June 12, 2017 Illinois Baptist

Teen walks for freedom

300-mile journey spotlights human trafficking Rural

That’s especially true for 14-year-old Lindsey Yoder who is walking 15 miles a day along the dusty back roads of Illinois—from her home in Arthur to Nashville, Tennessee—in a quest to raise awareness about human trafficking. She hopes to complete the trek in four weeks.

It might be said that the journey began in Springfield in November 2015, when young Yoder attended AWSOM, the Illinois Baptist Women’s annual event for teen girls. “Human trafficking was the focus,” her mother, Regina, said, “and that fueled her interest in the issue.” When a movie about the international sale and trade of vulnerable young women was shown near her town, Lindsey knew she was ready to make a difference.

“My heart was broken at the thought of all the girls who are in this horrible situation, and I asked God specifically to tell me how I can help,” the teen said in an interview from the road with the P. 4

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Snapshots from the world of Illinois Baptists

Changing churches, changing denominations

A poll by Pew Research shows 49% of U.S. adults have searched for a new church. And, apparently, that’s when they are most likely to switch teams. “Half of adults who have searched for a new congregation...considered changing denominations while they were searching,” Pew reported.

What influenced your church choice?

website online

– Pew Research Center

$2,483,506 Budget Goal: $2,665,385

Received to date in 2016: $2,495,436 2017 Goal: $6.3 Million

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner Sergent

Editorial Contributor - Meredith Flynn

Administrative Assistant - Leah Honnen

The general telephone number for IBSA is (217) 786-2600. For questions about subscriptions, articles, or upcoming events, contact the Illinois Baptist at (217) 391-3119 or IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

The Illinois Baptist is seeking news from IBSA churches. E-mail us at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org to tell us about special events and new ministry staff.

POSTMASTER: The Illinois Baptist is owned and published every three weeks by the Illinois Baptist State Association, 3085 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703-4440. Subscriptions are free to Illinois Baptists. Subscribe online at IBSA.org

NATE ADAMS

What happens at camp

When our IBSA executive staff recently pulled away for a couple of days of long-range planning, we chose to drive north to Streator Baptist Camp. Mike Young is doing a great job as camp manager there, and we arrived to see new roofs, new siding, new paddleboats on the lake, a newly furnished and equipped dining hall, new mattresses on the beds, and improvements to the grounds too numerous to mention.

Though the camp was bustling with workers making final preparations for the summer camp season, Mike and his staff hosted us graciously, serving delicious meals, and giving us a tour of the well-kept grounds. After dinner, he prepared a toasty campfire for us, complete with marshmallows and all the ingredients for s’mores.

I don’t attend as many camps these days as I once did. But something about the campfire, or the bunk bed, or perhaps the wooded setting made me think back to my first Royal Ambassador Camp at Lake Sallateeska, our other fine Baptist camp in southern Illinois. Believe it or not, this year marks Lake Sallateeska’s 75th year of service to Illinois Baptists!

That summer camp was one of the first times I can remember being away from my parents for more than a night. I can still feel the anticipation of packing up and leaving home with my friends, but then also the homesickness of bedtime, and laying there in the dark with only the sounds of the woods. I recall the fun of canoes and archery and crafts, then the seriousness of the lessons from the Bible and about missions.

Looking back, what made that first scary and wonderful week away from home OK was my trust in a guy named Ray, who was my RA counselor both at camp that week and at church every week. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, Ray had been investing in my young life for a long time, leading me down a road of Christian discipleship and leadership.

He probably knew he wouldn’t see me all the way down that road. A couple of years later another devoted Christian man led me, then when we moved on to another church, and another. For a while, it was week after week of RA’s followed by camp, and then it was week after week of youth group followed by a retreat. But always my church gave me a Christian man, and his weekly commitment and friendship, and an occasional week away from home when I could stretch my Christian commitment to a new level.

I know I’m not alone in this experience of disciple making and leadership development. Recently I was visiting with Evelyn Tully, IBSA’s retired Woman’s Missionary Union Director. She showed me a commemorative booklet from Illinois WMU’s 100th anniversary, and it was filled with pictures of Baptist women investing themselves into the lives of Baptist girls. One of those pictures was Evelyn with a young Sandy Wisdom-Martin, who is now the Executive Director of national WMU in Birmingham. Sometimes we do get to see down the road a little, to the fruit of our efforts in tomorrow’s leaders.

I don’t know where Ray is today or if he ever got to see much of the result of his investment in my life. But being at camp again last week reminded me of that investment, and the lasting difference it’s made in my life.

There’s an advertising slogan for Las Vegas that simply says, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” But that’s not the case when it comes to investing in kids at a Christian camp. What happens there can last a lifetime—and spread all over the world.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

Sometimes we get to see down the road a little to the fruit of our efforts in tomorrow’s leaders.

State enforces ‘trans’ kids acceptance

New guidelines oust foster parents who hold biblical values

BY LISA MISNER SERGENT

Springfield | The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) quietly released a new 18-page policy document May 11 regarding the “Support and Well-Being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Children and Youth.” The policy effectively dis qualifies foster parents who hold biblical values from parenting children under the care of DCFS.

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, addressed it on his website. “This is actually a set of policies that rules out all believing, convictional Christians from participation in the foster care system there in the state of Illinois…. The new regulations in Illinois will require all adults, whether volunteers or employees, to simply ‘facilitate exploration of any LGBTQ matters through an affirming approach.’”

The policy, which is part of the larger document “Services Delivered by this Department,” is found in section 302, appendix K. Mohler noted, “It’s here demanded that any agency with whom the state of Illinois might partner must have policies that are at least as extreme as the Department of Children and Family Services there, and if they’re not exactly the same, they must actually go further in terms of compliance with the demands of the sexual revolutionaries. Also made very clear in the detailed Appendix K is the requirement that all the adults who are involved in the system must be willing to use the preferred gender pronoun for the minors who are addressed to their care.”

Dennis Hydrick, Executive Director of Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS), expressed concern about the policy change, but said he is uncertain at this time if it will have any effect on the agency. Hydrick has contacted his counterparts in other states for consultation, but found “no one else has ever had to deal with anything like this.”

Hydrick said DCFS has not responded to his inquiries. He noted BCHFS does not have any contracts through DCFS. The agency does have to licensure through DCFS to do adoptions, home, or congregate children.

The policy has received little media attention outside conservative and religious circles. Mary Hassan, the writer who broke the story in The Federalist, said the policy was written with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Hassan describes it as “a fantasyland, where gender explorers are championed as brave and authentic, adults genuflect before the mythical wisdom of ‘trans’ children expressing their ‘true gender selves,’ and ‘transitioning’ always brings peace and happiness. If only it were true. The DCFS, however, has kicked truth to the curb in blind fealty to the demands of the LGBTQ adult community.”

The director who instituted the changes is George Sheldon. He signed the policy changes May 6 and on June 1 announced his resignation effective June 15, stating he had accepted an offer to lead the Florida nonprofit organization, Our Kids. The Chicago Tribune reported the director is facing an ethics probe as well as bad press over a series of recent deaths of children under the care of DCFS. The state agency’s legal counsel Lise Spacapan has been appointed interim director of the agency by Governor Bruce Rauner.

Laurie Higgins, a cultural affairs writer at the Illinois Family Institute, expressed grave concerns regarding the policy. “Denying people of theologically orthodox faith the opportunity to foster or adopt these children constitutes the antithesis of a commitment to diversity and puts the lie to DCFS’s claim to care about the needs of children,” Higgins wrote in a press release. “The number of available foster and adoptive families for these children who are in desperate need of love, guidance, and wisdom will decrease. Children will be deprived of truly good families, families with mothers and fathers who can distinguish truth from falsehood. Through these changes, the DCFS has proven that the desires of adults supersede the needs of suffering children.”

