Month: September 2024

In their prayer orbit: SBTC church stays in touch with members aboard the ISS

PASADENA (BP)—Providence Baptist Church has an elder making a mockery of the term “remote work.” Over the last several months Barry Wilmore has proven that long distances shouldn’t keep one from being an active church member.

And we’re talking looooong distances. About 250 miles above your head.

To most of the world Wilmore is known as Butch, his Navy pilot call sign while flying A-7Es and F/A-18s from aircraft carriers. On June 5 he and fellow astronaut Suni Williams launched to the International Space Station aboard the Boeing Starliner. However, issues with the spacecraft’s thrusters have left the two stranded at the ISS until February.

NASA announced on Aug. 30 that Starliner would return, unmanned, on Sept. 6.

Wilmore and Williams will continue to work informally as part of the crew scheduled to return in February. In the meantime, Wilmore has reunited with fellow Providence Church member Tracy Dyson, flight engineer for Expedition 71 who has been at the ISS since April and is set to return this month.

Wilmore has been a member of Providence for 17 years, said Pastor Tommy Dahn; Dyson and her husband George, a military chaplain, joined about a year-and-a-half ago. Much of her time since then has been spent training for her current mission, but she has stayed active any way she can, including spending a church workday leading in updating the building’s wiring.

As someone who has designed, constructed and implemented electronics and hardware for the purpose of withstanding the unforgiving, impenetrable vacuum of space, it would stand to say she was qualified.

“Tracy has spent a lot of her time in Russia training to go up in the Soyuz,” said Dahn, “so we’re still getting to know her. Her dad owned an electrical company. She came in on the workday and said our wiring was in bad shape and needed to be fixed.”

Connectivity with their church home has remained. While Dyson still has her mission responsibilities, Wilmore’s unexpected stay has placed him in the role of an extra hand available to assist in areas like deferred maintenance on the ISS. And even though he may have some more downtime, twiddling thumbs is not in his nature.

“Barry doesn’t waste a minute,” Dahn said. “He’s a minister extraordinaire, a worker who cares about people and the elderly.”

Providence averages 265 in worship, so it’s crucial to have volunteers pitching in on different ministry responsibilities. It’s just a little unusual for them to do so from space.

That includes calls from the ISS to shut-ins, like the one Wilmore made to Dahn’s mother-in-law on her 93^rd birthday. After learning his stay at the ISS would be longer than expected, he signed up for the church’s newsletter. He livestreams the service and on the second Sunday at the ISS even delivered a short devotion and sang “Amazing Grace” alongside the rest of those aboard the space station.

“We had a true international choir that Sunday,” Dahn said.

Another time, Wilmore recorded a devotion for Providence’s Sunday prayer service. With a view of the world behind him as he stood in the Cupola of the ISS, it was a backdrop that literally no pastor on earth can replicate.

Dahn and church members help Wilmore’s family while he’s away. For his wife and their two daughters, though, it’s not something they aren’t used to.

“Ever since he and Deanna have been married, he was either deployed on aircraft carriers for the Navy or an astronaut,” Dahn said. “The least five years he’s been training here for the Boeing flight, but they’re accustomed to him being gone.

“Deanna is an integral part of the church and very involved in the women’s ministry and scheduling our nursery volunteers. That’s a big job and she takes care of it. We pray for them on corporate prayer nights and make sure his girls – one is in college and the other a high school senior – are doing well. When Hurricane Beryl came through I helped Deanna find a roofer for some minor damage.”

Dahn expects Wilmore to hit the ground running the first Sunday he’s back in church.

“He’s a very zealous evangelist and defender of the faith,” he said. “He’s been to the Philippines, where they love anything about space, and into Ecuador. He goes into rough prisons in Central America and has traveled along the Amazon River to share the Gospel.

“I emailed him, and Barry told me he hasn’t learned anything new about God from being in space. It has only affirmed what he already believed. God’s Word is sufficient.”

Líderes hispanos bautistas unidos en Greenville, Carolina del Sur

“Juntos somos más, juntos hacemos más”, dijo Tony Wolfe a los hispanos reunidos en la Iglesia Bautista Edward Road en Greenville, Carolina del Sur, durante su primera conferencia anual “Ministrando en la cultura de hoy”.

Mientras se reunían para recibir capacitación, oración, compañerismo y predicación de la palabra, el pastor principal de la iglesia, Evan McFarland dio la bienvenida a los líderes hispanos y sus esposas los cuales representaban a más de 50 iglesias.

