than 50 people come to faith in Christ. The church is working to disciple, shepherd, and meet the unique needs of those families—many of which include older generations that speak mostly Spanish with younger generations that are increasingly more fluent in English. By offering its Spanish ministry, First Odessa provides a place where such families can worship in the same location.

Hiram uses his training in psychology and counseling to minister to the needs of marriages and families. The church recently held a marriage dinner conference with 115 attendees. It also hosted an Easter activity in a local park where about 800 people came to hear the gospel in Spanish and English.

“We are one church and one ministry together, and I love that,” Hiram said, “because we are all part of the same vision where the Spanish ministry is being formed with the support of the whole church.”