For information about contacting Gov. Rauner’s office to voice opposition to this policy visit, www.votervoice.net.

ISIS kills Illinois family traveling in Egypt

Egypt | An Illinois man and several of his relatives, including two sons and a grandchild, were among 29 killed in an ISIS attack on a church bus in Egypt. Mohsen Morkous, 60, of Tinley Park, his sons Sameh and Hany, both in their 30’s, and a 4-year-old granddaughter, Marvy Hany, were killed on their way to a remote Egyptian monastery when they were attacked by members of the Islamic state.

A priest identified as Father Rashed, comforting the survivors of the attack, said the terrorists stopped the bus, made the victims walk out, and asked each of them, including the children, whether they were Christians.

Rashed said the victims “were asked to renounce their Christian faith and profess belief in Islam, but all of them—even the children—refused. Each was killed in cold blood with a gunshot to the head or the throat.”

– WICS, The Christian Post

Veto urged for easy gender change

Springfield | Prior to the end of the spring session, the Illinois General Assembly passed a plan to make it easier for transgender people to change the gender designation on their birth certificates. The new law would only require authorization from a medical professional confirming the person has undergone medically appropriate treatment, while current law requires proof of a surgical operation.

HB 1785 passed May 25 in the House by a vote of 63-22 and was fast-tracked in the Senate, where it was passed May 31 by a vote of 32-22. The bill now goes to Governor Bruce Rauner who may sign it into law. Religious and conservative groups are urging Rauner to veto the bill, which can remain on the governor’s desk for 60 days. If it remains unsigned, the bill will automatically become law.

For information about contacting Gov. Rauner’s office, visit www.votervoice.net.

Get breaking news in The Briefing online, posted every Tuesday at www.ib2news.org.

MOHLER

From the front: journey of a lifeline

Continued from page 1

Illinois Baptist. “Priceless” is a 2016 film about a man who realizes the young women he’s being paid to drive cross country are actually being sold into the sex trade.

About 57,000 people in the U.S. are victims of human trafficking. According to Shared Hope International, “the common age a child enters sex trafficking is 14-16, when they’re too young and naïve to realize what’s happening.” Most victims are girls, but boys are trafficked and sold to pimps as well.

Lindsey is walking to Tennessee because Nashville is the U.S. home of Hope for Justice, an organization that works internationally to stop human trafficking through its offices in Cambodia, England, and Norway. Her eventual goal is to raise enough money to support 30 rescue operations–$195,000.

Why not do a car wash or some other typical student ministry fundraiser? “Because God asked me to walk, so I’m doing it out of obedience. It wasn’t my idea. My faith was the main reason I decided to do step out and do this event that is bigger than me.”

“God has her attention,” said Carmen Halsey, director of IBSA’s Women’s Missions. “She sees the people through his eyes. Lindsey’s not just sitting in a pew. She’s put feet to the vision—literally!”

Lindsey’s biggest challenge walking so far has been the unusually early summer heat. The bugs are are a problem too, but “I’d rather have the heat than the bugs,” she said.

Awesome family project

As a homeschooling family, the Yoders lead a missional lifestyle. Last year Lindsey went to Honduras on what she called a “class field trip” with her grandfather. She has travelled to Haiti with her mother and sister to work in an orphanage. And she wants to become a teacher in India, working as a full-time missionary.

For this trip, her family is, again, all in. “My mom planned all the routes, and we took two pilot trips to make sure all the roads are safe for walking. My dad is at home working hard at his job and is super supportive of my walk. My three older brothers each drove all the way from Ohio to walk the first two miles with me. My younger siblings are along for the ride, even though they’d rather be home. They haven’t bit each other’s heads off yet.”

And the support extends to her church family. “My church has been incredibly supportive...even more than I expected,” Lindsey said of Arthur Southern Baptist Church. “My youth group sold candy bars in the Walmart parking lot to help cover expenses for lodging and gas as we travel. Our church also gave me funds to cover more of our expenses.”

Lindsey started her walk after the May 28 Sunday morning service where several in the congregation gathered to lay on hands and pray for her. When it was time to start the walk, “about 80 people joined me for the first two miles of the walk,” she said. “It was so fun to be supported and surrounded by the people in my church.”

And her request of fellow Baptists in Illinois? “I really need people praying that I can see this through to the end, for those who have no voice and need to be set free.”

Small church makes big effort for Children’s Home

New Disaster Relief trailer is a handy resource to churches

Macomb | University Baptist Church in Macomb was the first church to use a new 14-foot trailer Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) purchased from the North American Mission Board (NAMB) as a resource for Baptist churches in Illinois.

The 104-member church located near Western Illinois University used the trailer to take nearly a ton of food valued at $3,291 and 8,609 items of clothing to the Baptist Children’s Home in Carmi. The church estimated the entire project took 193.5 man hours to complete and was valued at $71,276.

Pastor Rich Barnett says the church gathers goods and makes the trip each year.

The trailer is available for IBSA churches to borrow for mission trips or other needs. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Dwayne Doyle, Men’s Ministry and Missions Mobilization Director, at DwayneDoyle@IBSA.org or call (217) 391-3134.

IBDR also purchased a 20-foot trailer from NAMB which will be converted into a feeding unit based out of Marion.

HEAD ‘EM UP – Members of University Baptist Church in Macomb (left) stand in front of the new Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief trailer.

MOVE ‘EM OUT – A member of University Baptist Church (above) prepares to catch a bag of clothes to be loaded onto the trailer to be taken to the Children’s Home in Carmi.

LONG JOURNEYS – The main human trafficking corridor in Illinois is I-55 which runs from Chicago to St. Louis (shown on the map). Lindsey Yoder is walking from her home in Arthur to Nashville, Tennessee to draw attention to the problem. Follow her at her Facebook page, Walk4Freedom.

Arthur

SBC president on coming convention

Gaines addresses Calvinism, ERLC concerns, prayerlessness

Memphis, Tenn. | Steve Gaines will preside over a convention that may take up several recent controversies in denominational life, including the perceived disconnect between the actions of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the views in the pews on the Trump candidacy. Or it may turn its attention to prayer.

Gaines is hoping for the latter.

The pastor of Memphis-area megachurch Bellevue is wrapping up his first one-year term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. In an e-mail exchange with Kyle Gulledge, editor of the blog, SBC Today, Gaines said he has spent the past year preaching to the leaders of SBC entities and students and faculty of five of the six SBC seminaries. Here are excerpts of the interview.

Kyle Gulledge: What has been your biggest surprise about being President of the Southern Baptist Convention?

Steve Gaines: I am surprised that the Southern Baptist Conven tion can be so large and effective even though it is not a hierarchical, top-down organization. No national or state entity can tell any churches what to do. Yet we voluntarily choose to work together….

I am overwhelmed with all that the Lord is doing in and through Southern Baptists. Through NAMB, we are seeking to plant one hundred new churches every month in our largest cities across North America. The gospel will change countless lives as those new works are launched. I am also grateful that the IMB has become stronger fiscally, and that we are once again beginning to add to the number of full-time missionaries that we are sending oversees.

Gulledge: What is your greatest concern facing the Southern Baptist Convention?

Gaines: My concern is that we need to make prayer and soul winning greater priorities. If you love someone, you talk with them and about them. If you love Jesus, you will talk with him (prayer) and about him (soul winning).

