Tag: Featured

They shared tragedy and tears, but now they share a … perfectly bound love

When Patrick McGinty thinks of a role model and spiritual hero, John Powell comes to mind.

McGinty worked with Powell at Emmanuel Baptist Church, a plant of Northeast Houston Baptist Church in New Caney. “I remember thanking the Lord for the opportunity to have a front-row seat into the life of a man who was an incredible husband, father, friend, and pastor … the type I wanted to be,” McGinty said of Powell.

McGinty met Powell and his family in 2016, but they became close in 2018 when Patrick moved to the Houston area to serve on staff with John at Emmanuel.

“John and I were the only two staff members, so we spent all day every day together. [The Powells] were my closest friends in Houston, and they welcomed me into the family. I was in their home all the time,” McGinty recalled.

McGinty knew EBC was only for a short season, as he desired to work in the marketplace while serving in a local church. He moved to San Antonio and became a store director with HEB grocery, while helping lead the student ministry at his church.

His closest friends, mentors, and pastors—including Powell—encouraged him to pursue full-time ministry.

“My goal was to spend 30 years at HEB, retire as a senior executive, and pastor a church full-time in retirement,” McGinty recalled.

COVID hit, and McGinty, like most in the grocery business, worked 70-80 hours a week. Following the worst of the pandemic, he was spending time with the Lord and began to feel “released” from the corporate career path. To reach his goals at HEB, he would have to work a schedule incompatible with the type of husband and father he wanted to be. Little did he know what lay ahead, but he decided to take a step back at work in favor of ministry.

“I still think about it every day, praising the Lord for how He cared for us in that time.”

Katherine mcginty Tweet

Greater love hath no man …

On Saturday, July 18, 2020, John Powell was traveling with friend Jeremy Blest on U.S. Highway 75 to pick up an old truck for a restoration project. While driving near Denton, they saw a distressed motorist whose vehicle was on fire. Stopping immediately, John and Jeremy rushed out of their pickup to assist. After pulling the motorists to safety, John spotted an oncoming 18-wheeler bearing down on Jeremy. Without hesitation, he pushed Jeremy out of the way, sacrificing himself.

He left behind his wife, Katherine, their four young kids aged 4-11, and his church.

Upon learning of the tragedy, Katherine turned to God. “I asked the Lord to come near, telling Him that I needed Him. That is exactly what He did,” she recalled.

The outpouring of love, support, and prayer from the global church, local church, and loved ones was overwhelming. “I still think about it every day, praising the Lord for how He cared for us in that time,” she said.

One example of the Lord’s provision was a gift to Pine Cove family camp in East Texas a few weeks after John’s death. The Lord used that week, specifically a talk on biblical hospitality, to give Katherine a clear vision of what was next. She sensed that the Lord might be calling her to College Station, home to Texas A&M University, to minister to college students.

“I knew college students would bring life into our home and that it could be sweet for my kids to see students that age walking with Jesus. I wanted to be able to pour into them and share about walking with the Lord, especially through difficult times,” she said.

Over the next months, the Lord gave each of the kids a desire to move to College Station as well. “The Lord was very kind in that transition. It was a sweet season in many ways,” Katherine said. “The kids and I learned that we could live with the deep grief of missing John and the life we had in New Caney while at the same time experiencing joy in where the Lord brought us in College Station.”

One year later

Meanwhile, McGinty was content both in his decision to leave the corporate world and in his singleness. He would tell younger guys he discipled, “The decision of who you marry is the most important decision you will ever make outside of a decision for Christ. I would rather be single than married to the wrong person.”

Katherine also felt content in her singleness and the circumstances in which the Lord had placed her and the kids. She thought a relationship sounded like a lot of work and exhausting.

Unbeknownst to either, Patrick and Katherine thought of each other occasionally. When they did, each prayed for the other. They were also the subjects of others’ prayers.

One day Nathan Lino, then the NEHBC pastor, phoned McGinty, who never forgot Lino’s words: “I’m not telling you this is a word from God, but I’ve been praying about it for six months and I can’t help but wonder if God is going to call you to marry Katherine Powell.”

McGinty was speechless. He admitted to himself that he had developed feelings for Katherine. “I felt guilty for having the feelings, not because it was wrong but because John was one of my closest friends and a relatively short amount of time had elapsed since his death.” He had not shared his feelings with anyone. But that call from Lino, a longtime friend of the Powells, carried weight.

Patrick phoned his good friend Phillip Bethancourt, pastor of Central Church in College Station and another good friend of the Powells. Bethancourt said he had been praying about the matter himself for several months and encouraged McGinty to pursue Katherine if he was interested.

“My prayer during this time was, ‘Lord, my yes is on the table if this is what you’re calling me to.’ I’ll need a lot of grace, wisdom, and help, but I’m in.”

McGinty “just happened” to be in College Station a few days later and saw Katherine at a back-to-school party. After the Bethancourts informed him that there was mutual interest on her end, McGinty phoned her for a date.

