Month: January 2025

Five minutes with Corey Paul

As the storytelling director of The West Church in Alief, Corey Paul captures and shares stories of God’s work within the church and the community. His mission is to illuminate how the church seeks to transform lives by making disciples of Christ. A former Houston firefighter, Paul is married to Summer. The couple has two daughters, Journee and Amani.

What does a storytelling director for a church do?

My role revolves around capturing and conveying the heartbeat of our community through compelling narratives. This involves creating content that highlights God’s work in and through His people, ensuring our stories inspire faith, hope, and action. I oversee initiatives like sermon production, social media strategy, and the West Creative Collective, where we translate biblical stories into hip-hop-inspired audio and visual experiences. My job is to ensure these stories resonate deeply, glorify God, and engage both our congregation and the Alief community.

What’s one thing you’d like to see God do through your ministry this year?

I’d like to see the West Creative Collective fully flourish. A key goal is advancing our flagship (audio and visual) project: translating the Bible audio and visual experiences. By fostering community and providing resources, we aim to inspire culture with impactful faith-based content. I also aim to equip our team with systems and training to ensure the ministry runs smoothly and continues to grow.

What’s one challenge you are facing in your ministry?

A key challenge is balancing creative innovation with operational efficiency across the entire media department. … It’s a constant effort to ensure everything runs smoothly while staying focused on our mission. At the same time, we’re working to cultivate a culture of love and encouragement, ensuring that we come alongside God’s people with grace and purpose rather than becoming overly systematic or transactional.

What’s one thing you’ve learned in ministry or life you know you’ll never forget?

Faithfulness to God’s calling always outweighs immediate results. Ministry is a marathon, not a sprint, and trusting in God’s timing is essential. Anytime I’ve submitted to God in obedience, I’m often unsure where He’s leading me at first, but it always ends up far better than I could have imagined with my limited perspective. Perseverance, fueled by faith and the support of community, often leads to outcomes beyond what we envision.

How can SBTC churches be praying for you this year?

Pray for clarity, wisdom, and strength as I juggle multiple roles in ministry, family, and creativity. Pray for The West Church and the West Creative Collective, that we would continue to glorify God through our work and reach people effectively with the gospel. Specifically, pray for the Alief community we serve, that hearts would be transformed, needs met, and God’s presence powerfully felt.

SBTC pastor’s book on Spurgeon underscores the primacy of prayer

As he has mentored pastors at varying times over the past four decades, Keeney Dickenson said he has noticed something often missing from their sermon preparation—prayer.

It’s a realization that spurred Dickenson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Crockett and prayer ministry specialist for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, to write his latest book, Spurgeon: The Prayer-Powered Pulpit of the Prince of Preachers. Gleaning examples from the life of Charles Spurgeon—the 19th century church leader known as the “Prince of Preachers”—Dickenson’s book aims to encourage pastors to make prayer foundational to their sermon preparation, ministries, and lives.

Dickenson said researching Spurgeon’s life deepened his own desire for a Christ-centered life and ministry and underscored the biblical truth found in John 15:5 that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.

“Spurgeon’s desperate dependence upon God superabundantly compensated for any lack of formal theological training,” Dickenson said.

“ … If the pastor as shepherd becomes disoriented to the ways and the will of God, the flock he leads will quickly do the same. We have seen what we can do for God, but that is nothing compared to what God can do through us.”

In endorsing the book, Tom J. Nettles, senior professor of historical theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote, “This book relentlessly pursues the premise that the preacher must first and foremost be a man of God before he can be of any use to his people. He must be a God-saturated person in his personal life and must inject prayer into every phase of self-examination and sermon preparation if he is to be a vessel ‘unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use’ (2 Timothy 2:21).”

Donald Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote in his forward to the book, “[This book] is especially for those pastors who have a deep hunger to be godly men, to shepherd the flock of God faithfully, and to preach the Bible truthfully and in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The book is being distributed through Dickenson’s Prayeridigm Publishing label, as well as through other online booksellers.

Southern Baptists join thousands at the 52nd March for Life

WASHINGTON (BP)—Thousands of pro-life Americans, including many Southern Baptists, gathered near the U.S. Capitol Jan. 24 for the 52^nd annual March for Life.

This year’s March for Life, which is understood to be the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration, marked the third time the event has been held since the historic overturning of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which returned abortion legislation to the states.

It was the High Court’s Roe decision, handed down in January 1973, which inspired the first March for Life event, held the following year in 1974.

Since that first march, numerous pro-life Americans (including many evangelical Christians) have come together each January near the Capitol in Washington, D.C. to support the cause and re-affirm their commitment to protect unborn children and care for their mothers.

