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At Truth & Peace , high school students learn leadership principles during a two-week intensive training conference each summer, followed with real-world implementation as part of the staff for the Vertical Three Conference.
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Upstream With Mr. Trout
BY ERIC K. THOMSEN
His name was Mr. Trout, and when he walked into our ninth-grade homeroom, a murmur of quiet laughter rippled across the class. Standing on tiptoes, he might have stood five feet five, but certainly no more. Nearly as round as he was tall, with a bald head, rosy-red cheeks, and a pointed beard, the comical character who beamed at us with his hands clasped across his ample tummy resembled the leprechauns often depicted on St. Patrick’s Day cards.
“Top o’ the mornin’, class!”
At his unusual greeting, delivered with a thick Irish brogue, our chuckles turned to spasms of scarcely concealed laughter, yet Mr. Trout never faltered. Within a few minutes, every student in the class knew education was serious business to this little man.
Interestingly, when I think back on that year, I hardly remember the amazing scholastic accomplishments Mr. Trout achieved with a bunch of small-town ninth graders. It’s hard to recall the long nights of study or his tests that pushed me to the limits of my academic ability.
Somehow, my memories of Mr. Trout the teacher have become confused with my memories of Mr. Trout the man.
I remember the amazement during P.E. on that first day of school, when Mr. Trout stole the basketball from the star athlete in our class, dribbled the length of the basketball court, and scored in spectacular style, bringing the ball around his back like one of the Harlem Globetrotters™ before laying it in smoothly. I laugh about the day he challenged the seniors to “tug-of-war” against us “lowly freshmen.” Using carefully taught and applied physics, we put Mr. Trout’s devious plan into action. I will never forget the shock on the faces of those mighty seniors when they toppled into the mud pit.
In my eyes, this little man accomplished his greatest feat when he helped an overweight, bashful freshman with geeky glasses and a bad case of acne find a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. As you might guess, I was that forlorn freshman, and it is no exaggeration to say Mr. Trout changed my life. Without his intervention, who knows where I might be today?
Nearly four decades later, I still ask myself how I can impact young people who need encouragement. The silent ones who linger on the edges, longing to be loved, included, and valued? And then I think of Mr. Trout, and I think his answers might sound something like this...
1. Identify the real problem. Troubling behavior is usually a symptom of a much deeper problem. Anger, despair, or isolation often indicate the presence of inner turmoil. Take time to find the real person behind the mask. Take time! Mr. Trout made it a point to interact with me outside the classroom, often changing his schedule to accommodate mine. He taught me to make lay-ups after school (though I never mastered the behind-the-back move), batted grounders to me at the baseball field, and often asked me to help on projects where my help really was not needed. He took time to find the real person behind the goofy glasses and inferiority complex.
Legacy of hard work...
Campinas, Brazil, was a far cry from Dave Franks' home in Marion County, Alabama. Arriving on the field, the young missionary met a host of physical, cultural, and spiritual barriers. Dave prayed and worked tirelessly, reaching the community through evangelistic outreach while battling the spiritual forces opposing him. During his first furlough, Dave met and married Pat Sturgill, a young nurse who joined Dave and worked in the medical clinic at the Campinas church Dave helped establish during his first term.
Over the decades, Dave and Pat served in many capacities in Brazil. aught classes both at the Bible institute in Jaboticabal and in local chools. They pastored churches in Jaboticabal, Pirassununga, Conselheiro Lafaiete, and Barbacena and established a new church in Horizonte. Theirs truly was a tireless ministry.
Why not make your own lasting legacy with a hard-working endowment through FWB Foundation to benefit IM, Inc.?
M I N I S T RY SERVICE and
The IM Stateside Ministry Team Serves Missionaries So They Can Share the Gospel
BY DON MATCHETT
What do you expect from your international missions sending agency? Or, put another way: what is IM’s purpose?
At IM, we often contemplate this question. It isn’t difficult to answer. IM labors with the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission. IM engages in and executes the task of the mission of God. It’s about the gospel!
The Great Commission instructs us to go, preach, teach, and baptize all nations. Essentially, the mandate is to make disciples of every people group everywhere on the planet. We understand this is what you expect when you partner with us in prayer and financial support.
Naturally, missionaries must be qualified, trained, equipped, and united in a central cause. This necessitates a stateside team who evaluates, trains, protects, empowers, and unifies. This team must be attuned to complex cultural and political landscapes while guiding IM with a thoughtful vision and clear goals. Furthermore, the team should consider the safety and care of missionaries. The team must be aware of current trends and utilize up-to-date technology effectively.
We also recognize the impact of students, church leaders, and lay members visiting mission fields. These volunteers experience and connect with mission works and workers. The cultures they experience, the people they encounter, and the need for the gospel in least-reached places are implanted in their hearts. They learn how to pray for the global church. In turn, they share their experiences with others — giving family, friends, and fellow church members a broader vision of the needs of the world. Some even answer God’s call to overseas missionary service.
This type of mobilization requires a team skilled in the logistics of helping students and adults experience God’s heart for the nations.
A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE
In Acts 13, at the beginning of the first missionary journey, Luke recorded the formula for a successful mission. The Holy Spirit instructed the church
to separate Barnabas and Paul (then Saul) for the work He had for them. The church accepted their calling and prayed, fasted, laid hands on the two of them, and sent them out.
At first, this seems like the end of the story. But when we read Paul’s letters, we see the churches remained thoroughly involved in supporting him and his missionary team through prayer, sending others, and providing financial support. God has always invited people everywhere to engage in going, sending, and helping in all facets of His mission.
RISKS OF GOING ALONE
Some may say, “All we need are missionaries. I don’t understand all these administrative costs.” However, missionaries and short-term participants without a support team are likely to face significant challenges and have a lower chance of success. Or worse, they may encounter failures in morality and integrity. They may even inadvertently cause harm to the people they wish to help.
When speaking to missionaries who work independently (not Free Will Baptists), I hear their frustration at being deprived of the necessary time to preach, teach, evangelize, and disciple. They spend too much time away from ministry. They often feel underprepared, untrained, and overwhelmed. Missionaries working alone face frustration, isolation, and burnout more frequently than those with a ministry support team in the States.
While at a conference for missionaries and agency leaders, I shared a room with an older missionary. He and his wife served their entire career in Papua New Guinea. Each night, he awoke screaming, showing clear signs of PTSD. Each morning, he recounted the horrors he and his wife faced while serving without a support team in the States.
I discussed the challenges of missionaries working without a team with Steve Torrison, an IM missionary currently serving with our Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) partner. According to Steve, “The immediate benefits of going out on your own seemingly outweigh having to ’jump through the hoops’
of a mission organization. However, the perceived benefits are deceptive. Not having a home team leaves you with nobody to keep you accountable or encouraged when stress and culture shock become a reality.
“Loneliness is the first thing likely to creep in,” Steve continued. “Missionaries who venture out alone, even with family, face greater temptations to compromise biblical and moral standards. They are more willing to take greater risks of failure, including moral ones. When failures occur — missiologically, morally, or otherwise — and they will, having a strong support team enables missionaries to find ways to repair and restore.”
Steve noted missionaries who encounter failure for any reason are more likely to feel bitter, depressed, and harbor negative feelings toward missions. They may even develop hostility toward the people they served.
A VALUABLE TEAM
Team support enables missionaries to concentrate on their primary mission of making disciples, free from the burden of organizational tasks. A robust system handles logistics, such as financial management, making missionaries more effective. A committed team offers emotional and spiritual support, vital for maintaining morale and resilience in challenging environments.
IM missionaries depend on a strong, capable IM ministry team to assist them as they share the gospel. From the moment candidates complete a “Let’s Get Acquainted” form until they retire, our IM team supports them every step of the way. The team ensures each one is qualified, doctrinally aligned, and prepared for the duties of a missionary, including fundraising.
The IM Board and leadership team play a crucial role in equipping missionaries with a strong missiological foundation, guiding them through selecting the most suitable mission field for their unique skills and passions. When applicable, the team assists new missionaries with integrating into the right team. The stateside ministry team’s contributions encompass a wide range of resources, training, and ongoing assistance enabling missionaries to thrive in their work. The team ensures each missionary is prepared and connected to a network to enhance his effectiveness in the field.
Everything the IM ministry team does is made possible by contributions from IM’s faithful partners.
AN ACTIVE ADVERSARY
Missionary work is not for the faint of heart. Missionaries encounter challenges from all sides — cultural, linguistic, spiritual, and emotional, along with attacks on family dynamics.
The adversary uses every tool at his disposal to create chaos. He uses individuals, religions, and governments to build barriers between missionaries and the community they seek to reach. Sometimes, this presents as a persistent, long-standing threat, such as when working among Muslims. Islamic barriers are expected and always present. At other times, trouble detonates like a bomb, impacting everyone nearby. Often “shrapnel” scars require long-term care. IM’s stateside team is vital during these challenges.
One thing is certain: the work of a missionary is not straightforward, organized, and tidy. The mission is clear; however, missionary work is often chaotic. This is why IM emphasizes resilience, adaptability, and flexibility as crucial traits.
Not long ago, I was on a video call with Tim Awtrey, the field leader in Bulgaria. He has seen and experienced the destructive path of evil on many fronts. During the call, Tim said, “Don, if it weren’t for the support of the office team, we wouldn’t be on the field.”
SERVICE AND MINISTRY
I would gladly exchange my title of director here at IM for “minister” or “servant.” My primary role is serving missionaries, helping them become better equipped, more confident, and more supported. I minister to churches when I have the profound opportunity to teach missiology and preach on the Missio Dei.
I also feel like a minister when I sit across the table from a financial partner, presenting new opportunities to engage in the mission of God. I experience this ministerial role when I speak with a pastor eager to learn what is happening on the mission field or discuss a challenge he is facing.
I would go so far as to say throughout the IM office, in every corner and at every desk, acts of service and ministry actively take place every day. Each act has one clear objective: it’s about the gospel!
So, what do we want from a mission-sending agency? The
answer seems simple: “We want to send missionaries to the four corners of the earth, and we want IM to ensure it happens.”
However, we must consider more. We need qualified missionaries supported by a team that helps them navigate inevitable cultural questions, challenges, and changes. Free Will Baptists need short-term missions programs to engage students (ETEAM, CMP) and church members (THP), sending them to mission fields to experience global needs and ignite God’s work in their own lives.
We need a stateside ministry team to allow missionaries to focus on their primary task: evangelism and discipleship. In contrast, the stateside team manages finances, logistics, and unified promotion. They provide accountability, unity, guidance, and confidential prayer. They meet emotional needs, soften re-entry, and much more. The IM office team and Board play a critical role in preparing and guiding missionaries through the ongoing financial support from partners.
YOUR VITAL ROLE
Just as missionaries who work without a support team may find their efforts hampered, the stateside ministry team’s effectiveness is hindered without the support of individuals and churches. Your role in praying, sending, going, and supporting financially is vital. The WMO is one way you can provide that crucial support.
We are excited about the opportunity to strengthen our IM stateside ministry team through your generous contributions. The IM team often encounters funding challenges, making your assistance even more crucial. We eagerly anticipate the impact of our collective efforts during the World Missions Offering on August 31.
I encourage you to make a personal contribution or invite your church to participate in this important initiative. Your support is vital to IM’s ability to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. We can’t wait to see the difference we will make together!
It’s about the gospel!
About the Writer: Don Matchett is director of development at IM, Inc.
MAKE A LASTING IMPACT
The IM General Fund provides lasting impact throughout the lifespan of a missionary — from the initial contact all the way to retirement. Through the General Fund, the stateside ministry team:
Recruits and Screens: Missionary applicants undergo a rigorous screening process to ensure they are qualified spiritually, physically, emotionally, financially, and academically to serve cross culturally.
Trains: The team trains and coaches missionaries from application to appointment to assignment so they are fully prepared for field service.
Handles Logistics: The ministry team relieves missionaries of the mundane (but important) minutia of financial, insurance, and retirement details so they can focus their attention and energy on ministry.
Provides Missionary Care: Missionaries are shepherded, discipled, encouraged, and celebrated by the stateside ministry team. When hardship, hurt, or heartbreak come, our missionaries know their team will provide the loving help they need.
Promotes: The ministry team continually advocates for and promotes our missionaries to our denominational base through media, printed materials, and in-person events.
Mobilizes: The stateside ministry team offers short-term mission trips for both high school (ETEAM) and college students (CMP) as well as humanitarian aid opportunities for anyone. These programs provide our best source of identifying and connecting with future missionaries.
Partners: The team’s influence reaches beyond our IM missionaries to our Legacy Partners and Field Partnerships.
GIVE to support each stage of a missionary’s journey and mission field: from pioneer to partner.
www.iminc.org/generalfund
When the MOVES SPIRIT
BY KENNETH EAGLETON
“Lord, I don’t understand why I am going through so many problems. I just can’t take it anymore. Maybe I would be better off if I just ended my life.”
My name is Aamir. I live in Lahore, Pakistan. The thoughts above kept going through my mind back in 2003. As a schoolteacher, what I earned was not enough to support my wife and two small children. I was depressed and contemplating suicide, but the Holy Spirit spoke two messages to my heart. The first: what about drug addicts? They are the true lost — physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The second message: helping drug addicts would be an avenue to reach Muslims with the gospel.
It was like the Lord told me to quit feeling sorry for myself and look around at those in far worse condition than me. Even though I had completed Bible school, I had not felt a calling to be a pastor. But I started going to the areas of town where many drug addicts could be seen living in the streets — hungry, wallowing in filth, strung out on drugs. I started talking to them, getting to know them, and sharing the gospel. I did street evangelism among them for the next seven years, helping as I could. Many came to faith in Jesus.
In 2007, on a trip to South Korea, I was introduced to Free Will Baptists and joined them. I returned home and started a house-church in a room of my
PAKIST A N POPULATION: 241.5 million (2023 census)
LAHORE POPULATION: 13 million (metro area, 2023)
RELIGIOUS AFFILI ATION:
Muslims – 96% (official religion) Hindus – 1.6%
Christianity – 1.4% (includes all branches of Christianity: Catholics, Anglicans, mainline Protestants, Evangelicals, and nominal Christians)
LANGU AGE:
Urdu (the fourth most used language among Frontier People Groups*)
Pakistan has the second highest number of Frontier People Groups* in the world.
* Frontier People Group (FPG) – Unreached People Group (UPG) with virtually no believers or movements of gospel proclamation.
family’s home with those saved through the evangelistic street ministry. I may not have been a good preacher at the time, but we had a great worship team and prayer team.
In our street ministry, I met two brothers, 15 and 18 years old. They were orphans and had gotten into drugs. We brought them to our house church and spent much time praying for their deliverance. Once again, the Spirit spoke to me. We needed to do more for these brothers and many other addicts. Despite the lack of funds, I rented a small, two-room house nearby. I asked our church members to contribute by preparing two meals a day for those we brought in. This is how the drug rehabilitation center started in 2010.
This tiny ministry has become a lighthouse on a hill. Word spread we had a drug rehabilitation center, and we started receiving many patients. We rented a larger house in 2012, and medical professionals started volunteering. The rehab center was named “Mera Beta” which means “My Son” in the Urdu language. We take care of physical and emotional needs, but above all we openly preach the gospel. Several times a day, the Word of God is read and explained. Both nominal (cultural) Christians as well as Muslims have come to faith in Jesus while going through drug detox.
This ministry is one of my greatest passions. It is the most effective way I have run across to share the gospel with Muslim patients and family members. They are open to hear what we have to say. This is very different from the rest of our society. We are surrounded by Muslims who are often hostile to the gospel.
The center treats around sixty people a month. Some families of those going through treatment contribute part of the expenses. However, we still struggle to pay rent and to provide bedding, medical care, and nutritious meals.
We want to develop vocational training that will allow participants to learn a trade and make a living. Many young people get involved in drugs because they are poor, are uneducated, experience discrimination, and have no hope for the future. Helping them learn a trade restores their dignity and hope.
The story above was taken from an interview conducted with Aamir. The house church he started in his home soon occupied the whole ground floor of the house. Eventually, the house which Aamir inherited from his parents was demolished, and a lovely three-story church building was erected in
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Decades ago, IM sent a Korean pastor living in the U.S. back to South Korea to evangelize and start Free Will Baptist churches. Several years later, with approximately 12 new churches, we discontinued our missionary support, but the churches continued varied ministries. This is when Aamir encountered them.
The churches in South Korea helped Pastor Aamir when he first started his work in Pakistan. The churches in Korea eventually disbanded and, except for some assistance from a retired FWB Korean businessman, the church in Pakistan was on its own. IM connected with the church during a visit in 2021, and a partnership was established in 2022. IM Global Partners are happy to be able to work together to further the reach of the Good News and assist with the work at the rehabilitation center.
its place. Pastor Aamir has also sponsored church planting in other areas of the city and other villages in the province. Under his leadership, independent churches have joined Free Will Baptists. A network of 60-plus places of worship has expanded into a movement, penetrating neighboring provinces.
In 2024, Aamir led the group to launch the Vocational Training Institute. It teaches sewing/tailoring, male and female hair styling, other trades, and English conversation. Students are impacting their community by using what they learn to serve the poor.