“One of the things I was able to share with them is that I’m not only excited to spend the rest of my life with their mom, but I’m also excited to spend the rest of my life with each of them.”

patrick mcginty Tweet

Love, trust, and the road ahead

“Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021, was our first date, and it was about the most non-traditional first date you could imagine,” McGinty recalled. “It was basically a three-hour Saturday morning conversation that was very direct.”

Katherine was struck by McGinty’s respectfulness and sensitivity. “I saw the convictional leadership that I was used to. He did not approach our relationship casually. There was tremendous clarity from the beginning for both of us, and that clarity was pointing towards marriage.”

McGinty began visiting College Station as often as possible to spend time with Katherine and the kids, soon moving there. On a Florida vacation with extended family in October 2021, he proposed. They were married that November.

Before he popped the question, McGinty took the kids aside and spoke to them privately, explaining how much he loved their mom and asking their permission and support to propose to her. “One of the things I was able to share with them is that I’m not only excited to spend the rest of my life with their mom, but I’m also excited to spend the rest of my life with each of them,” he said.

Since their marriage, McGinty accepted the call to serve as college pastor at Central. The family has settled into this new season of life and ministry.

To those who said of Patrick upon hearing of the wedding, “He’s going to have a lot to learn,” Katherine replied, “I think he has a lot to offer us.”

The kids agreed. Gunner, the oldest, perhaps summed it up best in a conversation with his mom a few months into the marriage: “I’m not ready to call him Dad because I don’t want people to forget my dad, but he has earned the title. He deserves it.”

“The kids have seen Patrick’s mentality, and how he entered into this role. They already trusted him and loved him because they knew what John thought of him. And now they see Patrick day in and day out loving and serving us,” Katherine added.

And things are sweet as they prepare to celebrate their second Valentine’s Day as a couple and a family.

Revival fires stir again at Asbury

WILMORE, Ky. (BP)—Revival fires may be stirring again at a small college in rural Kentucky near Lexington. Services, filled with preaching, singing and personal testimonies, have been ongoing at Asbury University and Theological Seminary since Feb. 8.

A capacity crowd of 1,500 gather on Friday, Feb. 10, at Hughes Auditorium on the campus of Asbury University to join services that have been ongoing since Feb. 8. (photo submitted by Alex Griffith)

According to university accounts, a similar 144-hour revival broke out at the campus in 1970.

Alexandra Presta, a student at Asbury wrote in The Asbury Collegian, the campus newspaper, on Feb. 8, “Peers, professors, local church leaders and seminary students surround me— all of them praying, worshipping, and praising God together. Voices are ringing out. People are bowing at the altar, arms stretched wide.”

She wrote that in the midweek chapel service campus minister Zach Meerkreebs led an invitation for personal confession and testimonies.

“Wednesday chapel speaker Zach Meerkreebs admitted to those in attendance he didn’t know what the call of confession would look like, but this morning he spoke about seeing God not only as a Father but as a friend. Someone who won’t abandon you. Someone who will be there when you need to cry, mourn, rejoice, dance or anything in between,” she wrote in the Asbury Collegian.

Bill Elliff, founding pastor of The Summit Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas, attended a portion of the services on Feb. 10.

“Within the first hour, I had moved from a spectator to a humble participant,” he wrote in a blog on his website.

“There are wise leaders from the University who are helping shepherd the moment. I’m sure they have learned from the past movements how to steward this best,” he wrote.

Elliff has been a student of prayer and spiritual awakening and has written more than 50 books on the subjects.

“In some ways, it is a worship-based, Spirit-led, Scripture-fed prayer gathering. It is just what we should be doing all the time: waiting before God, worshiping Him, praying to Him, listening to Him, responding to Him, and being shepherded by wise leaders who see themselves merely as facilitators of God’s activity,” Elliff wrote.

Elliff said the 1,500-seat Hughes Auditorium was full on Friday night (Feb. 10). Reports indicated it was overflowing on Saturday night (Feb. 11).

Eric Allen, Kentucky Baptist Convention missions team leader, attended a portion of Saturday’s meeting and reported a similar experience.

“Sherry (Allen’s wife) and I had only been there a few minutes singing music when we were both moved emotionally and in tears because the presence of God was so real in that place. We could feel it,” he told Baptist Press.

“There was genuine praise and worship. Everything pointed to God and was very Christ-centered,” he said.

He said that while there was freedom in the meeting, there was also order.

Revival services at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky have been ongoing since Feb. 8. (photo submitted by Alex Griffith)

“One of the things I noticed was that there was spontaneity and order to what was happening. It wasn’t a stifling or restricting kind of order because there was also a freedom for people to testify, sing or pray and the freedom was never wild or without order,” he said.

Elliff made similar observations.

“It is not weird. Everything is extremely orderly but vibrant, spontaneous, and powerful,” he wrote.

Graci Bradley, an Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) student from Shelbyville, attended the Friday night service.

