Volume 25, 28, Issue Issue 23 Volume
CBF’s Hurricane Michael Response Underway
I arrive at St. James’ Episcopal Church in Port St. Joe a few minutes behind Kenny Phillips, CBF Florida’s Disaster Response Volunteer Coordinator. He will be coordinating CBF hurricane recovery efforts in Florida’s Panhandle. Kenny, a resident of Ft. Walton, owns a home improvement business and is the founder and director of Give Me Shelter, a nonprofit devoted to improving the housing of vulnerable people in Central America and the Caribbean. Married to a teacher, the father of three daughters serves as the Associate Pastor of Seeker Fellowship Church, a CBF congregation. He’s also a surfer who’s caught a wave or two in Hawaii, Mexico and places beyond. Now he’s my guide in the Panhandle. Since the hurricane ravaged northwest Florida, he has traveled, chainsaw in hand, to some of its most remote communities. He describes finding members of one household who spent days cutting their way through downed trees just to get to the main road from their damaged home.
The disaster response team from Deermeadows Baptist Church in Jacksonville clears debris in Jackson County following Hurricane Michael.
A few days after the storm, Kenny, Ray Johnson and Rachel Shapard (CBF Florida), and Alan Williams (CBF Disaster Response Specialist), asked St. James to serve as a host site for CBF volunteer teams. Although the congregation was welcoming, St. James first needed to serve its community as a Red Cross emergency shelter. The day of our visit, a six-stall Red Cross shower trailer remained in the church parking lot with dozens of people—Red Cross staff and evacuees—milling in and out of the fellowship hall.
by Rick Burnette CBF Global Disaster Response Coordinator Headed west on I-10, in the vicinity of Tallahassee, downed limbs and quite a few leaning trees are noticeable. Beyond the state capitol, evidence of wind damage from Hurricane Michael increases every few miles. Exiting the interstate and heading into Greensboro, we see fallen trees and blue-tarped roofs in abundance. The damage intensifies the further west you go towards Panama City, including the towns of Blountstown and Wewahitchka. Entire mature pine plantations— hundreds and even thousands of acres—are down; trunks snapped in half. Three weeks after Michael made landfall just short of being a Category 5 storm, the Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse and other large response agencies have set up operations along the route. Law enforcement vehicles are frequently encountered along with caravans of electrical utility trucks headed to recovery sites.
Unlike larger agencies, CBF does not engage in much early disaster response. Instead, we focus mostly on long-term cleanup and recovery activities. Our teams of volunteers typically remove debris, muck out flooded homes and tear out water-damaged floor and wall materials. We also coordinate the involvement of teams to replace floors, walls and cabinets as well as roof repairs. Kenny and I are at St. James to finalize plans for CBF volunteers to be hosted there. We check out the kitchen facilities where simple meals can be prepared by teams. Volunteers will sleep on pews. Also, continued on page 7
First Baptist Church of Tallahassee students spend the first Saturday of November clearing debris in Jackson County.
In It for the Long Haul HURRICANE IRMA RECOVERY CONTINUES by Rachel Gunter Shapard More than a year after the devastating impact of Hurricane Irma on the neighborhood of Washington Heights Estates, the community is still in the process of recovering from the storm. CBF Florida and CBF Disaster Response continue A team works on Ken Knight Drive to work alongside residents to elevate their community center. voices and participate in long term recovery efforts in the neighborhood that many fondly call, Ken Knight Drive, after the main street that wraps around the community. CBF Florida and CBF Disaster Response have assisted in the rebuilding of more than 15 homes and have hosted nine mission teams. CBF Florida also partners in the ongoing work of the Northeast Florida Long Term Recovery Organization (LTRO), a collaborative network of governmental, business, faith-based and non-profit organizations who meet regularly to discuss progress and coordinate efforts to assist those impacted by the storm. Rachel Shapard with Ken Knight Drive homeowner, Linda, whose home was worked on by multiple CBF groups.
On Tuesday, November 6, The United Way of Northeast Florida and The Jaguars Foundation partnered with CBF Florida, Builders Care, Yellow House and other local and regional organizations to host a work day in the community. More than 120 volunteers helped in the neighborhood. Completed projects included food distribution, yard work, building a wheelchair ramp, and painting a mural, which encouraged residents who had felt forgotten after the storm.
Mr. Collins fell in love with the CBF church groups who worked on his home.
Thank you to all those in CBF life who have contributed funding, time and effort to help our neighbors!