A troubled Christian, overwhelmed by the responsibilities of supporting his family and considering ending his life, listened to the touch of the Holy Spirit to consider those who were worse off than he. Following the leading of the Spirit, this hurting servant of the Lord obeyed and went searching for the lost, doing what he could to help others find salvation, hope, and freedom from addiction.
From street evangelism to church planting, to starting a drug rehabilitation center and a vocational institute, to leading a growing movement of multiplying churches to reach a spiritually dark place in the world — this is the result of someone willing to obey the bidding of the Spirit. This is the result of someone recognizing it’s about the gospel!
About the Writer: Kenneth Eagleton is director of global parnerships at IM, Inc. He and his wife Rejane served as IM missionaries in Ivory Coast and Brazil for nearly four decades.
Community I Mpact Efforts in Global Partnerships
One of IM’s Six Major Tasks is to “minister to people in need by helping alleviate suffering through spiritual, social, economic, and physical change….” Following are some initiatives which demonstrate God’s love in countries around the globe. As physical and socioeconomic needs are met, people encounter the truth of the gospel.
Food and Clothes Distribution to the Poor or Sick Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Panama, Pakistan, Central Asia, Cuba
Free Marital Counseling
Brazil
Provide Poor or Orphaned Children With School Supplies/Expenses
Brazil, Ivory Coast
Vocational Training and Tools, Micro-Loans for Small Businesses
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ivory Coast
Provide Wells for Clean, Safe Drinking Water
India, Central Asia, Pakistan
Christian Schools
Ivory Coast, Pakistan
Medical Ministries (hospital, clinic, medicines)
Ivory Coast, Cuba
Distribute Christmas Gifts to Children
Brazil, Panama, Central Asia
Minister to Children (after school care, Hope Centers, hygiene, birth certificates for school)
Argentina, Central Asia, Ivory Coast, Panama, India
Assist Victims of Violence or Persecution, Refugees
India, Bangladesh, Pakistan
Bible Translation
Bangladesh
Roof Churches
Ivory Coast
Bicycles and Motorbikes for Pastors
India
Drug Rehabilitation Center
Pakistan
Assist Families of Disabled
Cuba, Central Asia
Community Craft Gathering
Brazil
Adult Literacy
India
One of the beautiful parts of living in America is the rich diversity of cultures.
People from every part of the globe have moved from their home countries to seek new opportunities in the United States or to continue their studies. Others seek refuge here as a haven from their country of origin.
WAYS to Build International Friendships
BY KELLI PENN
As believers, we have a unique opportunity to build friendships with internationals in America. Many arrive with little or no knowledge about the gospel. Taking the time to befriend those around you will create unique pathways to share the love of Jesus with them and ultimately point them to the gospel.
Consider ten simple ways you can build friendships with internationals in your community:
1. Volunteer in an ESL (English as a Second Language) program in your local schools. Offer to sit and read with students as they work on their English skills.
2. Visit a local park and connect with young moms. Many of these young mothers are lonely and in need of a friend. This is a great way to interact with them.
3. Start a cooking class at your church. Invite internationals to learn how to create common American dishes and ask them to teach you how to make something from their culture.
Continued on page 43
IMp a c t Throu g h
BY STEVE LYTLE
Panamanian Daniel Dorati came to faith in Christ as a young teen. Daniel explained, “My mother was converted after attending the kindergarten graduation of my younger siblings at a Baptist church in Chilbre, Panama. Mom took all six children to church with her.” As a result, Daniel accepted Christ as Savior in 1966.
The Dorati family moved to Panama City a year later. Their pastor recommended they attend the Free Will Baptist church in their new city. There they met missionary pastor Tom Willey, Jr. “Pastor Tomás had a great impact on my life,” Daniel stated. “I owe much of my spiritual growth to his influence.”
As a teen and young adult, Daniel assisted Tom Willey, and later Pastor Gabriel Pérez, in evangelizing the communities of Cañita and Buenos Aires. He was also active in the First Church as a leader among the youth.
Steve and Judy Lytle arrived as missionaries in Panama in 1977. They planted the Bethania Church (Iglesia Bautista Libre de Bethania). As they prepared for stateside assignment — only one year after the church organized with 73 charter members and three deacons — Steve, Judy, and the church prayed about who should fill in during their absence. God placed Daniel on their hearts. Though Daniel had never served as a lead pastor, he was a seasoned evangelist with a pastor’s heart. He had passion, patience, and people skills. After much prayer, Daniel accepted.
Upon the Lytles’ return to Panama, a season of transition, adaptation, mentoring, and growth began. Steve and Daniel worked together over the next decade, and Steve became Daniel’s associate pastor in 1992. Under their leadership, a missionary vision and outreach characterized the Bethania
congregation. Over the years, Pastor Daniel led the church to begin or assist in more than a half dozen preaching points or church plants. They conducted medical outreach in underprivileged communities. They began an annual missions conference enabling the church to spread the gospel by giving, praying, and going, both in Panama and to the ends of the earth.
That first mission conference took place during Panama’s crisis years of 1987-89 under the dictatorship of Manuel Antonio Noriega. At the time, many people were unemployed. Yet church members responded with faith promises totaling more than a thousand dollars a month and sent an evangelistic and discipleship team into a nearby community to share the gospel. The congregation offered an inspiring example of bold faith and obedience. Additionally, the church met its monthly mortgage payment and other obligations.
Pastor Daniel mentored several young men in much the same way he himself had been discipled, mentored, and sent out by Tom Willey and Gabriel Pérez. Edwin Escudero is one of those young men. Edwin testifies, “Some friends invited me to a teen camp in February 2008 where I learned my first Bible verse. It was 1 John 2:17: ’And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.’” Edwin accepted Christ as his Savior and almost immediately felt God’s peace.
He recalls, “I knew God had done something in my life. I asked for forgiveness, and my sins were forgiven (Isaiah 43:25).”
Edwin grew in his relationship with the Lord under Pastor Daniel. Edwin describes Pastor Daniel as “one of the key pieces to help me keep growing as a disciple of Christ. His counsel, his prayers, and his rebukes helped mold my character.”
G E N E R A T I O N S
Daniel acknowledges, “I gave him counsel, and perhaps most importantly, helped him understand our failures aren’t forever, but the school God places us in so we will grow.”
Edwin enrolled at Chame Seminary (2011-2013) and came more directly under Steve and Judy’s leadership and influence. Edwin is convinced the years at Chame helped him learn not only more of the Word, but also how to become a better child of God. As the seminary requires of all students, Edwin served in a local church every weekend, gaining ministry experience. He delivered chapel devotions when it was his turn. Each afternoon he worked hard (along with the other students), keeping the facility clean and repaired. These responsibilities came in addition to daily classes and homework. Over those three years, the Lytles saw Edwin grow and mature both emotionally and spiritually. After graduation, he began to build a ministry résumé.
Edwin married Jenifer Pérez on February 22, 2015. Both grew up within a few blocks of the Bethania church. Edwin and Jenifer began dating when she turned 18 and Edwin was 22. Three years later they married. Edwin attended the Bethania Church, helping Daniel and being mentored by him. He later pastored First Church in Panama City (Parque Lefevre) for a short time. In many ways, this was a discouraging time for this young man who had never pastored, working in the oldest Free Will Baptist church in Panama. Later, he served part-time as an interim pastor in the Buenos Aires community where Jenifer’s relatives lived. Through those years, his heart yearned to return to full-time ministry. Then God opened the door.
IM’s director of global partnerships, Kenneth Eagleton, put Edwin in contact with Bright Hill Collective Foundation, previously known as Ship International, in El Salvador.
(This organization is one of IM’s partners.) What began as an orphanage became a school with more than one hundred students enrolled. Recognized by the Ministry of Education, costs are underwritten by donations (scholarships), with parents paying only a small monthly fee.
“We had never boarded an airplane or visited another country,” Edwin said. “After a week’s visit, we felt like we had returned to a place we knew, just hadn’t visited in a long time.”
Edwin and his wife Jenifer are now missionaries in El Salvador, sent by the Panamanian Association of Free Will Baptists. Working as missionary pastors, they hold weekly services and Bible studies. The Escuderos provide evangelism, counseling, and discipleship to school children and their families. Edwin requests prayer for their ministry, asking God to give grace and wisdom.
Over the course of more than fifty years, God has faithfully called, led, and empowered Free Will Baptists (Bautistas Libres) to accomplish His Kingdom work in the United States, Panama, and now El Salvador. Panama has matured from a mission field to a partner in the Great Commission.
Because of gifts to missionaries, Panama, and the WMO, the Escuderos are well prepared to take the gospel to children and their families in El Salvador. It’s about the gospel!
About the Writer: Steve Lytle and his wife Judy served more than three decades as missionaries to Panama. Steve later accepted a role as administrator and professor at the Free Will Baptist seminary in Chame before returning stateside to serve in the IM office.
Simple Methods, Unchanging Message
BY BARRY RAPER
2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-6
The Coca-Cola™ brand is among the most recognizable in all the world. Over the years, the company has used various advertising slogans to sell its product. In 1906, during the Temperance Movement, the slogan was “The Great National Temperance Beverage.” In 1917 and 1925, the company focused on the number of drinks sold per day: “Three Million a Day” and “Six Million a Day.” Other interesting slogans included: “Pure as Sunlight,” “Where There’s Coke, There’s Hospitality,” and “Red, White, and You.”
Companies change messaging all the time to keep up with competitors and to reach both existing and new customers. But what about the church? Does the church need to change its messaging to reach newer generations? Some say yes. They want the church to “modernize,” to discard anything negative or off-putting, and adjust its messaging to win people today. However, in 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, we find clear biblical teaching about the methods and message of the church.
Simple Methods (verses 1-2). Ministry comes through the mercy of God. Not only is our salvation an act of His mercy and grace, but God also calls and equips us in His mercy. He could accomplish His will without us, but He chose to use ordinary people like you and me to carry out His work.
Paul was careful to approach ministry the right way. He and his fellow laborers had renounced dishonest, crafty, deceitful ways (verse 2). Other versions translate this underhanded or disgraceful. The term underhanded is an especially visual translation, suggesting one hand holds something that is covered by the other hand. It describes trickery, deceit, or sleight of hand, with the goal of doing the other person wrong.
The word crafty describes someone cunning, someone good at talking others into something while hiding the consequences. They are like fishermen, hiding the hook from their prey. Paul refused to mix other ideas and notions with the Word of God or to change it to fit his own purposes. Deceitful methods are simply an extension of Satan’s work in the world. In Genesis 3, the great tempter followed the same deceptive pattern reflected in Paul’s words.
In contrast to deception, Paul described the gospel ministry as manifesting — or making an open statement — of the truth. Our task is to speak the truth of God’s Word in love while manifesting or demonstrating how a Christian should look, how a church should look. When we carry out our ministry this way, Paul said we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience before God. In other words, Paul said, “I have nothing to hide. You have seen my life up-closeand-personal. You know me — my lifestyle, my work ethic, my attitudes. My entire life is lived in the sight of God. He knows it all, and nothing is hidden from Him.”
You might be thinking to yourself, “I thought this was supposed to be about methods. He hasn’t even mentioned methods.” But I have. This is God’s simple way, the simple method He uses to change the lives of people in the world: speak and live the truth plainly. God transforms the life of one person and then uses that person to speak and live the truth out in front of another person.
When you think about methods, consider two familiar examples from the modern church. Sunday School (teaching people the Bible in small groups) has worked since it began in the nineteenth century. What makes it successful is the core structure: ordinary people getting together on a consistent basis to study and be changed by the Word.
What about Vacation Bible School? At our church, this summer event is exciting (to say the least) and incredible to witness. The decorations, energy (both kids and workers), fun music, and creative snacks. But what really makes VBS successful? Once again, it comes down to people whose lives have been transformed by God reaching out to children with the gospel. We must speak and live the truth plainly
Simple Message (verses 3-6). Paul wrote bluntly about sin. Working from what he said in the previous chapter, Paul emphasized when the gospel is hidden or covered, it is the direct work of the evil one. Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the glory of God reflected in the person of Jesus. Paul described these individuals as “lost,” or “perishing,” as the word is sometimes
translated. Both the word for hidden and the word for lost denote an ongoing state. The human condition outside of Christ is a dark, ongoing state of perishing.
In verse 4, notice that seeing the gospel light isn’t just a matter of simply choosing to see it. Seeing the light of the gospel requires the work of the Holy Spirit. These lost individuals cannot see the light of the gospel on their own.
Perhaps you have seen an ambiguous image, sometimes referred to as a reversible figure. The image, whether a picture or painting, might be a duck, but it also can be a picture of a rabbit. One person immediately sees the duck, another the rabbit. If you are the one who sees the duck, the other person can help you see the rabbit and vice versa. These pictures are fun, but the “picture” we find in this passage isn’t like that. We see the glory of Christ in the gospel, but people perishing in unbelief cannot see. And their sight doesn’t come simply because we “point out” the gospel to them. They can only see and accept the gospel through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.
Next, Paul shared a simple message of salvation: “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Our message is the unchanging good news of Jesus, the eternal Son of God, born of the virgin Mary, who lived a sinless life and died a substitutionary death on the cross. On the third day, He rose again from the dead. He ascended to Heaven and now sits at the Father’s right hand. Repentance from sin and faith in Him and His saving work is the simple message to be shared with all the world. Anyone who turns to Him finds forgiveness and eternal life. This is our message.
I believe every sermon in church should draw a connection to the person and work of Jesus. As a pastor preaches through the Word of God, even when the sermon text is centered on giving or tithing, it can still be connected to the person and work of Jesus. Or what about a passage on forgiveness? We still draw an obvious connection to the gospel, as we forgive others because God in Christ has forgiven us. The Bible is a book about Jesus. And the church is not about
promoting ourselves but rather proclaiming Jesus. We proclaim Jesus with the attitude of a servant. We are saved by Christ to serve Him and His people. If you have read Paul’s letters, you already know this was his most common way of referring to himself — as a “bondservant” or “slave” of Jesus.
How does this serving attitude manifest itself in the church? Countless ways! Pitching in wherever you are needed. Working behind the scenes. Finding your spiritual gifting and putting it in action. No role is too big; no role is too small. Service should happen as a normal and organic thing in the life of the church.
Feet washing provides an excellent picture of this posture of our lives. You see, we cannot simultaneously make much of Jesus and ourselves at the same time. We must remember our position as servants and His place or position as glorious and gracious Lord of our lives. And we proclaim Him.
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts” (verse 6). This is the language of a new creation. Paul was clearly referencing the creation account when God said, “Let there be light.” Here, Paul connected it with the work of God in salvation, His new creation as He gives life and light to people who repent and believe. We don’t need to alter or adjust this simple message. We dare not do that. Instead, we must proclaim it faithfully.
Sure, companies like Coca-Cola probably need to change their messaging from time to time. This is not the case for the church. They are selling a product; we are sharing a Savior. We all know family members, friends, and coworkers who need Christ. How will they be reached? Through God’s simple method: ordinary people — like you and me — must share the unchanging message of the gospel.
About the Columnist: Dr. Barry Raper pastors Bethel Free Will Baptist Church near Ashland City, Tennessee, and teaches pastoral ministry classes at Welch College.
Around the World
Côte d’Ivoire — Pastor Samuel Ouattara and his wife Nina were commissioned as missionaries to Togo, West Africa, on Sunday, March 2, by the Shalom FWB Church in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. They will train and mentor unaffiliated Togolese lay pastors interested in joining Free Will Baptists and also engage in church planting. Their efforts are a joint project of the Ivorian National Association, the St. Nazaire FWB Church in France, and IM.
Cuba — Two people were saved Sunday, May 18, at the San Francisco FWB Church in the greater Havana area of Cuba.
Brazil — April 6, nine young people followed the Lord in baptism at the Jaboticabal FWB Church in Brazil.
Bulgaria — Around 100 people attended the March student-led worship night outreach in Pleven, Bulgaria. “It was incredible to see our church building full of Muslim and Hindu young people,” wrote Amy Postlewaite. “They heard gospel truths for the first time and made deeper connections with believers. Please pray for God to continue watering the seeds sown. Pray He would continue to give wisdom to our student leaders who are seeking to share the gospel with their friends!”
Pakistan — The vocational institute in Lahore, Pakistan — a ministry of Pakistani Free Will Baptists — graduated 38 students in February. Students excelled in sewing/tailoring, hairstyling, and English language, skills that allow the young people to stand out in a competitive job market or start their own businesses.
Côte d’Ivoire — The Agnibilekrou FWB Church held a three-day evangelistic campaign in the nearby village of Assikasso the end of February. They visited people in their homes, delivered groceries to needy families, and held open-air evangelistic services. More than fifty people made salvation decisions. Kenneth Eagleton urged, “Pray for a new church plant in this village.”
Cuba — During youth camp in Cuba, the young people received evangelism training. In May, the youth in Bayamo put the training into practice by organizing a sports activity where they shared the gospel and distributed tracts and Bibles.
Brazil — Three people were baptized on Sunday, April 27, at the Nova América FWB Church in Campinas, Brazil.
Panama — Saturday, April 13, the FWB Seminary of Panama, in partnership with Welch College (Gallatin, TN), awarded 14 Panamanian students Certificates in Bible and Ministry. This was the first fruit from the partnership.