“Seeing people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and from all different generations, was a glimpse of heaven. It was very encouraging to see that everyone was there for one common goal – to give God glory,” she told Baptist Press.

“He is worthy of it all, and in Him we are united,” she said.

Bradley, an active member of the Baptist Campus Ministry at EKU said in written comments, “What is happening at Asbury is something pleasing to God, as His children are uniting to sing His praise.”

That is a similar theme to the 1970 revival at Asbury, where 2,000 witness teams were sent to 130 colleges to share of their experience. On Saturday afternoon, campus ministers hosted a dinner for college campus student leaders to hear of how they might share in a similar event at their campus.

Kenny Rager, church evangelism strategist at the Kentucky Baptist Convention, attended the service on Saturday night.

“I was encouraged to see the staff shepherding the revival movement,” he told Baptist Press. “They are keeping order, giving instructions, and announcements but still encouraging the freedom of the spirit,” he said.

Rager said there were many testimonies shared while he was there, but there were also sermons.

“I was very encouraged that the preaching of God’s Word is happening. Lots of expressive worship and testimonies but there was also good preaching of the Word by the staff,” he said.

Ella Blacey and Lauren Powell pray during a worship service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky., on Friday, Feb. 10. Revival services have been ongoing since Feb. 8. (photo submitted by Alex Griffith)

He says he understands some people might be skeptical of the events taking place at Asbury.

“I understand why people may be skeptical. I was a little, too. We have seen a lot of movements fizzle out or even drift into heresy,” he said.

“Honestly, time will tell if this bears lasting fruit. But I went. I felt the Lord’s presence. I saw people worship. I saw people praying. I heard the Word preached. I met new brothers and sisters in the Lord and I felt the Lord speak to me about some issues,” he told Baptist Press in written comments.

A hunger for God permeates the people we’ve talked to who have attended.

“People are hungry to see God at work, and I think that’s what draws the crowds. They want to see God do something great in our lives and in our midst,” Allen said.

Bradley added, “…it’s my hope and prayer that it doesn’t stop at Asbury, but that it extends all over – we are called to be sent.”

“I believe these meetings are being driven by a desire to see a fresh outpouring of the spirit,” Rager said. “So many people want to see their churches wake up. Programs, plans, and strategic places can never fill the void of the Holy Spirit,” he said.

Elliff called on other believers to pray for what is happening at Asbury and to pray that God would bring it to their church, campus, and city.

“As I spoke to the hotel receptionist this morning, she told me they were sold out of rooms. ‘We were not prepared for revival,’ she said. May it not be true of us,” he wrote.

SBTC churches’ gift paves way for Mission:Dignity recipients in Texas to receive 13th check

DALLAS—Mission:Dignity recipients in Texas will receive an extra check — a 13th check — in 2023, thanks to efforts from churches affiliated with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

This marks the second consecutive year Mission:Dignity recipients in Texas will receive extra honoraria.

“The SBTC is honored to walk alongside those who have been faithful ministers of the gospel,” said Nathan Lorick, executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. “It is our joy to be able to give a 13th check to all those in Texas who have given so much of their lives for the sake of the gospel. We want each retired pastor and widow in Texas to know they are valued, and this is our way of saying thank you for their service to the Lord.”

In 2022, Mission:Dignity helped more than 2,800 individuals with extra money needed for housing, food and vital medications. It also ensures a well-deserved dignity, independence, and often, the ability to continue serving the Lord. This year, the 295 Texas recipients will receive the extra checks — each equal to a normal monthly honorarium. Texas is home to more Mission:Dignity recipients than any other state.

GuideStone President Hance Dilbeck expressed his personal thanks for the generosity of SBTC churches.

“We are truly thankful for the generosity of the people and churches in Texas,” Dilbeck said. “Providing financial relief and resilience to our pastors is the very heartbeat of GuideStone, and I am thankful Southern Baptists continue to catch that vision every day. We appreciate the diligent efforts of Nathan Lorick and the entire SBTC in these efforts.”

Mission:Dignity expressed its thankfulness for the efforts of SBTC churches.

“Retired ministers, denominational workers, and their widows who served well truly deserve a double honor,” Mission:Dignity Director Aaron Meraz said. “These churches and their members are ensuring that Mission:Dignity recipients across the Lone Star State know they are not forgotten and are well cared for and loved by their larger family of believers.”

For more information on Mission:Dignity, to give, to apply for assistance or to refer someone in need, visit MissionDignity.org.

Churches merge after realizing they can meet each other’s needs, reach their community together

Stronger Together

At a time when many churches are closing as they try to navigate the difficulties of ministering in a post-COVID world, Pastor Philip Levant is seeing God meet the needs of two churches through their willingness to cooperate.

Earlier this year, God put it on Levant’s heart to pray that the bilingual church he pastors, then known as Iglesia Bautista La Vid (The Vine Baptist Church), could have its own building. For almost seven years the church had been meeting at Shady Oaks Baptist Church in Hurst.