Among the Southern Baptists gathered at this year’s event were several staff members of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

“It is an honor to be in our nation’s capital for the annual March for Life,” said ERLC Vice President and Chief of Staff Miles Mullin.

“For many years, Southern Baptists have stood on the front lines to promote a culture of life and we wholeheartedly affirm that every life is made in the image of God, including our preborn neighbors. Many of our SBC churches are already working hard in their communities, creating a culture of life where children are welcomed, mothers are cared for, and families are given resources they need to succeed. Here at the ERLC, we will continue to prioritize and advance policies that both protect life and support our churches in those efforts, work that will help usher in a new era in the pro-life movement.”

This year’s March for Life falls just after Sanctity of Life Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention, which was Jan. 19. It was the 40^th observance of Sanctity of Life Sunday on the SBC Calendar.

Each year’s event begins with an opening rally featuring numerous speakers before the physical march around the Capitol building. March for Life President Jeanne Mancini welcomed the large crowd.

“Whether this is your first March for Life or you’re are a seasoned veteran … I just really want to honor you and thank you for making history,” she said.

“By being here, you are advocating for the poorest of the poor. You are advocating that social justice begins in the womb. Thank you for standing on the right side of history and for being here.”

This year’s March for Life was Mancini’s last time serving as president of the event. She has served in the position since 2012, overseeing 13 marches, which she called “the honor of a lifetime.”

Mancini expressed her sincere gratitude to the numerous marchers over the years, and introduced this year’s crowd to March for Life President-Elect Jennie Bradley Lichter.

Lichter served during President Trump’s first administration as deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.

In addition to Southern Baptist participants, another notable Southern Baptist was one of the event’s guest speakers.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Southern Baptist and former ERLC trustee, said seeing the crowd of thousands of pro-life Americans gathered in Washington is a great encouragement to him and his fellow congressmen.

Johnson referenced the House’s recent passage of the Born-Alive Act (meant to protect babies who survive failed abortions) during his remarks.

“House and Senate Republicans are committed to protecting innocent life,” he told the crowd. “We will do it.”

Johnson shared some of his personal life story about being the product of an unexpected pregnancy and his teenage parents’ refusal to listen to those who urged them to get an abortion.

“It’s a very simple fact that if they had not done that, then I would not be here,” he said. “I often wonder who else we have missed and what those individuals might have contributed to our society and to our world, but they were just never given the opportunity.”

This was the second straight year Johnson has spoken at the March for Life.

Johnson’s remarks were preceded by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, marking the first time in history that both the speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader have attended and spoken at the event.

Many other politicians attended, including newly inaugurated Vice President J.D. Vance. It was Vance’s first public event since his inauguration Jan. 20.

President Trump addressed the crowd via video, where he promised his new administration will continue to stand for families and for life as well as ensure protections for churches, crisis pregnancy centers and other pro-life organizations.

Other speakers at the rally included Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, pro-life advocate Lila Rose, and Bethany Hamilton, motivational speaker and subject of the popular film “Soul Surfer.”

After the rally concluded, the marchers began their walk around the Capitol, and among the many Southern Baptists doing so was Kayley Fruendt, a sophomore at Colorado Christian University.

Fruendt, who attended the March for Life for the second time, said although she was raised in a Christian household, she was undereducated about the issue of abortion until her late high school and early college years.

“I felt really convicted that I didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “I really had to face this question and search out what I thought was right.”

While attending Colorado Christian University (CCU), Fruendt would join the pro-life club and begin attending Storyline Church in Arvada.

She explained that her pastor, J.T. English, is “very outspoken” about the topic of abortion, which has helped her develop her own positions.

“I have a real passion to fight for the unborn and I think there’s a real lack of education on what abortion is, especially in my generation,” Fruendt said.

“They (Storyline) talk about abortion, and it’s not a hush-hush issue. It was brought up frequently enough that it was on our minds. Just having a church that talks about it was really important for me, along with their other values that I really love. I would then go back to school and learn how to be self-sacrificial and be like Jesus. CCU’s motto of grace and truth is more than just a slogan; it’s put in action.”

Fruendt mentioned the influence of social media on Gen Z in spreading misinformation about the topic or trying to coerce people into getting an abortion. Someone she knows personally was deeply influenced in this way before getting an abortion, after which she told Fruendt she felt “terrible.”

It was important for Fruendt to travel to Washington for the march because it gives an opportunity to supply some of the education she believes is lacking.

“To March for Life means to fight for principles, especially the principle of justice for both mother and child,” Fruendt said.

