SPRING/SUMMER 2018
THE BAPTIST FOUNDATION OF OKLAHOMA
Putting Faith Into Practice OBU + MOJ: HOW YOUR GIVING POWERS A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP THAT’S HEALING BODY AND SOUL
RESCUING A CITY WITHOUT HOPE
WHY YOU NEED A DONOR-ADVISED FUND
ADAMS FUND: SAVING GRACE FOR SENIORS
HER FUTURE’S BRIGHT. PROTECT IT WITH AN ESTATE PLAN. An estate plan maps out critical end-of-life decisions and supports ministry. The Foundation makes it easy and affordable.
GET STARTED AT:
bfok.org/ProtectMyFamily
Inside WHERE MEDICINE MEETS FAITH Oklahoma Baptist University nursing students are learning how to put their faith into practice thanks to a unique partnership with Ministries of Jesus. Find out how your giving is caring for the less fortunate while training the next generation of Christian health care providers. PG. 6
ON THE COVER — Seniors Natalie Buzan (right) and Marina Berkley prepare to deliver a baby in OBU’s high-tech nursing simulation lab.
5 REASONS YOU NEED A DONOR-ADVISED FUND
A PLACE TO CALL HOME
RESTORING JOY IN EAST ST. LOUIS
The new tax law has sent donor-advised funds’ popularity skyrocketing. Whether you’re a millionaire or middle-class, learn why you should consider giving through a DAF.
Retirement isn’t a fair ytale ending for many senior adults who struggle to make ends meet. Find out how your gifts make “home” possible for seniors in need at Baptist Village Communities.
NAMB church planters take on a city overrun by gang violence and decades of decline. See how your giving is breaking the cycle of physical and spiritual pover ty.
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PG. 12
G ENE ROS IT Y Spring/Summer 2018 Generosity is published biannually by The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma. To subscribe, request a copy or update mailing information, please call 1.800.949.9988 or email communications@bfok.org.
PG. 20
PRODUCTION
Mike Schueler | Editor Marissa Crowson | Associate Editor VI Marketing & Branding | Design
CONTRIBUTORS Samuel Greenhill Heather Horner Teresa Lang
Jeremy Scott Dana Williamson
Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
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A Glimpse of God’s Goodness
S
piritually speaking, many of us never see the fruits of our labor. I’ve met missionaries who’ve shared the Gospel for years in a Muslim country and never led a single person to Jesus.
It doesn’t mean they won’t, or that they’re ineffective. But just because the Lord uses us to plant the seed doesn’t mean we’ll be the ones to water — or harvest. The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma is a ministry that undergirds others. We exist to inspire generosity and multiply gifts that strengthen ministries. From your local church to the International Mission Board, nearly all are front-line ministries that serve at the cutting edge of lostness. Our support role means we sometimes feel removed from the “action” — so focused on our work and seemingly so far from the front lines that we risk forgetting the truth: that every Christ-follower is standing at the center of an epic spiritual battle. Perhaps you’ve felt the same way. But no matter the role God has given us, I believe He allows us to catch glimpses of the awe-inspiring ways He chooses to use us. Like Moses on Mt. Sinai, we may see the Lord’s glory and goodness, if only through a crack in a rock. I was blessed with such a moment earlier this year. This stack of hundreds of checks represents the $14.2 million sent out in 2018 to churches and ministries throughout Oklahoma and across the United States. It is the largest Annual Distribution in the Foundation’s 71-year history (part of the $21.7 million total made available through the Foundation in 2017). You’ll notice the check near the bottom is made out to Baptist Village Communities, a ministry that serves thousands of senior adults. The $210,173 represented by that check is only a portion of the financial support Baptist Village will receive from the Foundation this year. What’s important to understand is that the $210,173 didn’t come from the Foundation. Neither did the rest of the $14.2 million. While it is true that we are tasked with managing and multiplying financial resources entrusted to us, you are the givers. It is the overwhelming, sacrificial, Christlike generosity of Oklahoma Baptists that made this historic Annual Distribution possible. That is the glimpse of God’s goodness I see when I look at these checks — not the incredible sum of money they represent, but the incredible generosity of those who gave to advance the Gospel. What a joy it is to serve a people so deeply committed to Kingdom causes!