“Juntos y unidos, resolveremos juntos los desacuerdo, protegeremos a las iglesias contra la falsa doctrina; ordenaremos nuestra fe y rebosaremos de gratitud; señalaremos a las personas el verdadero evangelio que los hará libres, y nos satisfacérsenos en la plenitud de Cristo nuestro Rey”, dijo Wolfe.

Como Director Ejecutivo y Tesorero de la Convención Bautista de Carolina del Sur, el Dr. Wolfe se dirigió a los asistentes en una forma bilingüe, leyó Colosenses 2:1-10 en español y alentó a los líderes hispanos a no perder, “Todos los tesoros” porque pueden ser de gran beneficio al estar juntos como un solo cuerpo en Cristo.

“Cuando nos dividimos perdemos algo especial, todos los tesoros, porque existen algunas verdades sobre Dios que sólo podemos descubrir si las descubrimos juntos”, dijo Wolfe.

“Reforzando nuestra identidad como los bautistas de Carolina del Sur, como una familia, con una misión, y a través de un esfuerzo cooperativo, espero que esta conferencia los incite a sentirse que esto es cierto”, dijo Wolfe. “Nosotros juntos somos bautistas de Carolina del Sur y cuando yo digo nosotros, me refiero también a ustedes. Y quizás, cuando usted diga, los bautista de Carolina del Sur, se refiriera a todos nosotros juntos”.

“Somos una familia y a través de este esfuerzo cooperativo, debido a sus donaciones, a su asociaciones locales, y a través del Programa Cooperativo, todos juntos, estamos enviando misioneros, plantando iglesias, levantando y capacitando líderes, y ministrando a las comunidades, en toda Carolina del Sur y en todo el mundo. Estamos haciendo más porque estamos haciendo todo esto, “Juntos”, agregó Wolfe.

Entendiendo la diversa comunidad hispana que los bautistas del sur están tratando de alcanzar, Bruno Molina, Director Ejecutivo de la Red Bautista Hispana, preguntó a los líderes: “¿Dónde está el fruto de nuestra unidad?

“Les insto a mantener la unidad de espíritu en el vínculo de la paz para que el mundo perdido vea nuestras buenas obras, glorifique a Dios, desee reconciliarse con Él y se una a las comunidades transformadoras de nuestras congregaciones”, dijo Molina.

Molina, quien ofreció entrenamientos sobre cómo alcanzar a la comunidad LBGT para Cristo, contrastó el cristianismo con el relativismo y una ofreció una Perspectiva bíblica sobre el evangelio de la prosperidad, predicó el sábado basándose en Hechos 2:41-47. El fomentó la unidad centrándose en cómo los apóstoles vivían la misma doctrina, vivían en comunión, tenían compañerismo y oraban juntos.

Molina también concluyó el evento con un concierto de oración el viernes y el sábado con un llamado donde los pastores y líderes oraron juntos y se comprometieron a colaborar entre ellos, la asociación, la convención estatal, y la Red Nacional Bautista hispana, para alcanzar juntos hispanos con el evangelio.

Wolfe y Molina también participaron en un panel de discusión donde los líderes bautistas pudieron hacer preguntas sobre temas actuales de la vida bautista, sobre los planes de la convención bautista de Carolina del Sur hacia los hispanos y cuestiones teológicas en la cultura actual.

Al Phillips, Director de Misiones y Estratega de Revitalización de Iglesias Existentes de la Asociación Bautista de Greenville, animó a los líderes a concentrarse en construir un buen nombre para Dios, dejando atrás un buen testimonio, un legado piadoso, no solo un título, y a ser intencionales al respecto. Como servidores humildes, “rieguen su testimonio con oración y cultiven un buen nombre”, dijo Phillips.

“También quiero agradecer a otros miembros de la Convención Bautista de Carolina del Sur y la Asociación Bautista de Greenville por su apoyo al ayudarnos a reunir a 50 iglesias para esta conferencia”, dijo Arnaldo Silva. El es el Estratega de alcance al pueblo hispano de la Asociación Bautista de Greenville y quien organizó el evento porque vio la necesidad de la comunidad pastoral en su área.

“Para mi esposa Shellie y para mí, fue maravilloso ver a líderes como Dr. Tony Wolfe, Dr. Bruno Molina y Dr. Al Phillips tomarse amablemente su tiempo para venir y servir a nuestra comunidad hispana de líderes en Carolina del Sur”, dijo Silva.

“Ken Owens, líder del equipo de SEND, Tim Rice, director de Asociación Misionera, y Bryan Saxon fueron de gran apoyo para en la preparación y ejecución de esta conferencia, así como Joel Thrasher, estratega de Reproducción de Nuevas Iglesias, y también Anna Richardson. Dios los usó para ministrarnos al igual que la hermana María y las damas que sirvieron la comida durante la conferencia”, agregó Silva.