Cuba — The mission church in Guayabo, Cuba, organized as a FWB church with a dedicated pastor in time to hold their first service on Easter Sunday in their new building.
Bulgaria — Sunday, June 8, six people from the three churches in Shumen province followed the Lord in baptism.
Panama — On Saturday, May 10, the youth of the Chame FWB Church in Chame, Panama, spent time in the city plaza engaging people in evangelistic conversations.
Panama — Oscar Barrera and Daniel Rodriguez became ordained pastors in May.
Uganda Churches Organize FWB Association
Uganda — Thursday, May 29, 2025, twenty churches united to form a Free Will Baptist association in eastern Uganda. This followed a year of discussions, training, and seminars.
IM’s Director of Global Partnerships Kenneth Eagleton and Assistant Director of Global Partnerships Jaimie Lancaster traveled to Uganda in April touring the area, talking with pastors and leaders, teaching Free Will Baptist distinctives, and confirming doctrinal stances. After a three-day seminar with about 50 pastors from various Baptistic backgrounds, 12 pastors affirmed their desire to join Free Will Baptists. Other pastors needed to do more investigation and praying. A few pastors acknowledged their doctrine did not align.
The April trip solidified the relationships and deepened the discussions begun during a June 2024 trip to the area.
“Pray for them,” Kenneth requested, “as they work together in evangelism, church planting, discipleship, and training. Pray also for us as we evaluate the best way we can come alongside them.”
Faith Comes by Hearing
Bulgaria — On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, Varna New Life Church joined other Protestant churches in Varna to host a Public Bible Reading. Trif and Vanya Trifonov worked
tirelessly to help orchestrate and promote the event. Prominent townspeople — politicians (including the mayor), judges, doctors, composers, sports figures, etc. — read selected passages. Most had never read the Bible previously.
Organized around the national celebration of the Bulgarian (Cyrillic) alphabet, which was designed to allow the Bible to be translated into the people’s language, the event was held at an art gallery and well attended. A string quartet performed well-known classical works by Bulgarian composers. The live-streamed event continues to be viewed.
Trif requested, “Pray the people who read the Bible, and those who watched, will become hungry and thirsty for His Word and Truth. Pray they will continue reading the Word and let the Spirit change their hearts!”
R E CIPIE N TS of Your Generosity
BY KRISTI JOHNSON
Daniel and Karah were appointed to serve with The Hanna Project, an IM partner, in April 2023. The couple received kickstart funds and ministry team support from IM. Kristi Johnson, IM’s development communications manager, invited them to talk about their journey and the way these funds and support impacted their fundraising efforts.
Kristi: Describe your emotions and what was going through your minds on the day you were officially appointed.
Daniel and Karah: We both felt nervous and excited. We thought about how this moment had been many years in the making. We have wanted to be part of the work of spreading the Good News overseas for a long time and felt honored the Father was allowing us to serve Him in this way.
With all the excitement also came the realization we’d soon start the fundraising process. Neither of us knew what to expect or how to begin. The only thing we knew — and what people kept telling us — was it would be hard.
How did your fundraising start?
Before fundraising even began, our car died. (It held on as long as it could.) We knew having a reliable car is essential for fundraising, and we were uncertain how to proceed. We also knew if we asked to use a car from The Hanna Project, our account would go into the negative. [Spoiler: Thankfully, this didn’t happen due to the kickstart money from the WMO!]
In addition, we were in the middle of graduating college and moving to another state. With moving came searching for jobs that would offer us flexibility for fundraising. When we received our budget, fundraising felt like a huge task.
We found part-time jobs, which allowed us to fundraise part time. However, after six months, we’d barely hit 10% funding. This was partly due to being unable to raise funds full time. To say we were discouraged would be an understatement.
Unfortunately, a rocky start and initial hurdles are not unusual. What things helped you overcome these?
Once our stateside team stepped in and taught us how to fundraise, we felt much better. They were an enormous help and made it possible for us to start sharing with churches
immediately. We also began working with a fundraising coach (provided by our stateside team), learning new techniques. The coach encouraged us so much, and we really could not have reached fully-funded status without the extra help.
We were reminded of the expression, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Step by step, day by day our team helped us tackle this large goal. We are so grateful for them and all the work they do every day!
How did you feel when you learned IM was giving you some WMO funds to help your account?
We were elated! We were thankful and relieved. Because of the WMO, we were able to get a car from The Hanna Project without sending our account into the negative. Those funds and the car gave us a great jumpstart in fundraising. From the beginning, we’ve not worried about our account going into the red, and we praise the Father for that! We thank everyone who gives to the WMO for making that possible!
Describe the day you got the call you were fully funded.
We were returning from a fundraising trip in North Carolina. We’d stopped to spend the night in Nashville and check out our favorite bookstore. We received the call while looking at books. What a quiet place to hear such good news! We wanted to jump up and down and yell, but we tried to celebrate quietly. Once outside, we literally jumped and shouted for joy! We were overwhelmed with gratitude to the Father. We felt the amazing sense of “it’s really happening.”
What are your immediate plans for getting to the field and getting settled?
Right now, we are waiting for our visas to be approved. Once they are approved, we will book flights and hopefully leave the same week. It has been a long time of waiting and preparing. We are eager to get to the field and begin the work. We will stay in a short-term rental once we arrive. We’ll have to obtain Spanish bank accounts and phone numbers before we can find an apartment to rent long-term.
What will your early ministry be like on a day-to-day basis?
Most likely it will consist of working in the community center with our teammates every day. We’ll work in food distribution, a craft co-op, and a soccer program. We’ll start building our language skills. Karah will take daily Spanish classes for the first few months. We’ll begin building relationships and start finding ways to become part of the community.
If you had NOT received the kick-off money from the WMO, how would it have impacted this journey?
Without the funds from the WMO, it certainly would have taken us much longer to become fully funded. The process would have been more stressful and difficult, because it would have taken us longer to reach the point where we could fundraise full time. Either we would have started “in the hole” with a loaner car from THP or would have been further delayed in fundraising efforts. We are immensely thankful for the kickstart money from the WMO.
If not for the initial boost to our account, it’s unlikely we’d be waiting for visas now. We’d probably still be fundraising!
Would you like to add anything else?
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone supporting and giving to the WMO. Because of your giving, we can go to Spain to share the good news with those who have never heard. Your giving makes an eternal impact in the lives of people all around the world. We are blessed by the Father to be a blessing to others. Through your support and giving to the WMO, you have done just that. Thank you so much!
The WMO supports new missionaries and workers with funds to kickstart their fundraising journey. This relieves some of the stress and chaos around the beginning of fundraising. The boost to their accounts builds confidence and helps workers get to their fields to share the good news faster. It’s about the gospel!
TEACHING CHILDREN TO BE CHRISTIANS
A BOOK REVIEW BY MATT PINSON
Few children’s ministry books place emphasis on deep biblical and theological teaching. However, AWANA president Matt Markins’ latest book is just that sort of book. It’s a must-read for forging a practical ministry for the theologically-minded pastor who wants to see young people continue to confess the faith once delivered to the saints and not simply follow what the sociologist Christian Smith has called “moralistic therapeutic deism.”
The Faith of Our Children: Eight Timely Research Insights for Discipling the Next Generation is a refreshing addition to the literature regarding children’s ministry. It’s based on eleven research projects commissioned by AWANA over the past decade with research groups such as the Barna Group, 5by5, and Excellence in Giving.
Like other recent children’s ministry books, it emphasizes that waiting until the teenage years to start prioritizing children’s spiritual, worldview, and moral development is a mistake. Yet unlike many books in that genre, this book breaks new ground by moving away from attractional and quantitative models of ministry (which prioritize numbers of attendees) to a missional model that emphasizes Christian truth and formation.
Markins emphasizes we are now in a “secular age,” on a mission field where we must seek to foster countercultural witness shaped by authentic Christian community rooted in deeply biblical ways of thinking and being in the world.
After emphasizing the “goal,” the “desired outcome,” of the church’s work in the faith-formation of children being the “lifelong discipleship of our children” (7), Markins examines three findings from AWANA’s decade of research about the greatest needs of churches in children’s spiritual development. Part one explores “Formations.”
Relationships. “The single most catalytic factor to influence the formation of lasting faith in children is loving, caring, adult relationships,” Markins writes. Yet this research reveals that only 40% of children in churches (ages 5 to 14) have a “meaningful relationship” with an adult (21–22). Children with a meaningful relationship with an adult, however, are two to three times more likely than those without such a relationship to understand basic biblical and Christian worldview principles, practice spiritual disciplines, and be engaged in the life of the gathered community.
Bible Engagement. The second factor in lasting faith formation in children is what Markins calls “Bible engagement.” He believes this has been low on the priority list for many evangelicals. While the educational and entertainment establishments were becoming more and more secularized in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, Markins observes “the church in the U.S. was simultaneously moving toward a popular-level Bible-Lite Strategy” (32).
What does he mean by “Bible-Lite Strategy”? Essentially, to emphasize moralism without a deep understanding of the gospel and the Christian worldview seen in redemptive history, in the biblical understanding of Creation, Fall, redemption, and restoration (33).
“Our children are drowning in powerful secular cultural narratives that have formed a storytelling superstructure that’s all about hyper-individualism” (33–34). Yet the trend has been that churches reinforce this individualistic narrative rather than provide children with a biblical counter-narrative.
If we “want lasting faith in our children,” Markins stresses we must dig that foundation even deeper. “When we do, we fill it with not only a Scripture-rich environment where kids’ lives are saturated with the Bible, but we also give them the gospel worldview that’s far more satisfying than the empty promises of hyper-individualism” (36).
But a look at practice in churches indicates that while 91% of children in church “study the Bible” at least weekly, only half “learn about a biblical worldview” (41). The Bible-Lite Strategy might teach children morals, but they often “walk away without any sense of origin, understanding of sin, redemption, and salvation, personal relationship with Jesus, or practices of walking in faithfulness to Jesus” (41–42).
Culture. The third most important factor in children’s faith formation is the “context of increased secular cultural formation”
in which they’re immersed (45). We must not simply “protect” our children from secular culture but must also “prepare” them to be a counter-cultural witness within the culture (46–47).
Markins argues we’ve been too focused on making children’s ministry “the greatest hour of a child’s week.” He admits this is a noble goal, yet we’ve been too worried about “production value, the skit we worked on so diligently, or the latest children’s ministry video.” However, these are not what leads children to deeper faith. It’s Bible engagement in the context of rich mentoring relationships with adults. Children’s ministry can be “the greatest hour in a child’s week” only when we emphasize “highly relationship, Scripture-rich environments” (49).
Again, this means dealing with Christian worldview issues, addressing areas such as how Christians should view social justice, sexuality, pornography, bullying, loneliness, social media, depression, racism, self-harm and suicide, school shootings, and sexual identity (52–53). Markins urges children’s workers in the church to read more broadly.
These book recommendations (see inset below) are refreshing in our current evangelical subculture of fascination with pop culture, shallowness, and “dumbing down” of religion.
After discussing “Formation” in part one, Markins discusses “Systems” in part two. He laments the “systems” of children’s ministry over the past generation “have invested significantly in an attractional model of ministry that focuses on numerical growth but does significantly less to form deepening faith.” He further notes, “We spend massive amounts of time, money, energy, and human capacity on making our weekend experiences and special events more entertaining and fun, but we find ourselves wondering if it’s just more entertaining cultural noise” (61).
MATT MARKINS’ BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
Reappearing Church by Mark Sayers
A Secular Age by Charles Taylor
Our Secular Age edited by Collin Hansen
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Pete Scazzero
Markins contends we must move from these outmoded systems to more authentic systems rooted deeply in the Christian wisdom and practice taught and modeled in Scripture. “As painful as this reality may be, the data is showing us in the West that our systems may be incongruent with our goal of forming lasting faith in our children” (61). He discusses four areas where “systems” of faith formation in children must shift.
Time. Research shows “the way children’s ministry leaders spend our time does not match our desired objectives” (65). Parents and church leaders are too entertainment-driven in activities and life structure. Church workers who engage in children’s ministry are too busy. Even professional children’s workers spend too much time on busy work and administration, not enough on building relationships, mentoring, teaching biblical truth, and equipping parents to do these things.
Markins’ research shows definitively that parental involvement is most important in a child’s spiritual development. Yet only one-fourth of professional children’s ministry leaders spend six hours or more a week equipping parents to form the faith of their children and create an environment saturated in a biblical vision of the world. The greatest priority for churches is to equip parents, Markins stresses, and congregations must work to recalibrate their systems to this end.
Because of secularization, the church must learn to function more in a “Babylon” context than a “Jerusalem” context.
Fun. Chapter 6, simply titled “Fun,” is perhaps the most countercultural (even controversial) chapter in the book. Markins quips that “when it comes to having fun,” evangelicals are “outperforming our own expectations” (81). It’s not that children shouldn’t have fun, he stresses. But he also asks, “Have we unknowingly given entertainment and relevance too much priority in our kids’ ministry?” (81).
His answer is yes. Again, while not against children having fun, he suggests — I think rightly — that we’ve made entertainment and cultural relevance the driving factors in ministering to youth and children. Yet we haven’t looked critically enough at the value-laden assumptions behind entertainment and cultural relevance.
Increasingly, studies reveal the attractional model is failing. Yet “it is what we do best.” So, it’s the ministry model we keep pushing (82). Markins argues this outmoded ministry model that many churches are still using, which prioritizes entertainment and cultural relevance, is the least relevant for ministry in our increasingly secularized and post-Christian culture. Dumbing down our religion simply does not equip children in our congregations to have deeply formed Christian faith to be countercultural witnesses for Christ in a post-Christian cultural setting.
Parents. A persistent theme in AWANA’s research shows parents are the “primary influence” on children’s spiritual development but are “less engaged in discipling them.” The answer to this, Markins argues, is for churches to partner with parents in a way that “equips them to disciple their kids based on their capacities and capabilities” (89).
He discusses four kinds of parents when it comes to the spiritual development of their children: “higher-capacity” ones, those who engage in “occasional” discipling, “less-engaged” ones, and “not-gonna-happen” parents (90).
Markins stresses the need for churches to move away from an emphasis on programming and events to an emphasis on discipleship for the church and family. This involves partnering with parents to move them to the next level of engagement in their children’s spiritual development. When a child “lives in a ’not-gonna-happen’ parental environment,’” congregations must engage in “maximizing every discipleship moment possible” (91).
Children’s ministry leaders sometimes blame the lack of parental involvement in church and children’s spiritual lives, while parents tend to blame the church and ministry leaders, citing the lack of a sense of belonging at the church by their children (92). Interestingly, 90% of children’s ministry leaders ranked parental involvement as crucial to a child’s faith formation (90), whereas only 68% of parents believed this (93).
Another difficulty is that most ministry leaders think “equipping parents” merely means providing resources to parents. Markins emphasizes the need for a shift to a “relational, discipling, mentoring, training, and equipping” mindset (97).
Metrics. Because of secularization, the church must learn to function more in a “Babylon” context than a “Jerusalem” context, Markins insists. Thus, church leaders and parents must embrace “a type of formation that runs counter to the ways of this world” (101).
The book argues that one of the most obvious results of AWANA research is that church leaders don’t know how to track and evaluate success. They simply don’t know whether their ministry has resulted in more children growing to become genuine disciples. So, they fall back on attendance as the measure of success.
Markins insists that both Scripture and research teach the metrics we must measure for success in children’s ministry are tied to the following outcomes:
• Belong, which is about highly relational discipleship and mentoring by adults.
• Believe, which is about learning the Bible and its worldview.
• Become, which is about teaching children to practice the spiritual disciplines, live Christian lives, and “navigate a changing culture” from the vantage point of deep biblical truth and authentic Christian community (110).
Prioritizing numerical, quantitative metrics rather than spiritual metrics results in unproductive practices. These methods do not equip children to become people who belong to the
Christian community, believe the biblical worldview, and live holy lives that engage their culture counterculturally, helping others belong, believe, and become.
The Faith of Our Children is a wake-up call for church leaders. While based on the latest research, it’s rooted in biblical wisdom. If churches embrace the paradigm shift it prescribes, they will be better equipped to produce sustainable faith in children and be more biblically faithful in doing so.
At Welch College, every facet of life, from academic programs to spiritual formation and campus life, are designed to develop the whole person. With more than 50 undergraduate, graduate, and online programs, you will be prepared to serve Christ in whatever field you choose. Learn more about Welch College today!
About the Writer: Matt Pinson is president of Welch College. Learn more: welch.edu/. This article is adapted from Southwestern D6 Family Ministry Journal (Vol. 7).
Welch College Graduates 44 in Commencement Exercises
GALLATIN, TN — Welch College conferred degrees on 44 students during its May 9 Commencement ceremony, according to Provost Matthew McAffee. Commencement exercises were held in the Student Activities Center. The gymnasium space was converted into a 700-plus seating auditorium for the Baccalaureate service on Thursday evening, May 8, and the Commencement ceremony on Friday morning, May 9. The college awarded degrees in multiple programs, including associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, the Master of Arts in Teaching degree, and the Master of Divinity degree.
Dr. Philip Dearborn, president of the Association for Biblical Higher Education, delivered the Commencement address. Dr. Jeff Crabtree, head of biblical instruction for the Ohio Free Will Baptist Bible Institute and Welch Board of Trustees Chairman, delivered the Baccalaureate sermon.