Robert K. Kellogg President & CEO
To learn how the Foundation can help you multiply gifts to a church or ministry that’s close to your heart, please visit bfok.org or call 800-949-9988. bfok.org
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5 Reasons
YOU SHOULD BE GIVING THROUGH A DONOR-ADVISED FUND A donor-advised fund, or DAF for short, is a popular tool for charitable giving because it multiplies gifts, maximizes tax benefits and simplifies the giving process. At the Foundation, we call DAFs “Giving Funds.” But what are they? Think of a DAF like an investment account for all your charitable giving. Instead of writing multiple checks to individual charities, you contribute to your DAF account and receive an immediate tax deduction. Those contributions are invested and grow tax-free. You decide which charities you want to support and how often. When you’re ready to make a gift from your DAF, the Foundation sends the check and manages the paperwork for you.
My church
HOW DAFs WORK Evangelism & missions
My DAF
My DAF Human needs ministries
DONATE
GROW
GIVE
Contribute cash, stocks, property, etc.
Contributions are invested to multiply impact
Make gifts to causes you care about
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Enjoy Ultra-Flexibility • Contribute cash, stocks, property or other assets at your convenience • Make gifts to ministries/charities now or later, as often as you like
Reap Tax Advantages • Contributions to your DAF are immediately tax-deductible • Pay no capital gains tax on donations of appreciated assets (stocks, real estate, etc.)
CAN I SUPPORT MINISTRY WITH MY DAF? Yes! You can give to almost any nonprofit that is tax-exempt, also known as a 501(c)(3) organization. This includes most ministries, as well as your church. Use your DAF to:
Multiply Your Impact • DAF contributions are invested and grow to maximize impact • All growth is tax-free
Simplify Your Giving
Give Tithes and Offerings
• All charitable giving is channeled through a single fund • When you make a gift, the Foundation sends the check and manages the paperwork for you • Monitor your DAF balance and contribution/gift history with online account access
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Avoid High Fees With The Foundation
Support Missionaries
• No fees to open an account or process gift (grant) requests • No management fees for DAFs invested in select funds • Low management fees for other DAF investment options
Fund Capital Campaigns bfok.org
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HEALING faith 6 G E N E R O S I T Y Spring/Summer 2018
A partnership between Oklahoma Baptist University and Ministries of Jesus is teaching the next generation of nurses to put their faith into practice. Find out how your giving provides physical and spiritual healing to thousands of Oklahomans without health care. STORY BY MIKE SCHUELER | PHOTOS BY HEATHER HORNER
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aula Jimenez is frightened. Lying in a hospital bed, the 27-year-old is about to give birth for the first time, and she’s doing it without the one person who should be by her side. Her husband, Jesse, is half-a-world away, deployed with the Army Reserve in Afghanistan. Jimenez cries out in pain as another contraction hits. “There’s a lot of pressure — I don’t think I can do this!” she says with panic in her voice.
won’t put a real patient’s life at risk. The lab’s classrooms look exactly like hospital rooms, complete with functioning equipment. The patients, like Jimenez and baby Ava, are high-tech mannequins. Though their faces don’t look quite human, the robots can replicate dozens of human bodily functions: their chest rises and falls as they “breathe,” they have a pulse, they can blink, bleed, sweat, vomit, urinate and even give birth.