Las esposas de pastores y mujeres líderes recibieron capacitación brindada por la Dr. Clara Molina, sobre la importancia de enseñar una sana doctrina, cómo navegar sus vidas como esposa de pastor y cómo permanecer conectadas mientras sirven juntas al Señor.

La conferencia también incluyó a los líderes del taller: Dr. Adán Delgado pastor de la Iglesia Betania y Director del Instituto Bíblico de Greenville, Mario Menterroza quien vino de El Salvador, y el Pastor Víctor Rodríguez de la Iglesia Park en Rocky Hill y Coordinador de las iglesias hispanas de la Red Pillar.

FBC Rockwall’s Criner named SBC Pastors’ Conference VP

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (BP)—Texas pastor Michael Criner has been named vice president of the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference, June 8-9, in Dallas.

D.J. Horton, Pastors’ Conference president and senior pastor of Church at The Mill in Spartanburg, S.C., announced Criner’s selection in a Sept. 9 press release, noting that Criner’s leadership will be a tremendous asset to the conference.

Criner, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Rockwall, has more than 25 years of ministry experience, serving in various ministry roles from children and youth ministry to leading multiple congregations as a senior pastor.

Historically, First Baptist Rockwall forwards roughly 18 percent of its undesignated receipts through the Cooperative Program.

The congregation is also engaged in missions work with the International Mission Board and with the North American Mission Board’s church planting initiatives across Texas.

Criner has held various roles in broader SBC life, most recently as chairman of the Committee on Nominations in 2023. He also served on the SBC Committee on Committees in 2019.

In the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Criner has served as chairman of its Committee on Order of Business and as a member of its Sexual Abuse Advisory Committee.

“In his leadership, Criner is known for his strategic and collaborative approach, emphasizing the importance of trust and teamwork in advancing the mission of the church,” Horton said in the release. “He is deeply passionate about seeing others come to know Jesus, grow in their faith, and serve in the life of the church and beyond. His vision for ministry is centered around creating pathways for people to hear the Gospel, mature in their faith, and become active participants in sharing the gospel with the world.”

Raised in Texas, Criner became a follower of Jesus at age 7, and his spiritual foundation was built through the influence of his grandfather, Ed Hecht, who led him to Christ and discipled him during his early years. He answered the call to vocational ministry at age 12.

He and his wife Abigail, a musician and worship leader, have three children.

The theme of the 2025 SBC Pastors’ Conference is “Worth Following” from 2 Timothy, where Paul describes God’s plan for a pattern for pastors’ lives that is worth following.

Just keep planting

One of my favorite features in each issue of the Texan is our monthly “Jesus Is Writing My Story” article. This article highlights the personal testimonies of faithful brothers and sisters in our Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches who have learned a lesson about walking with God that they graciously agree to share with our readers.

I must admit, I’m a little biased about this month’s article featuring Nancy Simon. When I was a middle schooler growing up in East Texas, Nancy and her husband, Brian, played a huge part in my spiritual development. Brian was the youth pastor at a small rural church, and I was a kid looking for something to do and, let’s be honest, a girlfriend. Surely I could find one or both at the Baptist church down the street.

But as I got more involved in the youth group, God began to use Brian and Nancy to turn my attention to matters of faith as much as fun and games. They would invite me and other kids from the youth group over to their house to watch movies, or Brian would ask me to ride along with him as he picked up and then dropped off kids in the church van. We had lots of conversations in that van—some of them silly, many of them spiritual.

Ultimately, I strayed away from the church as high school approached. It wasn’t until after high school that all those spiritual conversations took root and, in my 20s, I gave my life to Christ. I’ve often wondered how—or if—that would have happened without Brian and Nancy planting seeds in me that took a long time to grow.

God calls us to be seed-planters. Scripture is clear that only He can draw people to salvation. It’s equally as clear that His followers have a role to play, as well:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6).

"To you who have planted and watered until it hurts, who have tilled and turned with not even the hint of a sprout to celebrate ... just keep planting. God is absolutely at work, and you never know what He is going to do."

Jayson Larson Tweet

There are at least a couple of challenging things about planting seeds: it requires us to get our hands dirty, and once we’ve planted and watered, the final result is ultimately not up to us. Oh, that there were a Miracle-Gro for growing disciples of Christ! But there isn’t. All we can do is offer our emotions, invest our time, and wait to see what God will do with the ones to which we minister.

