Baptist

Vol. 58 No.2

www.baptistdigest.com

igest

Newsjournal Of Kansas and Nebraska Southern Baptists

February 2014

Continuing Mission Opportunity in Arkansas

Cooperative Program

These small pink marking flags symbolize a huge new opportunity for New Hope Baptist Mission, Marion, Ark. (West Memphis area) The flags mark the location for a new building. Construction is scheduled to start this spring on a metal building donated by a local business. The church is located in Lakeshore Estates, a mobilehome community. Many of the residents there live in poverty. (See story on page 5)

Annie Armstrong Week of Prayer Coming in March

the Gospel in their communities and beyond

SHARING

their members into mission activities

SENDING

new churches to meet the spiritual needs of their communities

STARTING

STRENTHENING
their efforts to be healthy in membership and leadership

WWW.KNCSB.ORG The Thought Occurred to Me

By Bob Mills
KNCSB Executive Director E-mail: bmills@kncsb.org

By Georges Boujakly

Walking With the Master

On November 8th, 2013, Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) slammed into the Philippines causing massive destruction and loss of life. A city called Tacloban was one of the cities significantly impacted by the super typhoon. As of December the 5th, the death toll stands at 2,116 people in Tacloban. The 2010 census indicated that the population of Tacloban was 221,174. Some of the other statistics I gleaned from a Southern Baptist Disaster briefing indicated that Tacloban is a linguistically diverse city. A decade before the end of Spanish sovereignty, it was largely a typical colonial community: most of the residents were either pure Iberian families or the new generations of SpanishFilipino blood. Todays population consists of a mix of Spanish and Chinese mestizos, foreign expatriates and

native Leytenos. Its been more than two months now and we seldom hear about the Philippines and the disaster implications still at large in the country. As Southern Baptists we are responding through our Baptist Global Response and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Ministries. I mention all of this to sayyour help is needed. In the next several months we will be sending disaster teams to assist with rebuild projects and water purification concerns in the region of Tacloban. I want to encourage you to make plans now go and be a participant in this most important relief effort. Some of you might be able to make plans now with your employer, to take time off to be a part of the relief effort in the Philippines. In order to go, you will need a current passport and be willing to secure the appropriate inoculations. It is

also important to be in good health in order to work on a team of this nature. If you cannot go and would like to help, let me ask you first of all to pray for the people of the Philippines and teams from our convention. Another way to help would be to send financial assistance Bob Mills to the Kansas- Nebraska Disaster Relief Fund. Should you or your church be interested in participating in the Philippine relief effort please contact Larry Thomas at lthomas@kncsb.org or call him at 785-633-1799. Larry Thomas is our Disaster Relief Director for KNCSB.

Developing Christ Followers Did Jesus succeed in training his disciples to be like him? I believe so. Did the disciples become like their Master? I believe so. It took them a while, mind you. But thats the nature of discipleship. They kept training to be like him. That too is the way of discipleship. And they didnt go at it without a little help from their friends and fellow followers. It took the disciples the time they spent with Jesus and the rest of their lives to learn to live in rescue mode and develop new ways of thinking, behaving, and loving God and others. In Luke 6:39-40 Jesus used two metaphors of imitation that his disciples needed to learn. The first one concerned the blind leading the blind. He warned his disciples of disaster if they followed blindly or followed the wrong teacher and if they led blindly or taught not the ways of sacrificial love. Disciple and disciple makers enter into a relaGeorges Boujakly tionship of leader-follower. Both have a responsibility to be on the lookout and to not swerve from the ways of loving God and others. The relationship must be open and intentional. The Pharisees, with their blindness to the ways of love, were not the right kind of leaders or disciple makers Jesus recommended. One seasoned in the way of loving God and others makes the best leader and disciple maker. Jesus was fond of using the concept of imitation always pointing out that the servant or the disciple aspired to be like the one he served or like his teacher as he did in Luke 22:27, Mt. 10:24, and Jn. 13:16. In those days, disciples did not have public libraries and endless possibilities of learning. The disciple had only his rabbi as his source of information, learning, and emulating. For a disciple to claim that he surpassed his teacher was the height of presumption. But the aim of the disciple is to be like the one who is his teacher or disciple maker. The teaching is not bookish but lifeish. The responsibility of both teacher and disciple was to learn and to teach the