Dr. Rebecca Deel, professor of business and program coordinator for business, was named Teacher of the Year. The college also awarded the Academic Advisor of the Year to Dr. Darrell Holley, instructor of English.
The college congratulates the 2025 graduating class and commends them to the service of Christ and the transformational work of His Kingdom.
ASSOCIATE OF SCIENCE DEGREES
Madeline Claire Burns Gallatin, TN Biology
Gavin Tyler Goodson Jacksonville, NC Business
Kelsie Elise Southerland Whites Creek, TN Business
Halley Nichole Turner Hendersonville, TN Ministry
Marilyn Frances Voorhies Pleasant View, TN Biology
ASSOCIATE OF ARTS DEGREE
Madelyn Kay Henson Owasso, OK Teaching
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREES
Faith Ashley Austin Gallatin, TN Psychology
Jackson Daniel Baer* Gastonia, NC Business Administration
Makayla Ann Binkley** Ashland City, TN Child Development and Learning
Laura Ann Boivin** Gallatin, TN Child Development and Learning
Ellie Grace Simpson* Fenton, MO Business Administration
Hanna Grace Snow*** Alpedrete, Spain Psychology
Alexander Nichole Tuttle*** Portland, TN Child Development and Learning
Kimberly Ann Veteto** Springfield, TN Biology
Mary Itzel Villarreal Alvarez San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic Psychology
Lauryn Grace Willis Tifton, GA General Christian Ministry
Landon Matthew Wolfe* Circleville, OH Theological Studies
BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREES
Jaron Andrew Austin** Clarksville, FL English
Alex Brunell Awtrey*** Svishtov, Bulgaria History
Katherine Eleanor Crabtree Etna, OH English
Peter Alexander Gedeon*** Wakefield, RI
Pastoral Ministry
Kaylen Paige Hagan** Alford, FL
English
Aidan Scott Lytle Mount Juliet, TN English
Daniel Luís Rodríguez*** Miami, FL English; History
Derek Corbin Whited** Hendersonville, TN
Humanities and Arts
BACHELOR OF MUSIC EDUCATION DEGREE
Jacob Charles Snow** Hokkaido, Japan
Music Education; Music Performance
MASTER OF ARTS IN TEACHING DEGREES
Michelle Hilsinger Berry Goodlettsville, TN
Special Education
Chandler Ray Binkley Ashland City, TN Teaching
Dallas Tyler Erdman Murfreesboro, TN
Teaching
Come See Us at Welch College!
Each academic year, Welch College provides numerous opportunities to visit our campus. If you are a prospective student or alumnus or simply wish to visit campus, there is something for everyone. Take advantage of these exciting opportunities for the upcoming academic year.
September 18–19, 2025 • Junior/Senior Days
This event is specifically for high school juniors and seniors. Students who attend will have the opportunity to stay in the dorm, visit classes, participate in fun activities, and have their questions answered regarding enrolling in Welch College. Sign up at welch.edu/seniordays/.
October 16–17, 2025 • Welcome Days
This event is for high schoolers. Students who attend will have the opportunity to stay in the dorm, visit classes, participate in fun activities, and have their questions answered regarding enrolling in Welch College. Sign up at welch.edu/welcomedays/.
November 20–22, 2025 • Fall Play
Secure tickets at welch.edu/events/.
December 5, 2025 • A Welch College Christmas
Welch’s music department will provide an inspiring Christmas performance. This is a free event open to everyone.
March 8–10, 2026 • FORUM26
A free event, these two and a half days are filled with Bible preaching and teaching. Sign up at welch.edu/forum/.
Stephanie Leigh Hendricks Hendersonville, TN
Teaching
MASTER OF DIVINITY DEGREE
Jacob Adam Johnson Smithville, MS
*** Summa Cum Laude - 3.75
** Magna Cum Laude - 3.50
* Cum Laude - 3.25
Honors awarded only to recipients of Bachelor’s degrees.
March 26–27, 2026 Welcome Days
This event is for high schoolers. Students who attend will have the opportunity to stay in the dorm, visit classes, participate in fun activities, and have their questions answered regarding enrolling in Welch College. Sign up at welch.edu/welcomedays/.
April 16–18, 2026 • Spring Musical
Secure tickets at welch.edu/events/.
May 7, 2026, 7:00 p.m. • Baccalaureate
Join us for a worship service honoring 2026 graduates.
May 8, 2026, 10:00 a.m. Commencement
If you would like to visit campus on a day or time not listed above, schedule your visit at welch.edu/visit/ or scan the QR code (at right).
90-Plus!
TRACING THE REMARKABLE HISTORY OF WNAC
FOUNDING OF A MOVEMENT
1841: Ann Winsor of Providence, Rhode Island, established the first Free Will Baptist Women’s Missionary Society in her home after hearing missionary Eli Noyes speak about the spiritual needs in India.
1873: The Women’s Missionary Society was established as an official organization, with Northern Free Will Baptist women heavily involved in mission efforts, including funding for Storer College (for former slaves) in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, and publishing The Missionary Helper, a missionary news magazine distributed from 1878 to 1919.
1900–1935: EXPANSION AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATION
During the early 20th century, women’s organizations in the South and West, although influential, were primarily confined to local churches.
These groups organized into regional groups, such as the Women’s Home Mission, Ladies’ Aid Society, or simply Women’s Work, supporting foreign missions, education, stewardship, the Temperance Movement, and founding orphanages (at left).
1935–1950 s : FORMATION AND EARLY GROWTH
June 13, 1935: Women organized the Woman’s National Auxiliary Convention at the Black Jack Free Will Baptist Church in Pitt County, North Carolina, with Alice Lupton of North Carolina elected as the first president and Fannie Polston (at left) of Tennessee as the first field secretary.
The timeline below highlights the founding and development of Free Will Baptist Women’s ministry from a grassroots missionary society to a structured organization with global outreach, focusing on strengthening women in ministry.
The National Association of Free Will Baptists accepted the organization on November 6, 1935.
1947: Mrs. Huey Gower was named the first executive secretary, establishing an office in her home in Nashville, Tennessee.
1952: Executive Secretary Agnes Frazier moved into an office provided by Free Will Baptist Bible College (today Welch College). When the National Association opened its first National Offices Building a year later, then-Executive Secretary Gladys Sloan joined other denominational agencies in the building.
1960 s –1980 s : INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND GLOBAL IMPACT
1961: WNAC began publishing CoLaborer magazine, now Treasure Bible Study Guide.
1962: WNAC established the Missionary Provision Closet, a warehouse stocked with linens, cooking utensils, and other household items for missionaries. Today, the Steward Provision Closet continues to supply the needs of missionaries, church planters, and their families.
1963: Eunice Edwards became the first full-time executive secretary, leading efforts to build a Bible institute in India, a mission station in Mexico, and homes for missionaries in Ivory Coast, West Africa, and Japan.
Third
National F.W.B.L. Conference, June 1950
1971: Under the leadership of Cleo Pursell, WNAC reorganized, streamlining the organization but retaining its emphasis on missions.
1980: The first national retreat for women was held in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
1985: Dr. Mary Ruth Wisehart became executive secretary, and the organization celebrated its 50th anniversary with Sparks into Flame: A History of WNAC.
1990 s –2005: MODERNIZATION AND OUTREACH
1993: Wisehart led the department to change its name from Women’s National Auxiliary Convention to Women Nationally Active for Christ, which was officially adopted.
1998: Marjorie Workman became the fourth executive secretary.
2005: Workman led the first WNAC-sponsored missions trip in 2005 to Almaty, Kazakhstan.
2008-2009: LEADERSHIP TRANSITION AND RENEWAL
2008: Following Marjorie Workman’s retirement, the convention approved Danita High, businesswoman and wife of Pastor John High, as the new executive secretary. She brought banking experience, focused on stabilizing WNAC’s finances, and attracted many young women to the organization.
2010: WNAC celebrated its 75th anniversary at the annual convention in Oklahoma City, Elizabeth Hodges was elected sixth executive director. Hodges emphasized prayer, cooperation, and innovation in reaching a new generation of Free Will Baptist women, especially young women.
2015: WNAC introduced the Shine! Conference, designed to help young Free Will Baptist women understand their worth and embrace their God-designed roles.
2020: TRANSITION AND ADAPTATION
2020: The Free Will Baptist Women’s Center in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa, was celebrated. The center was funded through contributions from U.S. and Ivorian women, along with a grant from Free Will Baptist Foundation.
2021: Elizabeth Hodges retired as executive director, after a successful decade of service.
2022: Following the pandemic, WNAC held its first in-person event in more than two years: the Flourish Conference in Huntington, West Virginia.
2022: Ruth McDonald began serving as the new director on November 1, 2022, bringing 38 years of missionary experience in Japan.
2024: DIGITAL EXPANSION
2024: WNAC launched the "As You Go" podcast, featuring pioneer missionary Lorene Miley in its inaugural episode. WNAC sponsored the first international Shine! conference in Mexico.
2024: WNAC partnered with the Executive Office for Growing Together with WNAC to provide a unique fellowship and learning opportunity through Zoom gatherings.
2025: WNAC expanded Shine! conferences to a simulcast format with over 1,100 in attendance.
2025: WNAC/FWB Women’s Ministries celebrated its 90th anniversary at the National Convention in Kansas City. Since 1935, God has brought an abundant harvest through the self-sacrificing labors of FWB women. In 2024 alone, they gave $482,605 to missions, church planting, and other ministries worldwide.
90-plus years of fruitfulness with more to come!
Seven Reasons Every Leader Needs a Coach
BY BRAD RANSOM
In today’s fast-paced world, effective leadership is more crucial than ever. The challenges of guiding a team or an organization are complex, often requiring more than just personal wisdom and experience. One of the most valuable resources a leader can have is a coach, someone who provides guidance, accountability, and perspective. From a Christian standpoint, having a coach is not only practical but also biblical.
Here are seven reasons every leader needs a coach.
1. Accountability and Encouragement
The Apostle Paul often spoke about mutual accountability in the Body of Christ (Galatians 6:1-2). Good coaches hold leaders accountable, ensuring they stay on track with goals and values. Whether it’s navigating difficult decisions or growing in personal discipleship, a coach encourages the leader to keep moving forward, pushing through challenges, and maintaining faithfulness in their calling.
2. Clarity in Vision
Vision helps leaders accomplish the task. Vision can easily get off track and be derailed by a busy ministry schedule. Leaders need to revisit the big picture occasionally to stay on track. Coaches help leaders stay focused, aligning their goals with God’s calling and ensuring they are steering their teams toward the right destination. This guidance helps cut through the noise and distractions that often cloud judgment, helping leaders focus on what truly matters.
3. Personal and Spiritual Growth
No leader ever reaches perfection. Leadership is a journey of constant growth, both personally and spiritually. Coaches can help identify blind spots and help leaders address areas where growth is needed. Whether it’s cultivating humility, deepening their prayer life, or sharpening their decision-making skills, a coach catalyzes personal and spiritual development.
4. Preventing Burnout
Ministry, like any other form of leadership, can be demanding, leading to physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion. A coach helps recognize the warning signs of burnout before they become overwhelming. The coach offers wisdom in setting boundaries, prioritizing rest, and ensuring a leader’s pace is sustainable for the long haul. Jesus Himself modeled the importance of rest and retreat (Mark 6:31), and a coach can help a leader balance work and rest in a healthy way.
5. Expanding Leadership Capacity
Coaches push leaders beyond their comfort zones. They help develop skills and mindsets that enable leaders to handle bigger challenges and greater responsibilities. In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul encouraged Timothy to share what he had learned with others who would lead. Similarly, a coach helps a leader learn new techniques, adopt fresh perspectives, and build capacity for influence, allowing for more effective leadership.
6. Providing an Objective Perspective
It’s easy for leaders to get lost in the weeds of day-today operations, losing perspective on the bigger picture. Coaches offer an objective, outside viewpoint. By asking the right questions and offering constructive feedback, they help leaders see things more clearly and from different angles. Coaches serve as essential counselors, providing wisdom and insight.
7. Fostering Long-Term Success
Ministry is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Coaches help leaders set long-term goals, develop strategic plans, and maintain the discipline needed to achieve sustainable success. They act as a sounding board, offering guidance and helping leaders avoid pitfalls. By providing this long-term support, a coach ensures that a leader’s journey is marked by consistency and growth, not just short bursts of activity.
Ministry is a complex and often isolating journey, but it doesn’t have to be walked alone. With the support of a coach, Christian leaders can grow in their calling, strengthen their leadership abilities, and avoid common pitfalls. As Proverbs 27:17 reminds us, iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Leaders need coaches to help them become the best version of themselves for the sake of the Kingdom.
For more information or help in finding a ministry coach, please visit www.fwbnam.com/.
About the Columnist: Dr. Brad Ransom is the chief training officer at Free Will Baptist North American Ministries.
One of the most valuable resources a leader can have is a coach — someone who provides guidance, accountability, and perspective.
A Season of GROWTH Meet NAM’s Newest Church Planters
In an exciting and historic season for North American Ministries, we are thrilled to introduce the largest group of newly approved church planters in a one-month period in the history of our department. These planters and their teams are following the Lord’s leading into diverse and often challenging fields to plant and revitalize churches across the United States. We are honored to come alongside them as they begin this next chapter of ministry and invite you to join us in supporting their gospel efforts.
Dwayne & Tina James and Kip & Megan McNeill: Replanting in Jackson, TN
Dwayne and Tina James, along with their daughter and son-in-law, Megan and Kip McNeill, have been approved to replant Victory Free Will Baptist Church — now Renew Church — in Jackson, Tennessee. This effort is a joint plant initiative between North American Ministries and the Tennessee State Home Missions Board.
pastor. Tina has been a beloved teacher at Pleasant View Christian School for over 20 years. In addition to Megan, the James have two younger daughters, Sofia and Jackie.
Graduates of Southeastern FWB College, Dwayne and Tina bring decades of pastoral and ministry experience, most recently at Friendship FWB Church in Ashland City, Tennessee, where Dwayne served as both associate and lead
Kip and Megan, both graduates of Welch College, have served alongside the James at Friendship FWB Church since 2018. Kip has experience in pastoral ministry as well as business, and Megan has been an elementary
school teacher in the Cheatham County School System. The McNeills have three children, Juana (14), Madilyn (4), and Michael (2).
Jackson, strategically located between Memphis and Nashville, is a key city in West Tennessee with a population of 68,000 and a daily service reach of over 400,000 due to its universities and regional influence. However, over a third of its residents are nonreligious, and 12% identify with non-Christian groups, making it a vital mission field. The James and McNeill families are committed to seeing Renew Church become a thriving gospel witness in this spiritually needy city.
Corbin & Erica Madden: Planting in Bozeman, MT
Corbin and Erica Madden of Springfield, Tennessee, have been approved as associate church planters to Bozeman, Montana, where they will serve alongside lead planters Seth and Lacey Price. Corbin, a Welch College graduate, most recently pastored West End FWB Church and currently works at D6 Family Ministry. Erica is a devoted homemaker and key ministry partner. They have a young son, Asher, and a newborn daughter named Mia.
Bozeman is the fastest growing micropolitan area in the country and a cultural hub known for an outdoor lifestyle and strong economy. Yet, less than 10% of its population identify as evangelical Christian. The Maddens are committed to partnering not only with the Prices but also with nearby NAM church plant Summit FWB Church to strengthen the gospel presence in the region and form a network of churches in Montana.
Caleb and Sara Mackie: Planting in Waco, TX
Caleb and Sara Mackie of Sparta, Tennessee, have been approved as associate church planters at Quest Free Will Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. They will join lead planters Jim and Tracey Kilgore, who launched Quest Church in the fall of 2022. Since its launch, the church has experienced significant growth, including the blessing of a permanent facility, expanding outreach efforts, and a thriving, gospelfocused congregation.
The Mackies have 13 years of ministry experience in Tennessee, where Caleb served as a youth pastor in two churches before pastoring at Union Grove FWB Church in Cookeville. They have two young children, Benjamin (6) and Brynleigh (2), and feel called to serve in Waco — a city known for Baylor University, Magnolia, and a steady influx of visitors and new residents. Quest Church is focused on reaching the rapidly growing China Spring area, home to over 30,000 people.
With a heart for evangelism and discipleship, Caleb and Sara are excited to follow God’s call to Waco. They are deeply burdened for the community and are committed to sharing the hope of Christ with those who do not yet know Him as Savior.
Levi Johnson: Ministry Support in San Diego, CA
Levi Johnson of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, has been approved as a ministry support leader at The Altar Church in San Diego, California. Levi first sensed a call to church planting during a Teamwork Missions trip last summer, where he saw firsthand the spiritual hunger and gospel need in the city.
Together, we can plant, water, and watch God give the increase.
Learn more at fwbnam.com/churchplanting/.