“The first thing I would recommend to get involved with the pro-life issue is to pray and seek the Lord. Follow where He leads you and find a community that supports you in your calling from the Lord.”

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.

Pastoring in ‘Negative World’

Editor’s note: The following opinion column was written by a member of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Young Pastors Network.

In his new book Negative World, Aaron Renn chronicles the changing cultural posture toward Christianity over the last 60 years. Positive World functioned from 1964-1994, such that the church was seen as a good thing for society. Neutral World existed from 1994-2014 and was characterized by a more tolerant posture. It was one of many voices in our pluralistic society and was neither good nor bad.

Negative World started in 2014 and continues into the present, ushered in during the Supreme Court’s decision about gay marriage. This saw a shift in cultural attitudes among many to see the church as a moral evil that must be opposed.

How do we pastor and lead in Negative World? Let me make five suggestions:

Get your church polity locked down

A church statement of faith coupled with a church covenant that outlines how you will treat each other is essential in this cultural moment. Why? More and more people will engage with us who do not assume the best of us. Many of these people will look for ways to intentionally hurt the church. If you have inconsistencies in what you affirm you believe or how you, for example, discipline members, this will bite you.

Go hard after young men

As Negative World has been established, younger men are struggling. As a result, there’s an openness and hunger for guidance and direction among young men today more than ever, opening the door for the gospel. The church has largely been more calibrated to women in our marketing and programming over the last 20 years. Continue to love your ladies, but gear up to reach out to guys. Simple things like changing your church logo to look more masculine can help. More than that, make sure the men you hire on your staff or who lead on your elder teams are model men. Young men are looking for mentors and guides, and they will gravitate to places that have that.

Prepare your leadership community for resistance

If you are outspoken about the truth, at some point you may be canceled. Not only must you be ready to take hard stances, you need to prepare your leadership community for the blowback that will come. What you must not have are leaders who want you to pull back from saying something hard because of the potential blowback. Be bold, but also wisely bring your leaders along. Show them examples of what other churches have walked through in being canceled and talk through how to respond.

Go all in on the Holy Spirit

We have officially reached a point where just “doing church” isn’t gonna do it. In Positive World and Neutral World, so much of church growth was shuffling the deck of Christians in a town. Most of what we were doing in those days was not so much planting a church but planting a worship service and expecting people to show up. I’m not bashing it—in many ways it worked! Healthy churches came out of this model. I believe those days are over. If we are going to see churches planted and grow, we are going to have to pray like crazy, begging God to move. Your leadership community needs to be a burning center of prayer, begging the Spirit to convict, unify, and send.

Call for response in worship

We have a spectrum of pastors in the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, some more reformed and others more revivalistic. One of the easiest ways to tell where you fall on the spectrum is by how you end your worship service. For a number of years, I was uncomfortable with a more deliberate, intentional response time because of abuses I’d seen growing up. I’m over that. I want to help people know how to become a Christian at the end of our services. I want people to have the ability to be prayed over or counseled during worship. Why? Because I believe when the Word is preached, God is speaking and today, people need help sifting what God is doing.

Positive and Neutral World people did not need as much guidance about the basics. Many of them were exposed to Christianity and just needed a nudge. We are now officially reaching people whose grandparents didn’t take them to church. They’ve got no background, and they absolutely need more deliberate, intentional opportunities to get help. A more focused response time can help.

Negative World is here. Are you ready? I hope these five things help you.

Through a half-century of ministry, Hyde Park’s Gardner has been a faithful, steadying presence

AUSTIN—1975 was a milestone year for Dan and Mary Gardner. On Jan. 1 of that year, Dan answered the call to serve on staff at Hyde Park Baptist Church. A lot has changed in the world since then, but the Gardners are still faithfully serving the church a half-century later.

Hyde Park honored the Gardners during a Sunday morning worship service on Jan. 5. Dan serves as the church’s senior adult and pastoral care pastor.

John Turner, lead pastor of Hyde Park Baptist Church, said the Gardners are the embodiment of the Great Commandment through their example of loving God and others.

“He helps in secret, like visiting shut-ins, those in the hospital, or just having one-on-one conversations,” Turner said of Gardner. “He is a wealth of knowledge about ministry, life, and the diverse history of Hyde Park.” Turner added that Gardner has been a steadying presence through both good times and seasons of struggle. “Through it all,” Turner said, “Dan and Mary remained faithful.”

“If you look in the dictionary under ‘Christian servant,’ there should be a picture of Dan Gardner,” added Kie Bowman, Hyde Park’s pastor emeritus who led the church for 25 years before retiring in 2023. “He defines the word ‘faithfulness’ in ministry.”