But Jimenez isn’t alone. Nurse Natalie Buzan holds her hand as she monitors contractions on a screen above Jimenez’s bed. “Here comes another one, try to breathe through it,” Buzan encourages her. “I can see the baby’s head! Keep pushing, you’re doing great!” It’s time. Buzan calls the doctor, and minutes later a little girl is born. “She’s so beautiful!” Jimenez exclaims through tears as Buzan lays the child against her mother’s chest. She names her Ava, after her sister. Then Jimenez says something you wouldn’t expect from a new mom: “Simulation complete.” Buzan and the rest of the nursing staff immediately relax. A woman holding a walkie-talkie emerges from behind a large mirror and congratulates them. She sounds exactly like Paula Jimenez. Of course, that’s because she is Paula Jimenez, or at least her voice. The patient, the baby, the husband in Afghanistan — none of it is real. Buzan and her colleagues aren’t real nurses either, not until they graduate in May. It’s all part of a hyper-realistic teaching exercise at Oklahoma Baptist University’s (OBU) nursing simulation lab. Located on OBU’s main campus in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the state-of-the-art simulation facility is used to train nursing students like 21-year-old Buzan, allowing them to hone skills in a safe environment where mistakes
Assistant professor Nicole Jackson directs OBU’s nursing simulation lab; she is the wizard that brought Jimenez to life, lending her voice and manipulating the mannequin from behind a two-way mirror in an adjacent control room. To add to the realism, Jackson builds elaborate scenarios for each exercise, giving the patients names, medical histories and personal details. But while these sophisticated patient proxies excel at mimicking the human body, she says the one thing they can’t simulate is a soul.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT — Seniors Natalie Buzan and Blake Compton deliver a baby during an exercise inside Oklahoma Baptist University’s state-of-the-art nursing simulation lab. ABOVE: Hidden by a two-way mirror, Assistant Nursing Professor Jennifer Sharma helps direct a simulation from an adjacent control room. bfok.org
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HEALING BODY AND SOUL Jackson believes there’s no substitute for real-world experience when it comes to teaching students how to help patients heal emotionally and spiritually. That’s why OBU’s College of Nursing has formed a unique partnership with Ministries of Jesus, a faith-based community health center in Edmond, Oklahoma. Known as MOJ for short, Ministries of Jesus provides no-cost holistic health care focused on healing “spirit, soul and body.” Services include medical, dental and eye clinics, counseling, addiction recovery, social services resources and support groups. The majority of MOJ’s patients are minorities and immigrants; 98 percent are uninsured, 93 percent are indigent, and 90 percent are unchurched. “We work to relieve physical suffering and see people set free from depression, anxiety and addiction. But all that is actually secondary,” explains Kim Swyden, MOJ’s executive director. “Our first priority is to introduce patients to Jesus Christ.” The partnership between OBU and MOJ began to solidify in 2016 as Swyden was wrestling with what he describes as a God-given vision: using MOJ to teach medical students to approach health care holistically (healing that includes elements beyond a person’s physical body, including his or her mind, spirit and emotions). A mutual friend connected him with Lepaine McHenry, dean of OBU’s College of Nursing, who was simultaneously searching for opportunities to show her students how to put their faith into action at work.
“OBU is a distinctively Christian university, where faith and education are integrated,” McHenry says. “I wanted our nursing students to be exposed to settings where they see this modeled. “How do you deal with conflict and crisis, how do you make decisions in ethical dilemmas? If you have a solid biblical foundation, then you’re going to be compelled to respond to those problems from a Christ-centered perspective. “This is something that our students have been asking for,” McHenry adds. “MOJ gives us the opportunity to see how it’s done. That’s why our partnership is so valuable. The students rate the experience very highly because they’re learning first-hand how the doctors and nurses at MOJ incorporate Christ as they impact patients’ lives.” The College of Nursing uses MOJ as a practicum for its community nursing course. Students typically spend one day a week at the center during the six-week practicum, observing and assisting MOJ’s staff and volunteers as they see patients. “The first thing students encounter, and we think this is a critical piece of the experience, is our staff praying together each morning before we begin admitting patients,” Swyden says. “So immediately they see that we’re serious about being a light for the Gospel. “We tell the students, ‘We want you to be relational. We want you to pray with patients. We want you to hear their story. We want patients to know they’re loved. What we want them to see is Jesus,’” he says.
“We want you to be relational. We want you to pray with patients. We want you to hear their story. We want patients to know they’re loved. What we want them to see is Jesus.” 8 G E N E R O S I T Y Spring/Summer 2018
“... they’re learning first-hand how the doctors and nurses at MOJ incorporate Christ as they impact patients’ lives.”
FROM CLASSROOM TO EXAM ROOM — “We’re preparing our students to impact people’s lives physically, emotionally and spiritually,” says Lepaine McHenry, dean of OBU’s College of Nursing. “At Ministries of Jesus, they’re learning practical ways to integrate their faith, and that’s something you can’t simulate.” bfok.org
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FUSING FAITH AND MEDICINE — Natalie Buzan (left) assists Ministries of Jesus staff nurse Paige Redwine as they examine Nyan Tin,* a Burmese refugee who suffers from several medical issues including diabetes. “At MOJ we spend an extended amount of time with each patient, praying with them and really making them feel cared for,” says Buzan, who plans to pursue pediatric nursing after graduation. “I pray the Lord will use me to be a light for Him in ways patients can see.”