In Memoriam: Rev. Dorilin Tito San Jorge By Maykel Bruffau and Xiomara Ortiz Rev. Dorilin Tito San Jorge, who pastored the William Carey Baptist Church in Havana, Cuba, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on October 19, 2018. Born on July 10, 1979 in Santiago de Cuba, Dorilin was an extraordinarily talented pastor who was a friend to Florida’s Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Rev. Xiomara Ortiz, who has served as one of CBF Florida’s translators on several trips to Cuba with her husband Rubén, knew Dorilin well. Xiomara observed that “Dorilin was one of those rare individuals that you can read with one look. Not because she was simple; on the contrary, she was such a complete individual that her presence alone communicated her kind spirit, her honest and open friendship, her surprising intelligence and her absolute love and devotion for her family, church and Savior.”
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Joe and Pat Snider Remembered GIVING ABOVE AND BEYOND By Ray Johnson The sharpest memory that I have of Joe Snider and his wife Pat is of them in front of the main entrance to what was then the Open House Ministry Center (now the west Homestead campus of Touching Miami with Love): Joe planting flowers along the walkway and Pat standing on the sidewalk next to him. Joe commented that he had seen how the landscaping had gotten away from us as landscapes in tropical south Florida are wont to do. So he and Pat came down to Homestead from Englewood, about three and a half hours to the north, to do a little landscaping. It wasn’t their first-time looking after the Center and now it won’t be their last. Pat Snider passed away on October 24, 2016 and Joe died on December 10, 2017. They were tremendous supporters of Florida CBF’s mission work, particularly the work in south Florida. As a part of their ongoing legacy, the Sniders determined to give a gift from their estate to CBF Florida. Their gift will forever produce funding that will benefit CBF Florida’s mission work that is “over and above the annual budget.” All of the Sniders’ gift is part of a large corpus of CBF Florida’s Foundation funds that exceed
$2 million. The cash generated by these gifts supports CBF Florida’s church starts, provides ministerial scholarships, pays for summer cadets at Touching Miami with Love, and helps cover operating expenses for CBF Florida. Joel Snider, who recently retired as the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Rome, GA, is Joe and Pat’s son. He remembered their commitment to Touching Miami with Love. “You can see their work ethic in their love for Touching Miami with Love. It was a place where they could invest volunteer hours and a place where they saw others work hard to minister Christ’s love.” Dr. Snider and his sisters, Jennifried McNeal and Leigh Ann Cunningham, wanted to be sure that their parents’ spirit of service and heart for missions was remembered and honored through their gift. “We also hope others are inspired by the way they used their estate as another way to support the work of the kingdom,” he said. NOTE: For more information on making a gift through your will or even to learn about making a gift to CBF Florida that pays you income, contact Ray at the CBF Florida Lakeland office.
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Rev. San Jorge was baptized in the William Carey Baptist Church in November of 1992, by the Rev. Juan Francisco Naranjo. From that time forward, Rev. Maykel Bruffau noted, she was a leader in her church. Rev. Estela Hernandez, who preceded Dorilin as the pastor of William Carey Baptist Church, saw young Dorilin’s potential and petitioned the church to send her to the Evangelical Seminary of Matanzas. She graduated in June of 2015 with her bachelor’s degree in theology. Upon the death of Rev. Estela Hernández, William Carey Church called Dorilin on March 5, 2016, as its pastor.
She was installed on March 13, 2016 and ordained on March 3, 2017. Dorilin was also an officer of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba (FIBAC), where she was the director of Children’s ministries from 2016 until her death. Remembering Dorilin’s life and friendship, Xiomara Ortiz prayed, “May the memory of a life well- and fully-lived be the source of strength for her loved ones and her church in this time of separation and sorrow. May the assurance of the abundant and everlasting life she now enjoys be the reason for all of us to celebrate the life of our pastor friend while we keep her children and family in our prayers.” Amen.
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The Power of a Garden
Not going to waste, surplus tropical produce is nourishing food insecure families.
This is the harvest of hope Cultivate Abundance yields with the Immokalee, Florida migrant farmworker community.
Recycled buckets become doorstep gardens for hardworking migrant farmworker families.
Where once weeds and trash collected (top photo), now food grows (bottom photo)!
