Beach Reach sees 246 accept Christ; God's continued faithfulness and sovereignty p.17
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Micah 6:8 asks and answers the question, "what does the Lord require?" The verse explains we are called, "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Read as Texas Baptists serve around the world to fulfill this calling.
TEXAS BAPTISTS LEARN HOW TO POLITICALLY ENGAGE WITH CHRISTLIKENESS AT ADVOCACY DAY
By Jessica King
'JESUS IS THE ONLY ANSWER': FORMER MUSLIM FINDS JESUS, ATTENDS [UN] APOLOGETIC CONFERENCE
By Jessica King
By Jessica King
Visit txb.org/tbip to learn more and sign up to receive updates.
Dear Texas Baptists family,
In a world of moral confusion and in times when power struggles abound, it is good to ask ourselves what we should be doing and why. Do we do what others want us to do? Do we do what we think is best? Do we follow polls? Should we stick to our traditions?
These are great questions. When the prophet Micah wondered what the people of God should do in the midst of the same kind of crisis, he reminded them what the Lord required, “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8b).
God’s Word remains true for us today. We should live justly and seek justice for others. We should love mercy, act with kindness. And, we should walk humbly with God. In other words, live in humble obedience to God.
As Texas Baptists, we want to be known for that. More importantly, we want
to do what God requires of us. Jesus is our Lord! This spring, exciting things have taken place as Texas Baptists served and collaborated together for the sake of His Kingdom.
In this issue of Texas Baptists Life, we share some of these exciting stories.
I had the privilege of attending the Christian Life Commission’s Advocacy Day in Austin as we celebrated its 75th anniversary. Monica and I also had the opportunity of visiting Beach Reach and seeing firsthand what God is doing through our BSM ministry. It was also a blessing to attend the opening session of this year’s Congreso.
We are very excited about the expansion of our Pastor Strong ministry. What started in San Antonio will now be expanding throughout Texas. In fact, earlier this year, we even took it to South Asia!
After about a year of conversations and meetings, BGCT and NAMB have arrived at
a working agreement for church starting in Texas. While our church starting efforts go beyond Texas and beyond our relationship with NAMB, this agreement allows our BGCT churches to start new congregations in collaboration with NAMB and related resources.
As you read the stories in this issue, I hope you rejoice in what God is doing through Texas Baptists. I also pray that we are doing what God requires: acting justly, loving kindness and walking humbly with our God. Thank you for your partnership in the gospel through the Cooperative Program.
For the sake of our Lord Jesus,
En un mundo de confusión moral y tiempos cuando abundan las luchas por poder, es bueno preguntarnos qué debiéramos estar haciendo y por qué. ¿Qué esperan los demás de nosotros? ¿Qué consideramos es lo mejor? ¿Seguimos las encuestas? ¿Nos aferramos a nuestras tradiciones?
Estas son buenas preguntas. Cuando el profeta Miqueas se preguntó lo que el pueblo de Dios debía hacer en medio de crisis similares, les recordó lo que el Señor esperaba de ellos: “Practicar la justicia, amar la misericordia, y caminar humildemente ante tu Dios” (Miqueas 6:8b).
La Palabra de Dios continúa siendo cierta hoy día. Debemos vivir vidas justas y procurar justicia para los demás. Debemos amar la misericordia y actuar con bondad. Por último, debemos caminar humildemente con Dios. En otras palabras, vivir en humilde obediencia a Dios.
Como Bautistas de Texas, queremos que eso nos caracterice. Lo que es más importante, queremos hacer lo que Dios espera de nosotros. ¡Jesús es nuestro Señor!
Esta primavera, están ocurriendo cosas emocionantes según los Bautistas de Texas sirven y colaboran por amor al Reino.
En esta edición de Texas Baptists Life compartimos algunas de estas emocionantes historias.
Tuve el privilegio de asistir al Día de apoyo para la Comisión cristiana para la vida en Austin, al celebrar su 75to aniversario. Mónica y yo también tuvimos la oportunidad de visitar Beach Reach (Alcance en la playa) y ser testigos de lo que Dios está haciendo por medio del Ministerio para jóvenes universitarios bautistas (BSM). Además, fue una gran bendición asistir a la sesión de apertura de Congreso.
Nos emociona la expansión del ministerio Pastor Strong (Pastor fuerte). Lo que comenzó en San Antonio ahora se expande por todo Texas. ¡De hecho, a principios de este año lo llevamos al Sur de Asia!
Después de casi un año de conversaciones y reuniones, BGCT y NAMB (North American Mission Board) llegamos a un acuerdo para colaborar en la plantación
de iglesias en Texas. A pesar de que nuestros esfuerzos para plantar iglesias van más allá de Texas y nuestra relación con NAMB, este acuerdo permite que iglesias de la Convención comiencen nuevas congregaciones en colaboración con NAMB y recursos relacionados.
Al leer las historias en esta edición, espero que se regocije en lo que Dios está haciendo a través de los Bautistas de Texas. Además, oro porque que hagamos lo que Dios espera de nosotros: actuar con justicia, amar la misericordia, y caminar humildemente con nuestro Dios. Gracias por su colaboración en el evangelio por medio del Programa Cooperativo.
En el amor de Cristo,
JULIO GUARNERI, PH.D. Executive Director
What Does
God Require
Require ?