New WIN Training Contributes to Church Planting Success
This spring, North American Ministry’s first WIN trainings took place in Jamestown, North Dakota, and Ardmore, Oklahoma. NAM’s new chief strategy officer, Josh Bennett, met with fellow planters Justin Feight, Matt Hanshaw, and Cody Matlock to identify “What’s Important Next” in each team’s launch plans and set a strong foundation for their church plants. WIN training is just one of many ways NAM seeks to support and equip church planters to reach their communities with the gospel. We are excited about the ways WIN training has already benefited current
NAM Board Recognizes Outgoing Board Members
The Free Will Baptist North American Ministries board of trustees held its annual spring meeting May 6-7. In addition to conducting departmental business, NAM recognized outgoing board members Dr. Jeff Jones (Rose) and Rev. Frank Wiley (Linda) for 12 years of faithful service to the board.
CEO Dr. David Crowe noted, “We are grateful for their contributions, wisdom, and discernment, and we look forward to continuing to serve the Lord alongside them and their churches.”
church planters and look forward to seeing how God uses this program to equip more planters in the future.
City Lights Celebrates Three Years With Church Planting Grant
San Diego, CA — City Lights FWB Church (led by Amos and Melissa Dillard) celebrated its third anniversary this April. NAM is proud of the work the Dillards, their team, and their church plant have done in San Diego over the past three years.
During the celebration service, lead planter Amos Dillard presented Chris and Ashly Littlecreek with the first Plant Cali Smith Legacy Grant — a $25,000 startup gift — for their church plant, The Altar, located in the heart of San Diego. NAM offers congratulations to City Lights Church! We are grateful for their passion to reach California with the gospel through church planting!
Dr. Jeff and Rose Jones
Rev. Frank and Linda Wiley
NAM Partners With Cadence International and Missionary Ethan McCraney
North American Ministries is pleased to announce a new partnership with Cadence International and Ethan McCraney, newly approved Cadence missionary.
Cadence International is an evangelical organization focused on sharing the gospel with military communities worldwide. Through intentional discipleship, hospitality, and mentorship, Cadence supports all branches of the military, offering care and support to service members, their spouses, and their families.
Ethan McCraney was approved as a Cadence missionary in October 2024. He is the oldest son of Free Will Baptist Navy Chaplain LCDR Mark McCraney (Danielle). Growing up in a military family, Ethan understands military life and its unique challenges. He feels deeply called to support service members as they navigate the ever-changing demands of military service.
Once Ethan completes his fundraising, he will be paired with an existing Cadence ministry, likely in the U.S.,
where he’ll assist with chapel services, organize activities and outreach events, and open his home to military families. Next spring, Ethan will marry Emma Morris, and together the couple will continue this important work, serving military communities and supporting Cadence’s mission.
North American Ministries is proud to support Ethan and his ministry. Please pray for him as he raises funds and builds relationships with potential partners. Ask God to provide for Ethan and bless his efforts to reach service members with the truth of the gospel.
To learn more about Ethan’s ministry or to partner with him through prayer and financial support, visit fwbnam.com/emccraney/.
NAM Fellowships With College and Student Leaders
It is always encouraging to spend time at our denominational colleges. This spring, North American Ministries was delighted to join chapels and lunches at Randall University and Southeastern FWB College. We wish to thank the staff and students of these institutions for welcoming us to their campuses. We know the Lord is using these colleges and their students to build His Kingdom.
Ethan McCraney
Powerful Tears
BY PAUL V. HARRISON
“He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:6).
Jerry McAuley (1839–1884) never knew his father, who abandoned their home in Ireland to escape the law. The boy soon found himself under the care — if you can call it that — of his grandmother. When she was kissing the floor in penance as her Catholicism instructed her, Jerry threw things at her. She cursed him for it. He recalled: “I was never taught or sent to school but left to have my own way; to roam about in idleness, doing mischief continually.”
At 13, he was entrusted to his sister in New York City, but he soon struck out on his own and boarded with a family on Water Street, in a den of wickedness. “I earned what I could and stole the rest,” he said. He boxed a little and stole a lot. At 19, authorities arrested and sentenced him to 15 years at Sing Sing: “How my heart swelled with rage, and then sank like lead, as I thought of my helplessness in the hands of the law, without a friend in the world.” He said his ride to prison was the “saddest hour” of his life. Words over the prison door read: “The way of transgressors is hard.”
To his amazement, one Lord’s Day, Orville Gardner, an old comrade in crime, spoke in chapel. Known to Jerry as “Awful Gardner” but now “greatly changed from his old rough dress and appearance,” he told the inmates it had only been a little while since he had taken off the stripes they were wearing. “His tears fairly rained down out of his eyes,” and those tears possessed power.
Back in his cell, Jerry found a Bible and began to read it on his knees. “I was in an agony, and the sweat rolled off my face in great drops….In the very height of my distress…these words came to me: ’My son, thy sins, which are many, are forgiven.’” He jumped up from his knees, shouting, “Praise God!”
Halfway through his sentence, the governor pardoned Jerry, and the ex-con returned
to New York City. He went back to drinking and thieving. After nearly dying during a night caper, he again committed himself to God. He stopped smoking, stopped drinking, and started witnessing.
Eventually he began a rescue mission on Water Street. Nightly, the former drunk and thief invited drunkards and ne’er-do-wells to follow Jesus. One night, John Calvin Knox, a gambler and skeptic, struggled with the claims of the gospel. While Jerry prayed and wept over him, a tear fell on the sinner’s cheek. Knox, who later became a pastor, said: “That teardrop of his reached my heart.”
Jerry spent his life building the Kingdom through that mission. When dying of tuberculosis, he stated: “They say I’ve got only one lung and part of another. I am weak and sore, and it hurts me sometimes to talk….But while I’ve got a piece of a lung left, I want to use it to speak for Jesus. I want to praise Him with my dying breath.”
About the Columnist: Paul V. Harrison has pastored Madison FWB Church in Madison, Alabama, since 2015. Previously, he pastored Cross Timbers FWB Church in Nashville, Tennessee, for 22 years. He was an adjunct professor at Welch College for 17 years, teaching church history and Greek. Paul is the creator of Classic Sermon Index, a subscription-based online index of over 66,000 sermons, with clients including Harvard, Baylor, and Vanderbilt, among others: www.classicsermonindex.com/.
Co kie and The the
BY BRENDA EVANS
If you give a mouse a cookie, you’ve started down a slippery slope. The mouse will then want a glass of milk and a straw to sip it through. Then he will ask for a napkin and a mirror to check for a milk mustache. If you give the mouse the napkin and mirror, he’ll want scissors because in the mirror he’s seen that his shaggy hair needs a trim. Then he’ll be tired and want a story and a nap. When he wakes, he will draw a picture to hang on the refrigerator which reminds him of the milk inside, so then, of course, he’ll ask for a cookie to go with the milk.
On it goes — you, the mouse, and the cookie, spiraling down that slippery slope. Where will it stop? The desert, of course, because, you see, that mouse is a desert pocket mouse. A brownish-gray little creature you’ve seen scurrying across night-time pavements in our western deserts. A three-inch body, plus a longer tail. He’s come out of his burrow in the sandy soil along a dry gulch where he has hidden all day. But it’s night now, and he will come out for a cookie and milk.
I confess. I borrowed my mouse from Laura Joffe Numeroff, who published If You Give a Mouse a Cookie forty years ago. It’s an amusing kindergartner’s story, but to me it
is also adult — about slippery slopes and “if-then” scenarios that throw you down that slope. For Mouse, a cookie is never enough.
Slippery slopes are a familiar construct to many of us. If this thing happens, then that thing will happen, and off you go, sliding down. Numeroff’s story reminds me how often I give a cookie to a mouse and slip right down into fear, uncertainty, ingratitude, shame, complaint…you name it. On I go until I plunge into a cold and desolate spiritual desert.
Don’t get me wrong. I love deserts. I have traveled to four major western deserts: Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts. Deserts are wonderful spots of land. They startle me with their beauty. Stark mountain ranges, gila monsters and sidewinders, red rock spires and swirling chutes, mesas, hoodoos, buttes with steep slopes on all sides, salt seas, mesquites, sages of all sorts, spiky cacti, and two-armed saguaro thirty feet tall. Deserts offer both tedious monotony and startling beauty. They also yield danger.
One cold night a few years ago, Bill and I drove away from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at dusk. By the time we reached US 89A, it had grown dark, a black, high desert dark in northern Arizona. We pulled onto the desolate highway and headed east toward a motel room we had reserved. Right away, we met a large truck that swished past quickly.
As best I remember, for the next 130 miles, we met no one. Bill says we did, a car or two. Maybe. I don’t know. I remember no sign of life except an occasional furry animal scurrying across the pavement in our headlights. We had no cell service. No moon. No lights to the right or left. No houses. No ranches. We had never been that way before. The dark felt cold and empty, silent except for the whirr of our tires on the asphalt. We were alone. I was frightened. The gas gauge began to reflect orange.
People get stranded and die on dark, cold nights on the high desert. Three hours later when we entered our little motel room with grimy knotty pine walls, saggy twin beds, and a yellow fly swatter, we were relieved and safe. I felt like hugging the check-in clerk.
Slippery
slopes sometimes drop us down
into spiritually dark territories where we feel cold and alone, afraid, uncertain, ungrateful.
For me, it starts when I give that mouse a cookie.
In his recent book You’re Only Human, Kelly Kapic suggests we often find ourselves on slippery slopes because we do not admit our finitude — that we are finite and not God. We have limits. We have bounds, though we try to behave as if we don’t. These human limitations are God’s design and are good. Not that we should use our limitations as excuses to sin. Far from it, Kapic says. Faithfully living with finitude means we admit our needs. (Remember, our Lord has no needs.) Then we practice gratitude, humility, our need for others and, of course, our dependency on our Lord Himself.
We don’t easily admit all that — at least I don’t.
One of my most treacherous slippery slopes is how I deal with (or don’t deal with) uncertainty. I want to know. Sometimes, I think I know, or at least act like I know. When it comes to if… then scenarios, my imagination runs amok. Always toward the worst, the most dangerous. So, I give the mouse a cookie.
Jeannie, a writer I follow, tells how in late December 2021, her family lost their home, though not their lives, in the Marshall fire in Boulder, Colorado. Two people did die, more than 37,000 were evacuated, and 991 structures were destroyed. Uncertainty loomed over Jeannie’s family like a fanged monster. Should they rebuild or relocate? “So many questions.” she wrote. “I prayed constantly for God to give us direction.” Friends and family prayed, then bombarded her with, “What are you going to do?” Her slippery slope was real.
Finally, she garnered peace from Isaiah 30:20-21: “And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction,...thine eyes shall see thy teachers…And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it....”
Jeannie began answering people’s questions with, “I don’t know yet.” That yet was powerful to Jeannie. It admitted her uncertainty but quelled her anxiety
and infused hope. I don’t know yet. Her family was still unsure about the future, but she acknowledged: “I knew that if I kept seeking Jesus rather than seeking answers here, there, and everywhere, He would say, ’This is the way, walk in it.’” And He did, in His own timing.
For me, another slippery slope is complaint. I’ve never cared much for Jonah. So, recently when I restudied his book, I decided to be sympathetic to Jonah’s complaints. I couldn’t. As always, by chapter 4, I wanted to yell at him, “Stop whining! Be grateful the Lord spared you. Be grateful He relented. Be grateful for the shade.”
Then Jonah really got my goat. He smarted off to God. “I do well to be angry,” he said to God. What audacity! The Lord should have zapped him right there. I say that even though I know I am also a complainer. C. S. Lewis recently chided me in a 1941 letter to his friend, Sister Penelope: “It is a curious fact that the advice we can give to others we cannot give to ourselves.”
That’s me. I complain about complainers though I am one. I criticize Jonah and other complainers. Usually not to their faces, but I whine and give the mouse a cookie. The slope is slippery. Though things in our lives are not always good, the Lord always is.
David, who knew all about hard times, once said, “I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou has known my soul in adversities” (Psalm 31:7). Paul said it, too: “Rejoice in the Lord….Let your moderation be known unto all men” (Philippians 4:4-5). Or, as Dr. Robert Picirilli translated it, “Let your sweet reasonableness be known to everyone.” Sweet reasonableness smothers criticism. Sweet reasonableness quells complaints and strengthens gratitude.
I need to stay off slippery slopes and out of spiritual deserts. I need to wait for the Lord’s guidance. I need to rejoice, be grateful, stop complaining. I need to be reasonable and NEVER give that little rat a cookie! (Sorry, I should have said that little mouse.) No! No cookie for you, little mouse!
About the Writer: Brenda Evans lives and writes in Ashland, Kentucky. You may reach her at beejayevans@windstream.net.
Are You the “Write” Leader?
BY RON HUNTER JR., PH.D.
After hearing from many of you after my previous columns on writing, this seems to be a topic that resonates with many leaders. But, if you’re like me, writing on a whiteboard can feel intimidating. While my handwriting is legible, and my lines stay straight, I’ve yet to find a dry-erase marker that alerts me to misspellings with a helpful red squiggly line. For years, I’ve relied on grammar and spell checks to save me from embarrassing moments. Honestly, it would be easier not to write anything at all.
So why do leaders still put their words in writing?
Because framing your message on paper forces you to think through how others will receive it. Whether you’re preparing to speak, share an announcement, or shape a policy, your choice of words can carry multiple interpretations.
Take this example: “We need to talk.” Those words might feel parental or threatening. But if you rephrase it to, “Can we find time to discuss something important? I value your input,” the tone becomes inviting. Leaders rarely intend to sound harsh, but writing helps us catch a tone that might unintentionally creep in.
When you write, try to spot what’s not there. So much of our message lives in our heads, and we assume others understand what we mean. But assumptions leave gaps, and readers often fill them in ways we didn’t expect. That’s why writing clarifies not only what we say, but also how we plan to say it. It becomes a roadmap — first draft, then revision, then alignment with our intent.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
“Good writing is clear thinking made visible.”
—Bill Wheeler
Think of Lincoln. He didn’t scribble the Gettysburg Address in a single moment of brilliance. History shows he rewrote it multiple times. He was constantly refining so his message would not just be heard but also be remembered.
That’s what good writing does: it slows us down enough to sharpen our ideas. When we labor over word choice, parsing phrases and asking about tone, it breeds confidence and competence as you articulate with nuanced meanings and understandings.
We don’t write because we’re perfect communicators. We write and speak because we want to become better ones. The first draft is where intent begins, but edits are where clarity and leadership show up.
• Write with this question in mind: How might someone interpret what I’m saying?
• Consider your tone.
• Consider the reader’s perspective.
• Then write again.
You get one chance to make a first impression of your ideas; get it write!
About the Columnist: Ron Hunter Jr. has a Ph.D. in leadership and is CEO of D6 Family Ministry. You can contact him at ron.hunter@d6family.com.
D6 Family Ministry Honored by the Evangelical Press Association
Branson, MO — D6 Family Ministry earned 12 awards from the Evangelical Press Association (EPA) during the organization’s annual convention in April. D6 devotional magazines swept the devotional category with The Brink receiving the Award of Excellence, followed by Forward, Fusion Family, and Fusion Next, each recognized with Awards of Merit.
In the youth category, Explorer’s Guide received an Award of Merit and Velocity was noted as an Honorable Mention. The devotional magazines also were recognized in the Higher Goals contest for specific articles and columns. EPA is among the leading professional associations for the evangelical periodical publishing industry. D6 devotional magazines are consistently recognized for the high quality of content, writing, and design.
Altom Promoted to D6 Conference Director
Nashville, TN — Derek Altom has been promoted from D6 Conference coordinator to D6 Conference director for the United States. Derek’s attention to detail and proven ability to manage complex logistics, budgeting, and speaker coordination make him a natural fit for this expanded role.
Printing Industry Association of the Southeast ranks the best printing and design from eight states. (The entries are not exclusive to Christian design.) D6 Family Ministry continues to earn top marks and awards, with seven Awards of Excellence and one Best of Category award this year. Six honors came from curriculum devotional magazines. Others came from the recently released Sharing Trees by Tyler Penn and the 2024 D6 Conference program.
D6 Family Ministry Executive Director Ron Hunter stated, “Derek has proven himself to be deeply dependable and someone I trust to steward one of our ministry’s most visible platforms. With the D6 Conference relocating to Nashville and, more importantly, moving the event to two weeks after Easter, we are poised for new growth. The relocation allows for a significant reset of the event.”
Altom will assume primary responsibility for all aspects of the U.S. Southeast and Northwest conferences, including speaker selection and event management.
D6 Conference Singapore just celebrated ten years in Southeast Asia. Fung Fong continues to lead an extraordinary event each year, training hundreds of churches, pastors, and leaders. Dr. Hunter attended and spoke this year, honoring the work of leaders who work diligently to make D6 Singapore possible. D6 Conferences now operate in 21 countries — nine physical locations (including two U.S. locations) and 13 virtually in locations where travel is limited.
Derek Altom
Marianne Howard
Howard Named Marketing Manager
Nashville, TN — Marianne Howard has been promoted to marketing manager for D6 Family Ministry. Ron Hunter, D6 Family Ministry executive director, noted, “Marianne is both creative and competent, a rare combination that yields compelling campaigns and measurable results.”
Marianne has become a customer relations expert from the marketing side. She knows how to work together with the sales department, ensuring the messaging and timing align with real-world ministry needs. That collaboration between marketing and sales is mission critical. Her influence is already being felt across departments. She listens well, exudes passion, communicates clearly, and brings a humble confidence that earns trust.