PUTTING FAITH INTO PRACTICE A few weeks after delivering Paula Jimenez’s baby in the simulation lab, Natalie Buzan and Blake Compton, another OBU nursing senior, are busy helping staff care for real-life patients at Ministries of Jesus. Compton is paired with Patti Odor, an experienced nurse who also manages MOJ’s medical clinic. He follows her into an exam room where they meet 61-year-old Roberto Garcia* who’s come for a checkup. Garcia emigrated from Mexico 16 years ago and works as a mechanic, but the job doesn’t provide insurance. Without MOJ, he would have little to no access to quality health care. Compton takes Garcia’s blood pressure while Odor asks how he’s been. His English is limited, so he’s brought along his teenage grandson to translate. Garcia was recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which makes work difficult. He tells Odor he hasn’t filled a prescription to manage the pain because it’s too expensive. Garcia is also a diabetic, so Compton checks his feet for sores, a sign of poor blood circulation.
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Odor isn’t in a hurry. She promises to help Garcia find a way to get the arthritis medicine he needs, and takes time to build a relationship. She’s not just interested in Garcia’s physical condition; she wants to know about other aspects of his life, too. Odor asks for permission to pray with him. Garcia smiles and agrees, telling them he is a Christian. “Pray for my church and my family,” he says. The group joins hands and bows their heads. “One of the things you learn at OBU is that as a Christian, you’re part of the Great Commission and that can take any number of different paths,” says Compton, 26. “We need nurses, engineers, politicians and so many others who are not just doing their jobs, but doing them for Christ’s glory, and to lead others to faith through their actions and words and attitudes.” Compton remembers first being drawn to medicine when he witnessed a serious car accident on I-40. He called 911 and stayed with the victim, who had serious head and neck injuries, until the ambulance arrived. After graduation, Compton will serve as a nurse in the Navy. He wants to specialize in pediatrics and plans to become a nurse practitioner.
“We need nurses, engineers, politicians and others who are not just doing their jobs, but doing them for Christ’s glory.” “You can tell the difference between someone who may not know you but cares for you, and someone who’s just doing their job,” he says. “I hope I have opportunities to speak into patients’ lives because they see that I’m different from Joe Blow nurse who doesn’t care about anything but their vital signs.” In an exam room next door, Buzan assists MOJ staff nurse Paige Redwine. Their patient, Nyan Tin,* is a 52-year-old Burmese refugee who came to the United States from Southeast Asia in 2001 with his family. Tin works in a factory that makes plastic bags, but he has no insurance and is barely making ends meet. He suffers from high blood pressure, heart and kidney problems, as well as diabetes. Buzan takes his temperature while Redwine counsels him about his diabetes. Tests show Tin’s blood sugar isn’t under control, and he’s run out of the medication he needs to manage it. He says he comes to MOJ because he wants to be healthy, and doesn’t have anyone else who can help him. The center provides care for Tin’s father and daughter, too. Buzan describes helping patients like Tin as an “uplifting experience,” and adds that serving at MOJ has opened
Priority Growth Needs
her eyes to the myriad of spiritual opportunities that can accompany a career in medicine. “It’s surprised me to learn how many people will say yes if you ask to pray for them, and maybe no one’s ever asked them that before,” she says. “Many are facing some scary health issues and may not know what’s going to happen. They are vulnerable and often ready for someone to start a spiritual conversation, because they likely don’t know how to have a relationship with Jesus.” Buzan is passionate about pediatrics and hopes to work at the University of Oklahoma’s Children’s Hospital after graduation. While she may not be able to share her faith there as openly as she has at MOJ, Buzan believes being the hands and feet of Christ can sometimes be as simple as giving others the care you would want to receive. “You may not always have the opportunity to tell them Jesus loves you,” she says. “But I can at least show that I love them and care about them through my actions, and that they’re not just another patient.” *Names changed to protect privacy.
Priority Growth Needs
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A Place To Call
HOME It’s a choice no one should have to make: pay the rent or fill a prescription for badly needed medicine. This scenario is alarmingly common for seniors with limited incomes, which is why Baptist Village Communities created the Adams Assistance Fund to help residents make ends meet. But now, growing need is testing the fund’s capacity, and your giving could mean the difference between home and homelessness for struggling senior adults. STORY BY DANA WILLIAMSON | PHOTOS BY JEREMY SCOTT & TERESA LANG
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MAKING MUSIC — Hymns fill the halls at Baptist Village of Cleveland every Tuesday as resident Kathy Gill leads her neighbors in worship. Financial assistance from the Adams Fund makes Gill’s life at the village possible, and music is a way she serves fellow seniors. “The best thing about living here is the family atmosphere. We do things for each other, love and pray for each other,” she says.
