MESSAGE
from the
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Greetings! Well, how do I start a letter about the year 2020? By the time you see and read this note 2020 will be soon coming to a close and I couldn't be happier about that fact. It has been a year like no other in my lifetime and probably for most of you. Now, that being said, and as different a year as it has been, with all the daily challenges and uncertainty, your Baptist General Convention of Texas was still at work and still being used by the Lord in a powerful and positive way just like your local Baptist Association. We truly value our relationship with you and the cooperative work we do together.
This year we continued to start new churches, we continued to do the mission work on college and university campuses, our River Ministry just kept right on going. I could go on but the truth is much of the great mission and ministry work we always do, we kept doing exactly like you did in your Association. It may have looked a bit different but the ministry continued. However, we were presented some new obstacles which turned into opportunities and I want to mention a couple of those here. First of all, back in the Spring when so many lost their jobs all of a sudden your BGCT was able to step up, raised some money and provided emergency financial assistance to 350 pastors who had either
lost their secular jobs or whose church had to decrease their salary for a time. We also were able to help more than 600 pastors in other countries with whom we have a partnership. As most of you know, our Texas Baptist encampments found themselves facing new and unusual difficulties, not caused by anything they did or didn't do. But, in response to the issues they were suddenly facing we were able to raise more than $500,000 (which we used to match whatever the camp was able to raise) which provided significant financial relief. Now, as we look forward to next year we'll continue to do much of the work we always do and we will be prepared for surprises that may come our way. Thank you for your friendship and partnership in ministry. Together we'll make a Kingdom difference in the new year! God bless you all.
D AV I D H A R D A G E E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R TEX AS BAPTISTS