Sometimes I think Christians in general in America are much more focused horizontally than vertically. We are often more focused on e-mails, texts, phone calls, and social media than we are on reading our Bible and talking with God in prayer.

What good is a prayerless pastor, deacon, seminary president, seminary faculty member, seminary student, evangelist, or worship leader? What good is a prayerless conservative? You can be as straight as a gun barrel in your theology and just as empty as a gun barrel if you do not pray as you should.

If Southern Baptists would pray more, God would work in and through us more than he is currently.

Gulledge: Relating to the Calvinist/Traditionalist issue, do you think that the division will ever be bridged?

Gaines: Without question, Calvinism is increasing in the SBC. How will that affect the SBC in the years to come? I don’t know. I am not a Calvinist. I believe God loves everybody the same, Jesus died for everybody the same, and that anyone can be saved…. If someone hears the gospel and is not saved, it is because they chose to reject Christ, not because God chose not elect them to salvation. Many Calvinists would have a problem with what I just said. Yet, I am convinced that what I just said represents the prevailing theological beliefs of the majority of Southern Baptist laypeople. Most Southern Baptists believe that Jesus died for all people and that anyone can choose to receive or reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

It certainly appears that the SBC will become more Calvinistic in the years ahead, but how long that trend will last is uncertain…. If Calvinistic soteriology becomes the predominant view taught at all of our seminaries, that would be a tragedy resulting in major division.

Gulledge: There seems to be a real issue with regard to SBC entity heads not responding to or being held accountable to the grassroots, mom-and-pop Southern Baptist church members. How can that be fixed?

Gaines: If “the grass-roots, mom-andpop Southern Baptist members” want their voice to be heard, they need to elect SBC presidents that will appoint SBC Committee on Committee members who will appoint people who share their convictions… That is the best way the common folk can be heard. Complaining after the fact regarding various Convention matters might resonate with some and stir a few emotions. But real change occurs only by electing an SBC president that represents a person’s theological viewpoint.

Gulledge: What is the one thing you would like for Southern Baptist historians to remember about you?

Gaines: The primary call of my life is prayer. I desire that the SBC will become a house of prayer. I pray that when people say “Southern Baptists,” the first thing that comes to their mind will be: “Those are the people that pray fervently, frequently, and in faith.” If we will pray, God will bless exponentially. But if we choose not to pray, God might move on to another group that makes prayer their priority.

Munton to conclude service

O’Fallon | Illinois pastor Doug Munton will conclude his one-year term as first vice-president of the Southern Baptist Convention this week. Munton, who serves First Baptist Church of O’Fallon, shares the concerns of SBC President Steve Gaines—that the Convention will be marked by greater concern for evangelism and prayer.

“We need to prioritize evangelism in our personal lives, our churches, and our convention. Evangelism has been sort of forgotten,” Munton wrote ahead of the Phoenix meeting. “It has left our vocabulary…. It has left our focus. It has left, I’m afraid, our psyche. (Evangelism) was really at the core of our convention’s being at one time. It is in danger, I fear, of being left only in our peripheral vision.”

Like Gaines, Munton urged more prayer in Southern Baptist life. “I’m committed to a future that involves much more prayer and deepening my closeness to the Lord. I want that to be the future of our convention as well.”

Evangelical-supported mosque wins suit

An Islamic group in New Jersey has been awarded $3.25-million in a suit against the city that tried to stop construction of a mosque. The original case over land use drew the support of Southern Baptists’ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the International Mission Board on religious liberty grounds. IMB President David Platt later apologized for the “distraction” his support caused among SBC members, and said in the future his entity would stick more closely to its mission. The ERLC entered the first suit against Basking Ridge, New Jersey, as a “friend of the court.” ERLC President Russell Moore reasoned if the city could shut down a mosque, they could stop the building of a Baptist church.

Stores expand in Midwest

LifeWay Christian

Stores has opened four new locations in the Midwest and Northwest, taking over sites from the bankrupt Family Christian Stores. The new stores are in Boise, Idaho; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Sterling Heights, Michigan (metro Detroit); and Mentor, Ohio. The SBC’s publishing wing operates stores in 141 cities which once had a Family Christian outlet. The new stores opened June 5.

– from dougmunton.com, ChristianPost.net, Baptist Press Get breaking news in The Briefing online, posted every Tuesday at www.ib2news.org.

GULLEDGE

GAINES

reporter’s notebook sound off

UK attacks feel too close to home

Maybe we won’t argue over ERLC

It’s going to be hot enough in Phoenix without a squabble. Maybe we won’t see motions from the floor at the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention to defund the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission or dismiss its president, Russell Moore

There are several reasons for this new hope. First, both sides in the election-year dust up have offered conciliatory statements. Jack Graham, pastor of Dallas-area megachurch Prestonwood, announced his congregation would restore their Co operative Program giving in April.

sent a letter to the trustees of the ERLC and encourages the churches to continue their generous financial support for all our convention work.”

And there’s the action by Moore himself. His tone toward Graham and Prestonwood Church may have helped.

Moore explained that his comments about the election were never aimed at the Southern Baptist rank-and-file; and in explaining his actions, Moore never sought to defend himself.

Last September I visited London’s Borough Market, which was the scene of a terrorist attack June 3. London prides itself on being a multicultural city – 37% of its residents come from outside the United Kingdom and one-quarter of its population arrived within the last five years. At least 45% of the population has no religious affiliation. Many Brits view Christianity as “been there, done that.” Pray for the English people, that as a nation they will turn back to Christ, reviving their strong Christian heritage. Pray also that immigrants, first, second, and third generations – will find true freedom in Christ.

Read my entire column at www.IB2news.org

– Lisa Misner Sergent

The church had “escrowed” its SBC missions contributions while they examined complaints that Moore had criticized presidential candidate Donald Trump and those who planned to vote for him.

The complaints from the Texas church and others exposed some theological and political distance between ERLC leadership responsible for articulating Southern Baptist views in Washington and those Southern Baptists back home who fund them.

Similarly, the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Executive Board studied “issues of concern” related to the ERLC. But recently, the board said “it has evaluated the complaints lodged against the ERLC, that its leadership has met with Dr. Moore and has

More important, there’s word to this editorial team and others that the ERLC staff is making new efforts to connect with the grassroots. For example, Vice President for Communications Dan Darling appeared at the Illinois Baptist Women’s Priority Conference. (He addressed family issues in a declining culture.) The ERLC, fond of sending videos to state and regional events, is more likely to appear in person in the future. Now three years into their tenure, the ERLC leadership is learning that it should not get too far ahead of the people who sent them.

And, with the placement of the ERLC’s report last on the convention agenda, rather than on the first day as in years past, there may only be time to accept their mea culpa and move forward.

HB 40 removes all prohibitions on taxpayer-funding of abortions accessed through Medicaid throughout all nine months of pregnancy and removes the ban that prohibits Illinois state employees’ insurance policies from paying for abortions. We fear that these changes will result in a surge in abortions that could exceed more than 15,000 abortions each year. A disproportionate number of these new abortions will be in minority communities.

Illinois has serious fiscal problems and must make deep cuts to social services and programs for needy families and children. Why would state lawmakers propose spending an additional $5-10 million tax dollars annually to bankroll the abortion industry?

Please contact Governor Bruce Rauner and urge him to veto HB 40, as he promised he would: 312-814-2121 and 217-782-0244.

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it. For God, who knows all hearts, knows yours, and he knows you knew! And he will reward everyone according to his deeds.

—Proverbs 24:11-12 (Living Bible)

708-781-9328

For more information and updates, please visit illinoisfamily.org.