“If you look in the dictionary under ‘Christian servant,’ there should be a picture of Dan Gardner.”

—KIE BOWMAN Tweet

‘Never a worry’

After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a business degree, Gardner enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served in Vietnam, receiving a Bronze Medal, and spent 26 years in the Army Reserve before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

In 1974, the church’s minister of education, Bob Shotwell, asked Gardner to serve as Hyde Park’s business coordinator. The next year, Gardner answered the call to serve as the church’s minister of business administration.

Gardner remained in that position for the next 30 years, during which his exemplary service was recognized by his induction into the Southern Baptist Church Business Administrators Association Hall of Honor. He also received the Taylor Daniel Award of Merit for outstanding contribution to Baptist business from the Southern Baptist Business Officers Conference.

“I think it’s so important to know ministry doesn’t stop at 40 hours a week. On Jan. 1, I started my 51st year. I’m not retired till the Lord tells me He’s through with me.”

—DAN GARDNER Tweet

Ralph Smith, who died in 2017, pastored Hyde Park for many of the years Gardner served there. Smith’s daughter, Diane Love, remembered fondly the friendship her father had with Gardner. She said her father used to tease Gardner about the condition of his office.

“Dan’s office used to be a mess,” Love recalled. “My dad would tell him to get it organized, and no matter what was requested, Dan knew exactly where it was in the pile of letters, bills invoices, etc. It was a running joke within the office at the church … [but] there was never a worry in the financial office while Dan [was] in charge.”

One of ministries dearest to Gardner’s heart at Hyde Park is its food pantry, which he started as a way to minister to a growing number of homeless and hungry people in Austin. The problem? The church did not have much available space to house a food pantry at the time. Undeterred, Gardner—relying on a military background that taught him to use what was available—started the ministry out of an old telephone closet.

“We outgrew that space,” Gardner said, “so we had to find another place down the street to serve everyone. We never turn people away.”

As for the future? Only God knows, Gardner said.

“I think it’s so important to know ministry doesn’t stop at 40 hours a week,” Gardner said. “On Jan. 1, I started my 51st year. I’m not retired till the Lord tells me He’s through with me.”

FBC New Braunfels member didn’t intend to lead women’s ministry, but God had other plans

When she learned that a bus crash had claimed the lives of 13 First Baptist New Braunfels senior adults returning from a Hill Country retreat in March 2017, Marcia Dean responded as she always had: She went to church.

The former financial secretary at FBC New Braunfels heard about the disaster through a friend’s text. As Dean switched on the news, she told her husband, Charlie, “I don’t know why, but I’ve got to go to church.”

Dean and another former employee stepped in to help at the short-handed church office. Dean answered phones and provided support to members and staff.

“They’ve gone home,” she told a journalist about the victims, a comment that resonates still.

Church has provided a this-side-of-heaven home for Dean since childhood.

“I want to get [women] to understand that you can read a million books or do a devotional every single day, but if you don’t get into the Word of God, your life will never change.”

—Marcia Dean Tweet

An early call

Dean recalled sitting “on the piano side of the church” as her mother played while her father led worship at their church in tiny Haskell, Okla. One Sunday as her father led the singing during the invitation, Dean, almost 8, felt the call to go forward.

“God just really touched my heart and called me,” she said, remembering leaving her mom at the piano and going straight to the pastor.

Her love of missions began in childhood, with involvement in Acteens and Girls in Action and contact with a family friend and missionary to Argentina serving with the Foreign Mission Board (now known as the International Mission Board). These early experiences would later motivate the adult Dean to take mission trips to Southeast Asia, Germany, and India.

Dean started college in Oklahoma, but when her father fell ill, she returned home to assist her mom in caring for him. Dean’s older brother also left the university to run the family hardware store until it could be sold.

“I crammed four years of college into seven,” Dean said with a chuckle.

While a college student, she attended First Baptist Church in Moore, Okla. Her accounting major prepared her for a part-time job as a financial assistant at the church, the first of her staff positions at churches. Not only did she love that job, but Dean discovered another passion: the study of Scripture. She credits her pastors at FBC Moore and subsequent churches for inspiring her to dig into the Word of God.

The stint in Moore brought another bonus. Mutual friends introduced Marcia to Charlie Dean, then stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, and the two were married in 1980. As Charlie completed his 20 years of service in the Air Force, they lived in Iceland, Massachusetts, and Ohio before retiring to New Braunfels.