In August 2022, during a prayer and connection meeting held among Hispanic pastors from the Tarrant Baptist Association, Levant became aware that Emmanuel Baptist Church in Fort Worth, another bilingual congregation, was without a pastor. While praying for Emmanuel (also known as Templo Bautista Emmanuel), Levant had the idea to inquire about the possibility of his church merging with theirs—simultaneously meeting a need for both. After several meetings and prayer, God moved in a way that allowed the churches to merge.

For Levant, who also serves as a board member for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS), the work God has done thus far in the merger underscores the value of kingdom relationships.

“As a personal testimony, I can say that it is through all these connections and relationships with the Hispanic pastors at Tarrant Baptist Association, with SWBTS, and with the local churches near us that God has allowed this to emerge,” Levant said.

Levant has witnessed since childhood how God uses relationships to bless the body of Christ. He grew up in a Christian home, with his parents being first-generation Christ-followers. His father, Jorge Levant, has been a pastor for more than 40 years—39 of which have been at New Life in Jesus Baptist Church in Laredo.

“God uses relationships to bless us. ... So, we need to invest in them to receive God’s blessings."

philip levant Tweet

Levant trusted Christ at age five after his father shared the gospel with him. He developed his talent in music in the church and, after completing graduate studies in music, God called him to pastoral ministry. So he returned to SWBTS, accompanied by his wife, Patricia, and their seven children, to pursue God’s call.

The first united worship service for the churches was Sunday, Jan. 8. During the service, congregants celebrated with songs of exaltation to God and recognized several faithful servants. In addition, a call was made to the congregation to serve and grow together through various discipleship classes. Levant delivered a message based on Psalm 37:5-6 titled, “God will deliver.” Following that first service, they decided to rename their new gathering Agape Church.

Agape Church is in a predominantly Hispanic area. The church will celebrate an official “launch” on Easter, with an invitation for the entire community to attend. “We want to go house to house to invite them to come and see what God is doing,” Levant said. In addition, the church plans to hold a Vacation Bible School for children and adults.

“God uses relationships to bless us,” Levant said. “He can open the heavens and cause manna to fall from heaven, but the normal way He works in our lives is through other people and the relationships we have. So, we need to invest in them to receive God’s blessings.”

Junction’s First Baptist sees fruit after Bible teaching, evangelism take center stage

Spread the Word

At Katy’s First Baptist Church one Sunday nearly a decade ago, retail executive Steve Myers listened closely as the pastor chased a “rabbit trail” that caught his attention.

Specifically, the pastor said there were not enough conservative, godly men coming out of seminary.

With four kids who either had graduated from high school or were about to graduate, Myers went back to school himself—earning a Master of Theology degree online through Liberty University while continuing to work 60-70 hours per week in retail management.

He became more active in church, leading mission trips to Alaska and Cuba in addition to continuing to teach Sunday school. After he completed his degree from Liberty, he began sending out resumes to churches.

“I wasn’t willing to surrender it all to the Lord,” Myers said. Eventually, he experienced what he calls his Isaiah 6 moment: “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” He and his wife, Lisa, became determined to go wherever the Lord wanted.

Junction’s First Baptist called him in 2019. Initially, Myers didn’t know where the Kimble County town was. He soon learned Junction is just southeast of San Angelo, west of Austin, and 52 miles from the nearest Walmart.

A long shadow
Junction’s First Baptist has a storied history, with Sam Coffey serving as pastor from 1969 to 1994. “Pastor Coffey cast a long shadow,” Myers said of the beloved preacher who was a stalwart of the community.

A series of pastors filled the pulpit following Coffey’s retirement. By 2019, when Myers was called, attendance had dwindled substantially from the 300-plus who packed the sanctuary in Coffey’s day. Acknowledging that he came to the church with little experience, Myers said he often tells members, “When I make a mistake, it’s me trying. When we experience success, it’s the Lord blessing us.”

Lately, the Lord has been blessing big time.

“We are creating a culture of evangelism within the DNA of [our] church.”

Steve Myers Tweet

COVID pause allows reflection
Attendance climbed at a 15% growth rate from 2019-2020 as Junction’s First averaged 120 in worship. Then COVID-19 hit and things shut down.

“COVID shook the chaff out of the building,” Myers said. The pandemic gave the church time to “think about what we were doing and why,” he added. Church programs and traditions were evaluated. “We were really doing a lot of things for tradition’s sake, and not doing a lot of things for tradition’s sake.”

With attendance about two-thirds of pre-COVID levels, staff and members were receptive to change. Part of the soul-searching involved analyzing the church’s evangelistic efforts.

The transformation started with the youth department. Ryan Jewert joined the staff as a full-time youth pastor. Wednesday night youth group had been more of a place to hang out, play basketball, and hear a motivational message. Myers felt more consistent gospel teaching was needed.

“We need to teach Scripture to these kids,” Myers told Jewert. “We need to teach them the Bible. They need to know the Lord.”