– Eric Reed

MOORE

IN FOCUS

Feeding the family

‘Generational discipleship’ sets the table for a new approach to family ministry.

BY KAYLA RINKER

Special to the

Bethalto | The fraction 1/168 is a tiny number. It’s hard to grasp what 1/168 of a pie or a pizza even looks like. The pizza would be a super-skinny slice with a smidgeon of sauce and a partial pepperoni. Certainly not enough to satisfy.

“The denominator in the fraction stands for the number of hours in a week,” said Ron Hunter, author of The DNA of D6: Building Blocks of Generational Discipleship. There are 168 hours in a week. “The scary part is what the numerator represents: the average number a student spends engaged in church-related discipleship each week.” In other words, one hour.

Hunter shared this example during the D6 Connect Tour held at First Baptist Church Bethalto on May 24, one of five stops made on the tour.

The 1/168 figure comes from thirty minutes of small group time combined with thirty minutes of a sermon-type message from a pastor or youth pastor. D6—a movement intentional about empowering parents, homes, marriages, leaders and churches to live out the story of Deuteronomy 6—uses this fraction to make the point that time spent in church is not enough time to truly make disciples as Jesus instructed.

Small group ministries are the primary means of discipleship among most churches. This Scripture shows that God’s design for the family is the original small group. Discipleship begins and is sustained at home.

“Generational discipleship means pastors and church leaders are doing less ministry, and are

A new way to slice it

Families have their kids 168 hours a week. The church has them only one, maybe two. How can churches help parents disciple their own children, rather than outsourcing it to the youth pastor or Sunday school teacher? This movement returns responsibility to the home, with a new kind of help from the church.

P.

Bring it home

Here’s how student ministry changes when you focus on parents

Generational discipleship is not just a new label for an existing ministry. Adopting this approach to student ministry requires significant changes in how churches think about the discipling process, and the tools they provide to parents.

“The D6 approach to family ministry has set us on a path to connect the church back to the home and help parents and grandparents become the primary disciplers of the family,” said Tim Drury, student minister at Bethalto Baptist Church, which hosted the D6 conference.

“I think two major things change for leaders. First, a mindset of ‘family’ is infused into their age-specific ministry. In other words, every ministry is thinking about how to connect the church back to the home,” Drury said. “And second, ministry leaders become more inclusive of other ministries in the church.”

This breaking down of walls between ministries within the church becomes very important as the goal for discipleship ministry changes. “When you start ministering to the whole family for the purpose of disciple making, ministries start finding they have more in common and that commonality leads to a greater sharing of resources and volunteers in the church,” Drury said.

IBSA’s Director of Next Generation and Student Ministries Jack Lucas agrees with the shift. “For too long, parents have surrendered their rightful place as the main spiritual coach/mentor for their children, and relied increasingly on the church to assume that role,” Lucas said. “It has become imperative that the church invest heavily in the lives of the ones called to be our children’s main spiritual teachers—their parents.”

Here are some practical ways to shift to generational discipleship:

Teach the same Bible lessons to parents and kids. Coordinate small group curriculum so parents are able to answer their children’s questions about the lesson. Leaders can formulate follow-up questions to further the teachable moments after the fact, because they have all studied the same lesson.

Encourage discussion. Pastors can create a few questions about the sermon for parents to discuss with their children over lunch. Children’s ministry leaders can do this for children’s church as well.

Teach parents to lead devotions. It sounds simple, but many of today’s parents grew up without family devotions. They need help getting started.

Create teachable moments. Parents may need help in recognizing how to turn everyday life moments into discussions that lead to spiritual growth.

“I don’t see program-driven kid’s ministry going away soon,” Lucas said, “but churches that maximize spiritual growth will figure out how to do these things to reinforce the spiritual growth that is originating in the home.”

Drury said that will mean student ministers are spending time with parents. And children’s leaders will be teaching parents. “According to Ephesians 4:12, you spend your time with those who are willing to be equipped for the work of the ministry,” he said.

Continued from page 7

pouring their time and effort into helping others do more ministry… particularly in their own homes,” Hunter said.

That means youth pastors and children’s pastors need to be spending a third of their time or more mentoring the parents of these young people and not just the young people themselves. The church can equip parents to best launch their kids into adulthood as Christ followers.

“Ministers need to de-emphasize themselves as the spiritual leader and be intentional about how they can set mom and dad up for wins,” Hunter said. “The question we ask is ‘What would it look like if our church went home?’”

A better plan

The family unit is God’s intended launching pad for new adults. That means painful conversations and hard lessons will occur during childhood and especially during the adolescent years. Hunter said giving parents tools and guiding them away from delegating these conversations is crucial.

“Deuteronomy’s generation discipleship is not just about the next generation, it’s about every generation working together,” he said.

That means taking a critical look at how church is conducted on a weekly basis. Is the church equipping the saints with the right end game in mind?

“I’ve had the chance to sit down in a number of church staff meetings and 95% of the time is spent talking about church services and how the next Sunday will go,” Hunter said. “Discipleship is not an event to plan or a small group strategy: it’s a way of life.”

Generations and gaps

For decades, the church has lost the majority of its children who have grown up in Christian homes. Teenagers get their driver’s licenses and basically drive away from the church.

As the church recognizes that home is the vehicle for imparting faith to the next generation, leaders of the D6 ministry contend parents must begin to own the fact that they

are the primary disciplers of their own children.

“Our goal is to revamp the way we do curriculum and create connection points for conversation,” said Brandon Roysden, D6 conference coordinator. “We want to take the philosophy of Deuteronomy 6 and provide a practical way for parents and churches to implement it.”

But how does the church come alongside the child who doesn’t have a support system at home? Brian Housman, executive director of 360 Family Conference and author of several parenting books including Tech Savvy Parenting, said the church should not negate the importance of family-centered discipleship because of the brokenness of sin.

“The church must fill the gap and find a way to partner with that single mom or that grandparent who is raising their grandkids,” he said. “We’ve done a great job of dividing ourselves into different age-appropriate ministries and its time to open the doors and invite each other in. Instead of children’s events and youth events, have family events and family service projects where everyone participates. Let’s all come together and do this thing together.”

No one is meant to be lone rangers when it comes to the support and encouragement of their families, he concluded.

“We are supposed to love and encourage others and others are supposed to love and encourage us. It’s supposed to be a big circle,” said Leneita Fix, author, speaker and missions/training coordinator for BowDown Church and Urban Youth Impact in West Palm Beach, Florida. “We have a young man on our track team and his father was diagnosed with stage four cancer. We asked what we can do to help and the best way we’ve found is to literally run alongside him this summer as he continues his training. It’s volunteering our unique gifts and talents that make the church the church. It’s not programmatic, it’s helping your congregation notice the people around them and love them well.”

For more information on D6 conferences, visit d6family.com.

FIX

HOUSMAN

HUNTER

“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

– Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (CSB)

DRURY

LUCAS

Communicating with the next generation

Gen-Z has its own language and way of communicating. How can we connect?

Bethalto | Her inquisitive 4-year-old sat in his booster seat snacking on chips, staring out the window, and watching the world pass by.

“Daddy, why is the sky blue?”

Leneita Fix listened as her husband gave a simple yet scientific answer to her sweet boy. Then boy asked, “Why do cows moo?”

Her husband began talking about the communication strategies of livestock when her son posed a third question.

“How did Jesus do it? How did he take away my sin?”

Fix and her husband glanced at each other. Wow, where to start? Better not mess this up with the wrong words and confuse him. Maybe talk about the ABC’s of being a Christian? Or focus on the theology of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice. Probably need to tell him the definition of sacrifice—

“Whoa! Look at the size of this Dorito!!” the child said next.