Dean began teaching young single adults at a small home mission church in Massachusetts. “I’m not sure how much they got out of it,” Dean recalled. She did not see herself as a teacher.

God had other plans

In Ohio, Dean became involved with the Bible studies of Precept Ministries. Even though she was pregnant with her second child, she signed on for the fall semester and committed to doing the work. She toted her newborn daughter to class.

“I thought it was gonna eat my lunch,” Dean said of the rigorous study. She has been a Precept studies teacher or student since 1986.

The in-depth study of God’s Word for nearly 40 years “has changed my life,” Dean said. “God has given me [opportunities] to impact and change other women’s lives.”

In Ohio, she attended Precept Ministries training for her own benefit. After relocating to New Braunfels, she joined the Precept group there. Shortly afterward, the leader moved out of town.

“I was the only one who had been trained,” Dean said. She had already signed up for additional Precept training in San Antonio, so she reluctantly went.

At that San Antonio class, the leader told the group to turn to the person on their right and express their greatest concern so that person could pray for them.

“I am scared to death that I am going to have to lead my Precept Bible study this fall,” Dean admitted.

“Oh honey, I have the gift of prayer,” her new friend replied.

“I had turned to a gal who loved praying and who was faithfully going to pray,” Dean mused. “I turned to the Lord and said, ‘Oh Lord, I am in really big trouble now,’” she said.

Despite her reservations, she began teaching the studies, which moved to First Baptist in September 1993, stepping down for a few years in the early 2000s before reassuming the role in 2008.

Women changed by the Word

Also in the 1990s, Dean became aware of women’s ministries developing in other churches, something she had a desire to start at her own church. She became among the first to attend Southern Baptist Convention women’s leadership training in Nashville.

With the pastor’s support and blessing, Dean and a team, including some who had accompanied her to Nashville, began a women’s ministry at the church. The ministry would not be event-driven but would focus on Bible study, discipleship, and prayer, Dean determined.

It flourished, from mentoring programs to book clubs to Bible studies.

“We began offering a variety of things,” Dean said, adding that most women participated at some level.

Dean, who also spent 18 years as the church’s financial secretary, had found her calling.

“I want to get [women] to understand that you can read a million books or do a devotional every single day, but if you don’t get into the Word of God, your life will never change.”

She refuses to accept excuses. “Don’t ever say that you don’t have time. You have time,” she tells women she teaches. As a young mother with two small children at home and a husband who constantly traveled, she learned to get up early to work on her Bible study lessons before the kids woke up.

What’s next for Dean? She is not through teaching yet, but with grandkids in North Carolina and Charlie retired for a second time, travel to visit family factors into the schedule.

At 68, she remembers her mother asking herself, “How did you get so old?” and remembers the answer: “One year at a time.”

Dean knows how to make those years count.

Man diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer surrenders to ministry: ‘I don’t worry about tomorrow’

LACENTER, Ky. — “This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” That verse, from Psalm 118:24, is one that John Plumley embraces every day.

When you know what is happening in his life, you understand why it dictates how he lives each day.

Plumley, a member of First Baptist Church in LaCenter, was diagnosed Oct. 20 with Stage 4 cancer. Despite that drastic upheaval in his life, it has fueled his passion to tell others about Christ. He left his long-time secular job at the end of 2024, and on Jan. 12, he surrendered to the ministry.

“I don’t worry about tomorrow,” he said, referencing Psalm 118:24.

His pastor, Jason Hay, talked about the blessing that Plumley has been at the church.

“John has faithfully served the church and has truly exemplified being the hands and feet of Jesus,” Hay said. “Over the years, he has served as a teacher, youth and children’s chaperone, bus driver, deacon and more. On Sunday morning, I had the privilege of witnessing John publicly surrender his life to God’s calling, and it was deeply inspiring.”

Despite the recent diagnosis of terminal cancer, “John has embraced his reality with unwavering faith, determined not to waste a single day. It has been incredible to see him live each moment to the fullest, engaging in gospel-centered conversations with everyone he encounters. My heart has been filled with both encouragement and conviction, a powerful reminder that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow and that we must dedicate today to Christ.”

When Plumley’s cancer diagnosis came, he was told he could live five to six months if he didn’t take any treatments. Chemo might give him up to 18 months, and at Vanderbilt Medical Center he was told he might have up to two and a half years. “At that point, I knew that before I was born God had a birth and a death date for me. I am not going to let man put a date on my death.”

He and his wife Lynn have four children, ages 4 to 28. “I taught them that God is in control. But when this (cancer) happens to you it affects every area of life, your financials, your relationships. Through this God has supplied unbelievably — He has provided every single thing we need.”