Jewert changed the format from sports and fellowship to Bible study. Some dropped out, but attendance slowly grew to 40-50 students, a number the church has maintained, Myers said.

At Highland Lakes summer camp in 2021, 15 prayed to receive Christ.

Myers credits Jewert with preparing the students for camp. Church staff and volunteers started focusing on evangelism with the students and they began bringing more friends to church.

At camp last summer, another 14 students committed their lives to Christ, surprising even Myers and Jewert.

“It’s so overwhelming, it’s beautiful,” Myers said.

Those saved at camp the past two years were baptized at the church at the end of each summer. The church celebrated. Adults came forward, too. This past summer, 16 were baptized (including the youth).

Witness spreads
Myers is seeing similar passion growing among adults.

Kevin, a youngster baptized in 2021, returned home from camp and “began to live as a Christian,” Myers said. “He stayed very faithful.” Four months ago, Kevin’s father, Justin, who had recently been released from the hospital for a variety of health issues related to substance abuse, approached the church for assistance.

“I need in my life what my son has,” Justin told Myers.

“Let me tell you what your son has,” Myers said. “He has Jesus.”

Justin soon brought the entire family to church. That Sunday, following Myers’ invitation, he came forward to profess faith in Christ.

Myers is convinced it is essential to explain the gospel and give an invitation at every service. But it takes more than preaching evangelism from the pulpit.

While leading a community outreach at the local farmers market, Myers realized that many in the congregation felt uncomfortable sharing the gospel.

“We want to reach lost people for the Lord, but we don’t know how,” one member said.

Using materials provided by Southwestern Seminary evangelism professor Matt Queen, Myers led a six-week video-based evangelism training program in Sunday school early in the fall of 2022.

Joanie Helton, a church member who volunteers in children’s ministry, spoke positively of the evangelism training—including discussions and opportunities to practice in class.

She has shared the gospel with students—many from unchurched homes—who attend Wednesday nights. She often takes an incremental approach, building their understanding of who Jesus is.

“People get scared off by the words ‘evangelism training,’” Helton said. “It’s beneficial to be reminded of the important parts of the gospel and how to present it so others can understand.” She credited the training with helping her turn conversations toward spiritual matters.

“We have work to do,” Myers said. “Our numbers are not yet as high as they were pre-COVID, but our hearts are more inclined to doing what the Scripture tells us to do: share Jesus. We are creating a culture of evangelism within the DNA of [our] church.”

Churches, SBTC DR assist Austin area in aftermath of February ice storm

AUSTIN—The Texas-sized winter storm that pummeled the Lone Star State during the final days of January and the beginning of February caused freeways to become massively snarled in Dallas. Central Texas and East Texas were not spared, either, prompting Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief to quickly deploy recovery teams to affected regions.

In the Austin area, First Baptist Church of Pflugerville suffered minor damage from falling tree limbs weighed down by ice. Church members began clearing debris by Feb. 2, said SBTC DR task force member Mike Northen, a retired FBC Pflugerville pastor. Northen said that as of late Friday, Feb. 3, his neighborhood in Pflugerville was still without power as Oncor repair crews worked diligently to remedy the situation.

“There was ice all over the city,” said Chris Gary, children’s and administrative pastor at FBC Pflugerville.

A dozen men from the church cleared fallen limbs from the parking lot and assisted residents around the church, including an elderly couple just across the street. The woman had feared that her husband, who suffers from a heart condition, would become ill if he tried to do the work, so the couple contacted FBC Pflugerville to get the phone number of the “professional tree people” who were working at the church. After Gary’s assistant explained the matter, church volunteers used pole saws and chainsaws to cut up and remove two large trees that blocked the couple’s driveway and garage.

“As things have thawed out, the situation is getting bigger,” said Scottie Stice, SBTC DR director, noting that reports of damage had come from Dripping Springs, Austin, Georgetown, and Pflugerville. “We are starting to hear reports of needs in Tyler and Athens [in East Texas], too,” he said. “The ice has done considerable damage to power lines and trees.”

An SBTC DR recovery and chainsaw team from First Baptist Bellville, led by Mike Phillips, will arrive in the Pflugerville area on Monday, Feb. 6, Stice confirmed, adding that the deployment could grow as the situation progresses.

Chaplains and assessors will deploy to affected areas once teams receive addresses of homes with damage. Other ministry areas will respond as the deployment expands, Stice said.

‘Bikes & Bibles’ giveaway is leading many to Christ in North Texas town

On a Roll

Nearly a decade ago, a group of men from First Baptist Church of Celina went through a discipleship program together. As the two-year program came to an end, participants were challenged to dream up a servant leadership project that would allow them to touch the lives of others in Jesus’ name.

The idea that grew out of that meeting is not only touching lives, but eternity.
This past December, FBC Celina (in partnership with the Dallas-Fort Worth-based ministry called Grace Bridge) hosted what has become an annual event known as Bikes and Bibles. The name almost says it all—bicycles and Bibles are distributed to area families in need. This year, 118 bikes were distributed to children, and Bibles were handed out to their families.