KNCSB State Director of Missions E-mail: gboujakly@kncsb.org

ways of God, the ways of sacrificial living under King Jesus. If the disciple makes it his aim to be like his teacher, as Jesus assures him, he will attain it when he is willing to be fully taught. He will be fit and equally prepared as his teacher is to face the rigors of life in the kingdom. The disciple will never surpass his teacher because his teacher is also fully engaged in completing the course of life with King Jesus. But he will be fully developed or knowledgeable and living in the ways of godliness like his teacher. He will then teach others what he was taught. Allow me to extend Jesus teaching a bit here. Hopefully there is no blindness in what Im proposing. The Christian life has an end in mind: for disciples to be like their teacher, for us to follow hard in Jesus footsteps. Ultimately, we are aiming all our training and resources to make disciples who make disciples who are whole-hearted followers of Jesus and who become experts in the ways of loving God and others. This is the aim of Christianity. The goals of Jesus is to make us Christian or little christs. But this is no quick job. It is done with focus and intention, it lasts a whole lifetime, and it takes a village to get it done, i.e. to learn to live in the way of godliness is: 1. Becoming godly (being conformed to the image of Christ, Romans 8:29) is a process of change over time. Do we grow and change by fits and starts (developmentally) or by quantum leaps (instantaneously)? What do you think? I have seen both at work in my own life. But the rule is: change happens in a process that takes time and training. But, we mustnt forget that Gods ways are not our
The Baptist Digest

ways. The day after I received Christ I lost all will and ability to swear. Thats a quantum leap. But most of the strides Ive made in following the ways of godliness have come by grace and training over time. 2. Becoming godly happens all our lifelong. Paul was still struggling to do the right thing later in life. John was still learning from God at the end of his life. Peter and James were challenged by Paul to continue learning. Peter tells us to grow (ad infinitum) in grace and knowledge of King Jesus (2 Peter 3:18). Even our Lord was still learning at the end of his life: He learned obedience through the things he suffered (think Gethsemane). The proof of the pudding of discipleship is in the tasting: living in love with God and others. Is our life savored by love? Do others taste the love of Christ in our lives? Are we known by how much we love God and others? Is this a faade or is it authentic? You and I know if our lives are characterized by loving God and by loving others. 3. Becoming godly is an interactive process, not a solo endeavor. It begins by the initiative of the Holy Spirit and it involves all aspects of our lives (cognitive, emotional, spiritual, moral, and social). It requires our individual intentionality and means (the means of grace, or the disciplines of the Christian life). It is enriched by interaction within the community of faith (iron sharpening iron, spurring one another toward love and good deeds, personal sharing, confession, encouragement of one another). A disciple will not surpass the teacher. But, when the disciple is fully formed over time, all their lifelong, in community, the disciple will be like their teacher who is committed to a lifelong of formation in community with others.
Local church and associational news may be submitted by mail, phone, fax or e-mail. Advertising policy and rates are available upon request Call 800-984-9092 or e-mail: tboyd@kncsb.org

FEBRUARY 2014

(USPS 018-942) Vol. 58 No. 2 Leadership Newsjournal for KansasNebraska Southern Baptists is published monthly 12 times a year. 5410 SW 7th Street Topeka, KS 66606-2398 Phone: (785) 228-6800 Toll Free: 800-984-9092 Fax: (785) 273-4992 E-mail: tboyd@kncsb.org Web site: baptistdigest.com
Periodical postage paid at Topeka, KS 66606 and additional entries. Send address changes to: The Baptist Digest, 5410 SW 7th Street, Topeka, KS 66606-2398.

POSTMASTER:

GUIDING PRINCIPLES: INFORM -- Regularly share information about ongoing training, curriculum, events, support and personnel. RESOURCE -- Serve as a resource pool for practical ideas about what is working in KS-NE congregations and how it relates to all sizes of churches. GENERATIONAL -- Cast . the widest net, providing stories and information that will appeal to all generations of Southern Baptists in NE-KS. FAMILY-FRIENDLY -- Be family-friendly with stories, regular columns and helps for families and leaders who work with families. AGE DIVERSE -- Publish s . tories that address the diversity of age, ethnicity, and geographical regions of KS-NE. MISSION-ORIENTED -- Publish stories about people and congregations involved in missions and regularly publicize ministry opportunities. PART OF WIDER MISSION - Help congregations discover that they are part of the larger work of the Kingdom of God through their ministries.

To give local news:

Advertising:

Editor: Tim Boyd, PhD. Associate Editor: Eva Wilson Printing Coordinator: Derek Taylor KNCSB Executive Director
AFFILIATIONS Association of State Baptist Papers Baptist Communicators Association

STAFF

Robert T. Mills, D. Min.