It has built his faith and widened his impact in the community. “It’s not natural for me to go up to strangers and tell them about the Lord, but in this sickness, God has used it as an opportunity to witness to people on a daily basis. It might be a conversation of God being involved and how He is working in our lives and taking care of our needs. My testimony from a young child until today is that it’s not me, it’s always God. Every single thing we do, He is part of it. When you are working and healthy, you know that it is God. When it disappears overnight, it is God. We lost half our household income in one day. I was hospitalized and couldn’t work and haven’t been back to work since October 20 … but I don’t worry about tomorrow.”

As Plumley enters the ministry, he looks back on his life and sees how God was at work. When he was 16 and living in Illinois, he thought he was called into the ministry. He had the opportunity to preach, and after that message he received a phone call that the pastor’s daughter had been saved.

Upon moving to Kentucky, he said he went to church but was a “benchwarmer — not involved in anything.” But then he found out that the church had been seeking a bus driver for months, and since he drove a truck for his living, he reasoned that was something he could do.

“It opened one door after another,” he said, prompting him to study and pray for ways to be used by the Lord. Then came a call asking if he would do a six-week series based on a Tony Evans’ “Kingdom” study.

“God started opening one door after another,” he said. He began teaching Sunday school for third through fifth garders, then started going on mission trips, one to New York and a couple to Cuba.

“I wanted to go because the Lord wanted me to go — not because I did,” he said. He recalled the time in church that he heard about the Cuba opportunity and asked to Lord to show him if the Lord wanted him to go. “When they said ‘amen,’ the woman in front of me said, ‘You need to go to Cuba.’”

As a member of First Baptist in LaCenter for almost a decade, Plumley said he “got involved in everything at church. Because I was living in God’s will, we still had time for family even though it was a busy schedule.”

He said, “COVID hit me hard. I needed to be in church and around people to influence me. I wanted to do things, but I was doing the things I wanted to do. God changed my ministry—I still did youth trips but not teach Sunday school. He opened up an opportunity for me to be a Gideon … God started using me in different ways.” He said handing out a Bible helped him realize “nine out of 10 people you meet are going through something … and it gave me an opportunity to witness to them.”

Since his cancer diagnosis, he has had opportunities to share his testimony at various churches.

“When I get up (at the pulpit) I have the urge to preach and share the Word,” he said. “I feel that is God’s calling on my life. I have been given a lot of opportunities.” Saying he was never comfortable in a hospital setting, that has changed since his recent hospitalizations. “There are things I couldn’t do before that I am able to do now.”

The Plumleys live in Bandana, Ky., only a few miles from LaCenter First Baptist. Many in the community are aware of his health situation, and that has opened doors for him to be used by the Lord.

“I can’t go anywhere that I have people say they are praying for me,” he said. “People have been encouraging me,” including when he saw a police officer near his home who prayed for him. Also, at the local Walmart he got into a conversation with an employee and explained about his cancer and was able to share with the person how God was working in that situation. “God has put somebody everywhere I go for me to witness to or to encourage me.”

While praying for a miracle regarding his health, Plumley understands God can say yes, no or maybe later. And that is why his daily mindset will be “this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice in it.”

This article originally appeared in Kentucky Today and was distributed by Baptist Press.

Church planting missionaries who lost everything blessed by Southern Baptists

It’s pink and purple, it has a Bible verse on it, and it’s understandably a little rough around the edges. It is, after all, one of the only items Send Network church planter Ronnie Rentz managed to rescue from his girls’ bedroom.

“Back in September when Hurricane Helene came through, we got hit with three feet of water,” Ronnie says. “And the first time I came back to the house after the storm, everything we owned was floating.”

That’s when he found the picture—the pink and purple one with Romans 8:28 written on it. Ronnie, who planted Covenant Hope Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 2022, attached it to the dashboard of his car because for someone who’d been through what he’d just been through, a Romans 8:28-kind-of reminder seemed like a good thing to keep nearby.

“We lost about 90% of everything we owned,” he says. “Even now, our 2-year-old says, ‘I want to go home,’ about 10 times a day. It rips your heart out. But I know God is going to work all this together for good. And I know that because I’ve already seen it.”

An eternal optimist

Ronnie Rentz is a self-described “eternal optimist.” Maybe that’s why when Hurricane Helene hit St. Petersburg on Sept. 26, 2024, he was nervous, but not frantically so—at least, not at first. “We lived on a canal and it flooded all the time,” he says. “My wife and kids were out of town that week, but when it looked like the storm was headed this way, we spoke and I told my wife, ‘I secured all the doors. We’ll be ok. It won’t be that bad.’”