Continued from page 13
4. Start a weekly or bi-weekly lunch club. Invite internationals to join you in trying out different restaurants in your community. This will help them navigate a menu, try new foods, and learn how to tip in America.
5. Invite internationals to your home for the holidays. They love learning about American traditions (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, etc.).
6. Host a baking day and teach internationals how to make your favorite treats.
7. Host a bonfire at your home or church and invite internationals to roast wieners and (even better) marshmallows for s’mores. Cooking food over an open fire and tasting s’mores will likely be a new experience for them.
8. Be a conversation partner. Contact your local college or university and ask about helping international
students practice English.
9. Visit local restaurants and befriend the wait staff from different countries. Learn their names and build friendships with them.
10. Invite international neighbors to enjoy your favorite hobbies with you: hiking, fishing, shopping, book club, photography, sewing, etc. Use these outlets to connect with them as they try something new.
As you read this list, two words should come to your mind immediately: be available. Our willingness to connect with international neighbors might be the key to sharing the gospel and hopefully leading them to salvation.
About the Writer: Kelli and Tyler Penn serve as missionaries to international students at the University of Illinois. Kelli is a proud mother of three incredible teens, Mason, Millie, and Madden. She enjoys photography, home decor, and trying new recipes (and secretly thinks she’s best friends with Joanna Gaines).
Not a Gamble!
BY CHRIS COMPTON
Some investors take an aggressive approach to their retirement portfolios, even as they near their planned retirement. Perhaps their accounts have performed well in recent years, and because they have not quite reached retirement savings goals, they hope a higher-risk allocation will help them reach those goals. Even with a clear understanding of the risks, the potential for higher returns can be tempting — especially when time is running short.
But then the market turns. Instead of the rebound these investors hope for, the decline continues. What was once a healthy portfolio full of gains starts to shrink. With retirement only months away, their losses become real and significant. In many cases, portfolios drop tens of thousands of dollars, resulting in a meaningful reduction in monthly retirement income.
This scenario has played out for many retirement investors over the years. And while each situation is unique, the lesson is the same: keeping your asset allocation in check is critical, especially as you approach retirement.
Asset allocation is the process of dividing your portfolio among different categories of investments or asset classes
such as stocks, bonds, and cash. Retirement accounts typically provide access to a variety of investments including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The purpose of asset allocation is to match your allocation with your financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.
• FINANCIAL GOALS are financial objectives that determine how much money you need and when you need it.
• RISK TOLERANCE defines the amount of market volatility or risk you can accept. This is usually based on age and financial goals, and it can change throughout your life.
• TIME HORIZON is the time remaining until retirement, when you want to start withdrawing your funds.
These factors should be the drivers of your asset allocation, no matter where you are on the path to retirement. The general goal is to help diversify your portfolio, keep you invested, and soften the effects of big market fluctuations.
For people in their 20s or 30s, an aggressive investment strategy more weighted in stocks can make sense. These individuals have time on their side to ride out market dips and volatility.
However, this same approach becomes risky as you edge closer to retirement. Why? When your time horizon has shrunk, and you are just a few years — or even months — away from needing to withdraw funds, you may not have enough time to recover from a significant market downturn.
STEPS TO CONSIDER WHEN PLANNING
1. CREATE A PLAN. Rather than waiting to the last moment to adjust your investments, start planning your transition 5-10 years before retirement. Let the three factors above influence your asset allocation decisions.
2. MONITOR INVESTMENTS. Over time, your portfolio can experience allocation drift due to fund performance. You may start out with a 60/40 stock to bond ratio, but over time the balance of your funds may be at a 75/25 stock to bond ratio. It is helpful to review your fund balance allocation yearly and, if need be, rebalance your portfolio to bring it back in line with your target allocation.
3. AVOID CHASING RETURNS. It is tempting to stay aggressive when the market is booming, but none of us knows when a downturn is coming or how long it will last. That is
why it is crucial to adopt a more balanced approach, with an allocation based on your financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon, not current market performance.
One of the most common missteps in retirement investing is setting an asset allocation and never revisiting it. A wiser approach involves regular check-ins to ensure your portfolio remains aligned with your financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon. While we can’t control market fluctuations, we can control how we respond…and how we prepare. Don’t wait until the final stretch to make crucial adjustments. Take time to develop a thoughtful plan and stay committed to it. Your future self (and your peace of mind) will be better for it.
Disclosure: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only. Richland Ave Financial does not provide investment advice nor should its educational resources be considered investment advice. For investment advice, please consult a financial advisor who can help you develop a strategy tailored to you.
About the Writer: Chris Compton is CFO for Richland Ave Financial. He graduated in 2007 with an M.A. in Bible Exposition from Columbia International University. A 1998 graduate of East Tennessee State University, he has over two decades of administrative and financial experience in varied fields, along with seven years in pastoral ministry.
Built just for you!
Preparing for Your Final Day of Work
BY D. RAY LEWIS
As I approached my last day of work, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. After all, this was my first time to prepare for my last day of work! It was time to retire — what happens now? However, because I had prepared long in advance for that day, the transition to, and retirement itself, has been great!
As your last day of work approaches, you may be nervous about the future. You know things certainly are going to be different. Your routine of carrying out the responsibilities of your job and spending many hours among coworkers will be no more. You will leave the familiar to develop and focus on new routines and maybe new or different relationships. For this transition to be enjoyable, you must plan purposefully before that day arrives.
One of the most important things to consider when preparing for your final day of work is finances. You may have wondered, “When should I start saving for retirement?” The simple answer is, “If you haven’t started yet, start now.” The earlier you begin saving for retirement, the better.
I was employed by the Free Will Baptist Board of Retirement, now Richland Ave Financial, for 32 years. As I look back on my final day of employment, I rejoice that I had peace with my decision to retire. That peace came from 32 years of preparing for that day.
When I began work there, I knew little about the importance of retirement planning. I quickly realized how much preparation I had already let pass by. With my first check, I opened a retirement account that received contributions through automatic deductions from my weekly wages. That routine continued for decades until my very last check.
At the age of 36, retirement seemed far away, but I realized I needed to set some firm financial goals so when my wife Ida and I reached that point, we would be able to experience the kind of life we had talked and dreamed about.
miles on every purchase. If you use credit cards in retirement, make them work for you.
Another consideration for that last day of work is, “Where do I want (or need) to live?” Some questions to consider when planning where to live in retirement include: Can I afford it? Is healthcare available nearby? Are family members nearby? What senior activities are nearby?
To preserve the same standard of living maintained while employed, a person generally needs 70–80% of pre-retirement income. Some expenses will probably decrease when you no longer work. For instance, no commuting to work and back. You may save on clothing and not eating out for lunch as often. But some expenses will likely increase, one being the cost of healthcare. In retirement, you will probably be responsible for your own medical insurance, prescription drug coverage, and dental and vision coverage. Also, as we age, people tend to experience more complex health issues that require more doctor and hospital visits.
Another financial issue to be considered in preparation for your last day of work is debt. We should carry as little debt as possible into retirement. One major item to consider is your mortgage. Consider the boost to your spendable income without a home mortgage. Also, avoid high-interest credit cards. It is okay to use credit cards, but only if the balance is paid each month to avoid paying high interest and penalties for late payments. Credit cards are available that offer cash back or flight
Another important part of retirement planning is to prepare mentally. Even if your finances are in order, if you are not prepared mentally and emotionally, that last day may produce dread rather than joy. You need to ask, “What will I do with all my new free time?” This is an important part of retirement planning. Have a plan, including new things you want to explore. The point is simply to think about what you want to do before you retire, so you have new horizons and adventures to enjoy.
Plan, so when that last day of work arrives you are ready to face an exciting new chapter. It will be worth it if you are ready when retirement comes.
About the Writer: D. Ray Lewis joined the Board of Retirement in 1982. He became the director in 2005 after serving for several years as the assistant director and retired in 2016. Ray and his wife Ida currently live in Indiana.
2026 Nominations Requested
Antioch, TN — The 2025-2026 Nominating Committee, which will serve through the National Convention in Columbus, Ohio, is prepared to receive nominees for the 2026 election, according to Clint Adams, chairman.
The committee will meet to compile a report offering a single nomination for each position to be filled. The report will be presented to delegates at the 2026 convention.
The following board and commission positions will be filled in 2026: Women Nationally Active for Christ (3), D6 Family Ministry (3), IM, Inc. (3), Welch College (3), Commission for Theological Integrity (1), Historical Commission (1), Media Commission (1), Music Commission (1), General Board (10), Executive Committee (3).
The following boards do not elect members in 2026: North American Ministries; Richland Ave Financial; and Free Will Baptist Foundation.
Nominations, accompanied by a brief résumé, must be submitted exclusively to the chairman on or before October 1. Download the nomination form at http://www.nafwb.org/nominations/.
Contact Chairman Clint Adams:
Nominating Committee
1980 Double Branch Road Hawkinsville, GA 31036
478-867-2142
jclint33@yahoo.com
On Self-Promotion and the Way of Christ
BY MATTHEW STEVEN BRACEY
Imagine: you are a professional with some responsibility and influence; let’s call it middle-management. But you begin to think to yourself:
• Now is my time to shine.
• My boss is out of touch.
• I could do a better job.
• What if I were the boss?
• I’ve got better ideas, and I’m not getting any younger.
• It’s high time I was in charge.
Some people have focused on such thoughts until they try to force them into reality: “If Christine’s not going to give up her post voluntarily, I’ll just have to make it happen.” These individuals do not care who is trampled in the process, even if the person trampled has theretofore been their biggest advocate.
Unfortunately, this problem is not limited to the professional workplace but can occur anywhere, including church and denominational leadership. I am discouraged by the shameless self-promotion I have observed in some people — even Christians. These interlopers may couch their thoughts in Christianese with smiles on their faces, but underneath the sanctimony and hypocrisy is a surreptitious person who manipulates others according to his or her self-will. We must all exercise care concerning our aspirations because, if we are not careful, we may find the malefactor staring back at us in the mirror (Matthew 7:3-5).
I am not suggesting that publishing a résumé or seeking advancement is wrong; God has created us all to work in church jobs and non-church jobs alike. However, when a misguided sense of ambition possesses people, problems ensue. Even believers may dress up their aspirations to the point they deceive themselves into believing their desires align with God’s will.
However, the person who would realize his own advancement by such means is following his will rather than God’s — so much for waiting (Psalm 27:14; 33:20; 37:7; 130:5).
Sometimes, God has plans for our advancement down the road, but we must wait on His timing, perhaps to demonstrate we are up to the task. Other times, He has no such plans; He gives us only five talents, not ten (Matthew 25:14-30). Whatever the case, God instructs us to 1) trust Him; 2) honor and submit to our leaders; and 3) practice contentment in our circumstances.
TRUST HIM
When I was young, a spiritual leader told me: “Don’t be lazy; give yourself to an honest day’s work, not worrying too much about the positions you don’t occupy. Don’t develop an inflated sense of self-importance; worthy positions come to worthy people. God will move you as He sees fit when He sees fit. Do you trust God with your life? Then leave it to Him and be content with His leading.”
The pursuit of prestige that places self in the driver’s seat reflects the way of the world, not the way of Christ. Should opportunities for advancement come our way, they should come from beyond us rather than from within us.
Consider Psalm 75: Asaph observed that God, not man, appoints men and women to their positions (verses 1, 7). The
righteous person does not lift his own horn but trusts in God who exalts him and puts him down in His timing and in His way (verses 5, 7). Conversely, the boastful or wicked person asserts himself and presumes to rob God of His greatness and glory (verses 1, 4-5, 8). God judges such wicked self-assertion (verses 2, 7): “All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted” (verse 10).
Jesus exemplified the teaching of this psalm. In His life, He did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped but humbled Himself, even to death (Philippians 2:6-8). In His teaching, Jesus told us not to be anxious for anything, which includes our vocational advancement, but to trust in God and His provisions. If God cares for the birds of the sky and the lilies of the field, He will watch over His children (Matthew 6:25-34). “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen” (20:16).
Consequently, people in positions of relative authority should appreciate that God has
placed them there and not somewhere else. They should also appreciate the people God used to bring them to those positions. They are trusted by the leaders who appointed them and who may even be mentoring them for greater positions in the coming years. The way of Christ never subverts the trust others have placed in us with a proverbial knife in the back. Most importantly, the way of Christ trusts in the righteous God to move people according to His will.
SUBMISSION
Just as flagrant self-promotion reveals a lack of trust, it also signifies a failure to practice the Christian virtue of submission. The pattern of God is one of submission. Jesus submitted to God’s will in the garden of Gethsemane, praying, “Let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). Likewise, the Holy Spirit submits to the will of God, who sends Him to dwell with Christians and to teach them truth (John 14:16-17, 26; 16:13), as well as to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (16:7-11). The Holy Spirit does not speak on His own authority but only on God’s (16:13).
When a misguided sense of ambition possesses people, problems ensue.
The apostles also reflect this theme of submission in their writings. For example, Paul explained the pattern of Christian living as one of submission, not presumption: workers submit to employers, subjects/ citizens submit to governing authorities, children submit to parents, wives submit to husbands, and husbands submit to Jesus, all insofar as the leader’s authority reflects God’s authority (Ephesians 5:22-6:9).
Similarly, Peter, building on Asaph’s themes, explained that God, not men and women, exalts people at the proper time (1 Peter 5:6). The person in Christ will be glorified, but Peter described it as a future condition in God’s hands, not man’s (verses 1, 4, 10). Peter instructs us to clothe ourselves with humility under God’s mighty hand (verses 5-6) because the devil prowls about, tempting people to exalt themselves (verses 8-9). The person who exalts himself or herself has not resisted the devil but has succumbed to his tempting.
The world applauds and rewards those who take matters into their own hands: “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” But that approach stinks of conceit. The way of Christ is not the way of the world; it is meekness and deference and service, not arrogance and disrespect and
selfishness. Peter instructs humility, not vanity, and submission, not presumption: “Ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (verses 5-6).
CONTENTMENT
A final problem with shameless self-promotion concerns lack of contentment. Good parents desire their children experience happiness and fulfillment and flourishing; God is a good parent. The Scriptures speak regularly of human blessedness, like in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12). From the beginning, God created humans to experience profound pleasure; in fact, Eden means “delight.” However, exile from Eden has resulted in unhappiness; therefore, vocational discontent exemplifies man’s exile, which has followed from his sin.
Even so, in Christ, a person may know true contentment. Christian contentment rises above life’s challenges and difficulties. It finds satisfaction in God’s will, even if it is in a lower position than the one you might have chosen. Paul explained that the Christian may know contentment by rejoicing in the Lord always, learning gentleness, forsaking anxiety, and thinking on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent, whether he lives in poverty or
prosperity (Philippians 4:4-14); incidentally, he did not identify “being the boss” as one of the keys to contentment.
Significantly, such contentment is available only to Christians. As Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (4:13). Hence, unhappiness ensuing from the desire to occupy a role God has not yet given reveals the person’s failure to see himself in Christ. It also demonstrates a failure to practice the Christian virtues of trust in God, submission to elders, and humility of self.
Desire itself is not wrong. We all should wish to achieve maximum Kingdom impact. However, desire that results from discontent, or desire that turns aggressive or deceitful, does not reflect the way of Christ. The young buck (or even the middle-aged buck) who conspires against the leader who occupies the role he or she desires follows the way of the world. Therefore, the Christ-follower must order his or her desires.
CONCLUSION
Scheming neither honors God nor warrants respect; it does not lend itself to someone having a good repute before God and men (Proverbs 3:4). Rather, virtues of trust and integrity and humility command others’ honor and respect. Consequently, we should think twice about presumptively promoting ourselves; it is counterfeit and does not reflect God’s holy character.
Virtues of trust and integrity and humility command others’ honor and respect.
Sometimes such self-promotion is unsuccessful; these people are found out. Sometimes it is successful — for a while — but then they are found out. And, as Solomon stated, pride precedes a fall (Proverbs 16:18). However, sometimes it is never found out, at least in this life, but God will judge peoples’ thoughts and intentions (Proverbs 16:2; Romans 2:16).
Whatever our situation, whether in church or nonchurch leadership, we should exercise godly contentment in our circumstances, honor and submit to those ahead of us, and leave the rest to God’s good purposes, trusting ultimately in Him.
About the Writer: Matthew Steven Bracey serves as vice provost for academic administration and associate professor of theology and culture at Welch College. He is also the managing editor of Welch College Press. He is an editor and contributor to several books, including The Promise of Arminian Theology (2016); Sexuality, Gender, and the Church (2016); Secularism and the American Republic (2022); Christians in Culture (Welch College Press, 2023); and Teacher, Scholar, Shepherd (2024). He is a co-founder and senior editor of the Helwys Society Forum (thehsf.com). Matthew and his wife, Sarah, live in Cross Plains, Tennessee, and have been married thirteen years.
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2. Emphasize the positive. S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G. Granted, few people would include the title of “state spelling bee champion” on a résumé, but for me, spelling became the first step toward self-confidence. When Mr. Trout discovered my “hidden” talent, he acted as though spelling a word with more than 12 letters was the greatest accomplishment in human history. His confidence and enthusiasm, more than my own, eventually propelled me to the state spelling championship. I still have the certificate I won in that competition.