Gods Plan for Sharing

By Jon Sapp
KNCSB State Director of Evangelism E-mail: jsapp@kncsb.org

Sharing & Strengthening

hearts. Pauls prayer reminds us of how vital it is to live our lives with His light, wisdom and insight. If you are enjoying that depth in your own relationship with the Lord, then pray it for others. And then Pauls excitement overflows with the phrase, that we may know. Paul wants his readers, those that have not started their faith relationJon Sapp ship with the Lord, and himself to stand on the solid ground of knowing something. Knowing about hope, heritage and power are important to Paul. He presents these three resources as practical assets for our day to day life. I believe Paul relied on each of these as a prisoner in a Roman jail cell. Prison is not a place of hope. I believe the resource of experiencing the hope Paul had in Christ, made the prison stay bearable. Then Pauls editorial on how good it is to be a child of God is summed up with that we may know, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance in the saints. Eph 1:18. Again, I would find it hard to find anything very glorious from the context of a jail cell. But, Paul did. I have to ask, is that what we are enthusiastic about these days? Knowing the riches of being His child got Paul excited. Is that what you want for others to experience in a personal relationship with God through Christ? Those benefits or riches kept Paul in the middle of a tough situation. What a resource to pray for yourself as well as for those around your life. Finally, Paul prays that we all may know the immeasurable greatness of Gods power. Power, now I can connect to that. How often do we feel overwhelmed, tired out or just plain weak? How did Gods power play itself out? Read the rest of Ephesians 1. The resurrection and placing Christ as the head of the church sums it up. Power over death and the beginning of a completely new relationship with His followers, now that is power! And so, I was encouraged to pray these five gifts for those around my life that arent currently experiencing a relationship with the Lord. Here is my short prayer list: that God would give them a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, that their hearts would be enlightened and that they would know the hope of His calling, the riches of His inheritance and His power for all of us in our daily lives. This guidance for prayer has reenergized my desire to experience and live out Gods Plan for Sharing.

Presidents Perspective
By Andy Addis

God is crystal clear on what He wants. John 3:16 outlines that Gods love for all of us is so great that He gave. He gave, so that we may have a relationship with Him. According to Revelation 5:9, those in relationship with Him will extend to having believing followers from every tribe, tongue, people and nation in celebration around His throne. Our participation in both celebrating and sharing that good news is at the core of Gods Plan. Keeping passionate about sharing this good news is a consistent challenge for me. Recently, Pauls prayer in Ephesians 1:17-19 provided a fresh reminder of how I can stay ardent in this task. It begins with God. Paul reminds us to ask the Lord to give the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. That encourages me. Are you experiencing a growing insight of who God is? Do you enjoy hearing from Him as you read His word? If so, ask Him to do the same for those around you. If you are enjoying His presence, then pray for others to discover that same fulfilling experience. Pauls next prayer element is that we all may have the eyes of our hearts enlightened. Eyes of our heart enlightened, now that is a word picture. We feel, we care and we interact with others with our

I think the word pastor, in the original language, means dealer in conflict. Well, probably not, but if youve pastored for more than 15 minutes you know it should. I have had the microphone taken from my hand and been told that my work for the Lord was the same as that of the terrorists who destroyed the twin towers. I have been Andy Addis screamed at on a Sunday morning in the church foyer after changing the lights out on a workday with the claim that I have created the abomination of desolation and desecrated the temple. I cannot even begin to tell you how much bad theology is in the last statement, but it doesnt matter it all still hurts. Paul was writing to the church in Thessalonica knowing that his integrity had been questioned and his motives had been lied about in his absence. There were men in that congregation who were trying to destroy him at a distance.

KNCSB Convention President E-mail: andy@crosspointnow.net

Now, if I were Paul, I wouldve dropped the apostle card and sent some people directly to hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Probably a good thing Im not an apostle, eh? Pauls response is amazing! Its an attitude that he displays that takes Christian love to a whole nutha level.

First, find your position of thankfulness. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says, And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. The first thing he did to this gossiping, backbiting, character-devouring group of people was share that he thanked God for them constantly. If it wasnt in the Bible, I would think he is lying. But look closely, he is thankful not necessarily for them, or even their relationship. He found something to be thankful for he is thankful for what God is doing in them. Sometimes you have to look hard, but theres always a reason to be thankful. And even if someone is being difficult, ugly and out of Gods will, we can still be thankful that God has not given up on them and is using, even these moments, to shape them. Second, dont give up on intimacy with them.

2 Thessalonians 2:17 says, But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face. The language Paul uses here for these people who were being ugly and difficult looks more like a junior high schoolers puppy love statements: torn away, endeavored, more eagerly, great desire and face-to-face. This man obviously believed that these difficult people were still his brothers and sisters, and that he strongly desired to be near them. Most of the time we do just the opposite, the minute conflict erupts we run the other way and start disconnecting from them at every level. Third, never forget who the enemy is. 2 Thessalonians 2:18 says, Because we wanted to come to youI, Paul, again and againbut Satan hindered us. This is a huge, monsterously big, relationship changing, life altering realization when youre in conflict with someone else, they arent the enemy. The issue is not the issue. The problem is the devil. We must remember that every hurt feeling, every politicking skirmish and every stupid thing said or done is the product of the one who wants us to be divided. If we can remember this, we can make him the target and not one another.