Oh, and 15 people made a first-time decision to trust Jesus and their Lord and Savior. Is there a greater Christmas gift?

“One of the things we always want to do is share the gospel,” said FBC Celina pastor Kevin Lykins, who was a member of the discipleship group. Deacon Pat Hunn, also in the group, had the initial idea to hand out bicycles as part of the servant leadership project, while Lykins pitched in the idea to also give out Bibles.

Grace Bridge—which has extensive experience in the distribution of goods ranging from food to disaster relief supplies—handles a portion of the administrative load. Its president and CEO, Carter Morris, came to the table with a lengthy database of area families in need, as well as contacts with a large corporation that offers bicycles for purchase to the church at a deep discount. For his part, Lykins has contacts with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which provides the Bibles.

“It’s a lot of moving parts for the body of Christ here, but it has become something our whole church takes part in.”

Kevin Lykins Tweet

“[Grace Bridge] knows how to organize and facilitate things like this very efficiently,” Lykins said, “but over the eight years of doing this, we’ve gotten a lot better and a lot more efficient.”

Said Morris, noting that people come to Christ almost every year through the giveaway: “This story is just a total God story. … We do this because Jesus loved us first. He is the greatest gift anyone could ever get for Christmas. We want to love these families well, but we want to let them know why we love their families well.”

Bikes and Bibles has become an all-hands-on-deck undertaking at FBC Celina. One group of church members is needed to set up the church gym for the massive distribution, an effort that includes labeling the bikes and Bibles for the incoming families. A team of men works to tighten bolts and check hardware on each bike as it comes off the truck, making sure each one is safe for the children to ride. Yet another group prepares refreshments for the families and facilitates a Christmas cartoon that is played in the church sanctuary while families wait.

The church is not only putting its muscle behind the effort, but its money. Bikes and Bibles was initially made possible through fundraising efforts on the part of church members. Today, it’s anchored into the church budget.

“It’s become such a big part of our church, our church’s ministry,” Lykins said. “It’s a lot of moving parts for the body of Christ here, but it has become something our whole church takes part in.”

Farmersville student pastor carries on church tradition of letting teens put the gospel to work

When Cameron Crow preached in view of a call as student pastor at First Baptist Church of Farmersville last November, he gave a gospel invitation, as is his habit.

A couple of female students came forward in response, bringing their friend who was interested in being baptized. Crow sat with the girls for a minute, even while a crowd of people lined up to greet their newly elected staff member. He asked the girl about her salvation and she said she wasn’t saved. So the crowd waited as Crow explained God’s plan of salvation to her.

Afterward, she shared that she wanted to give her life to Christ. At that point, he spoke to the friends who brought her forward.

“I looked at her two friends and said, ‘Which one of y’all is confident to [help her]?’ And they both said [they were], so I walked away and they led her to Christ,” he said. “My most favorite thing is watching students lead their friends to Christ. Me leading a student to Christ is addition, but students leading their friends to Christ is multiplication, and that’s how we’re going to see this generation reach their friends.”

The student ministry in Farmersville makes evangelism an integral part of its events. Students do the normal calendar of retreats, camps, fun activities, and weekly discipleship. Several students professed Christ during camp last summer, before Crow came to the church, and those students are being discipled and some are ready to be baptized. Their weekly discipleship meeting, called Having A Vision Of Christ (HAVOC), also includes a time for students to respond to the gospel.

“Students who are walking with Christ benefit from connections with fellow church members of all ages.”

Cameron Crow Tweet

“I’m a firm believer of always presenting the gospel … I don’t know how to preach without giving an altar call,” he said. “And so, when you’re in soil that’s been prepped and prepared and ready, it makes it easy to just present the gospel and then watch our leaders respond to those students, watch our students respond to each other, and see new brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Crow is determined to integrate evangelism naturally into all that his youth group does together. Students riding in Crow’s car to visit homebound members share with each other how they became Christians. Those who visit the weekly HAVOC event share their stories, including whether they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

“If they say, ‘No,’ or, ‘I have questions,’ then we immediately stop. God did not bring them in that door so they could play a fun game or hear a Bible study. If they don’t know Jesus, we’re failing. That could be the only time they hear the gospel and have a chance to respond. It’s hard to build a student ministry that is attacking hell with a water pistol if we’re not giving students a chance to respond.”

Students who are walking with Christ benefit from connections with fellow church members of all ages. The music program of the church, for example, includes a family choir as well as a student ministry music program led by the church’s music minister. Crow’s team of student ministry volunteers includes those of various ages, some who’ve served 12 years or more.

“Discipleship is finding someone who is further down the road than you in your spiritual walk and having them come along, or you coming alongside them,” he said. “My age range of leaders is up and down the board. It’s not just parents of students, it’s not just grandparents of students, it’s different people all through the church. We need five people within the church speaking into every student’s life.”