Give your students chances to succeed — chances to see for themselves their lives hold value, and they can make important contributions to the work of God’s Kingdom! Help them identify their unique spiritual gifts and talents and give them manageable, achievable opportunities to succeed in those areas.
3. Demonstrate trust. Third base was a highly coveted position on our school team, usually played only by the most sure-handed, fireball throwing infielders. Imagine my surprise when Mr. Trout tossed me a glove on the first day of ball practice and said, “Eric, you cover third.”
No, I didn’t develop lightning-quick reflexes or entice professional scouts to come watch our team. I didn’t even become the starting third baseman, but I did become the back-up. And, more importantly, when our starting third baseman sprained his ankle during a big game, I heard once again, “Eric, you cover third!” Mr. Trout trusted me to succeed when the stakes were high.
How can I impact young people who need encouragement?
The silent ones who linger on the edges, longing to be loved, included, and valued?
Want to develop leaders who make the right decisions when the chips are down? Trust them to succeed. Give them chances to “make the play,” and whether they succeed or fail, provide plenty of encouragement and support. Trust them, and they will learn to trust you! And when they can trust another person, it will be much easier for them to make the step of trusting God.
4. Practice unconditional love. I’ll never forget that dreadful moment. The school year was almost over and — for the first time — I had
begun to come out of my bookworm shell. One afternoon, as lunch break neared its end, my new friends and I gathered around the water fountain outside our classroom door. Suddenly, one of the boys began to mimic Mr. Trout, imitating his quirky facial expressions, poking out his belly, and walking in the teacher’s funny, bowlegged way. I laughed along with the others, but to my ears, my laughter seemed hollow and strained.
Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened, and Mr. Trout stood there, taking in the whole scene. He quietly looked from boy to boy, but his gaze rested longest on me. After a tense moment which seemed to last for hours, he sighed, turned, and said quietly over his shoulder, “Time to start, guys.”
The afternoon dragged on. I slumped miserably at my desk, avoiding eye-contact with the little man who had become such a big part of my life. I knew what it was like to hurt, to be made fun of, to be…suddenly, the bell rang. With leaden feet, I walked slowly toward the door. Just as I passed him, Mr. Trout’s cheerful whisper brought me up short, “You got time for some hoops?” He never mentioned the incident at the water fountain. In that defining moment, he achieved hero status in my eyes!
You can be sure students will hurt you! It’s inevitable. Their emotions ride too close to the surface, the temptations that face them are simply overwhelming, and often they think the best way to relieve their own pain is to take it out on others, including you. In those moments, practice deliberate, unconditional love. Choose to look beyond the hurt to the desperate young people who need you. See them through the eyes of Christ. As they drive nails of criticism, rebellion, and failure through your hands and feet, ask God to forgive them and turn your attention to what is truly important: the condition of their souls.
My family soon moved from South Georgia, and I left Mr. Trout behind. But over the decades, I've realized I take a large part of him wherever I go. He saw potential where others missed it. He gave me opportunities to succeed where none had existed before. He trusted me, even when I failed him, and — somewhere along the way — he became a lonely freshman’s best friend.
About the Columnist: Eric K. Thomsen has been the managing editor of ONE Magazine since 2005. He is the worship leader at Bethel FWB Church near Ashland City, Tennessee, where he and his wife Jennifer also teach a college and young career Sunday School class.
The Case for CO-OP
CO-OP
BY STAN BUNCH
Early in the history of the denomination, Free Will Baptists had a clear understanding that by cooperating through shared ministries and unified giving, we could accomplish more for the glory of God. An excerpt from the 1941 minutes reads:
“Recommended by the General Board…
Whereas the unity of the body of Christ is designed to produce corporate worship and united service, therefore be it resolved:
1. That Christian unity is the equitable support of Missions, Education, and Benevolence besought through the establishment of a Unified Program Fund, and that all subordinate organizations, standing boards, officers, fieldworkers, and ministers of the denomination be and are hereby called upon to promote, patronize, and donate to this fund. It shall be allocated to the objects supported by the Association as the body may be pleased to direct in its annual sessions. Designated gifts to Missions, Education, and Superannuation may be sought at the will of those standing boards which promote these enterprises, and it shall be the privilege of churches and individuals to respond as the Spirit may lead.”1
This resolution was adopted, and later that year Missouri State Association voting delegates followed suit.2 The first year, Missouri reported only $17 in the fund. However, in 2024, Missouri closed the year having received over $1 million in CO-OP giving. God has clearly blessed this plan.
In 1952, due to a lack of participation in the Unified Program Fund, Missouri delegates voted to rename the program the Missouri Cooperative Program.3 They also approved a fixed
3 1952 MOFWB Minutes, Business and Publications Joint Committee Report, Item 1, page 20.
disbursement model, with 60% of funds going to missions and to Free Will Baptist Bible College.
Over the years, Missouri Free Will Baptists have revisited and revised CO-OP fund distribution multiple times through state body votes. But one thing has never changed: the focus on supporting the Lord’s work — together!
PRESENT SUPPORT
Today, 103 of the 138 Missouri Free Will Baptist churches support CO-OP. Churches are encouraged to practice the biblical principle of tithing to the CO-OP Fund, which is distributed to ministries approved by voting delegates. One hundred percent of all designated giving is disbursed to the appropriate ministry.
HOW IT WORKS
CO-OP and designated gifts, along with a form outlining disbursement instructions, are sent via mail or online to the Missouri Executive Office. All gifts are recorded, deposited, and then disbursed in full on the first of each month.
Financial accountability includes:
• Monthly reports in The Missouri GEM
• Annual financial audits
• Reports presented to state convention delegates
Current Fund Distribution
• 19% — Missouri Missions
• 21.5% — General/Executive Office
• 8.5% — Youth Camp
• 2% — Youth Ministry
• 2% — Christian Education
• 2% — Retiree Ministry
• 9% — State Retirement
• 3% — Show-Me Missions
• 33% — National Ministries (disbursement percentages determined by NAFWB delegates) Note: Randall University receives 0.1121% of this amount.
15 BENEFITS OF STATEWIDE CO-OP GIVING
1. It follows the New Testament pattern of churches working together cooperatively.
2. It is built on trust and accountability. Funds are used wisely and responsibly.
3. It is based on the principle of the tithe: Equal sacrifice, not equal giving.
4. It supports all ministries of the state and national associations with a single contribution.
5. It subsidizes youth camps, retreats, and conferences often free or at reduced cost.
6. It provides free resources to attendees of our conferences and events.
7. It fully funds church plants in Missouri from within the state. Less funds spent on fundraising equals more funds for ministry. A full-time missions director leads this ministry.
8. It provides generous support to IM missionaries with Missouri ties.
9. Pastors (whether full time or co-vocational) are eligible to receive $1,350 annually toward their NAFWB retirement account if their churches give 10% to CO-OP.
10. It fully covers the cost of counseling for ministerial families seeking counseling through the Executive Office.
11. It provides college scholarships: $500/semester for Missouri undergraduates at Free Will Baptist colleges/universities and for ministerial graduate students.
12. Sixty-six percent of all CO-OP funds stay in Missouri; 33% support national ministries.
13. Ministerial students attend retreats free of charge.
14. It supports The Missouri GEM, the longest-running publication among Free Will Baptists.
15. It fully funds the state director’s ministry, allowing him to dedicate 100% of his time to ministry promotion.
As of March 2025, 91% of funds received by the National Executive Department came through churches and states that support CO-OP giving.
CO-OP works…if we work it!
ADDRESSING CONCERNS
The primary concern raised about CO-OP is: “Our people want to know where their money is going and have a say in it.” This concern is valid and is addressed regularly. Each year, delegates vote on a CO-OP budget at the state convention, and all recipient ministries provide financial reports.
At its core, this objection often reflects a desire to designate giving to ministries deemed most effective. We must ask if those same pastors or leaders would appreciate such selective giving from members of their own local churches?
THE CONCLUSION
Every program has weaknesses, potential dangers, and objections. These are best addressed through honest dialogue, accountability, and a spirit of generous stewardship. As with any ministry effort, positive promotion is essential.
However, in Missouri, we can positively affirm that CO-OP giving works, and we truly are better together!
About the Writer: Stan Bunch is the executive director for the Missouri State Association of Free Will Baptists.
89TH NATIONAL CONVENTION
JULY 20-23, 2025 • KANSAS CITY, MO
“Sweltering” is the only appropriate word to describe the Western Missouri heat and humidity as nearly 4,000 Free Will Baptists gathered in Kansas City, Missouri, July 20-23, for the 89th Free Will Baptist Convention. So hot, in fact, the National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning three days running!
But the steamy weather did not hinder the spirit of the convention.
Attendees enjoyed resounding worship, powerful preaching, intense discussions, new and renewed friendships, unrestrained laughter, serious business, and enthusiastic celebrations. It may have been hot outside, but the sweet worship and fellowship within gave attendees a little foretaste of Heaven.
Convention Accounting Administrator Deanna Hollifield described it well: “It’s been a few years since I’ve been able to attend the convention. I didn’t realize just how much I missed the smiles, the hugs, the music, and the kindness and joy of our people. It was like a breath of fresh air.”
This year, Free Will Baptists sought to “Answer the Call” God has placed upon us, both as individuals and as a denomination. Sunday morning, during a joint service with teens and adults, five high school students from Truth & Peace Student Leadership Conference taught the Sunday School lesson before Aaron Pontious (MO) explored God’s command to build, plant, and seek peace when your world is turned upside down (Jeremiah 29:4-7).
Sunday evening, Josh Bush (KS) challenged listeners to accept
the mission to which God calls them (Jonah 1). Monday, Doug Earls (MO) warned listeners that disobeying God’s call will sink you (Jonah 2). Tuesday, Shiloh Hackett (TN) encouraged the reluctant to say yes to God’s call (Jonah 3). And Wednesday, after 68 new church planters and missionaries were commissioned, Joel Teague (missionary to France) challenged Free Will Baptists everywhere to answer the call to love people the way God loves them.
TWENTY YEARS OF IMPACT
The 154 volunteers participating in the annual IMPACT outreach event (held Saturday preceding the convention), demonstrated the same servant spirit and excitement as their counterparts first did 20 years ago. They came armed with Bibles, tools, and determination. In teams of two and three, they walked the streets of greater Kansas City, taking the gospel of hope to each door along the way.
Why do these volunteers do it? Why endure the July heat year after year when they could visit local attractions instead, or catch up with friends over coffee or lunch? Zane Harmon (KY)
summed it up well: “It’s one thing to attend a National Convention, but it’s another thing to get involved! We want to serve others. We want to make a difference.”
And they did! At Berean FWB Church, 30 participants visited homes, distributing a thousand gift bags. Berean Pastor Carl Short shared his excitement: “I have been praying God would take these thousand bags and handful of volunteers and multiply them — just like He did in so many miracles in the Bible.”
At Church of Faith, 60 volunteers distributed 500 door hangers and worked on landscaping. “It was really hot!” said Ken Akers, IMPACT director. “But we were able to get a lot done, and the new landscaping looks great. I am always appreciative of the people who give their time to this event.”
At Esperanza FWB Church, 64 volunteers assembled 150 school supply backpacks before distributing 500 cards to families in nearby apartment complexes, inviting them to receive the free backpacks during a back-to-school event.
As volunteers celebrated another great year, North American Ministries Chief Training Officer Brad Ransom reflected, “I love IMPACT! It’s much more than a service project. It’s an opportunity to bless the community and represent Free Will Baptists and the Lord in a way that’s impossible any other time of the year.”
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS
While worship and fellowship may be the heartbeat of the convention, the annual gathering also marks the time when the denomination conducts business. The General Board meeting began at 8:00 a.m., Monday, July 21, with a message from Moderator Tim York (TN) from Acts 15:41, emphasizing the importance of strengthening, encouraging, and confirming churches, admonishing, “If the local churches do not do well, the denomination will not do well.”
The General Board heard reports from nine national agencies and four commissions during a two-hour, 12-minute meeting.
The board approved recommendations from the Executive Committee including: a recommendation to approve the 2025 denominational budget of $35.2 million; a $25 increase in state fees every three years to offset rising expenses (starting in 2028); and a recommended Treatise change regarding the details of called special meetings.
During the Tuesday and Wednesday business sessions, delegates heard reports from national departments and agencies and approved all recommendations. Delegates further approved four resolutions: 1) a resolution urging future nominating committees to consider the contributions of potential nominees and their churches to The Together Way Plan; 2) a resolution urging the ongoing commitment to preaching and teaching the whole counsel of God; 3) a resolution to establish a funding summit at the 2025 Leadership Conference to address giving fatigue and financial shortfalls; and 4) a resolution thanking convention planners and host states (Missouri and Kansas) for their efforts in hosting the National Convention. Read the full text of these resolutions at nafwb.org/convention/.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE. Executive Director Eddie Moody began his report by thanking the denomination for the gestures of comfort and support offered to him and his family during the recent passing of his parents. He then addressed existing and looming challenges for the denomination. Rather than “kicking the can down the road,” he urged delegates, departments, and leaders to embrace the necessary steps now to head off downward trends.
He thanked Tom Jones for his ongoing work with Refresh Counseling, leading a team of nine helping professionals to assist Free Will Baptist pastors and their families, noting, “Healthy pastors lead to healthy churches, which lead to a healthy denomination.” To date, Refresh Counseling has helped pastors from 25 states, across all ages and ministry experience. Nearly 60% of all participants are senior pastors, but pastors’ wives and children also have turned to Refresh for help. Participants indicate that counseling kept them in their ministries, saved their marriages, and — in some cases
— saved their lives. Moody acknowledged the growing expense of the program and asked Free Will Baptists to “adopt” a pastor who needs help by contributing $1,000 to the program. Read the full report at nafwb.org/executivereport/.
Moody then challenged Free Will Baptists to focus on the “infrastructure” that keeps the denomination moving forward: the National Convention; curriculum, colleges, and camps; and more. He reminded listeners these crucial elements require support and challenged them to focus on the 3 for 30 strategy by using the resources provided by the Executive Office, giving faithfully, and focusing on the value of Free Will Baptists, leading rising generations into the future of the denomination.
WELCH COLLEGE. Though Welch College experienced some “rough financial waters,” in 2024, President Matt Pinson celebrated an increase in ministry students, despite the general downturn in enrollment surrounding the pandemic. He pointed to a vastly improved fall 2025 enrollment and an improving financial picture as the promise of good days ahead. He thanked the Lord that — due to significant gifts and the development of property — the college finished the financial year in the black.
Pinson also celebrated a notable increase in academic excellence, as reflected in a rising ranking by the U.S. News & World Report Best College report. The graduate program continues to expand, with new M.A. degrees in Organizational Leadership and Psychology. Doctorates among faculty have risen to 79% and are expected increase to 89% within a year.
As he concluded, Pinson noted that, in light of the difficulty (and even closures) encountered by many private colleges, “We’re so thankful for God’s providential, miraculous blessing in putting us on this new campus at just the right time....This new campus…has put us on a solid foundation for weathering this storm and being on a firm footing for the future.”
Pinson honored outgoing board member Tim Campbell.
WNAC. As the organization turned 90 in 2025, Ruth McDonald recounted the rich history of WNAC, which started as an organization to support missions, churches, orphanages, and education. She asserted, “Today, we are still about these things, supporting those taking the gospel around the world.” However, she also noted the WNAC mission has broadened beyond these endeavors, to help every Free Will Baptist woman find and fulfill her role in the Great Commission. “We are still on task,” she concluded, “doing what the original founders of WNAC envisioned.”
McDonald celebrated the success of the first Shine! simulcast event, with more than 1,100 girls and young women participating. The simulcast led to a discipleship movement among young women that continues to grow, with Bible studies and the Shine! method of Bible study. “Titus 2 talks about older women teaching younger women about the things of God. Today, we see young women who came up through the Shine! program working with girls younger than them.”
She shared the success of various other ministries, including the first international Shine! conference in Mexico, fellowship retreats, the return of printed copies of Treasure Bible study guide, the As You Go podcast, and the Growing Together online affinity group. WNAC also continues to award student scholarships. This year’s Miley scholarship was awarded to Kory Escolar (Ecuador) who attends Welch College. The Wisehart scholarships were awarded to Emily McBride (Randall University); Jody Ray (Southeastern FWB College); and Malena Campis (Welch College). The Pursell Scholarship was awarded to Nicolas Serrano and Leandro Galarza (Argentina).
While Free Will Baptist women gave $482,605 to ministry endeavors in 2024, McDonald observed these are designated, project-oriented funds, and encouraged Free Will Baptists to give regularly to the WNAC office through The Giving Tree, to underwrite the expenses of the ministry. Following her report, McDonald honored outgoing board member Jonda Patton.
2025
REGISTRATION
National Convention – 3,564
Vertical Three – 2,823
Total (Unique) Attendees – 3,892*
*Note: Many attendees register for both conventions.
SPEAKERS
Sunday School, July 20
Truth & Peace
Sunday Morning, July 20
Aaron Pontious (MO)
Sunday Evening, July 20
Josh Bush (KS)
Monday Evening, July 21
Doug Earls (MO)
Tuesday Evening, July 22
Shiloh Hackett (TN)
Wednesday Evening, July 23
Joel Teague (France)
2025 VERTICAL THREE CONFERENCE
Registration – 2,823
Truth & Peace – 128 student
participants
Competitive Entries: 843
Buck-A-Week Offering: $2,920*
* Initial count may be adjusted.