That was Sept. 26, but then came Sept. 27. “When I went back to the house the next day, I couldn’t even get in at first because all the water had picked up our furniture and jammed it against the door. And then when I finally got in, it was sobering. The fridge was flipped over, baby dolls were floating by—I just sat there for a while before I called my wife. And all I could say was, ‘It’s bad. What do we do now?’”

Even an “eternal optimist” like Ronnie could’ve never guessed how quickly the answer to that question would present itself.

This picture, colored by Ronnie’s daughter, was one of the few items he was able to salvage from his home.

Send in the cavalry

On Thursday, Helene hit. On Friday, Ronnie waded thru what was left of his home. And then on Saturday, the cavalry arrived.

“Small armies of people from our sending church, from our church plant started showing up,” Ronnie says. “They started grabbing clothes, toys, anything they could save. We had a crew in the backyard cleaning Legos. We had a lady who owns a jewelry shop take what she could salvage of my wife’s jewelry to get it professionally cleaned. They worked in shifts—morning, afternoon, and evening—it was amazing to see. Our church has always operated as a family and to see that in a real way was just a beautiful thing.”

News travels fast when you’re a Send Network church planter, and as Ronnie’s church family was in his backyard salvaging what they could of the Rentz’s possessions, a call for financial help went out to a much more widespread family.

“Our Sending Church reached out to NAMB and Send Network to see what could be possible,” Ronnie says. “And before we even knew what was happening, they took care of us. They supported us with half our rent for the home we’re staying in now. I really don’t know how we could’ve survived without that.”

Part of the family

Send Network, the church planting arm of the North American Mission Board, says they’re “a family united by a mission.” Ronnie never had any reason to doubt that was true. But now, he and his family have experienced “family” in an unforgettable, Romans 8:28 kind of way.

“With Send Network there’s always been constant encouragement and a real feeling of, ‘You’re not alone,’” Ronnie says. “And there’s always been financial support that we couldn’t survive without. But now I know for certain that I can pick up the phone and call brothers out there who will do anything they can to help us. It’s so amazing to be connected at every level with something greater than yourself. I mean, I’ve seen those NAMB luncheons every year where somebody gets blessed and it’s awesome. But now to be one of those people, it’s just a beautiful thing. We’re eternally grateful.”

Tragedia convertida en Triunfo

Cuando una muerte espantosa amenazó con romper su corazón, Dios redimió la vida de Maribel Chávez y cambió la eternidad de algunos en el proceso.

24 de julio de 2024.

Ese fue el día en que el mundo entero de Maribel Chávez cambió.

Su esposo, José, había salido de casa un lunes del pasado mes de julio para hacer lo que ella esperaba que fuera un encargo relativamente rápido. Pero a medida que pasaban las horas y él no había regresado a casa, ella empezó a preocuparse.

Pasó un día. José seguía sin aparecer. Un día se convirtió en dos. La familia denunció su desaparición a la policía. Pasaron tres días, luego cuatro y nada. Siguieron buscando desesperadamente entre amigos y conocidos para ver si alguien le había visto.

Finalmente, tras cinco días de búsqueda, Edwin, el hijo mayor de Maribel, que ahora tiene 19 años, localizó a José en un hospital de la zona, adonde lo habían llevado después de encontrarlo inconsciente en una calle tras sufrir un derrame cerebral. Cuando la familia llegó al hospital, encontró a José conectado a máquinas que lo mantenían con vida.

“Cuando lo vimos conectado a tantas máquinas, nos quedamos muy sorprendidos», recuerda Maribel. «Lo primero que hice fue abrazarlo y decirle que por favor no me dejara”.

Él estaba inconsciente, pero ella sabía que podía oírla; porque lágrimas comenzaron a brotar de sus ojos mientras ella hablaba.

José falleció el 24 de julio de 2024.

Un testimonio poderoso

Maribel, miembro de la Iglesia Bautista Travis en español, sabe que Dios ha estado con ella y su familia mientras han navegado por el dolor provocado por la muerte de José. Incluso dijo que siente que Dios la había estado preparando desde principios de año.

Aunque había estado asistiendo a Travis en español durante dos años, dijo que no se había sentido muy conectada con la iglesia o con el Señor. Ella estaba, en sus propias palabras, «sólo usando una silla».

“Había dejado de orar y clamar a Dios, pero en enero de este año, tenía la urgencia y la necesidad de sentir la presencia de Dios”, dijo, “así que empecé a buscarlo en oración con todas mis fuerzas”.