The 2014 gathering of the Baptist Association of Christian Educators (BACE) on April 3-4, 2014 will explore the theme of The Bible and Missional Change. The conference will be held at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. This annual conference will benefit Christian educators from a variety of settings. Potential conferees include ministers of education, discipleship, and agegroup ministries serving on church and denominational staffs, as well as college and seminary professors and students. The theme states that in order for Christ-followers to truly live missional lives through missional churches, the ability to read the Bible is an essential foundation for shaping change management skills. On Thursday afternoon Dr. George Guthrie, author of Read the Bible for Life and Professor of Bible at Union University in Jackson, TN will explore The Bibles Role in the Missional Movement. Building on that essential foundation, Fridays sessions will focus on shaping change management skills. Dr. Jim Herrington, author of Leading Congregational Change and Team Leader at Faithwalking, will speak on becoming Missional Change Agents. A special feature will examine cultural considerations in missional change. Dr. Daniel Jong-Sang Chae, Executive Director of Amnos Ministries, will address the Korean context and John Ramirez, Strategic Partnership Director for the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association, will highlight the Hispanic context. For registration and details go to www. baptisteducators.org. KNCSB contact is Marie Clark, mclark@kncsb.org.

The Bible and Missional Change

FEBRUARY 2014

www.KNCSB.org Fresh Ideas for New Make Reservations Now for VBS Jumpstart Sunday School Classes
When a church begins new small groups or Sunday School classes, eternity is impacted. New hands are put to the task. Easy entry points are established. Members are more likely to invite lost friends. Peripheral members become involved. And Christians joyfully rediscover the outreach purpose of the church. Imagine what would happen if your church began lots of new classes this year. Need some fresh ideas? n Look at holes in your current attendance. What groups of people are uninvolved? What segments of your community are untouched? What types of new classes would include overlooked people? Example: About a third of adults in your town are unmarried (see www. census.gov). Are you organized to reach them? n Kick off a targeted new group with a themed study. For example, if there are lots of artists in your town, the class could begin with a short study of biblical art. n Ask church members to submit suggestions about needed small groups, along with ideas for leaders and names of people that might attend. n Challenge current classes to multiply themselves. The current teacher shares responsibilities and helps train a coteacher, and then some group members go with that teacher to begin a new class. Small groups in our church plant are committed to reproduce regularly, and 24 new Christians have been baptized as a result! Will your church make an intentional plan to reach new people for Christ by establishing new small groups?

Get a JUMPSTART on planning for your 2014 Vacation Bible School! Get great ideas and teaching tips at the VBS Jumpstart on March 1, 2014, from 9:45am-3:00 pm. Plan to be part of the 150-plus church leaders attending this statewide annual event held at Webster Conference Center in Salina, Kansas. Training will feature LifeWays Agency D3: Discover, Decide, Defend. Two-hour base conferences provide training for VBS Directors/Pastors; Preschool VBS; Younger Childrens Bible Study; Middle Childrens Bible Study; Preteen VBS Bible Study; VBS Music; Childrens Missions; Childrens Crafts; and Spanish Preschool and Spanish Children VBS. Afternoon electives include one-hour overviews of Student VBS and Backyard Kids Club, plus other VBS enrichment conferences. Those attending will experience practi-

VBS Jumpstart to Feature Spanish VBS

LifeWays Agencia 3D: Descubre, Decide, Defiende will be featured at the 2014 VBS Jumpstart. Leaders from Spanish-speaking churches can get great ideas, teaching helps, and have fun at VBS Jumpstart on March 1, 2014, from 9:45 a.m.-3:00 p.m. This statewide event will be held at Webster Conference Center in Salina, Kansas. Attendance in the Spanish-speaking VBS conferences has continued to increase in recent years. Francisca Bluvan returns as the trainer for Spanish Childrens VBS (grades 1-6). Gabriela Urena will again lead training for leaders of Spanish Preschool VBS (3 years-Kindergarten). Both women are

cal, hands-on helps to plan and lead their respective age-group activities. When its time for your churchs VBS, leaders will be ready to join Agency D3 Special Agents (the kids) for a week of fun as they examine eyewitness reports, physical proof, and biblical accounts to uncover and defend the truth about who Jesus really is. Registration for the VBS Jumpstart is now open. The fee of $15.00 per person is due February 18, 2014, and includes conference materials and a light lunch. Brochures were mailed to churches in January. For reservations contact Barbara Spicer, 1-800-984-9092, bspicer@kncsb.org or download a registration form at www. kncsb.org/ministry/bible_study. For additional information about curriculum or the VBS Jumpstart event, contact Marie Clark, 1-800-984-9154, mclark@kncsb.org.

n Life changes offer opportunities for new classes. Provide a small group for expectant parents or engaged couples. (They will evolve into new parents and newlyweds classes.) How about a class for recent retirees or college students? If your youngest adult class has aged a bit, add a new class for younger adults. n Your church ministries may provide opportunities for new small groups. Example: a church with weekday childcare could invite those parents for a new class. n Consider establishing a new small group for each decade of adults. Fresh new classes attract newcomers and others who do not currently attend. Provide a list of new members who arent active in a small group, as well as recent guests and uninvolved church members. Advertise the new class in your community. n Look at growing areas in your church. If the youth group is exploding, you might begin new small groups for parents of middle or high school students.