Crow came to Farmersville from Austin and has been excited to find a well-developed and healthy student ministry. His predecessor, Tracy Odneal, served in the position for 25 years. Odneal now serves as First Baptist’s connections pastor, a new staff slot for the church. Crow is the third student pastor at First Baptist in the past 42 years. That kind of stability in student ministry is remarkable when an average student ministry tenure is closer to three years.

“Tracy Odneal has done an incredible job. One thing he’s done is create a youth ministry that thrives without him,” he said. “He was the leader, but on Sunday mornings, he has this incredible group of teachers who gave him a chance, and now gives me a chance, to have that relational ministry with students.”

After working with students in large and small towns throughout his ministry, Crow sees promise in the rising generations, even as they face the challenges of their own context, including those that remain from a long COVID-19 disruption.

“Coming out of COVID,” he observed, “students, when I sit down and talk to them, they sound and feel physically and spiritually mature, but the ways they respond to things aren’t spiritually mature. So it’s almost like we’ve taken a step back a little bit in our spiritual maturity because of that isolation.

“But you’re not going to see them being fake,” he added. “They’re going to be just blunt and honest. But when you get down to the core, they just want to understand their purpose, that they have purpose, and that God cares about their lives.”

What’s your story? He’s the God of the mountaintops and the valleys

Both our daughters were in intensive care for over 100 days after their births. But it was our first daughter who needed a miracle.

Alanna was born just about the time of the COVID lockdown, March 2020. She was about seven weeks premature, but the doctors thought everything was looking good. She was healthy and we were excited.
About three days after she was born, we got called down to the ICU and the doctor told us he heard something in her heart. He called it a heart murmur. It basically was making a noise that it wasn’t supposed to make. He said in all his years of working as a doctor, he’s only seen it three times. Our Alanna had a rare congenital heart defect that caused a vein in her heart to pump blood to the wrong spot. We noticed that her skin color was almost a bluish tint—she just wasn’t getting the oxygen she needed.

The doctor told us we had to transfer her to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, so we used an emergency transport from Arlington. This was the third day after we knew she was ill.

As you can imagine, my wife, Jamille, and I were just praying. We were so fearful. And Jamille actually wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital because her blood pressure was high because of the shock of the event, I guess. So it was just me. I ended up following the ambulance to Cook Children’s.

I remember following the ambulance and, like any other father would do, just saying a prayer and asking God to heal her. After getting to Cook, I didn’t hear anything for about an hour. And then a nurse stepped out and said, “We got her stable, but she almost didn’t survive the car ride because of the transportation and the stress on her body.”

Fast forward a few days later. My wife is out of the hospital and we’re both able to go to Cook Children’s. They explained that Alanna’s situation was so severe, she’s going to need open-heart surgery. Because she is premature, they wanted to wait three months before doing the surgery.

"It’s easy to remember that God walks with us on the mountaintops, but now I know He walks with us in the valley."

Angelo Tolentino Tweet

Nearly every day we were at the hospital. Jamille and I took a break from our jobs—she’s a nurse and I worked for an insurance company. COVID restrictions had kicked in by this time and only one of us could be in the hospital at a time, so we switched off. Jamille usually stayed during the nights while I slept in the car. It was pretty difficult for us.

We did that for three months. Alanna made progress and was just growing as we prepared for the heart surgery. And then, three months later, she was big enough for the doctor to feel comfortable doing the surgery. The surgeon sat us down and explained the risks.

All along, we’re just praying, hoping, believing that God would heal her. And she was healed, through an hours-long surgery. The surgeon said there weren’t really any major complications with the surgery itself, but that she would need routine heart checkups as she continues to grow. She’s doing well now.

I think the big question for us was, “Why?” But looking back, one of the lessons we learned is we can’t confuse God’s silence as absence. All the way through that whole process, He was with us, talking with us, providing for us, carrying us, giving us support. There are so many things that I can look back on and can see how God was with us the whole way. We’re just really grateful. And now we have an awesome story to share about our daughter and her life. It’s turned out to be a blessing.

Our church is called Mosaic Fellowship Church. We’re in Arlington. My father founded Mosaic in 2007 and pastored it until he passed away in 2018. I have been the pastor for about four years this month. God has surrounded us with great people. Our church supported us with love, prayers, and even finances. They supported us while we were staying with Alanna.

There is one story where, about two months in, we were just blowing through our savings because neither of us was working. I was thinking I should probably go back to work, but I didn’t want to because Alanna still needed the surgery. I remember going to our mailbox and finding a check for two months of expenses for us. We received this check at just the right time we needed it. It allowed us to stay at the hospital and make sure she was all set before we went back to work.
So what’s my story? It’s easy to remember that God walks with us on the mountaintops, but now I know He walks with us in the valley.

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First post-Roe March for Life marked by ‘celebration and resolve’

WASHINGTON (BP)—Thousands of pro-life Americans gathered Friday, Jan. 20, for the 50th annual March for Life to rejoice in a long-sought victory and to restate their commitment to protect preborn children and care for their mothers.