“I
f I had a million dollars, I’d still live here,” says Baptist Village resident Kathy Gill as a huge smile spreads across her face.
But Gill doesn’t have a million dollars. And neither do thousands of senior adults across Oklahoma who yearn for a secure place to spend their golden years. Many planned for retirement, imagining themselves relaxing by pools, traveling to exotic places, and hosting their children and grandchildren for holidays. But somewhere along the way, life happened, and the money they’d saved wasn’t there when they needed it most. Gill, 70, never thought the day would come when she would need help paying her rent. A certified public accountant, she worked most of her life as a bookkeeper in hospitals and schools. When she married her second husband in 1993, Gill worked alongside him in his auto mechanic shop. Because he was self-employed, Gill’s husband didn’t have health insurance or retirement benefits. When he had a stroke, the couple spent everything on his medical expenses, even selling their home and his tools to pay mounting bills. He died two years later, leaving her with only Social Security and the meager retirement she collects from a job at a grocery store. bfok.org
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LASTING FRIENDSHIPS — Board games are a fun way for Baptist Village residents like Gill to connect and forge relationships.
To make matters worse, Gill was diagnosed with an eye disease that may eventually leave her blind. She decided she needed to be closer to her children. Her son suggested she visit the Baptist Village in Cleveland, Oklahoma. “The atmosphere was great, and I bonded immediately with the campus director because we both love music,” Gill says. “But I couldn’t meet my needs and make a full rental payment.”
KATHY GILL, 70 Baptist Village of Cleveland
“The Adams Fund gives me security. I’m so grateful for people who give so those like me can have a place to call home.” 14 G E N E R O S I T Y Spring/Summer 2018
That’s when she learned about the Larry and Edwine Adams Assistance Fund, which provided the extra financial help she needed. Baptist Village of Cleveland became her home, and today, two years later, Gill has built a new life for herself there. She’s invested in the community and made friends. Best of all, her family is close by. Gill’s 92-year-old mother lives down the hall, and her son, who serves as caretaker at a Baptist children’s camp, is just 20 miles away. “The Adams Fund gives me security,” Gill says. “I have a roof over my head and my family nearby. I’m so grateful for people who give so those like me can have a place to call home.”
BORN OF NECESSITY The Adams Fund carries its creator’s namesake, Larry Adams, a former Oklahoma pastor who served as campus director of Baptist Village of Oklahoma City from 1986 to 1995. Today, 85-year-old Adams and his wife, Edwine, are residents there. He says his days leading the village were among the happiest of his ministry career, because he loves serving others. That spirit led him to start what would eventually become the Adams Fund, which he says was born of necessity. “In the early 1980s, a lot of older adults believed in certificates of deposit (CDs), which were earning anywhere from 11 to 14 percent interest,” Adams explains. “Then the oil crunch came, interest rates dropped to 2 or 3 percent, and that income was suddenly not nearly enough to live on.” As campus director, Adams frequently toured the village to check on residents. One Saturday, he was stopped by a man who had retired from Tinker Air Force Base and invested all his money in CDs. “I never thought I’d find myself in this position,” the man told Adams. “We’ve run out of money. My wife can’t even afford to buy pantyhose.” Adams assured the man he would take care of the situation personally, and went out to buy necessities for the couple with money from his own pocket. The man threw his arms around Adams and wept.
Pat believes the Adams Fund is also an ideal avenue to help fulfill the mission given in James 1:27 to care for “widows in their distress.” Indeed, many fund recipients are widows like Gill, whose savings were wiped out by illness. Others simply outlived whatever money they managed to scrape together. Some are pastors’ wives who gave their life to ministry working alongside their husbands. Pat adds that he’s seen too many pastors (or their widows) whose small churches couldn’t or wouldn’t adequately provide for their retirement. “The need is growing because people are living longer, and it’s harder to keep up. They deserve quality of life in retirement,” he says.
ONE BIG FAMILY Most of the people living in Baptist Villages across Oklahoma compare the experience to a big, loving family. And it’s no different for those who receive assistance from the Adams Fund, except perhaps that they are especially thankful, because they know what the alternative could have been.