“I love to tell that story because it perfectly exemplifies the reality of Generation Z,” said Fix, speaker, missions and training coordinator for BowDown Church and Urban Youth Impact in West Palm Beach, Florida, and author of several books including No Teenager Left Behind. “This generation has so much information at their fingertips that they are used to having the answers immediately. They want to soak up information, including deep spiritual truths about who God is, but they have only about an 8-second attention span.”

Getting it right

Generation Z is the group of children and students who are being raised and launched into the world right now. Born between 1995 to the present, Gen-Z is nicknamed the “Always On Generation” because they’ve never known a life without a touchscreen, without global terrorism, without civic unrest and financial unrest, and they have a unique perspective of what a normal family unit looks like.

Sky, cow, Jesus, Dorito: This teacher’s story shows how today’s kids can think deep thoughts—and shallow ones—almost at the same time. How will parents make the most of the moments they have to communicate about the more important matters?

“Another difference is while Millennials are wellknown for dealing with FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, Generation Z is more concerned with FOMU, or Fear of Messing Up,” Fix said during her D6 Connect Tour presentation at First Baptist Church Bethalto.

“They have a deep need to know the right answers and having Google at their fingertips leaves no room for doubt. Studies show that Gen-Z is destined for success in both college and career and they care about injustice more than any other generation in history.”

However, it’s their fear of imperfection and “not getting it right” that Fix said could easily derail their ambitions.

“We have to teach them the difference between messing up and intentionally making wrong decisions,” Fix said. “It’s OK to not know the answer or to have questions. We all have questions and don’t have it all figured out. Give them the space and grace to not be perfect. However, if they intentionally choose not to do a homework assignment or some other truly wrong decision, that’s not OK.”

And despite every preventive measure taken, Brian Housman, author of Tech Savvy Parenting, said wrong choices and moral failures are going to happen. He said parents and the church support system must always parent with the end game in mind.

Housman used the example of a video he once saw of 16-year-old Bobby Fisher playing ten games of chess at once. He won every match and when interviewed about how he kept track of each game Fisher said based on the opponent’s prior moves and body language, he developed a strategy to win and then just let that strategy play out.

“We have an end-game in mind financially and in our careers,” Housman said. “We need to focus on the end-game with our kids and the good news is that we’re not alone. We are partnering with the Savior to raise them to be like Christ.”

Without the end game in the forefront, parents default to wanting to change feelings and even unintentionally guilt their kids into better behavior.

“We’ve become geniuses at sin management and masters at behavior modifications,” Housman said. “Christian parents, particularly those in the ministry, are more concerned about the appearance of things and what might make us look bad. We make it about us when we want to change the feeling or their behavior. We need to seek to change their heart.”

“The best approach to moral failure in our kids is the same as God’s approach to us,” he said. “God never shames his children. He loves first, forgives,

acknowledges the wrongdoing, but understands what we’re going through. God chooses to be with us as we walk out of it.”

Say it, don’t Snap it

Communication is key. This generation is bombarded with messages coming at them from every one of their devices. However, when it comes to hearing the messages that matter, Fix said face-toface interaction is still the best way.

“Don’t overcomplicate things,” she said. “Generation Z is striving for authenticity. Many studies have shown that they actually prefer face-to-face communication over the multitude of other options. Yes, they talk through Snapchat and Instagram and even through their video games, but the people they consider themselves closest to are those they see every day at home, church, and school.”

But never wait for the perfect moment to have an in-depth conversation, because that moment will never come for these success-driven kids. Instead, Fix suggests utilizing the margins of time between practices and appointments, dinner prep, or yard work.

“There is no longer the space or grace to wait,” she said.

“Remember sky, cow, Jesus, Dorito. Sometimes God will lay an encouraging word or thought on my heart and I text it to my kids right away, because they need to know God loves them and I love them all the time. We need to become really good at communicating in the moments we have.”

Kayla Rinker is a freelance writer living in Park Hills, Mo. where she serves alongside her husband, Josh, who is youth pastor at First Baptist Church Desloge. Kayla is also a stay-at-home mom to their four sons, keeping her life full of craziness and joy.

A cause worth living for

Meet the Chief Mama

Alma Rohm sailed to Nigeria in 1950 on a cargo ship. That ship went through Dakar, Senegal, Freetown, Sierra Leone, Monrovia, Liberia, Abidjan, Cote d’voire, Accra, Ghana, Porto Novo, Benim, then up the Congo River to Matadi, Zaier, and Labito, Angola before it finally came to Lagos, Nigeria. For the next 50 years in Nigeria, Alma worked hard.

Soon, they called her “Mama.” Eventually, they called her “Chief.” Really.

“Mama was always the last person to sleep and the first to wake up…such that one wonders if she ever sleeps at all,” one Nigerian wrote. “…and some called her ‘Epo Oyinbo’ (meaning Kerosene)” because she never stopped.

She taught tirelessly. Her students became doctors, lawyers, ministers, chiefs, kings, judges, pastors, and church musicians. In all her work, this Southern Baptist missionary won many souls to Christ.

“Not long after I was saved at age 9, the Holy Spirit told me I was to be a single woman missionary teacher in Africa,” Rohm said. “I objected vehemently. I wanted to get married, have a

lovely home, and four children.

“When I could not escape the voice of the Holy Spirit, I finally told God I would be a missionary if I could go to China or Japan and serve as a doctor or a nurse. But that was not the task God had for me. When He kept repeating the same call, I stubbornly told God I would not be a missionary.

Tell the Cooperative Program story

There are thousands of Alma Rohms around the world. Different in some ways: Married and single. Old and young. Veteran missionary and newly called. But they have these things in common—

• A compelling love for Jesus Christ

• An enduring call to share the Gospel with people Jesus died to save.

• The support of Southern Baptists.

Choose any Sunday to tell the story of Southern Baptist missions. Faithful giving makes it possible, as each Sunday, each person and each church give a percentage of their offering through the world’s most effective channel for missions support. Together we are advancing the gospel—starting in Illinois and going to the farthest reaches of the world— through the Cooperative Program. Take a few moments to share with your congregation how regular, systematic giving through CP supports the mission work of people like Alma Rohm—and all those whose lives our missionaries touch—everywhere.

Together Illinois Baptists give about $6 million through the Cooperative Program each year.

56.5% supports evangelism and mission work in Illinois, from Cairo to Chicago and Belleville to Danville, starting new churches where they are needed, strengthening established ones, growing church leaders, and reaching our 8 million lost neighbors.

43.5% supports church planting in North America, international missions for unreached and unengaged people groups, theological education for the next generation, and Christcentered cultural engagement.

“When I was 12 years old, our church choir sang an Easter cantata on the seven last words of Christ on the cross,” she said. “Between each anthem, the lights were dimmed except for a lighted cross in the baptistry, and the choir director read one of the seven last sayings of Jesus on the cross.

“As I heard those words, my heart was touched, and I said to myself, ‘If Jesus could die for me, surely I should be able to live for Him.’”

After graduating from Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary, she left for Africa. Nigeria was about 20% Christian at the time Alma arrived; today it’s 50% or more Christian. Iwa, where she served, was mostly Muslim in 1950; today, the city of 300,000 is as much as 60% Christian.

Alma retired after 54 years, but after a short stint at home in Texas, she returned to where she had such a profound impact that they named a school and a church after her, where the King named her a chief.

Together Southern Baptists in all the states give almost $190 million to missions through the Cooperative Program each year.

