EC President Search Team

SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) headquarters in Hawthorne, California | istockphoto

“We have the honor and the blessing as those that get to stay here to take care of Bob’s family,” Wilson said.

Hines expressed his gratefulness to God that he was fulfilling a childhood dream. He spoke of his excitement at seeing Earth from afar.

“[I] want to look at this amazing creation that God has given us and just be in awe of it,” he said.

Hines is an active member of the church, where he has served as a Sunday School teacher. His daughter also sings in the praise team.

This is not the first astronaut commissioning service for UBC, which is located less than three miles away from the NASA Johnson Space Center. Texas Baptists Executive Director David Hardage, who served as interim pastor at UBC in early 2022, was surprised when he first learned that he was preaching to literal rocket scientists each Sunday. It was an honor, he said, to witness the church’s commissioning of Hines.

“The church pledged to pray for him when he launches in mid-April and while he’s on the International Space Station,” he said. “Additionally, the church will be diligent in providing care for his wife and three daughters while away. Bob is a strong believer and committed church member and is also quite excited about fulfilling a lifelong dream of space flight.”

Hardage’s last Sunday as interim coincided with the commissioning. Starting the following week, Will Rushing began serving as the new senior pastor of UBC.

A version of this article was published in Baptist Press on March 29, 2022.

BONNIE SHAW is a writer for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

COLLEGE OF CHRISTIAN STUDIES You Are Called to

Minister, No Matter Your Major.

Learn how serious scholarship and real relationships lay a solid foundation for servant leadership at Charleston Southern University.

OPPORTUNITIES:

Degrees in Chaplaincy Ministry, Christian Studies,

Student Ministry, and more

Complete a BA + MDiv in under 6 years with

SBC seminaries partnership

High school juniors and seniors get on the fast track earning college credit through the Strack Center for

Global Leadership and Ministry Preparing Servant Leaders to Pursue Significant Lives

REDUCE YOUR SEMINARY DEGREE UP TO 33 HOURS AND $17,400 IN TUITION AND FEES

Contact us at (843) 863-7482 or email christianstudies@csuniv.edu

Diana Scoggin (left) and Mickey Ebert, hand chocolate milk and juice boxes to a Ukrainian mother in a train station in Suceava, Romania. Scoggin and Ebert arrived as part of a Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) team and are SBDR volunteers with the Missouri Baptist Convention. Image Courtesy of IMB

Disaster Relief Volunteers Comfort Traumatized Refugees; Southern Baptists Raise $8M So Far

BY CAROLINE ANDERSON

ou are safe.” These were the words a Ukrainian woman, her daughter, and an elderly woman needed to hear while waiting for their train. “Breathe in. Breathe out.”

Mickey Ebert first spoke these words to a woman and her daughter at a train station in Suceava, Romania. The mother tried to put on a brave face as she walked into the station. Ebert welcomed her and handed her a piece of paper with a QR code on it that read, “Hope for Ukraine.” When the mother turned to sit down, tears filled her eyes.

“Y Ebert is the leader of a team of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers who represent Southern Baptists from Missouri, California, and Texas. She’s a member of Blue Springs Baptist Church in Independence, Missouri. “Were you scared?” Ebert asked the daughter tenderly. She nodded, and Ebert later said it was evident the daughter, age ten, was also striving to be strong for her mother. “You are brave. You are full of courage. You are here in a safe place,” Ebert said. Ebert’s voice is soft and gentle, with the tenor of someone who often works with children—