As a CBF Engagement Partner, Cultivate Abundance, a 501(c)3 directed by Ellen and Rick Burnette, assists Immokalee’s farmworker households to access fresh, locally-grown food through household and community/church gardening and the collection of produce from area home gardens and institutions. Cultivate Abundance is proud to partner with Florida CBF to be a part of this effort. As a result, community-sourced nutrition is happening in Immokalee’s food deserts and beyond. To learn more about migrant farmworker issues, the initiatives of Cultivate Abundance, and how you and your congregation can help harvest the power of a garden, visit www.cultivateabundance.org or contact the Burnettes at info@cultivateabundance.org.
Community Gardening Takes Off in The Bahamas The farm has been a tremendous blessing to the body of Christ and the communityat-large. We bless God for Evan Rees and CBF Florida for helping us to plant it. Many people have started their own backyard gardens as a result of the delicious vegetables received from the church. —Pastor Elon McIntosh, St. Thomas Baptist Church in Wood Cay, Abaco Quality healthy food in The Bahamas is too expensive for most families. Fresh fruits and vegetables are three to five times the cost for Bahamians than the same items when purchased by those in the United States. Instead of spending far more than their budgets allow or giving up on healthy eating altogether, the churches of CBF of The Bahamas have decided to be proactive by planting of community gardens.
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Community gardens ensure yearround access to nutritious, locally grown produce for those struggling with food security. Community gardens have now been built in twelve churches and two schools on the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco. At the request of the leadership of CBF of The Bahamas, Evan Rees, CBF Florida Administrative Council member and a member of Christ Journey Church in Miami, graciously walked alongside our Bahamian brothers and sisters to assist with farming training and resources. One year after Pastor Elon McIntosh invited the church and community members to St. Thomas Baptist Church in Wood Cay, Abaco, for a “Farming Training Expo,” the church celebrated the harvest from
their community garden. A pile of fresh vegetables was laid out before the congregation and all members of their community were invited to take and eat from what the garden yielded. “You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” — Psalm 128:2 Evan Rees (top left) leads Bahamian Cooperative Baptists on Abaco Island in planting seeds for the first batch of church community gardens on the island.
Mission Engagement Opportunities Pivot Cuba will be held in Havana on March 7-11, 2019 with Alabama CBF, CBF Virginia, CBF Latino Ministries, and our local hosts, the Fraternity of Baptist Churches in Cuba, serving as CBF Florida’s event partners. Pivot Miami will be held in October of 2019 in Overtown/Homestead with our local hosts at Touching Miami with Love serving as our event partners. The trip registration deadline for Pivot Cuba is December 1, 2018. Be on the lookout for more information about Pivot Miami in the upcoming months.
MISSION MADNESS 2019 Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, Jacksonville February 15 - 17
Preacher E.J. Green
Worship Leader Katherine Mullen
Mission Madness 2019 is a weekend retreat for youth groups that includes mission service, worship, fellowship, and fun. Youth currently enrolled in grades 6-12 are invited to participate. Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville will serve as the event host. The theme for the weekend is Seeking Transformation through repair, relationship and reciprocity (mutual giving and receiving). The event cost is $75 per person plus lodging. For more information or to register, go to www.floridacbf.org/events.
HURRICANES MICHAEL, MARIA, AND IRMA Disaster Response CBF Florida and the Caribbean Islands has prepared disaster response projects for mission teams from across The Fellowship. If you or your church would like to participate in the work of disaster recovery, there are work sites available in locations impacted by Hurricanes Michael, Maria and Irma. Please indicate your interest in serving by signing up to volunteer at www.cbf.net/dr-volunteer. Questions? Contact Rachel Gunter Shapard at rshapard12@floridacbf.org for more information.
SUMMER CAMP AT TOUCHING MIAMI WITH LOVE OR MICAH CENTER Overtown, West Homestead, or St. Petersburg If your church is looking for an opportunity for mission engagement this summer, consider partnering with Touching Miami with Love (Overtown or West Homestead) or Micah Center (St. Petersburg) to serve in leadership as a part of their summer camp programs. To serve with TML, go to: www.touchingmiamiwithlove.org/get-involved/groupservice/. To serve at Micah Center, reach out via email at: micahcenterpinellas@gmail.com. 5
2018-2019 Ministerial Scholarship Students In 2009, CBF Florida received a generous gift from Lucille A. Smith. Mrs. Smith was concerned that the next generation of Baptist leaders be trained for more effective Christian ministry. The Lucy Smith Endowment for Theological Education provides scholarship support “for any educational endeavor that can be shown to enhance the recipient’s ministry within the Baptist community of faith.”