Initiated in 1974, the latest March for Life was the first to be held since the U.S. Supreme Court overruled in June of last year the Roe v. Wade decision. That 1973 ruling legalized abortion nationwide, ultimately resulting in the deaths of more than 60 million preborn children, and prompted the launch of the pro-life march a year later. The high court’s June ruling returned abortion regulation to the states.

Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), and other staff members participated in the march and the rally that preceded it on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

“This year’s March for Life is one of both celebration and resolve,” Leatherwood said in written comments for Baptist Press. “It is an extraordinary reality that at what we thought would be the 50-year mark of the disastrous Roe decision, we are gathered here today in a post-Roe world.

“It is right and good to take a moment to celebrate that our nation has taken this first step towards protecting life,” he said. “But we know that more work remains.

“We will press on towards a day when both mothers and their children are fully valued as image-bearers of God. We are committed to establishing a true culture of life by developing innovative solutions and policies that actually serve mothers and help families flourish, and we will march until abortion is no more.”

The march came two days before Sanctity of Human Life Sunday and the actual date of the Roe opinion, Jan. 22. It was the 38th year for the observance on the SBC calendar, one many Southern Baptist churches commemorate.

In celebrating Roe’s reversal, March for Life President Jeanne Mancini expressed gratitude at Friday’s rally to the marchers and to longtime pro-life advocates, including the late Nellie Gray, the march’s founder. After Roe was reversed, the March for Life staff was often asked if the event would continue, Mancini said.

“[W]hile the march began as a response to Roe, we don’t end as a response to Roe being overturned,” said Mancini, March for Life’s president. “Why? Because we’re not yet done.

“While this year marks our most significant victory, the human rights abuse of abortion is far from over” she said. “We will continue to march until the human rights abuse of abortion is a thing of the past. We will march until abortion is unthinkable.“

The theme of this year’s march was “Next Steps: Marching Into a Post-Roe America.” Speakers addressed the future efforts of the pro-life movement, including through legislation, adoption and maternity homes.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, whose defense of the state’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks’ gestation led to Roe’s reversal, rejoiced in the Supreme Court decision and said, “But this is not the end of our journey.

“Until we can give women when they are most vulnerable what they need and what their children need to thrive, and until we can make changes in our laws that reflect our compassion for all life and until we can change hearts and minds in our fellow Americans, until then, life remains fragile and the embrace of human dignity remains aspirational,” she said at the rally.

Standing with other members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said he attended the first March for Life as the leader of a college pro-life organization.

“Countless times we chanted the slogan, ‘Hey, hey, ho, ho, Roe versus Wade has got to go,’ and today we celebrate—Roe is gone,” he told the crowd.

“The United States and the world must recognize the breathtaking miracle of the newly created life of an unborn child and that women deserve better than abortion,” Smith said. “We need to care for them both.”

The House is expected to vote soon on his legislation, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, Smith said. The legislation would bar federal funding of abortion.

The March for Life changed its route this year in acknowledgement of the post-Roe, political reality. Instead of marching straight to the Supreme Court building, participants passed the Capitol on the House side on the way in recognizing Congress’ important role of regulating abortion at the federal level.

Rep. Trenee’ McGee—an African-American Democrat in the Connecticut legislature—commended black pro-life women and said of what she described as the “systematically racist abortion industry:”

“You’ve mocked impoverished communities all while putting clinics in them. You’ve told me I can’t be black and pro-life because black women need abortion more than anyone.”

Former National Football League coach Tony Dungy and his wife Lauren encouraged the crowd to continue in the pro-life cause. The Dungys have 11 children, eight by adoption.

As an adoptive mother, Lauren Dungy said she is “so grateful for these birth moms who chose life rather than abortion. They’ll never know what a blessing it is to have these children in our life.”

In the post-Roe era, “we have to pray that we will have enough adoptive families to care for these precious lives,” she said.

Jonathan Roumie, the actor who portrays Jesus in the television series “The Chosen,” said at the rally, “History has been made. Life has triumphed in a miraculous way.”

After reading from Psalm 139 about David’s testimony of God’s sovereign care for him in the womb, Roumie said, “Having lived under a grim cloud of darkness for the last 50 years, the world has once again been given a glimmer of hope. And I pray that with this recent step in protecting life, despite the grievous nature of what we’ve allowed, that God might still look upon us in His infinite mercy and see the hearts of those of us here in support of life today and say to us in this hour, ‘It is good.’ And it is good, but it is far from finished.”

In the closing prayer, evangelist and Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham prayed “for the millions of women who feel that they have no hope, that they’re condemned because they had an abortion. Father, my prayer is for these millions of women that they will come to know that You love them and care for them and that You will forgive them of their sin if they would repent and believe on the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.”

March for Life intends to expand the number of marches in states, Mancini told the crowd. Marches will be held in 10 states this year, and the plan is to hold marches in all 50 states in the next five to seven years, she said.