“If it were my parents who had these needs, I’d find a way to come up with something,” Adams says. But the couple’s situation wasn’t unique. Adams says he and Edwine helped many other Baptist Village residents make it through those hard times, too. And the need kept getting bigger. “Soon, Edwine and I couldn’t afford to keep buying the things they needed,” Adams remembers. He began writing letters asking churches to collect offerings to help residents facing financial challenges. Eventually, an endowment was established through The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma, dedicated to aiding seniors who need financial assistance to live at Baptist Villages across the state. The fund was named after Larry and Edwine in 1998. The Adams’ son, Pat, proudly supports his parents’ work. A successful businessman, Pat says he gives to the Adams Fund and Baptist Village Communities because the Bible calls Christians to honor their parents. “There are a lot of seniors who are struggling in the season of life they should be enjoying,” he explains.
MARGARET YOUNG, 73 Baptist Village of Oklahoma City
“I couldn’t make it if it weren’t for the Adams Fund. I feel so safe living at Baptist Village.” bfok.org
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“Without the Adams Fund, I literally would be out on the street or in a women’s shelter,” explains Charlotte Nixon, a resident at Baptist Village of Oklahoma City. Nixon, 73, used to live with her daughter in California. She says she spent all her savings renovating her daughter’s house, and then her daughter asked her to leave. With nowhere to go, she ended up in Oklahoma City with a cousin who told her about Baptist Village. “I applied for the Adams Fund and was accepted,” Nixon says. “I have no family looking after me, so the fund allows me to live and serve at the village. At the end of each month, if I have a few dollars left over, I give back to the Adams Fund to help others.”
“I never had anyone to teach me right from wrong,” Mann says. “I had to figure it all out on my own.” But today, he knows he finally has a real home with people who really care about him. “Bob is a joy to have at the village, always reaching out to help other residents. He waters and weeds the gardens in the summer and starts the fireplace every day in the winter,” says Sherri Powell, campus director of the Okmulgee village. “This community has made a huge difference in my life, but I couldn’t be here without the Adams Fund assistance,” Mann admits. “I pray it always will be available, because I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
Margaret Young, 73, who also lives at the Oklahoma City village, says it’s hard to put into words what the Adams Fund means to her. “It is fabulous, a life-saver,” she gushes. “I couldn’t make it if it weren’t for the Adams Fund. I feel so safe living at Baptist Village.” Eighty-year-old Bob Mann has spent the past five years at Baptist Village of Okmulgee. He says he lived a rough life, sometimes homeless, usually with little more than the clothes on his back. He had no schooling, but started working cattle and breaking horses to make money. He rode bulls on the rodeo circuit for years.
CHARLOTTE NIXON, 73 Baptist Village of Oklahoma City
“Without the Adams Fund, I literally would be out on the street or in a women’s shelter.”
BUILDING COMMUNITY — Charlotte Nixon greets a neighbor during a walk near her apartment at Baptist Village of Oklahoma City. “I volunteer at the village helping others in need by visiting them or running errands for them. It’s my way of giving back,” she says.
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“Jesus loved the poor, the lonely, the lost. That includes our senior adults.” MEETING THE NEED At any given time, about 75 Baptist Village residents (10 percent of the independent living population) receive assistance through the Adams Fund. Residents were given $360,000 through the fund in 2017, but the need is growing dramatically. Money for the fund comes from several sources including the annual Mother’s Day Offering (half of which goes to the Adams Fund), as well as individuals, businesses and churches. Long-term support for the Adams Fund is provided through gifts to the Adams Fund Endowment, which is managed by The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma. The endowment multiplies donors’ gifts through investment, providing a stream of revenue that will help support the Adams Fund indefinitely. Currently, the Adams Fund Endowment is relatively small, contributing approximately $70,000 to the Adams Fund in 2017. But additional gifts could rapidly increase that number, eventually reaching a tipping point where all Adams Fund needs are met by the Adams Fund Endowment. Bill Pierce, president of Baptist Village Communities, says the endowment is critical to safeguarding the Adams Fund, helping ensure its ability to meet future need. While small gifts are important, Pierce adds that donors with the means to make large gifts to the Adams Fund are desperately needed — individuals with the ability to help hundreds of seniors at once. “Everyone loves their parents and grandparents, and wants them to be comfortable in retirement,” he says. “But if they don’t have the finances, assistance from the Adams Fund can make a dramatic difference in their quality of life.” Larry Adams has seen that difference firsthand.
ADAMS FUND CREATORS — Larry and Edwine Adams and their son, Pat.