Reporters: Eric Thomsen, Claire Ryan
Photographers: Rodney Yerby, Sydney McClure, Dylan Brazil, Eric Thomsen
Download Photos: nafwb.yerbyphoto.com
ELECTED IN 2025
General Officers
Moderator – Tim York (TN)
Assistant Clerk– Ernie Lewis (IL)
Executive Committee
David Taylor (AR)
Danny Williams (AL)
Josh Colson (IL)
FWB Foundation
Brent Patrick (VA)
Matt Mouser (GA)
Corey Minter (TN)
North American Ministries
Josh Bush (KS)
Faron Thebeau (MO)
Bob Brown (FL)
Richland Ave Financial
Don Myers (MI)
Lance Boyer (MO)
John Howell (FL)
Welch College
Fred Yerby (AL)
Mike Hollis (TN)
COMMISSIONS
Historical – Eric Thomsen (TN)
Media – Isaiah Grimes (VA)
Music – Bryan Hughes (NC)
Theological – Jeremy Craft (FL), Rodney Holloman (TN)
The following boards did not elect members in 2025: IM, Inc., WNAC.
Nominating Committee - 2025-26
Clint Adams (GA), chairman
Barry Long (KY)
Gary Hill (VA)
Brenda Bunch (MO)
Ivan Ryan (IL)
Terry Pierce (MS)
Josh Hampton (MT)
2026 BUDGETS
D6 Family Ministry - $5,357,650
Executive Office - $1,139,110
Foundation - $2,628,612
IM, Inc. - $11,200,000 NAM (includes Master’s Men) - $5,200,000
Richland Ave - $916,550
Welch College - $8,380,674
WNAC - $333,000
Historical Commission - $6,035
Media Commission - $12,150
Music Commission - $8,350
Theological Commission - $5,650
Total – $35,187,781
D6 FAMILY MINISTRY. As CEO Ron Hunter Jr. opened his report, he described discipleship as “the bridge that connects Christ’s will to our lives, from church to home.” He recalled last year’s difficult report, when he shared the longterm financial impact the loss of churches had on D6 Family Ministry. This downturn has continued to affect the department. The resulting financial picture for 2024 was bleak, with a $587,115 loss. The loss resulted in difficult financial decisions — “no win hard calls,” as Hunter described them. An amended budget was adjusted by $800,000 through increased cost of curriculum, increased fees for and changes in Vertical Three activities, and reduced and frozen salaries for employees.
Hunter thanked supporters who have “stepped into the financial gap” through regular giving, and indicated support is growing toward the percentage needed for a sound financial picture. In closing, Hunter suggested the following action steps to help D6 Family Ministry:
1. Add to your curriculum order.
2. Provide devotional magazines.
3. Buy books for others, too.
4. Become a D6 HomePoint church.
5. Bring a group to a D6 Conference.
6. Put D6 in your church budget.
7. Put D6 in your personal budget.
IM, INC. General Director Clint Morgan noted only a decade remains until the 100-year anniversary of the National Association. He reminded listeners one of the primary actions taken by the new denomination in 1935 was the establishment of a foreign missions department. In the nine decades following, Free Will Baptists have sent 500 missionaries around the globe with the gospel.
Drawing on Psalm 145:4 and Psalm 113:3, Morgan celebrated the “mighty acts” God did through IM last year: 5,175 conversions,
2,976 baptisms, 312 active preaching points and mission works, 52,096 Free Will Baptist believers meeting beyond the borders of the U.S. each week, a $792,358 WMO, $10 million in donations, and all missionary accounts in the black. “We’ve asked much of you in the past year,” he told listeners. “Today, we sincerely want to thank you for what you’ve done.”
Morgan pointed out one area of financial concern: the General Fund. After underscoring the importance and impact of the General Fund, Morgan challenged listeners to partner with IM through a special gift or monthly giving.
He announced three ten-year Horizon Goals: commissioning 100 new missionaries; hitting three financial targets: $1 million annual WMO, $3 million GROW Endowment, and $10 million Cornerstone Endowment; and doubling the number of international Free Will Baptists by sharing the gospel with one million unbelievers, planting a thousand new churches, and gathering 120,000 people each week
Morgan honored veteran missionaries Jeff and Susan Turnbough, who will retire in September. He mourned the passing of eight pioneer missionaries who have gone to their eternal reward since the previous convention but celebrated eight new missionaries who will fill their shoes: Cody and Lauren Herren, Silas Houser, Robert Newton, Reece Rooke, Lauren Williams, and Shane and Megan. He thanked Director of Financial Operations Rob Conley for 30 years at IM and acknowledged new career missionary appointees Osam and Emily Sakamoto and Bradley and Madison Mercer.
FREE WILL BAPTIST FOUNDATION.
Scott Coghill, chairman, updated the ongoing transition in leadership at the Foundation. He thanked the Foundation staff for their diligent work during this transition. He announced an interim leadership committee comprised of Scott Coghill, Brent Patrick, and John Brummitt, who will guide the department through the search for a new director. The board is in the first round of
interviews with candidates for the position. In the meantime, the agency is bringing the Foundation structure in line with new state-by-state requirements.
Coghill clarified the mission of the Foundation as a financial ministry existing to generate gifts and contributions, make investments, and use the proceeds to support and further the advancement of all Free Will Baptist ministries through endowments, gift annuities, demand notes, and estate plans. “When you invest financially with the Foundation today,” he noted, “you impact Free Will Baptists tomorrow....This denomination needs the Foundation!”
Coghill noted the Foundation is suspending the distribution of 2025 grants until the hiring of a new director, at which time the grants will be reassessed. Despite all the challenges and changes of the past year,” Coghill concluded, “the Free Will Baptist Foundation is not just surviving. We are growing, rebuilding, and recommitting ourselves to coming alongside our churches, colleges, missionaries, and ministries like never before.”
NORTH AMERICAN MINISTRIES.
Director David Crowe thanked Free Will Baptists for their generosity to North American Ministries (NAM), with $4.2 million in gifts during 2024. As a result, the department finished $194,000 in the black. This is remarkable, since NAM has 58 church planters serving in 35 church plants across North America. However, church planting is only one facet of the department’s ministry. The department is involved in disaster relief, chaplaincy, the Church Extension Loan Fund, and cross-cultural ministry.
Though the overall picture of the department is positive, Crowe offered an explanation regarding the loss in the Church Extension Loan Fund (CELF) in 2024, largely from the devaluation of a single church loan. He noted that much of the loss will be recouped once the church property has been sold. “Our priority at CELF always has and continues to be protecting our investors,” Crowe concluded.
RICHLAND AVE FINANCIAL. Director John Brummitt updated listeners on the progress of the department’s name transition after receiving approval from delegates in 2024. To date, all facets of the ministry have been rebranded, including the website: richlandavefinancial.com/.
Brummitt celebrated 137 new enrollments last year, pushing the yearly average of new enrollments to 129 since 2016. The department received contributions of $4.5 million in 2024, with an average of $3.8 million since 2016. To continue this growth, the department has begun targeting large employer groups like schools, daycares, and large churches. Following the report, Brummitt honored outgoing board member Randy Wilson.
COMMISSIONS
Josh Owens noted the Media Commission’s focus on providing livestreaming for the National Convention and providing A/V support for the annual Leadership Conference. Due to the rising costs of Internet and travel, the commission relies heavily on support from other departments, depending on gifts and grants to continue their work.
Chairman Doug Little noted the Music Commission continues to assist with National Convention music in addition to their regular work: maintaining fwbworship.com, providing training for churches, educational social media posts, consulting, and coaching. This year, the commission sponsored five seminars at the convention on a variety of topics. Little noted that suggestions and requests to the commission are always welcomed and encouraged listeners to engage through the website.
Secretary-Treasurer Eric Thomsen celebrated that, after many years of effort, the Historical Commission has nearly completed scanning the large collection of historical Free Will Baptist minutes books. He announced the release of At the Feet of Jesus, a year-long devotional book written by the late Dr. Mary Ruth Wisehart, former chair of the commission and long-time executive secretary of WNAC. He encouraged students of denominational history to access these resources at fwbhistory.com/.
Kevin Hester, chairman of the Commission for Theological Integrity, thanked outgoing board members Matt Pinson and W. Jackson Watts for their service. He underscored the ongoing work of the commission, including the annual Symposium, FWBTheology.com, Journal for Theological Integrity, and the new digital newsletter De Doctrina. Hester announced the 2025 Symposium will meet October 6-7, on the campus of Randall University in Moore, Oklahoma.
A D6 FAMILY MINISTRY EVENT
JULY
20 - 23, 2025
• KANSAS CITY
Once a year, Free Will Baptists gather for the annual National Convention and the Vertical Three Conference. The event takes careful planning: the choice of hotel and arrival time; money saved for travel, food, and lodging; vacation days set aside to spend a week in a place that — at least this year — had record-breaking temps from a sweltering heat wave rivaling the core of a volcano!
For leadership, these conferences take months of meeting, planning, and preparation. Countless individuals play roles big and small, helping lay the groundwork, recruit volunteers, and reveal the final masterpiece. Every conference has highs and lows, challenges and solutions, moments of relief and nights of restless fatigue — all so thousands of Free Will Baptists can descend on some pre-arranged city each July.
Which begs the question: Why?
Why do students participate in the CTS Ministry Expo? Why take the time, money, and effort to attend or plan these conferences? Why?
I suggest three simple reasons:
1. Jesus. We hail from different lives, families, backgrounds, cultures, and decades (maybe even centuries). We have different interests, talents, likes, dislikes, and convictions. But the single defining commonality is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Nobody inspires fellowship like Jesus.
Further, the purpose behind the CTS Ministry Expo and Vertical Three Conference — all the services, seminars, business, and events related to the National Convention — is to bring honor and glory to Jesus.
Finally, our relationship with Jesus requires two-way, active communication. This brings us together, elicits the worship He deserves, and wraps us in the comforting embrace of a life lived with and for Him.
Why meet? We do it because of Jesus. We do it for Jesus. We do it with Jesus.
2. Fellowship. For the believer, fellowship is more than social interaction. It’s a bond rooted in faith, unity, love, and mutual support. It’s a bond the Church shares unlike any other, one founded in Christ who transcends the bounds of time, shakes the foundation of the world, heals the broken, saves the lost, and one day will right all wrongs for good.
There’s nothing quite like this family reunion of thousands, a glimpse of the day when multitudes of Christ-followers throughout all time will be reunited. Each year, as we reunite with old friends, we are encouraged in our deepest hearts, revitalized with the gospel truth, and reminded why we meet.
3. Generational Discipleship. Our common love for Christ and the decision to serve Him is not the end. Every Christian has a God-ordained responsibility to be a disciple who makes disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). We pass our faith to the next generation, so we never forget what the Lord has done. It should be our joy to serve because Christ has changed our lives (Acts 4:20; 1 Peter 3:15). May we be like the heavenly creatures in Revelation 4:8 crying in humbled awe, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”
This is why we meet.
SERVICES. The 2025 V3 theme, “Stand Tall,” comes from Daniel 3, which records the story of three young men who chose to be faithful to God, no matter the cost. Students were asked, “Are you a V3 student?” Each service focused on a different aspect of the Vertical Three mission: discovering talents, developing leadership, and dedicating hearts to faithful service to God.
Sunday morning’s joint service with adults featured Sunday School led by five Truth & Peace students: Levi Greer, Jackson Green, Nate Luthy, Bryan McCanch, and Daniel Shaffer. Aaron Pontious preached from Jeremiah 29 and discussed living on purpose whenever and wherever God places us.
Sunday evening, Bradley Mercer spoke from 1 Corinthians 12 on discovering the spiritual gifts we must use for God’s glory.
On Monday evening, Dale Hudson preached from Philippians, challenging listeners to give ambition, attitude, and actions to the Lord and His work. Teen services concluded Tuesday evening with a message from Josh Hampton who challenged the audience to dedicate our hearts to the Lord.
After the service, Mark Brown, an illusionist from Nashville, Tennessee, wowed the crowd with his remarkable talents. And, of course, every V3 Conference features exceptional emcees Jon Forrest and Neil Gilliland who provide laughter while also showing love each year.
V3-123 was led by Johnny Miller and his team who taught elementary students how to “put on” the armor of God. Steve Greenwood, Jonathon Reed, and V3-456 students enjoyed small groups where they answered “big-life” questions. Katie Greenwood and her team led V3-Preschool, and each night featured crafts, snacks, devotion time, games, and singing.
CTS MINISTRY EXPO. Every year, hundreds of students spend countless hours preparing for the CTS Ministry Expo. But the competition itself is not the end goal. The goal is that countless hours spent worshiping the Lord, speaking His truths, and studying His Word will ground students with a foundation of faith to stand against the challenges of life. The true prize is never a medal or trophy but the promise of Christ and His Kingdom, brought down through Scripture and His faithful followers. Students of all ages competed in music, drama, Bible, and arts, with 843 entries and 1,607 competitors.
TRUTH & PEACE. This year’s Truth & Peace Student Leadership Conference was comprised of 128 students and 16 staff members. The superhero theme focused on training students for a life of service to Christ and His Kingdom. Students learned how to grow in their faith through personal Bible study practice, and were trained to teach God’s Word to others.
Students arrived at Randall University in Moore, Oklahoma, July 9, and immediately began leadership training, team building, and service projects.
“Truth & Peace has given me a community of likeminded people who are always there to encourage me and hold me accountable. I would not be the person I am today without the students and staff who have shaped me.” — Natalie Lawson, 401
“Truth & Peace means temporarily leaving my home to grow with and learn from fellow Christ-followers my age.”
— Trinity Hempen, 201
“I learned to do everything to the glory of God; when I do, God will take control and work out my future for His perfect plans.”
— Tommy Trimble, 301
YOUTH EVANGELISTIC TEAM ( YET ) . YET was comprised of ten students and two leaders, Bryan and Kinsley Houser. Students arrived in Moore, Oklahoma, July 8, to prepare for YET 2025. These students led worship throughout the Truth & Peace Conference and during V3-Teen in Kansas City.
“YET has been life changing for me. Last year, God showed me how He works in different churches in different states. This year, He showed me how He can work among students. His presence is enough for me; it’s all the peace that I need.”
— Luke Donoho
“Although YET was a little different this year, it was beneficial because there was a lot I learned and many friends that I met. God was glorified throughout the changes that were made.”
— Andrew Riggs
BUCK- A -WEEK. The annual missions offering was received on Tuesday evening during the V3-Teen Service. This year, the recipients were Billy & Sunni Champion (Japan) and Armon & Yvette Jorden (Hawaii). Through the generous donations of attendees, the offering totaled $2,920 (and counting).
Value Teachers
BY EDDIE MOODY
Have one or more teachers had a significant impact upon your life? My parents both passed away recently. Though this was a sad time, it provided an opportunity to see many friends from childhood. I also saw Tommy Tripp, a former teacher and coach of mine at Bethel Christian Academy in Kinston, North Carolina. The visit felt like old times.
As a student, I noticed Coach Tripp was unique. He taught U.S. History and Spanish. (Please don’t blame him, my Spanish speaking brothers and sisters. I was not a good student.) He may have taught other classes as well, but I don’t remember. I do remember many other things. He coached basketball and baseball and took many of us athletes on extracurricular trips. We went to revivals, amusement parks, and even campaign events. He ran for County Commissioner, and we campaigned for him. He took an active interest in my life and tried to prepare me for the future.
He encouraged me to write and speak. I wrote a speech called “Wake Up America!” for a competition. He edited the speech, coached my delivery, and sought opportunities for me to deliver it throughout eastern North Carolina. He was with me when I learned from my mother that one of my friends, Alicia Smith, had been killed in an accident. He was there for that difficult time, too. Coach Tripp was an extraordinary teacher. I am indebted to him and other teachers for the value they added to my life.
I sometimes wonder if we hurt ourselves when we fail to value teachers. Pew Research surveyed teachers last year about being a teacher in America today. Seventy-seven percent said their job is frequently stressful, 68% described it as overwhelming, and — most concerning — 52% said they would not advise a young person to become a teacher. Why might they feel this way?
Teachers usually go into teaching to teach, to have a positive impact upon students. Forty-eight percent described their students’ academic performance as fair or poor. Only 17% percent said their performance was good or excellent. Even worse, they have less opportunity to teach because of behavioral problems. Forty-nine percent said the behavior of most students at their school is fair or poor. Only 13% pointed to excellent or very good behavior.1
What can we do? As parents, show teachers you value them by holding your children accountable if they misbehave. In the Pew study, 79% of teachers wished parents would do that. Help your children with schoolwork, also mentioned by 68% of teachers. Really, the best answer is to obey Scriptures like Proverbs 22:12-26 and 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 and honor teachers, treating them with respect and working well with them.
May our homes and churches create a culture that honors children who apply themselves to schoolwork and get along with peers (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15). May we be known for praying for teachers and other school personnel (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19). Where would this generation be without teachers like Tommy Tripp? Let us value teachers, so others will follow in their footsteps.