1.65% Christian Ethics and Religious Liberty Ministries Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

22.16% Theological Education Ministries Seminaries (21.92%) Library and Archives (.24%)

2.99% SBC Operating Budget

73.20% Missions Ministries

International Mission Board (50.41%)

North American Mission Board (22.79%)

Southern Baptist missions through the Cooperative Program

Alma Rohm moved to Iwa, Nigeria in 1950. Chief Mama Rohm died in Iwa, Nigeria in 2016.*

* info from a presentation by International Mission Board President David Platt to IMB Trustees, and from Baylor University media.

MISSION

Let’s

Rites of Summer

Just Spectacular

Summer is an excellent season for invigorating a missions spirit in a congregation, as 200 members of several IBSA churches learned on June 4. IBSA’s annual Missions Spectacular put church members to work on projects at several locations nearby, with the intent of fueling more missionary outreach in more distant places.

Christian Activity Center Director Chet Cantrell (top left photo, gray shirt) stands with pastor Cliff Woodman (far right) and a group of workers from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville. Mission Spectacular events include warmweather work at several locations, projects for all ages, and often include a time of worship and reports on their mission service as at First Baptist Church of Worden. P.

“Missions Spectacular is a first-time event that gets people contagious for missions,” said IBSA’s Mark Emerson. “Church groups come and have an a-ha! moment. They think, we could do this in our own community.”

It’s part of IBSA’s larger missions strategy patterned on the verse Acts 1:8.

As Associate Executive Director for the Church Resources Team, Emerson spearheads missions mobilization along with directors Carmen Halsey and Dwayne Doyle. In 2016, 22,000 members of IBSA churches

call these projects ‘home’ missions

East St. Louis

Staunton

Worden

Continued from page 11 reported being active in their mission fields, ranging for those closest to home, to mission trips on the far side of the globe.

The Acts 1:8 strategy encourages commitment on four fields, drawing on the geographic missions description Jesus gave the disciples just before his ascension: Jerusalem (local missions), Judea (nearby regions, such as the state), Samaria (national), and the ends of the earth (international).

This year, the projects focused on two areas on the Illinois side of the St. Louis metro area. One work group continued the renovation work at Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis. For more than 30 years, the Center has provided tutoring, recreation, and after-school care for children in their impoverished neighborhood, with the intent of getting kids off the streets and away from gangs, drugs, and crime.

Many Illinois churches have supported the CAC with finances and volunteers. Three years ago, CAC started a multi-million-dollar refurbishing of the facilities that includes the purchase of abandoned properties nearby and installation of gardens and playgrounds. The well-kept green space is remarkable in East St. Louis, and the CAC is often cited as a leader in efforts to revitalize the decayed community.

Members of Emmanuel Baptist in Carlinville were on scene tilling the mulch bed on the new playground and planting hardy hostas in the beds under the trees.

In Staunton, a new congregation called The NET Church is leading a revitalization of the community food bank. Members of Bethel Baptist Church in Troy assisted sorting and stocking the shelves at an expanded storefront facility that opened in April. The food bank has provided an open door for ministry in the Staunton community, and The NET Church is involved with other churches and with the local fire department in operating the ministry.

“It’s amazing to see the effects of mission service in a place not too far from home,” Emerson said. “When the group gets back home, they see their community differently. They start making lists of things to do. And people get excited about missions that demonstrate the love of Jesus.”

My parenting plan: watch dad

There is a tape that plays in my head. I don’t turn it on, it just plays. I found it playing deep in the recesses of my mind when I disciplined my children or taught them to play ball or how to hammer a nail. It plays involuntarily still when I show my grandchildren how to cast a fishing line or how to play well with their siblings.

It goes like this: “How did my Dad do it?”

This intimidates me a bit because I know my children—and yours—have a tape playing in their own minds. This intimidation only deepens when I consider the common description of God as a father. When our children go to church they learn the lesson that God is their heavenly Father, and they can’t help but see that through the lens of their own earthly dad.

At our best, we will be imperfect fathers. We will always be imperfect models because we are imperfect people. But God uses fatherhood as a description of himself. We are, for good or for bad, examples from which our kids learn about God. We are, for good or for bad, examples from which our kids learn how to do life.

Here are some suggestions about how dads can get this right—imperfect, but right:

1. Show your children how to love their families.

Dads, make sure your children know you love them. Let them know you love them when they succeed and let them know you love them when they fail. Be certain they know that your love is unconditional. That you love them whether they do right or wrong. That you love them even when you discipline them. That you discipline them because you love them.

Proverbs 3:12 says, “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.” Unconditional love is a powerful force in the life of a child.

And, make sure they know you love their mother. Teach them by your actions how a man is to treat his wife. Live out Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” Show by your love and sacrifice that you treasure your wife so they can see a healthy model.

2. Show your children how to love the church and the things of God.

I am very blessed that my father took me to church. He cared so much about my spiritual development that he took me to church Sunday by Sunday. Note that he didn’t just send me to learn from others. He took me and thereby taught me to value this institution formed by the Lord. By the way, he didn’t give me a choice about attending church any more than he let me choose whether to skip school or to stay up all night long or to eat only ice cream.

Show your kids that the things of God are important. Help them see that church is God’s idea, the Bible is God’s Word, and prayer is talking to God. Let them see this by how you spend your time and your money. Let them see this by what you talk about and what you do.

3. Show your children how to love Jesus and to follow him closely.

Faith is about more than going to church or being moral. Ultimately, it is about a personal relationship with God the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ. Let your children know by your words and your actions that Jesus is your Savior, your Lord, and the center of your life. Tell them about when you trusted Christ. Talk to them about what God is doing in your life currently. Let them know the primacy of your devotional life—that Dad reads his Bible and spends time with the Lord in prayer.

You are going to get some things wrong in parenting. But don’t get this one wrong. Let your children know that you love Jesus more than them and that this love makes you love them more than you ever could otherwise. Let them know that your commitment to Jesus not only gives you a home in heaven one day, but it makes your home better in this day.

Dads, there is one more gift to give to your children. Help them hear an even better tape that needs to play in their minds than “What would Dad do?” This tape has to be played consciously and intentionally. It goes like this: “What does my Heavenly Father want?”

Dads, you can let them see some of the answer to that question in your life.

Doug Munton is first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention and senior pastor of First Baptist Church in O’Fallon, Ill. His latest book is titled “30 Days to Acts.”

fresh ideas

Here’s my card

The young mom ahead of you in the grocery line chats about her toddlers, and you mention your church’s awesome kids’ class and couples’ Bible study. She’s interested, so you give her your card and say, “Here’s my email. Let me know if you’d like to come on Sunday, and I’ll meet you at the entrance.”

A personal card can turn casual conversation into a sincere offer of friendship or assistance. It personalizes a spontaneous invitation to church. It may open a door to share Jesus with someone who doesn’t yet know him.

DIANA DAVIS

Go to an online or local print shop and design a personal card. It’s simply a business card with your name, e-mail, and phone. Add a pop of color and a Bible verse. Next, work intentionally to make a habit of keeping cards with you at all times.

Ask God to make you aware of people around you who need friendship, help, encouragement, or an invitation to church. Give away several cards every week for the purpose of representing Jesus.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Anytime you’re waiting in line, realize that God placed you there: at the post office, waiting room, amusement park, bus stop, checkout line. Get your card ready, and begin a conversation.

• To personalize a conversation with newcomers at church events, share a card. If you teach preschoolers, give a card to parents. When visiting a sick or grieving person, leave a card.

• Keep a card ready to share during leisure activities. At the library, festival, or ballpark. Walking. Gathering shells on the beach. At the kids’ karate practice or play date.