That’s often a deal-breaker for those of us raised in a results-driven, have it your way and have it now culture. We demand immediate outcomes. We want to know that whatever we’ve invested in will take root and become fruitful. The reality is, sometimes seeds don’t grow as fast as we’d hoped. Sometimes they don’t grow at all.

And yet our calling is the same.

I’m so grateful for people like Brian and Nancy who invested in me even when it may have appeared I was as clueless as a question mark. Though I claim to be nothing great today, I am saved, secured, and striving to pour out my life for Jesus.

To you who have planted and watered until it hurts, who have tilled and turned with not even the hint of a sprout to celebrate … just keep planting. God is absolutely at work, and you never know what He is going to do.

‘Advancing the mission together’: Churches top Reach Texas challenge goal, set another record

GRAPEVINE—Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches are making a strong statement when it comes to the Reach Texas State Missions Offering: advancing the mission matters.

SBTC churches gave $1,752,383 to Reach Texas this past year—the most collected in a single year in its history. The offering period covers September 2023 to August 2024.

Last year, a record $1,673,560 was given by SBTC churches, topping the $1.6 million challenge goal that was set prior to the offering. Reach Texas has now received record giving in three of the past four years. The goal for the current campaign is $2 million.

SBTC Executive Director Nathan Lorick thanked churches for “advancing the mission together” and expressed gratitude for the record offering.

“We are excited about churches partnering together to see the gospel advance across Texas,” Lorick said. “We remain committed to church planting, missions, and evangelism as a top priority in practice and in principle.”

Reach Texas funds a variety of gospel-fueled efforts, including church planting, disaster relief, missions mobilization, and the SBTC’s annual Empower Conference. The need for evangelism is as urgent as ever, with 19 million of the state’s 30 million residents estimated to be lost.

For more information or to order promotional materials, visit sbtexas.com/reachtexas.

Reach Texas Prayer Guide:
Advancing the Mission Together

Forshee, Johnson, Hinote to be nominated at SBTC Annual Meeting

Byron McWilliams, senior pastor of First Odessa, has announced his intention to nominate Danny Forshee to serve a second term as president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention at its annual meeting in November.

Forshee has served as lead pastor of Great Hills Baptist Church in Austin since June 13, 2010. He has been president of the Danny Forshee Evangelistic Association since it was formed in May 2004.

“I would be honored to serve a second term as president of the SBTC,” Forshee said. “God is working in powerful ways in and through our convention. I am excited about what the Lord will do in the future.”

McWilliams said he is honored to nominate Forshee for a second term, noting he has led Great Hills with “pastoral integrity and exceptional wisdom.”

“He has led the SBTC well this past year, and I’m confident he will lead us well in his next term as president,” McWilliams said. “I am also confident Danny will continue the theme of his life and ministry—to lift high the name of Jesus and make His name known wherever he goes.”

Great Hills gave $211,175.62 through the Cooperative Program in 2023 and $233,730.08 in 2022.

Forshee holds a doctoral degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, where he has served as a professor. He and his wife, Ashley, have three grown children, four granddaughters, two grandsons, and another grandchild on the way.

Ed Johnson III, lead pastor of Harvest Fellowship Baptist Church in Desoto, will be nominated to serve as SBTC vice president. Johnson, a bivocational pastor who also serves on the convention’s executive board, will be nominated by Caleb Turner, senior pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church. The convention vice president fulfills the duties of the president in the president’s absence or when requested by the president to do so.

Amy Hinote, a member of First Baptist Church Justin and the wife of its pastor, Beaux Hinote, will be nominated to serve as convention secretary. She will be nominated by Matt Kendrick, lead pastor of Redemption City Church in Fort Worth. Mrs. Hinote previously served on the SBTC resolutions committee. The convention secretary’s duties include receiving copies of motions offered for consideration at the SBTC Annual Meeting.

The secretary and vice president also serve on the credentials committee, as outlined in Article III of the convention’s constitution and bylaws.

In my sickness, I have found His strength

Things can change in an instant. When that happens, we tend to think we’re forgotten about. We’re not. God is so faithful, and no matter what happens—no matter what we’ve been dealt—He is there and we’re not alone.

I went for a wellness check [in 2018] and they found a mass on my thyroid. It was benign, but then it started growing and the doctor said, “Well, we’re going to take it out because when they start growing, there could be issues.” During the operation, they found a four-centimeter mass hidden on the other side of the thyroid. That one was malignant. They got out what they could, but it was kind of large.

I went in the hospital and swallowed radiation and stayed four days. And then when I came out, I had to stay six feet away from my family for two weeks and balance my thyroid with medicine.