Mientras José estaba en el hospital, lo único que Maribel recuerda haber hecho es orar. A través de sus intercesiones, el Señor le ayudó a darse cuenta de que el deseo que tenía de empezar a buscarle con urgencia era un llamado que Dios le hizo para que volviera a Él porque se acercaba una época de adversidad.

Se dio cuenta de algo más: la familia de la iglesia, a la que anteriormente no se sentía unida, en cambio se acercó a ella, proporcionándole lo que necesitaba material y espiritualmente y dándole ánimo continuamente.

“No tenemos familia cerca, pero tenemos una familia de fe que no nos ha dejado “, afirmó.

“En enero de este año, tenía la urgencia y la necesidad de sentir la presencia de Dios, así que empecé a buscarlo en oración con todas mis fuerzas”.

—Maribel Chávez Tweet

Maribel dijo que el ministerio de la iglesia hacia su familia hizo que una amiga suya, que no era cristiana, notara algo diferente. Esa amiga vio cómo los líderes y los miembros de la iglesia amaban incondicionalmente a Maribel y a su familia. El pastor principal de enseñanza de Travis Avenue, Ben Bolin, se mantuvo en contacto. También lo hicieron el pastor de la congregación en español, José Rodríguez, y su esposa, Lea. Bobby Bridge, el ministro de atención pastoral de la iglesia, también estuvo allí, mostrando una compasión y preocupación que le hacen sentir una profunda gratitud.

La amiga, francamente, no entendía lo que estaba viendo.

«¿Quién es toda esta gente que viene a visitarte?», le preguntó repetidamente a Maribel.

La respuesta de Maribel era siempre la misma: «Son mis hermanos [y hermanas] de la iglesia».

La amiga tampoco entendía cómo, incluso ante la tragedia, Maribel era capaz de mantener la calma. Maribel dijo que eso le preparó oportunidades para testificar sobre la paz que sólo Dios puede dar a través del don de la vida eterna por medio de Jesús.

“Estoy tranquila porque sé que mi esposo está con Dios”, le dijo Maribel a su amiga, girando la conversación hacia el propio estado espiritual de su amiga.

“Y tú, ¿estás preparada para ir con Dios?”, le preguntó a su amiga. “¿Sabes a dónde vas a ir [cuando mueras]?”.

“No lo sé”, respondió la amiga, “pero quiero estar con Dios”.

La amiga ahora ha escuchado el evangelio y asiste regularmente a Travis en español.

El Señor ha seguido usando a Maribel para hablar a otros de Jesús. Ella ha llevado a dos familias a Cristo, así como a sus tres hijos. Su hija Amy de 11 años fue impactada al ver la paz que Maribel tenía al saber que su esposo está con el Señor. Esto hizo que Amy viera su propia necesidad de Dios, así que aceptó a Cristo como su Salvador. Una semana después, Amy, Edwin y su otro hijo, Joshua, de 15 años, fueron bautizados.

Maribel dice que aprovecha todas las oportunidades posibles para hablar a los demás del Señor, dejando que sus momentos de dolor y ansiedad por «perder un pilar tan importante de su hogar” desencadenen conversaciones evangelísticas que calman su tristeza.”

“Cuando estoy muy ansiosa, voy a la calle en mi vecindario y evangelizo a la gente de la calle, incluidos alcohólicos y drogadictos», dijo. “Hacer eso me quita todo lo que estoy sintiendo en ese momento.”

Una iglesia, una misión

Para Rodríguez, el pastor de Travis en español, fue impactante ver cómo Maribel y sus hijos han estado testificando de Cristo y cómo Dios está obrando en sus vidas.

Él ha pastoreado Travis en español desde agosto de 2022, cuando comenzó a servir como pastor interino antes de ser instalado oficialmente en octubre. Él dijo que una cosa que le encanta de su iglesia es que el ministerio en español de Travis tiene la misma visión que la iglesia principal.

Desde que comenzó su ministerio allí, el enfoque ha sido en el discipulado. Como resultado, Travis en español ha visto un grupo de unos 45 asistentes florecer llegando a recibir hasta 140 asistentes por la gracia de Dios. La iglesia busca proyectar una visión en su comunidad de fidelidad bíblica, servicio y expansión del reino, enviando personas en misión al otro lado de la calle y alrededor del mundo.

Personas como Maribel y su familia.

“Uno piensa que una familia no volverá por un tiempo después de una experiencia tan difícil”, dijo Rodríguez, “pero ha sido maravilloso ver al Espíritu obrando en ellos, testificando de Cristo y perseverando en la fe”.