• Intentionally get to know neighbors. Speak as they walk by when you’re outdoors. Attend homeowners meetings or neighborhood events.

• Share a card in everyday conversations: as you take a coffee break, go to your club, a garage sale, community meeting, volunteer activities.

Then, when that young mom from the grocery e-mails you, connect her with members of the couples’ class. Follow up, be a friend, and introduce her to Jesus.

© 2017 DianaDavis.org

The recording that plays in Doug Munton’s head will change fatherhood.

“Our

Lake Cruise Bible Study will be delayed a bit... Some of the deacons aren’t fully on board.”

dave says

Midlife adjustments?

QMy husband and I are in our 50’s, and we have just $12,000 to pay off before we’re debt-free. We’ve paid off almost $70,000 in debt in the last two years. We would like to buy a house soon, but we know we need an emergency fund. It would take us almost a year to build up an emergency fund, so should we make adjustments to the Baby Steps since we’re getting older?

ANo! It shouldn’t take you two a year to build up an emergency fund considering the rate at which you’ve been paying off debt.

EVENTS

June 16-17

Father/Son Camp

What: Overnight camp for fathers and sons, grandfathers and grandsons, and adult mentors and young men of all ages

Where: June 16-17: Lake Sallateeska

Cost: $40 per person Register: IBSA.org/kids

IBSA Summer Camps

• Week 1: June 12-16

(Streator, grades 3-6)

• Week 2: June 18-22

(Lake Sallateeska, grades 3-6)

• Week 3: June 26-30

(Lake Sallateeska, grades 3-6)

• Week 4: July 10-14

(Streator, grades 3-12)

July 10-14

Summer Worship U

What: IBSA’s premier worship, music, and arts event for students in grades 6-12

Where: Hannibal-LaGrange University

Cost: $225 per person

Register: IBSA.org/students

July 16-21

Fused Teen Camp

What: A week of dynamic preaching, worship, recreations, and small group discipleship for all students in grades 6-12

Where: Lake Sallateeska

Cost: $265 per person

Register: IBSA.org/students

July 23-28

people

Ordination

DAVE RAMSEY

You’ve been making great progress, and you obviously have a good income to be able to pay off debt that quickly. In your case you could lean a little more toward the three-month side with your emergency fund before you start saving for a house. Then, after you’re all moved in, you could revisit the emergency fund and beef it up to six months.

Just stay on course and stick with the plan. Fifty isn’t old.

Skipping to the altar

QMy wife and I make good money, and our daughter’s college education is pretty much paid for through pre-paid tuition and scholarships. We just started your plan to get out of debt and take better control of our finances. When we get to Baby Step 5, which is saving for college, can we substitute that with saving for a wedding?

AThat would be fine. I’m glad you’re thinking ahead. It’s always a good idea to save toward a wedding if you have the financial resources to do so, because weddings are real and they’re coming.

The average wedding in America today runs around $35,000. Of course, you don’t have to pay anywhere near that amount to make it a beautiful occasion.

Just remember to pay cash for the wedding. If you have to go into debt to make it happen, then you’re talking about too much money.

Financial advisor Dave Ramsey is a prolific author and radio host.

• Week 5: July 17-21

(Streator, grades 3-12)

Cost: $160 per person, includes food, lodging, and T-shirt Register: IBSA.org/kids

June 13-14

Southern Baptist Convention

Where: Phoenix Convention Center Info: SBCPC.net

June 26-30

Illuminate Camp

What: Camp experience for students in grades 7-12

Where: Lake Sallateeska

Cost: $160 per person, includes food, lodging, and T-shirt Register: IBSA.org/students

June 27-July 1

Super Summer

What: Discipleship-focused week for students who have committed their lives to Christ

Where: Greenville College

Cost: $225 per person Register: IBSA.org/students

NeTworkiNg

ChicaGO Week

What: Students in junior high through college serve alongside Chicagoland church planters

Where: Judson University

Cost: $265 per person (IBSA churches); $290 per person (non-IBSA churches)

Register: IBSA.org/churchplanting

July 28-29

Cairo, IL Mission Trip

What: Engage the southern Illinois community with a back-to-school fair and mobile medical ministry

Cost: $50 per person; team members responsible for travel to and from site

Info: Debbie Muller@IBSA.org

July 31-August 4

Illinois Changers

What: Missions experience for college students and adults with skills in carpentry, general contracting, building, or willingness to volunteer on a construction project

Where: Metro Peoria

Cost: $125 per person

Register: IBSA.org/missions (click on “Judea” under “Choose your mission field”)

Caesar Ordonez was ordained May 7 at Smith Grove Baptist Church in Greenville. He will become the pastor of Prince of Peace church. After Ordonez and his wife, Ila, were prayed over, the newly ordained pastor was presented a Bible by Matt Mendenhall, associate pastor at Smith Grove Church.

Welcome

Robert Strong is the new senior pastor of Meadow Heights Baptist Church in Collinsville. Strong comes to the position from FBC Bolingbrook, where he was pastor. He is a graduate of Hannibal-LaGrange University and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D in preaching at Midwestern. His wife, Hannah, is completing a pediatric residency at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

New arrival

Meredith and Chris Flynn welcomed another daughter, Molly Michael Flynn, on May 17. She weighed in at 7.5 pounds, and 19.5 inches. Our editorial contributor reports Molly’s older sister, Lucy, is pleased with the new addition to the family, so far.

Crossroads Community Church is seeking a full-time worship pastor to provide leadership and vision for worship and arts in a growing church context. For more info, go to www.crossroadschurch.us/staff. Send a cover letter, resumé, video samples of your work, and the last ten orders of service you have created to: Greg Shaw, VP HR, 1N100 Gary Avenue, Carol Stream, IL, 60188 or employment@crossroadschurch.us.

Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur seeks a full-time minister of music and worship. Cover letter and resumé should be sent to: Music Minister Search, Tabernacle Baptist Church, 650 N. Wyckles Rd., Decatur, IL 62526, or personnelteam@tbc. church.

Faith Baptist Church in Marissa is searching for a bi-vocational pastor Please send resumés to Faith Baptist Church, c/o Pastor Search, 1225 School View Drive, Marissa, IL, 62257 or pami_5@yahoo.com.

Church celebrates 10th anniversary

Summer missions

All summer long, Illinois Baptist church members will serve through IBSA-sponsored mission projects at home and abroad—in some cases, very abroad. Please pray for these teams.

Illinois

Uptown Baptist | July 7-11, Oct. 6-11

Community engagement in Chicago

Cost: $350 per person

ChicaGO Week (Judson University) | July 23-28

Students partner with church planters for a week

Cost: $265 per person (IBSA churches); $290 per person (non-IBSA churches)

IBSA.org/churchplanting

Cairo, Illinois | July 28-29

5 mission activities in 5 days

Cost: $50 per person

Illinois Changers | July 31-Aug. 4

For college students and adults; Metro Peoria

Cost: $125 per person

Meet the Nations | July 31-Aug. 4

Meet Chicago’s international affinity groups

Cost: $350 per person

Christian Activity Center | Aug. 4-6

St. Elmo’s final gifts

Degrees awarded

Louisville, Ky.| Six students with ties to Illinois graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce College in the 158th spring commencement ceremonies. Southern Seminary conferred degrees to 317 master’s and doctoral students on May 19, and 149 Boyce College students May 12.

Jacob Carr, of Troy and member of Bethel Baptist Church, Troy, graduated with a Master of Divinity. His wife is Audrey Carr.