In 2020, I was sick again right before the COVID shutdown. They thought I had pneumonia, but I wasn’t getting well. My doctors decided they would check my heart and lungs to make sure they weren’t missing anything. I was actually in heart failure and had three tumors in my lung.

During my lung biopsy, they ended up collapsing my lung and I was in the hospital for eight days. The cardiologist was able to stabilize my heart with meds. It was really kind of crazy because both cancers were found while treating something else. I felt like that was God’s way of letting them find what they needed to find so I could get the treatment I needed.

They saw the tumors in March and then in May [after the shutdown], they did the biopsy. That was hard because, after my collapsed lung, only one person could see me a day. But if Brian [Nancy’s husband, pastor of FBC Merkel] came and left, he couldn’t come back. We also have a 10-year-old that we adopted, so he was young and all he knew was Mom disappeared for a week.

When we got that first cancer diagnosis, I really had to just lean on the Lord. I didn’t know what that meant. I lost my mom to cancer, Brian lost his mom to leukemia—and I had all that in my head. But I didn’t ever panic. God just gave me this peace and He just kept drawing me closer to Himself.

People would say, “Well, aren’t you worried about this?” or, “Aren’t you worried about that?” I was like, “I can’t live waiting for the other shoe to drop. God has me on my feet, and He has me in a position where, yes, I’m sick, but I can still serve.” It has made my faith in Him stronger—relying totally on Him daily for my physical strength, for my spiritual strength. He’s just really drawn me in.

“In an earlier church, one of the sweet ladies had gone through colon cancer a year before and I would go and sit with her. We built a relationship and then she turned around and loved on me. I don’t know how people do it without their church family.”

—Nancy Simon Tweet

It’s weird, but when I was told about the thyroid cancer, I was more worried about the surgeon because he knew the mass he planned to take out was benign. So, when he came into the office with the lab results, he was panicking and he was like, “You’re OK. Well, you’re not OK, but you’re going to be OK.”

And I said, “Whoa, breathe. It’s OK. I’m the one who has it. You need to relax.” Brian and I, we went to the car, and we just looked at each other and we were like, “OK, let’s just hit this head on.” The lung cancer threw me a little bit, though.

When I was in the hospital during lockdown, I took some time and I just sat. Maybe it was a good thing that my lung collapsed and I had to be in the hospital primarily by myself, because I got to sit and pray and be by myself without having to tell my kids at that point or having to be strong in front of them, not knowing then what I was facing. God gave me a peace over it. I haven’t panicked. It’s been kind of a part of life. You just hit it and go.

When you see what others have gone through, you see those who handle it well and those who have a harder time, maybe this gave me a little more encouragement on how to deal with it without totally panicking. In an earlier church, one of the sweet ladies had gone through colon cancer a year before and I would go and sit with her. We built a relationship and then she turned around and loved on me. I don’t know how people do it without their church family.

I’ve also learned that God is faithful. You’re never alone. He is so faithful to walk through it with you.

Want to share a story of what God is doing in your life or your church?

Share your story here

Reach Texas Prayer Guide: Advancing the Mission Together

Editor’s note: The following content was included in this year’s Reach Texas Prayer Guide and republished in the October 2024 issue of the Texan.

‘They know who we are and why we were there’

Gilbert Chavez • Fairview Baptist Church

ilbert Chavez, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Austin, was delighted when a church member expressed a strong desire to reach women for Jesus in her apartment community. That led to ladies from Fairview knocking on doors one Sunday afternoon last fall, striking up conversations in the complex. As a result, several women accepted an invitation to attend a Sunday afternoon Bible study in the church member’s apartment.

“Even though she had already begun the work, we wanted to get some training for her and the rest of our church in evangelism,” Chavez said. The pastor turned to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s People Groups department, which provided cross-cultural evangelism training and taught church members to use the 3 Circles method to win others to Christ.

“We were encouraged to go out as a church and teams. The training helped us understand the different pockets of people we would meet,” Chavez said. “We learned to be aware and not be afraid.”

The Fairview women continued to invite ladies to the Bible study and the group grew. Several women attended Bible study and two made professions of faith. One now attends Fairview regularly. A men’s Bible study also began at the apartment complex. Two of the men came to Fairview and one rededicated his life to Jesus, Chavez said. Eventually, that apartment Bible study transitioned to the church, although Fairview still conducts some activities at the apartments.

The church’s focus shifted in late fall 2023 to a nearby mobile home park, where Fairview members began knocking on doors and sharing the gospel. Several people came to faith in Christ, including a mother and her teenage son.