Brenda Cohen is a student at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. She is in her first semester of graduate theological studies. Tommy Shapard is in the third year of his degree program at Southern Methodist University seeking a Doctorate in Pastoral Music. He plans to complete his doctoral degree in the spring of 2020.
Water is Life Ethiopia
Jason Pittman is a student at Florida International University. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Social Work/Social Welfare.
Joseph Smith, III, is a third year student at Mercer University—McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta, GA. He is enrolled in the pastoral track and expects to receive his M.Div. in the spring of 2019. Teruco Tynes is a student at McAfee School of Theology preparing to graduate in May of 2019. She is from from Nassau, Bahamas.
by Merrie and David Harding
Water is Life is about empowering Ethiopian women and girls with safe water, self-leadership and love for positive and enduring transformation. The notfor-profit organization is based in Orlando and was founded in 2006 by former CBF field personnel Merrie and David Harding. The Hardings’ work in partnership with a team of Ethiopian leaders in a variety of churches to address extreme poverty. Ethiopia ranks as the 5th poorest country in the world according to Oxford University. In particular, women in Ethiopia are burdened with the cultural expectation to do the hard task of collecting and hauling drinking water to their homes. In many cases this takes hours each day of long trekking with a heavy canister of contaminated water collected from ponds and rivers. More than 40 million Ethiopians do not have access to safe drinking water so Water is Life taps into fresh and clean aquifers with new wells fitted with hand or solar pumps. This drastically cuts the collection time and improves the health of entire communities. The extra time and energy women gain from the new water point is used to organize voluntary savings and credit associations called Sustainable Living Teams (SLTs). SLTs are designed to create a trusted learning environment that promotes self-leadership by restoring dignity and opportunities that have been smothered by a paternalistic society. New skill sets are learned that turn
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into income generating opportunities. This emerging mindset is coupled with cultivating the concept of saving their money from which they can collectively borrow rather than pay exorbitant interest rates to loan sharks. SLTs are comprised of up to 15 women that meet weekly to discuss ideas, contribute to their savings account, take loans and take care of each other’s needs. The love of Christ is experienced personally and the movement grows to link other SLTs into Associations and Associations into Federations. The poorest of the poor become leaders in their communities to bring about positive and enduring change that breaks the chains of poverty. The women are an inspiration to all. To learn more about Water is Life, contact the Hardings at harding157@gmail.com or go to www.waterislifeinternational.com.
CBF FLORIDA PASTORS RETREAT January 13 - 15, 2019 First Baptist Church, Gainesville To register, go to: www.floridacbf.org/events The CBF Florida Pastors Retreat is for all pastors interested in gathering together for an informal discussionbased time of fellowship, self-care, and peer learning. Group conversations will be peer-led on topics related to the blessings and rigors of vocational ministry. The retreat will provide a safe place that inspires friendship, peer-based discussion, and sharing of best practices in ministry with much-needed time for self-care and reflection. CBF Florida will provide the food; First Baptist Church will provide the space, and the pastors who attend will provide the expertise.
PASSPORT kids SUMMER CAMPS WITH A MISSION
FL
Stetson University DeLand, Florida June 12 – 15, 2019
Come join the fun!
WWW.PASSPORTCAMPS.ORG
CBF Florida is partnering with Passport Camps to bring PASSPORTkids to Florida again this summer. PASSPORTkids is a 4-day, 3-night children’s camp for children who have completed 3rd through 6th grade, filled with fun, faith-building programming and hands-on missions education. *Bonus: you will get to know members of other CBF Florida churches!