by Diana Davis Diana Davis is author of Deacon Wives, Fresh Ideas, and Fresh Ideas for Womens Ministry (B&H Publishing). www.dianadavis.org

Viola Webb Associational & State Missions Offering

FEBRUARY 2014

Cooperative Program The Life Blood of Missions in Kansas and Nebraska

active childrens leaders in Hispanic Baptist churches in Garden City, Kansas. Francisca and Gabriela will overview the five Bible study topics for their respective age-groups, as well as how to use curriculum resources for leaders and learners. In addition, those attending will get to experience some of the crafts, music, and maybe even a treat. Cost is $15.00 per person and includes conference materials and a light lunch. For reservations contact Barbara Spicer, 1-800984-9092, bspicer@kncsb.org or download a registration form at www.kncsb.org/ ministry/bible_study. Mail reservations by February 18, 2014.

I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. Phil. 4:13

KNCSB Goal: $215,000

Supporting Kansas-Nebraska Missions Causes 50% to Your Association 50% to KS-NE Missions Causes

Living

THE GREAT Commission

Your gifts to the Viola Webb Associational & State Missions Offering will make a critical difference for the work of missions in your local association as well as in all of the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists.

By Eva Wilson

Baptist Digest Associate Editor

Arkansas Church Brings Hope to Hard Places

As Kansas and Nebraska were bracing for a winter storm a few days before Christmas, torrential rain hit the MidSouth. Rain was threatening to fall as more than 100 people gathered on Saturday, Dec. 21, for the annual Christmas party at New Hope Baptist Mission, Marion, Ark. (West Memphis area) The church is located in Lakeshore Estates, a mobilehome community on the west side of Interstate 55, just north of the junction with Interstate 40. Most of the communitys approximately 800 residents live in poverty. Unkempt mobile homes are seen throughout the neighborhood. Despite No Littering signs, trash is everywhere. New Hope Baptist Mission seeks to bring Christs hope to this pocket of extreme poverty. First Baptist Church in Marion, the sponsoring congregation, serves as its partner. Pastor John Rech and his wife, Cathy, marked their 10th anniversary at New Hope in October 2013. In recent years several Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptist churches have worked with New Hope Baptist Mission through the Arkansas partnership. As a bivocational pastor, Rech works as a landscaper in his day job. On top of that, he juggled classes at Mid-America Seminary in nearby Memphis. He received his bachelors degree in Christian studies in May 2013. Earlier in his career, Rech worked as a corporate trainer. New Hopes facilities consist of three double-wide mobile homes. One serves as the worship center and the other two house classrooms and a kitchen/fellowship area. Hope House, a womens shelter, is located in a singlewide mobile home on the north side of New Hopes buildings. The county correctional facility is located on the east side of Interstate 55. Hope House often serves women who have been released from there and are trying to get back on their feet. During the 2013 Christmas party, the crowd gathered in the worship-center building. The children sang Silent Night. Then Pastor Rech brought a short message focusing on the three Wise Men. Rech urged the crowd to look beyond the Baby Jesus and accept Him as their Lord and King. The Wise Men returned home by a different way after they presented their gifts to the Baby Jesus. Their whole direction in life changed after they met the

ARKANSAS PARTNERSHIP

The church complex consists of three aging double-wide mobile homes. Plans call for erecting a new metal building this spring. It will be connected to the south side of the worship center. The church wants to keep using the existing buildings as long as they can be maintained. King, Rech said. After that, the crowd filed into the classroom building where the donated gift bags had been sorted by age and gender. Then the group went into the kitchen/fellowship hall building for cake celebrating the birthday of Jesus. The Christmas party took place in only an hour. After that, the torrential rain returned. Despite the gloomy rain, pink flags on the lot south of the church building symbolized a huge new opportunity for New Hope. The flags are marking the location for a new building. Construction is scheduled to start this spring. A local business offered to donate a 50-by-150-foot metal building if New Hope could raise the money to pour the slab and install the rough-in utilities. The church had raised about $2,000. Then in late July 2013 more money for the building project started coming in. The money came from all over the region, Rech said. Plans are calling for the new building to be attached to the south side of the present worship center. The new building will consist of a 130-seat worship center, six classrooms, a fellowship hall and kitchen, plus bathrooms with showers to accommodate volunteer teams. When the building is completed, volunteer teams will be able to stay on site. New Hope needs both money and volunteers for the building project. Volunteer teams are already calling, Rech said during the Christmas party. For more information, contact Rech at johnrech58@yahoo. com Contributions to New Hopes building fund should be sent to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 6, Marion, AR 72364. Make checks out to First Baptist Church and designate them to New Hope Building Fund. Constructing the new building will be the major priority this year. But New Hope always needs volunteers to help with outreach, both in the summer and throughout the year. Volunteers play a crucial role in helping New Hope reach its community. Theres really no group thats too small, Rech said of mission teams. Every mission team makes a dramatic, noticeable and remarkable change in sharing Christs light. Even lost people here testify about what God does through His church. Other needs include: n Donations of school supplies. These need to be delivered to New Hope by the third week in July so they can be sorted before distributing. n Help with building maintenance needs. The church wants to keep using the existing facilities as long as they can be maintained. With a complex of aging mobile homes, every week theres something new as far as repairs, Rech said. n Assistance with the annual Christmas party in December. Both gifts and volunteers are needed. Gifts for the 2013 Christmas party were a collaborative effort of churches in Arkansas, Kansas and Iowa. Woodrow Baptist Church, Prim, Ark., took the lead role in coordinating the project. We want to lead people to the Lord and disciple them because we know theyre going to move on pretty soon, Rech said. Summing up New Hopes ministries, Rech cited renowned spiritual leader Henry Blackaby: We just continue to work where we see God working.