Back-to-school party in East St. Louis

Cost: $30 per person

United States

WellHouse | June 25-29

Help exploitation victims in Birmingham

Cost: $400 per person

New York City | Sept. 18-21

IBSA ministers’ wives serve in the Bronx

Cost: $350 plus airfare

The World

St. Elmo | About three months shy of its 100th birthday, First Baptist Church of St. Elmo has given a gift to its community and to Illinois Baptists. The eight remaining members of the church made the difficult decision to close the doors, but even at the end, they had the spiritual needs of their community in mind. With their final assets, the congregation established a “legacy fund” with the Baptist Foundation of Illinois. Proceeds from the fund will support national and state Southern Baptist ministries and a community cause in St. Elmo.

Mike Hall, director of missions for Kaskaskia Baptist Association, pastored the church from 1998 to 2002. “May God richly continue to bless the ministry work done through the life and legacy of First Baptist Church St. Elmo,” he wrote.

The church was founded with seven charter members on August 3, 1917. They first met in the Old Opera House in downtown St. Elmo before moving to the Walnut Street location in the 1930s. FBC counted among its members many Southern Baptists from Oklahoma who moved to Illinois during an oil boom in that period. The population of the Fayette county town peaked at 2,290 in 1940. Today there are about 1,400 residents in St. Elmo.

Dustin Jeremy Coleman of Countryside and a member of Brainard Avenue Baptist Church graduated with a Doctor of Ministry. His wife is Beth Cox Coleman.

Daniel Darling of Wauconda and Vice President for Communications at the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, graduated with a Master of Arts in Church Ministries. He formerly served as pastor in Metro Chicago. His wife is Angela Darling.

Joseph F. Radosevich of Bloomington and a member of Charis Church, Normal, graduated with a Master of Divinity. His wife is Emily Radosevich.

Joshua R. Rosentreter of Gillespie and a member of Trinity Baptist Church, Gillespie, graduated with a Master of Divinity. His wife is Brittany Lynn Rosentreter.

Hannah Jael Snider of Herrin and a member of First Baptist Church, graduated with a Bachelor Science in Humanities from Boyce College.

GO Team Dominican Republic | June 17-24

Students help church planting efforts

Cost: $1,350 per person

Dominican Republic | June 21-24

Community engagement and medical missions

Cost: $1,000 per person

GO Team Toronto | July 1-8

Students host soccer ministry and VBS

Cost: $850

GO Team Jamaica | July 22-29

Ministry to kids through VBS-style activities

Cost: $1,350 per person

Amazon Project | Oct. 19-26

Serve through medical clinics, and evangelistic outreach projects along the Amazon River

Cost: $2,600 (IBSA church), $2,700 (non-IBSA church) IBSA.org/missions

For more information go to

FIESTA – IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams joined Pastor Tony Munoz and Iglesia Bautista Latina in Effingham to celebrate the congregation’s 10th anniversary on May 6. Pictured (left to right) are Adams, Munoz, and Mike Hall, Director of Missions of Kaskaskia Baptist Association where the church is located. Iglesia Bautista Latina shares building space with its primary sponsor, Calvary Baptist Church, which is pastored by Robert Ward. The congregation celebrated outdoors with food and a concert.

Church needed here...

Location: Henry

Focus: Residents of this rural, mostly Anglo community in Marshall County

Characteristics: Like in other rural communities, the greatest barrier in reaching people here is a lack of felt need—spiritual or otherwise.

Prayer needs: Pray for the Spirit of God to lead a congregation to love this community, and to reach out to Henry with the gospel. Pray they’ll find people of peace there to help lay the groundwork for a new church.

devotional

A tangled web

Read: 2 Samuel 11-12; Psalm 51

Sin easily ensnares us in its web of deception and false promises. It offers the illusion of lasting fulfillment but fails to deliver on its promises.

David, by God’s grace, had achieved great military victories for Israel and found himself resting from those responsibilities. In those days of relaxation, he became captivated by another man’s wife and fell into the arms of adultery. He believed that he was free from the consequences of his sin until Bathsheba’s pregnancy was revealed.

KEVIN CARROTHERS

Self-preservation became David’s goal. How could he could he cover up his sin by manipulating or removing Uriah altogether? David, the anointed of God, had willfully violated God’s law, and he refused to acknowledge his moral failure.

Uriah was dead. Bathsheba was now David’s wife. David mistakenly believed that all was well. Then the prophet Nathan confronted him with a powerful story of injustice. David was outraged and concluded that death was needed for such a man. Nathan proclaimed, “David, you are that man.”

Sin’s darkness was expelled by the holiness of God’s truth. David’s righteous indignation turned to grief and remorse. David realized that he was an adulterer, liar, thief, and murderer, and he pleaded with God for a clean heart. God forgave him, but allowed the consequences of his sin to remain.

PRAYER PROMPT: Father, we are that man as well. Hear our confession, give us clean hearts, and restore to us the joy of our salvation. Amen.

Kevin Carrothers serves as director of missions for Salem South Baptist Association and is concluding his second one-year term as IBSA President.

inspirations

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These ideas for an alternative VBS are featured in the Summer issue of Resource, the magazine produced especially for IBSA church leaders. Request your free subscription at Communicatins@IBSA. org, or read online at Resource.IBSA.org.

One-day VBS

On a Saturday, do VBS in a day-camp format. Choose 2 or 3 days’ lessons and activities from the VBS kit and do them one after another, all day long.

Overnight VBS

Do the youth VBS lock-in style—all night long games, videos, worship, and Bible study.

Old folks’ VBS

Take one day of the children’s VBS curriculum and stage it at a senior center or nursing home— activities, Kool-Aid, and all. Focus on the gospel presentation. They’ll love it.

Last-minute VBS

Do it again in August, just before school starts.

Pat’s Playbook

Fill my cup, Lord

QI can’t believe how much my church spent on a coffeemaker. It makes ten flavors of coffee I never heard of. And the hospitality team glared at me because I refused to put $2 in the kitty. Should we be spending our offerings on ourselves?

AObviously, the church is using “coffee” as a drawing card and/ or welcoming tool for both guests and members. If you don’t want to contribute $2 for a cup, stop at McDonalds on the way to church and pay a dollar. However, I would encourage you to stand in the background next Sunday morning and see if it’s working. Are people using the coffee area as a fellowship point? Do members invite guests to stop and get a cup before class or worship? Is it a location where conversations and witnessing opportunities are taking place? Does it tell the community, “Our church welcomes you. Have a cup of joe, in Jesus’ Name”?

It may not be your thing, but to the Starbucks society, a well-supplied coffee stand with a friendly barista might just make the 21st-century church look a little more relevant.

One size fits some

Q

As you share your faith with people, do you use a memorized plan like Evangelism Explosion or the “3 Circles”? Or do you just let the Holy Spirit lead the discussion?

A

Through the years, I’ve been trained in several different faithsharing processes. When I have opportunity to witness, I sometimes use parts of presentations, memorized Scriptures, or illustrations I’ve learned. Sitting in Starbucks with a person I’ve built a relationship with might allow me to use Jimmy Scroggins’ “3 Circles: Life Conversation Guide” on a napkin, but that same technique might not work for me in a first-time chance encounter at a gas station. Nor would I use the same approach every time during an extended conversation on an airline flight. Be prepared to share what you’ve learned through the years. Have a few Scriptures committed to memory (for example, John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9). And let the Holy Spirit guide you as you fulfill the Great Commission.

Pat Pajak is IBSA’s associate executive director for evangelism. Send questions for Pat to IllinoisBaptist@ IBSA.org.

– IBSA Church Planting Team

It’s not too late! There’s plenty of summer left for VBS

PAT PAJAK