“Last Christmas, we followed up with Christmas caroling and treat bags for the kids,” Chavez said. “Large groups of families from the mobile home park joined us and sang with us. … We served hot chocolate and cookies. They know who we are and why we were there. This is the beginning of our reaching out to our community.”

Faithful giving, far-reaching impact

Scottie Stice • SBTC Disaster Relief

It’s a progression with which Southeast Texans are all too familiar. But because of Reach Texas giving, they are familiar with another accompanying sight: volunteers in yellow Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief shirts showing up in droves and ministering to the hurting.

Heavy storms led to another deluge in early April, leading officials across the region—including in Jasper, Newton, and Hardin counties—to enact disaster declarations. The city of Kirbyville was among those hard hit. Three churches there were flooded, including Central Baptist Church.

The call for help went out and SBTC Disaster Relief responded. A shower unit was sent to support Texas Task Force 1 in Kirbyville, then a second shower unit was sent there while a Quick Response Unit (QRU) was deployed to Port Arthur. QRUs are mobile kitchens that can quickly mobilize to feed hundreds of meals in a short time. A second QRU was later stationed at First Baptist Church in Kirbyville.

Such call-outs can also include requests for SBTC DR volunteers to assist in the exhausting task of mudding out flooded homes and buildings. Chaplains are mobilized to pray and share the gospel with people who are hurting, vulnerable, and in many cases, more receptive to the saving message of Christ than they have ever been.

When it comes to disaster relief, the practical impact of giving through the Reach Texas offering can’t be underestimated.

“The faithful giving of SBTC churches to Reach Texas is what funds our disaster relief ministry,” Stice said. “It is what pays for food that is prepared and served on the quick response feeding units. It covers the expenses of transporting and setting up shower units that support shelters, first responders, and disaster relief volunteers. Reach Texas helps with tools, safety equipment, and fuel for the cleanup teams that mud out flooded homes.”

Quiet—but powerful—moments at M3 Camp

David Baysinger • First Baptist Corinth

Student pastor David Baysinger has been bringing students from First Baptist Corinth to M3 Camp in Glorieta, N.M., every summer since 2015. At M3, lives can be changed in all kinds of circumstances.

Many students feel the pull to a relationship with Christ during the camp’s main worship times through songs and the preaching of God’s Word. But Baysinger has also seen students trust Christ in what seemed—at least in the moment—to be the quiet, ordinary times.

Take Jayden, who, with his family, had long been involved at First Baptist Corinth. He gave his life to Jesus in the quietness of his dorm at camp one summer and was baptized at the church last fall.

And there’s Braylon, a sophomore whose parents have also served at M3 Camp. Two summers ago, as the Corinth youth group prepared to load the bus at camp’s end, Baysinger noticed Braylon and an older student praying together in the parking lot as Braylon asked Jesus to be his Savior.

One summer, Baysinger urged students, including Izzy, during church group time not to wait for the next invitation in a worship service to place their trust in Jesus if they felt “that tug from the Lord.”

A short time later, just as he sat down at lunch, Baysinger felt a tap on his shoulder. Izzy wanted to trust Jesus. Baysinger, Izzy, and a female leader found a quiet place in the kitchen, and Izzy prayed to receive Christ.

Baysinger praised the “clear gospel invitations” given by M3 speakers but also commended the camp structure, where church group time is a priority.

“A number of our students have come to know Christ,” Baysinger said. “M3 has been part of that thread.”

Working together to reach a growing Asian population

Michael Wang • New Life Gospel

New Life Gospel Church sees the possibilities, but the struggles are real.

The church, founded 17 years ago by its senior pastor, Thomas Wang, focuses on preaching the gospel to Asian people flowing into Texas in massive numbers, including those from China and Taiwan. When they arrive, Wang says they know little about the gospel because they were indoctrinated with atheism by the Chinese government.

One of the church’s tried and true methods of sharing the gospel with Asian people when they come to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is connecting with them as friends through personal relationships. In this sense, the biblical words of Jesus have been a daunting reality—the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

One area the church has found to enlist workers is Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Through its Chinese student fellowship, New Life learned about the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s FIRE Initiative. The initiative—which stands for Forging Integrated Relationships in Evangelism—connects the SBTC’s academic partners such as SWBTS with its affiliated churches to increase gospel collaboration.

Through the initiative, a SWBTS student began serving as a FIRE intern in September 2023. The student serves the church in a number of ways, helping with evangelistic efforts and giving New Life another voice to effectively communicate with a younger generation that can feel difficult to reach.

“As a Christian of her age, she can help us approach more people who are similar to her age—especially young adults,” said Michael Wang, who serves New Life as an associate pastor. “Hopefully she can help them know who Jesus Christ is.”