FEBRUARY 2014

New Hope Baptist Mission, Marion, Ark. (West Memphis area), is located in Lakeshore Estates, a mobile-home community on the west side of Interstate 55, just north of the junction with Interstate 40. Many of the residents there live in poverty.

KS-NE Campers on Mission Serve As They Go

(This article includes information provided by Sue Marcum.) Kansas-Nebraska Campers on Mission use their skills and servant hearts to serve the Lord in a variety of settings. This winter several COM couples are serving the Lord in warmer climates. After 2013 work projects in various places, the group returned to Weir Baptist Camp, 12 miles southwest of Pittsburg, Kan., for the fall rally and a work project. They held a work project at the camp in late May 2013. The speaker on Friday evening of the fall rally was James Whitford, founder and director of Watered Gardens, a homeless mission in Joplin, Mo. Several COM members have served with Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Builders in wiring the new twostory addition to the Watered Gardens building just east of downtown Joplin. The following officers were elected for 2014: n President Larry Smith n Vice president Don Smith n Secretary Mary Lafferty n Project coordinator Norm Marcum Thirty-four people attended the fall rally. Nineteen COM members worked at the camp before and after the rally. The COM women continued to make beaded bracelets that will be going to Liberia with Maxine Thorne on a medical mission trip in February 2014. Thorne and her husband, Shorty, were long-time southJune 2013. It can accommodate 38 people. This brings the camps sleeping capacity to 189 people. COM members also worked on projects in the new addition on the southeast corner of the camp dining hall. The new addition consists of the clean-up area with a new dishwasher, plus a staff restroom and a storage area. They also did some remodeling in the camp kitchen and the camp managers home. Other 2013 Kansas-Nebraska COM work projects were held at: n Countryside Baptist Church, Americus, Kan. n Alpha Christian Childrens Home, Perry, Kan. n New Life Baptist Church, Independence, Kan. Here is a list of upcoming COM events: n May 2-4, 2014 KansasNebraska COM spring rally at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. n June 3-5, 2014 Campers on Mission National Rally, Glorieta Conference Center, Glorieta, N.M. For more information about Kansas-Nebraska Campers on Mission, contact Larry Smith at lrrsmth3@gmail.com.

KNCSB ON MISSION

SBC Annual Meeting to be Held in Baltimore, Md.

Although winter has its grip on Nebraska and Kansas, now is the time to make plans to attend the 2014 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. It will be held June 10-11 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Md. Hotel reservations are available on line. Find more information at http://sbcannualmeeting. org/sbc14/Hotels.asp The two convention hotels are the Hilton Baltimore and the Sheraton Inner Harbor. Both hotels are attached to the convention center. No shuttle service will be offered due to the recent decline in shuttle usage, close proximity of hotels, and the availability of excellent local transportation options, the SBC annual meeting website says.

east Kansas residents. They recently moved to Georgia to be near their family. The Thornes return to Kansas to visit family and serve at Weir Baptist Camp and Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. Before and after the 2013 fall rally, COM members kept busy doing a wide variety of projects at Weir Baptist Camp. They worked in Bethel Cabin, the second new cabin at the camp. Bethel Cabin was completed in time for Pre-Teen Camp in

Kansas-Nebraska Campers on Mission use their construction skills to serve at Weir Baptist Camp, 12 miles southwest of Pittsburg, Kan. Here Bill Streeter (left) and Curtis Kirkley work on cabinets for the camp kitchen during the fall 2013 Campers on Mission work project. The work project was held in connection with the COM fall rally at the camp. (Photo by Eva Wilson)

Show Us Your Glory will be the theme of the 2014 SBC Pastors Conference. It will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center. Speakers will include Rick Warren, Francis Chan, David Platt and Ronnie Floyd. The schedule will be announced later. Find more information on the SBC Pastors Conference website at http://sbcpc.net/

Kansas-Nebraska Campers on Mission ministered at Countryside Baptist Church, Americus, Kan., during a July 2013 work project. The church was formerly called Americus Southern Baptist Church. COM members removed the old name from the south end of the church building and painted that area. (Below) Gary Shaw (left) and Bill Streeter construct a new picnic table during the COM 2013 work project at Alpha Christian Childrens Home, Perry, Kan. (Photos by Sue Marcum)