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the Bayshore Baptist Church (Tampa) shower trailer is in place. Next, we head due north to Marianna in Jackson County to secure a second strategic Panhandle site. Primarily woodlands and farms, what had recently been green and leafy is now a jumble of trees, broken Coba Beasley (left) with Kenny Phillips and stripped bare. Most of the talk about disaster recovery in and around Marianna, FL. homes and buildings we drive past are damaged; some ripped apart. Cotton from a giant bale is scattered like snow. We see crude hand-lettered plywood signs along the way. Some express thanks to God. Others ask for assistance. Kenny’s favorite, erected in front of a wrecked property, proclaims, “Yard of the Month.” Even though Marianna is 75 miles inland, the hurricane had weakened very little before passing through. Entering town, we drive past many damaged buildings. One section of downtown looks like it has been bombed. There we drop by two churches recommended by Rachel Shapard. Unfortunately, both have space limitations and other concerns. We go inspect another location a couple of miles outside of town. Chipola Family Ministries (CFM) is busy. A military vehicle is parked near tents in which the Red Cross and other agencies are distributing food, water and other items. Someone in a white chicken suit holds a sign advertising free, hot meals. A young man in the parking lot asks if we are there to help, informing us of a large tree lying across his home. Rachel told us to find CFM Director, Coba Beasley. Inquiring at the office, we’re told that we might find him rushing around in a pink golf cart. Stepping outside, we feel fortunate to spot the golf cart in momentary pause. Coba, a big man with kind eyes, looks exhausted. In addition to his CFM duties, he also serves as the director of the local Baptist Association. He and Kenny quickly realize they have mutual friends. We take a few minutes to share CBF’s plans to engage in long-term clean up and recovery in underserved local communities and ask whether CFM might have the facilities and energy to host more volunteers. Coba responds that many agencies will leave soon after the impact of Hurricane Michael is no longer in the news cycle. He adds that anyone intending to engage long-term in Jackson County and nearby areas, such as Blountstown, is welcome at CFM. With two sites secured for long-term CBF hurricane response in the Panhandle, we begin to feel a sense of relief. We’ve taken a major step toward getting CBF volunteers fully engaged in disaster recovery. Anyone who is interested in volunteering in the panhandle’s recovery work should first complete the form located on CBF’s website at cbf.net/dr-volunteer or call CBF Florida’s office at 863.682.6802.
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And in Christ you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by God’s Spirit. (Eph. 2:22 NIV) Sharing the stories of how individual lives, neighborhoods, villages, and even entire nations are being transformed by CBF missions is one of the joys of “being built together” through Cooperative Baptist Fellowship mission work. In 2019, CBF Florida will offer four chances to discover and to share what God is doing in the world through Christ and CBF missions. Those living in the Tampa Bay area will be the first to experience the fun and fellowship on Sunday evening, January 27, at Bayshore Baptist Church in Tampa. The evening’s program will begin at 5:00 p.m. and will feature a community dinner, table conversations, and inspirational worship.
2018 Third Issue Volume 28 - Number 3 Contact CBF Florida at: P. O. Box 2556 Lakeland. FL 33806-2556 217 Hillcrest Street Lakeland, FL 33815 Toll-free: 888•241•2233 contact@floridacbf.org www.floridacbf.org
Staff Ray Johnson Coordinator Rachel Gunter Shapard Associate Coordinator Melissa Rodriguez Administrative Assistant Pat Herold Financial Secretary Serving and connecting churches and individuals in their calling to be the presence of Christ
Future celebrations will take place each quarter of 2019 in the following locations: DeLand/Orlando (second quarter), Pensacola/Florida Panhandle (third quarter), and south Florida (fourth quarter). Invite a friend—inside or outside your church—who might be inspired by the stories of transformation that abound through the work of CBF missionaries who seek to be the presence of Christ. Each event is free and childcare is available with advance notice. For more information and/or to register, contact Melissa Rodriguez at the Lakeland office (863.682.6802) or register online at www.floridacbf.org/events.
Thank You for the Gifts! Ray and Nena Johnson In Memory of Colleen Beaty Ray and Nena Johnson In Honor of Gary McCall Ray and Nena Johnson In Honor of Ron Rooks
CBF FLORIDA FINANCIAL REPORT SUMMARY January 1 – September 30, 2018
INCOME Budget Receipts-Individual $31,067 Budget Receipts-Churches 142,436 Organizations & Partnerships 1,780 Mission Development 1,310 Event Income 5,411 CBF Florida Endowment Funds 31,474 Annual Missions Offering 1,690 TOTAL INCOME $209,757 EXPENSES Ministries and Missions 40,406 Personnel 136,080 Operations 30,684 Mission Development 1,310 TOTAL EXPENSES $208,480 NET INCOME $1,277
Florida Fellowship News is published by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida, Ray Johnson, Coordinator. P. O. Box 2556, Lakeland, FL 33806-2556. Postage paid at Jacksonville, Fla. Phone (863) 682-6802. Toll free (888) 241-2233. Fax (863) 683-5797. CBF-Florida’s e-mail address is contact@floridacbf.org; Web address is www. floridacbf.org. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE WITHIN THE STATE: 1-800-435-7352. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.