He noted that God is, indeed, using the collaboration for kingdom purposes, as the church baptized three people who made professions of faith earlier this year.

“We believe God’s promise,” he added. “God is using this partnership to help us learn more about the SBTC. We work together and leave the results in God’s hands.”

Empowered to share the gospel with the next generation

Chawn Cummings • North Garland Baptist Fellowship

As Chawn Cummings pours his life into the next generation as youth director at North Garland Baptist Fellowship and at the school where he teaches and coaches, he loves to tell the stories of what God is doing through his students.

He loves to talk about a student in his youth group who has answered the call to serve with a missions organization and recently returned from an outreach in South Africa. Now she’s praying about going back to serve a two-year commitment there.

Another student was recognized for his boldness on Bring Your Bible to School Day—so much so that someone from the school emailed the student’s mother to tell her how encouraged he was watching the young man read his Bible during lunch.

There’s a culture Cummings wants to create among everyone with whom God has given him influence, and he credits the Empower Conference with fueling that fire.

Cummings attended Empower—an evangelistic conference hosted annually by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and funded through state missions giving—and came away equipped and inspired. He heard Shane Pruitt, next gen director for the North American Mission Board, talk about calling out the called—which, in turn, inspired Cummings to work hard to develop young Christian leaders. Cummings said he was particularly challenged by Nik Ripken, a longtime missionary and author of The Insanity of God who frequently speaks about the persecuted church.

“I was personally challenged to be more intentional about my own personal evangelism and about inspiring the youth of my church to evangelize and become more missions minded,” Cummings said.

Other sessions motivated the youth director to be more intentional about encouraging his colleagues at school to be more evangelistic—“to be a light within the law.”

“We have encouraged these youth and others as we have been equipped by the Empower Conference,” Cummings said, “and we are so grateful for the experience.”

Church planting and church partnership at its best

Willer Montesinos • La Carpa del Valle of McAllen

La Carpa del Valle of McAllen celebrated its first birthday in March 2024. The Rio Grande Valley church plant now has 60-70 in attendance each Sunday and is seeing multiple baptisms.

“We are seeing God’s blessings,” planter/pastor Willer Montesinos said. “God is moving us to train and equip our people to share the gospel with their families and friends. More and more people are coming to Jesus through our members.”

While the church often met in hotel rooms in its earliest days, La Carpa del Valle now gathers in a building belonging to First McAllen, which also supports the church plant. First McAllen Lead Pastor Steven Gaither said his church had been praying for vacant space on its campus to be used.

“We were thrilled to see people in that building again,” Gaither said, adding that La Carpa quickly expanded from using 3,500 to 7,000 square feet of space.

As La Carpa grew numerically and completed Send Network SBTC’s assessment process, First McAllen became La Carpa’s official sending church. Church planting is one of the many ministry efforts funded through Reach Texas giving.

“Our church joyfully embraced this opportunity,” Gaither said. “A relationship that started because a church plant needed some space to meet has become a friendship, a ministry partnership, and a wonderful kingdom-heart connection.”

The vision of La Carpa del Valle extends across the border, as well. In early 2024, the church started a home church in Reynosa, Mexico, on Wednesday evenings “to reach our neighbors there,” Montesinos said.

La Carpa del Valle, translated in English, means “the tent in the valley.” The church name is derived from Exodus 33, the account of Moses pitching the “tent of meeting” outside the Israelite camp. Here, “the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11).

“We want to be a place where people in the Valley can receive encouragement from God face to face,” Montesinos said.

Inspired, equipped & ready to reach

Nick Apperson • First Baptist Church of Malakoff

First Baptist Church of Malakoff student minister Nick Apperson knew he wanted to reach out to student-athletes at the community college in a neighboring East Texas town. He just wasn’t sure how to start. Until he attended Roundup.

Roundup, an annual event hosted by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and funded through Reach Texas giving, aims to encourage, equip, and network collegiate leaders across the state. Apperson attended Roundup for the first time in 2023.

Through information provided during several breakout sessions and with the encouragement of other collegiate leaders, Apperson said he gained the confidence to jump headfirst into making the campus ministry God had planted in his heart a reality.

“Being able to connect with other people doing college ministry, being able to ask questions and to hear from guys in the trenches, was incredibly eye-opening for me,” Apperson said. “Roundup allowed me to connect with people who are in my corner and willing to help me reach college students with the gospel and help them grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.”

Motivated by his Roundup experience, Apperson and his wife began to regularly set up a table at the community college and offer giveaways to connect with students. They also had a pickleball night and, before long, invited some of the student-athletes they met into their home for a Bible study.