“To keep seniors from going without groceries, medicine, rent money, utilities, health insurance and other living expenses is such a rewarding thing. Anyone who stops and thinks about people in this situation would want to help,” Adams says. “There is so much in the New Testament about ministering to needy people. Jesus loved the poor, the lonely, the lost. That includes our senior adults. They’ve worked and served all their lives, and now some are left with no place to live and no one to help them. You can make the difference. “What a huge blessing to both the recipients and the givers.”
Village Baptist Communities
Help Struggling Seniors Make Baptist Village Home
Your gifts to the Adams Fund provide the financial assistance needed for dozens of senior adults with limited incomes to live at Baptist Village Communities. The Foundation’s planned giving experts can help you multiply your donation through the Adams Fund Endowment and other giving tools, such as a donor-advised fund. Contact us today and change the life of a senior adult in need. give@bfok.org
800.949.9988
bfok.org/give bfok.org
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SERVING ONE ANOTHER How Your Giving Through the Adams Fund Helps Senior Adults at Baptist Village Communities What Does My Gift Provide?
Adams Fund Impact
76 Residents
currently receiving assistance
Housing
Everyday Needs
Health Care
The Larry and Edwine Adams Assistance Fund was created to meet the needs of Baptist
750 Residents helped since 2007
$750
Average monthly cost for residential living at Baptist Village
Village residents who struggle with limited income. Made possible by the generosity of Oklahoma Baptists and many others, the Adams Fund is part of the communities’ belief that finances should not be a barrier to finding a home at Baptist Village. Monthly assistance
$250
Monthly assistance available to qualifying residents through the Adams Fund (33% of average monthly residential living cost)
from the Adams Fund provides residents in need with a high quality of life set in a
$3.7 Million
distinctively Christian environment.
Financial assistance provided to BVC residents since 2007 *Some numbers rounded or approximated.
Baptist Village Communities
Baptist Village Communities 18 G E N E R O S I T Y Spring/Summer 2018
HOW YOU CAN HELP Adams Fund Endowment:
Outright Gift:
Your donations are invested through the
An outright gift to the Adams Fund allows
Foundation and multiplied many times beyond
Baptist Village Communities to meet short-
the original gift amount. Endowment ensures
term needs by making the full gift amount
the long-term future of the Adams Fund as your
immediately available for use, rather than
gift continues serving seniors at Baptist Village
preserving a portion of the gift to generate
well beyond your lifetime.
future returns (like an endowment).
Provide Long-Term Support
Meet Short-Term Needs
Contact the Foundation today.
give@bfok.org
800.949.9988
bfok.org/give
$10,000
Multiply Your Adams Fund Gift With The Power of Endowment Endowment
Imagine you make a $10,000 gift today. It will distribute $450 to the Adams Fund its first year. That may not sound like much, but in 25 years that same gift will … • More than double its annual distribution from $450 to $914
Distributions YEAR 1
$450
YEAR 25
$914
• Distribute a total of $16,000 since inception ($6K above original gift!) • Double the principal from $10,000 to $20,000 And continue growing and giving, indefinitely!
$16,000 over 25 years
*Net of fees. Assumes 7.5% growth and 4.5% annual distribution.
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SAVING A CITY
WITHOUT HOPE
East St. Louis was Kempton Turner’s boyhood home until gang violence forced his family out. Now a NAMB church planter, he’s determined to take the city back with the power of the Gospel. But what can one church do in a place plagued by crime, poverty, and decades of decline? STORY BY NAMB STAFF | PHOTOS BY SAMUEL GREENHILL
“T
he worst thing we can do is ignore this place,” said Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville professor Andrew Theising. The quote comes from a discussion with St. Louis Public Radio about the East St. Louis riots that took place in July 1917. Lives and buildings were destroyed during the horrific events, and even now, 101 years later, the city is still trying to recover. This is the home — and mission field — of Kempton and Caryn Turner. A native of East St. Louis, Illinois, Turner grew up on the streets where he now serves as a church-planting missionary and pastor of City of Joy Fellowship. The church was launched on September 18, 2016, with one mission: restoring hope to the city through Jesus Christ. “Because I was raised here, I’ve got a real heart for the people,” says Turner. “It’s a small city. It’s a dangerous, poor place, with 85 percent fatherlessness. The people know struggle.” A drive around East St. Louis reveals abandoned buildings. The public library, the McDonald’s Turner visited as a child, family-owned restaurants — all closed now. Though the decline in population started here decades ago with the riot, recent years have seen the numbers dwindle from around 60,000 to 26,000. “Jobs and police officers have left this city,” says Turner. “Downtown is kind of like a ghost town, but it’s ripe for the Gospel.”