FEBRUARY 2014

Week of Prayer for North American Missions s March 2-9

WWW Life Session Leader

Debra Bonds

Intimacy in the New Year

www.knwomen.com

The New Year is here. I hope you have planned to make intimacy a priority by starting out with an open mind and a willingness to step out of your box. Sometimes we have a tendency to limit God. We put him in a box as if to say what He can and cant do. The Scripture says in Proverbs 3:6, In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Remember, Gods Word is for every area of our life, not just some of it. In all thy ways - so intimacy

is included. All over the Word of God, it speaks about intimacy. So why are we covering it up? I truly believe that God is dealing with the sex/intimacy issues in our marriages. Yes, it is a sensitive subject and we will try to deal with it with much sensitivity and wisdom. For too long we have given sex and intimacy over to the enemy to do as he pleases. Take it back Christians! Husbands and wives, sometimes He gives us ideas and we are afraid to act on them. We are tight lipped when it comes to talking or studying about sex/intimacy, but God created it. If we are children of the King, led by the Spirit and know His voice, then what are we waiting for? Look for the upcoming articles to take us out of our box. WOW!! Get ready. Let go and let God!

Beverly Hilton

So why do we call it the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions?

KNCSB WMU President

Sarah Schmidt

KNCSB Womens Leadership, Childrens Resource Team Leader

It is time for us to start thinking of our annual Mother/Daughter retreat called GLOW. GLOW is a weekend designed for girls in the first-sixth grades and their mothers, or other significant women in their lives. Our theme for this year is Go! We will be helping the girls recognize that they are capable of doing missions. Our verse will be Acts 1:8, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. You will be my witnesses in all Judea and Samaria. And you will be my witnesses from one end of the earth to the other. (NIrV) This year GLOW will be held on Friday, April 11-Saturday, April 12 at Webster Conference Center. More information will be coming to your church.
Find prayer calendars for the

2014 Winter Olympics @ EngageSochi.org/pray

Annie Armstrong was born in 1850 in Baltimore, Maryland. She became a Christian at age 20 because she wanted to have the same peace in trouble her mother had. This began a lifelong journey of mission service. She saw the needs of those in her community: the immigrants, the poor, the sick, and the African-Americans in Baltimore. She saw the needs of those far from her: the Native Americans and the missionaries working with them, and in China. Annie loved to send boxes of clothing and other necessities to frontier missionaries. She insisted that every box have something to enrich the spirit. They often included toys for the children, helpful household items for the mother, books for the missionary pastor, money in the pocket of a new suit and candy for everyone. The boxes, which were usually barrels, were lined with a new quilt, and then clothes and other items packed within. Annie insisted that if you wouldnt wear or use the item yourself, then you shouldnt put it in a missionary barrel. She led a group of Baltimore women to make two hundred forty outfits for Indian children so they could attend the school established in Indian Territory. Annie wrote and addressed over 1200 letters by hand encouraging women to support missionaries with prayer and giving. She was dismayed that women of the Southern Baptist Convention gave only 3 cents apiece each year to support home missions and foreign missions, and she wrote to tell them so. Annie Armstrong led in establishing Womans Missionary Union and in support for home and foreign missions. She helped raise money to build churches in Cuba and on the American frontier. Lottie Moon wrote Annie requesting her help in raising money to send two additional missionaries to China. She also suggested a week of prayer and self-denial. The offering that first year was enough to send three additional missionaries to China. Are we willing to see the needs of those around us? Are we willing to travel to meet needs? Are we willing to have a season of prayer and self-denial to support Gods work because so many lost people are dying without Jesus Christ?

Just before the New Year began I found myself praying my to-do list to God. The needs were all very sincere and real as I read down my list. Do this, meet this, help this, heal this, protect this, and on and on I went. Be still (God always sounds like Morgan Freeman when He speaks to me), God said. What, I asked with my outside voice? Again God said, Be still, and know that I am God. (By the way thats found in Psalm 46:10) It was like being caught with my hands in the cookie jar! Guilty!!! Each year I challenge myself in growing up as a Christ follower, and this year my challenge became as clear as the nose on my face. When God tells you to shut up, in softer words, He gets your attention. So for 2014, my grow up challenge is spending more time listening to God than talking to God. Meshutting upsilence before God heart to heart communication. Its been incredible, and January isnt over yet! Know what Ive discovered? When talking to God my to-do list, it was more a brain-God path. In silence, as my heart talks to the heart of God, my prayers have deepened in a way Ive not known before. My heart has broken for Grayson and Janelle and Brady. It has sobbed for Danielle.