Each week, students from a variety of backgrounds from around the country are having conversations about the Bible and who Jesus is—some for the first time in their lives. Not only that, but the gospel is proclaimed weekly, followed by an invitation for the student-athletes to trust Jesus.

“I can see the Lord working and stirring in the lives of these young men, and I am simply trusting Him with the outcome,” Apperson said. “I rejoice that these guys can come into our home, connect with me and my family, and hopefully leave with a better understanding of who Jesus really is and who they are called to be.”

For SBTC DR, crisis opens doors to gospel opportunities

Scottie Stice • SBTC Disaster Relief

Sometimes people need a hand after disaster strikes, as occurred when winter storms wrought havoc in Austin, prompting Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief volunteers to deploy in early February.

Multiple SBTC DR chainsaw teams rotated in and out, completing nearly 70 jobs in Pflugerville, Hutto, Round Rock, and Northwest Austin, according to Scottie Stice, SBTC DR director.

But that wasn’t the whole story.

Among the survivors assisted by SBTC DR was Larry, an elderly military veteran whose refrigerator broke during the storm.

“We removed tree damage from his home,” SBTC DR volunteer Mike Jansen said. Food shared by DR volunteers was the man’s first meal in two days.

Finding Larry was a divine appointment, said Debby Nichols, SBTC DR chaplain from DeKalb. Nichols and fellow chaplain/assessor Linda Mitter of Rockwall had completed their daily assignments and were driving around Round Rock neighborhoods to see if they had missed anything.

An enormous tree, split in half, caught their attention and they drove down the adjacent cul de sac.

“That tree was God’s sign to us,” Nichols said. “We found Larry’s house, with branches above his front door.”

The ladies knocked, explained who they were, and asked if Larry needed help.

“I am not worthy,” he replied. Nichols and Mitter visited with him and learned he had quit a college teaching job to care for his wife, who later died of cancer.

“He had been stuck,” Nichols said of Larry’s despair. The Vietnam veteran was entitled to some assistance, they realized. SBTC DR volunteer Ted Boswell, a retired pastor who teaches adult Sunday school at First Baptist Pflugerville, connected Larry with a VA advocate in his class.

But best of all, Larry accepted Christ as his Savior after the chaplain told him about Jesus.

Investing to ensure the gospel goes forward long after we’re gone

Since we planted Redeemer in 2008, we have reached many young people—which means we have had lots of young leaders. Roughly half our Sunday attendance is in college or just out of college.

We try to keep things as simple as we can. We have pretty straightforward services with worship, expository preaching, and weekly communion. Then, we have small groups during the week. Here are three principles I’ve observed along the way while we’ve engaged younger people in our church:

Young leaders need relationships

When I was a 22-year-old youth minister, an older church member took me out to lunch regularly. I valued those lunches more than he probably realized. Right before that, I worked as an associate in youth ministry while I was in college and the youth minister and his wife had us in their home regularly. I never turned down a chance to talk in the church office or come over to their house.

Pastors, don’t miss an opportunity to engage relationally with younger staff members. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a formal mentoring relationship or another meeting to add to your calendar. Working with an open office door and walking around the office and talking briefly can go a long way when it comes to building relationships with younger leaders. When I was on staff at the church that planted us (Southcrest Baptist Church in Lubbock), we had a weekly lunch after our staff meetings. That was a great idea.

Young leaders are drawn to opportunity

From the start, we had young people leading because they were our only people. If all you have are college students and young adults, you have to develop college students to lead other college students in groups and discipleship. It’s the same thing with young adults.

If you are at a place in your church life where you are trying to reach families and younger people in your community, the young people in your church will be your greatest asset to reach their peers. Call them to it and help them develop the character and competencies to not only share their faith and invite friends to church, but make disciples and grow as leaders.

Plant churches and be open-handed with your best leaders

When Southcrest planted us, we started reaching a younger, different crowd that was new to church and served as a good complement to the reach Southcrest already had in Lubbock. A strategic way to reach younger, unreached people is to plant new churches. For the sake of the unreached, we have to engage young leaders. Every church plant needs not only a lead guy, but a core team of members who will make disciples and engage people with the gospel.

Often, they are some of your strongest and most faithful leaders. You’ve likely invested in them deeply, and sending them out leaves you with some gaps in your church’s leadership. In fact, their best and most fruitful years of leadership and ministry might not directly impact your local church. I’ll be honest, it can hurt to send them out.

But it is also a reminder why we need to engage and empower young leaders—we want the gospel to go forward long after we are gone.