“Because I was raised here, I’ve got a real heart for the people,” says Turner. “It’s a small city. It’s a dangerous, poor place, with 85 percent fatherlessness. The people know struggle.”
TAKING BACK HIS HOMETOWN — NAMB missionary Kempton Turner explains his journey from sin to Christ to members of his church plant, City of Joy Fellowship, in East St. Louis, Illinois. The congregation celebrated its first anniversary September 18, 2017.
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FAITH ON THE RISE It is 6 a.m. and a group of men from City of Joy Fellowship is up before the sun, worshipping with an acoustic guitar. The warmth in their voices reflects the hope they carry in their hearts — that real change is possible here. They are working side by side with other believers to show their neighbors that love is real and Jesus is alive. “The biggest challenges we face are hardness of heart and lack of zealous evangelistic consistency,” says Turner. In 1989, on the way home from Clark Jr. High School, he was held up at gunpoint by a gang leader with a reputation for pulling the trigger. He says, “Amazingly, I ended up escaping that situation… but that was the last straw for my father. Fed up with the violence and the crime, we moved to Houston, Texas. Little did I know 25 years later, God would give me the privilege to come back to my hometown and preach the Good News of His Son.” Recognizing that teenagers here are in need of community and a safe place to gather, Turner and the team at City of Joy host a youth night on Tuesdays where they train young people how to serve others and hold down a job. The church also goes to the places where youth already gather during the week — schools and community centers — to establish consistency. Their desire is to show teens that they care and are invested in their well-being and future. Says Turner, “A young lady named Allison came to our church rejecting Jesus. After a few months of hearing the Gospel and spending time with a few women one-on-one, she surrendered her life to Jesus. She is the real deal, zealous about spreading His love!”
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Turner rattles off a long list of men and women who have purposefully moved to the area to help reach the community: Matt and Hannah, who brought their young family from Missouri; Staricia, who came from Indiana to work in the school system; Lydia, a nurse with a heart for young people; Joel, a basketball player and coach; and Zach, who started a Bible study in his home that has already outgrown the space. The list goes on. Says Turner, “These precious believers are a picture of Jesus, coming out of comfortable suburbs, moving into the heart of a 99.9 percent African-American city with danger, poverty and fatherlessness. They’re moving because Jesus is sending them as a reflection of His heart for this city, and God is blessing their efforts.”
MAKING DISCIPLES — Turner baptizes a new believer in Christ, one of many God is leading to faith through City of Joy Fellowship, a NAMB church plant in East St. Louis.
GODLY EXAMPLE — In a place where broken homes and fatherlessness are the norm, Turner and his wife, Caryn, pray God will use their marriage as a biblical example of His design for family. The couple have five children, including one with special needs.
BUILDING THE FUTURE Home renovation is another practical way City of Joy is connecting with the people of East St. Louis. Hammers and nails, primer and paint — these are the tools that are allowing believers to build a relationship with people who live near the church. “All we need is a way to start a conversation,” says Turner. He is training church members to intersect with nonbelievers, meet needs, and share their personal stories of redemption. Dubbed “R3,” the outreach ministry is focused on community development, house restoration, business restoration and employment. The goal is to work corner by corner and house by house throughout the city until each square foot has been covered in both repairs and improvements as well as prayer. As more people come to know Christ, City of Joy is celebrating more baptisms, including a very special one that healed a broken relationship from the past. “The first baptism at the church was my birth mother who did not raise me. Praise the Lord!” Turner says with contagious joy. Thanks to much prayer, planning and consistent effort, the church is working toward bringing that same kind of joy into every home in East St. Louis. They want people to not only remember this place but to invest in it. Says Turner, “Some of the neediest places in America are in the inner city. We’re excited to join the momentum of
what God is already doing here. Acts 8:8 — that’s our prayer for East St. Louis: that the Lord will fill this city with joy.” Turner adds that he’s also praying for more help. The vision for change is great — and so is the need for ministry partners. “Our vision is that the Word of God would so transform East St. Louis that multitudes of souls are saved and established in faith, families are restored, children can have a mom and dad in their house again, prevailing cultural brokenness — like drug addiction and gang violence — would be healed and churches would be started near and far,” he says. “Our house renovation ministry is just a small echo of the thunderclap of spiritual renovation that we see God doing — one soul, one house, one block at a time in my hometown.”
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