New Year, New Grow Up Challenge

It has nearly burst with joy over the work God has done in Val and Matts lives while their husband/dad is in his final days here on earth. God has led me into a depth of our relationship that is new and fresh and renewing to me. Here are some additional verses that Im letting marinate in my heart: Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7 Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray. Job 6:24 But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in Gods sight is very precious. 1 Peter, 3:4 How about you? Want to challenge yourself to grow up spiritually this year? Shut up and listen, God will let you know what needs work in your relationship with Him. A follow-up to my Holiday quest for serving and simplicity that I wrote about in the December issue of the Digest. For those who know me, you know details are super-to-the-obsessive important to me when hosting family and guests in my home, so youll find this hard to believeI left dirty dishes in my sink and on my counter over night! Such freedom! Yes, coats were inventoried and some were donated! And I love how God changed my plans in serving by nudging me to do things I had never donewhipped up a batch of homemade hot chocolate with French vanilla marshmallows and took to my neighbors shoveling snow off their drives, and brushed snow and scraped ice off cars just because God said to! Shiggaion Mari

11

February 2014

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March 21-22, 2014--Webster Conference Center For Leaders in Churches Running Under 150 in Worship Featuring Richard Blackaby

Youth Worship Arts Camp

March 7-8, 2014
You are encouraged to bring your 7th-12th grade students to the KNCSB Youth Worship Arts Camp. We are offering a variety of breakout tracks for participants in an effort to reach students with a variety of interests. These tracks are also designed to help strengthen existing ministries or give you and your students ideas on how to begin these ministries in your own church. The camp will be held on March 7-8, 2014 at Webster Conference Center in Salina, Kansas. The cost to attend is $30 per person. This fee includes a pizza fellowship following the Friday evening session, lodging at Webster Conference Center, breakfast and lunch on Saturday, as well as all music from the choir track. Track and registration information was mailed in January 2014. You can also check our website for updates at www.kncsb.org or call the Music and Worship Department at 1-800-984-9092.

WCC Update
1. WCC ended 2013 with record high revenues. 2. Bids and ground breaking dates for the Dining Hall Expansion Project will be discussed at the WCC Board Meeting on February 7th. 3. Three new members will join the WCC Board of Directors in February: a. Jeff Cody: Rose Hill, KS; South Central Association b. John Craighead: Eureka, KS; Southeast Kansas Association c. Danny Parker: Dighton, KS; Western Kansas Association 4. WCC Board Officers for 2014 are: a. Ron Loomis: President (Inman, KS) b. Carl Hubbert: Vice-President (Bellevue, NE) c. Linda Logsdon: Secretary (North Platte, NE) 5. The KNCSB/WCC Strategic Planning Team will meet on February 20th to continue finalizing the 2014-2018 Strategic Plan for WCC. 6. Associations can reserve dates for 2016 at WCC beginning February 16th. 7. Churches can reserve dates for 2016 at WCC beginning April 1st. 8. All other organizations can reserve dates for 2016 at WCC beginning May 16th. 9. To reserve dates at WCC, call Melinda Wolfgang at 1-877-WCC-RESV (1-877-922-7378). Thank you for your continued support of this mission facility as we continue to reach people for Christ and train believers for the work of the ministry! The WCC Staff The Clay-Platte Baptist Association is accepting resumes for Director of Missions. Candidates should be able to cast Gods vision and lead the association into a new era by helping churches fulfill their mission, foster partnerships between churches and starting new congregations. Seminary education with Masters or comparable education preferred. To see job description go to clayplatteba.org. Send resumes to: Attn: Leadership Council, Clay-Platte Baptist Association, 800 NE Vivion Rd., Kansas City, MO 64118 or e-mail to cpba@clayplatteba.org by April 7th, 2014. Suburban Kansas City church, averaging 400 in Bible Study, 450 in worship, seeking full-time Education Pastor with emphasis on children and young families. Send resume to: Search Committee, South Haven Baptist Church, PO Box 827, Belton, MO 64012.

First Baptist Church

Broken Arrow, OK April 4-5, 2014
We must not hide them from their children, but must tell a future generation the praises of the Lord, His might, and the wonderful works He has performed. Psalm 78:4. Childhood ministry associates from Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas/ Nebraska and Oklahoma have been planning and preparing for this event. Conferences are provided for workers in every age group from birth to sixth grade. Special areas such as music, missions, Bible skills, Church Weekday, camps and conferences for ministers are just a few of the sessions that will be offered. Keynote speakers are Jeffrey Reed, the Director of LifeWay Kids in Nashville, Tennessee, Sue Miller a leader, author, and gifted communicator; Dr. Scott Turansky co-founder of National Center for Biblical Parenting and Joanne Miller co-founder of National Center for Biblical Parenting. Worship leader for the event will be Anthony Evans one of Christian musics premiere male vocalists and worship leaders. Register by Monday March 31, 2014 and the cost is a special discount at $49.00. After March 31, the cost is $75.00. For Senior Pastors the discounted price before March 31, 2014 is free admission. After March 31, is 2014 it cost is$75.00. For online registration and information on lodging and schedule go to http/ www.heartofthechild.net

Association Seeks DOM

FEBRUARY 2014

Church Seeks Education Pastor