Act JUSTLY
Texas Baptists learn how to politically engage with Christlikeness at Advocacy Day
By Jessica King
Russell Dixon, senior pastor at Canyon Church in Dripping Spring, was surprised by what he learned at the Texas Baptists Christian Life Commission’s (CLC) biannual Advocacy Day held March 3 and 4 at the Texas Capitol in Austin.
“I'm just amazed at how wide-reaching the, not only Texas Baptist, but the CLC’s influence is in very important things that, honestly, I had no idea were, not only going on, but that Christians had the ability to influence,” said Dixon.
Over the two-day event, participants heard from three keynote speakers, learned “Advocacy 101” from John Litzler, director for Public Policy for the CLC and general counsel for Texas Baptists, met with lawmakers and attended the 89th legislative session.
IMPACTING YOUR COMMUNITY THROUGH RADICAL OBEDIENCE
Steve Bezner, senior pastor of Houston Northwest Church in Houston, CLC Commissioner and author of “Your Jesus is Too American," opened Advocacy Day
with a message on “how to change the world.” He explained that, as the church, we ought to create a church community so compelling that people are drawn to be a part of it. He said there are two parallel rails through which we do this: the gospel of the kingdom of God and the usefulness of the government.
Bezner told attendees that radical obedience to Jesus is the centerpiece to helping people recognize the kingship of Jesus.
“If I believe the gospel message, I will live the kingdom as my reality, and that kingdom being radical obedience to Jesus, creating a new way of life in the midst of a world that often believes something completely different,” explained Bezner.
Drawing from Jeremiah 29:7, Bezner encouraged attendees to “seek the welfare of our city” by “engaging your government with a prophetic voice and with faithful participation.”
“The church's first role is to stand up and speak up for those who don't often have a voice, and to do so in a way that… tries to call us back to God,” said Bezner.
“If we believe that truly Jesus has been risen from the dead, and we believe that one day we will be risen from the dead as well, that means that we can be encouraged and courageous today– no matter what lies before us– so we can speak the truth.”
Bezner concluded his time by challenging attendees to “believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ with radical obedience to the Lord.” He said this is “powerful enough to make a difference” as we go forth trusting in him.
TAKING THE OPPORTUNITY TO USE YOUR VOICE
Over lunch, Litzler prepared attendees for meeting with their legislative officials on March 4 amidst the legislative session. He encouraged attendees to find common ground with their representatives, be flexible and be confident in “what your ask is” as they went into their meetings.
Melody Slaton, associate pastor of missions and outreach at Sugar Land Baptist Church, is not new to advocacy but “new to Texas and new to Baptist life.” She said she wanted to get involved with the CLC to learn how advocacy works at the state level.
“We are given the opportunity to use our voice in government… and I want to take advantage of that because not every country allows that,” said Slaton.
Though Slaton is “pretty comfortable with the meetings and how they run and advocacy in general,” having previous experience with advocacy at the national level, she said it was valuable to learn from Litzler what the CLC’s policy priorities are and specific bills
that were being discussed during the session, prior to her office visit.
BEING CITIZENS OF THE CITY OF GOD
In the second keynote session, Julio Guarneri, executive director of Texas Baptists, took participants through a biblical exposition of Hebrews 11-12. He explained that we are pilgrims of this world and citizens of heaven.
“Our faith is not based primarily on an earthly city, but on a heavenly one,” said Guarneri. “Cities will have their prominence and their own history… but the city that endures is the city of God.”
Drawing from Hebrews 12, Guarneri explained that God’s kingdom includes suffering, intends sanctification and implies success.
“He suffered because it was necessary, because without his suffering and shame, there would be no victory,” said Guarneri. “He became a suffering servant for a short season, so that he will be the conquering king for eternity. We will share with Jesus in his kingdom [and] we'll also share the suffering. If Jesus didn't avoid the pain and the suffering on the way to glory, then neither will we.”
He encouraged attendees that if “we want to see righteousness and justice in our community, it has to start with us.”
“We recognize that righteousness and justice are the fruit of grace. They flow from the inside out,” said Guarneri. “The best way to stop evil is for people to experience the transforming grace of Christ… A better kingdom requires better living.”
Guarneri concluded his time by encouraging attendees to remember three foundational truths from the scripture: Jesus is better, we are pilgrims of the earth and we will inherit an unshakeable kingdom.
“We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We are filled with gratitude, filled with confidence, filled with the holy reverence for God that allows us to endure discipline, to bear suffering, to pursue holiness and righteousness and peace,” said Guarneri.
HAVING A CHRISTLIKE APPROACH TO POLITICS
Tim Alberta, journalist and author of “The Kingdom, The Power and The Glory,” followed, sharing a message on how to “do justice, love mercy and walk
humbly with God” (Micah 6:8) as we engage in politics.
“At the end of the day, if you had to [capture the essence] of the early church into one compelling countercultural thought, it was ‘We embrace living on the margins,’” explained Alberta. “It is our saltiness that sets us apart from the world around us.”
He challenged attendees to “not to think about how you approach a certain legislator… [or] how you can angle around a certain policy ” but to focus on “having the great bulk of your intake coming from scripture.” He said if we do this, we will have a Christ-like approach to politics.
The first day closed with a panel discussion featuring the keynote speakers. They answered questions that were sent in throughout the day, reflecting on their messages.
Dixon said there are “always things [to] learn,” as Christian leaders, about how to be a light with the platform God has given us.
“I think a lot of times in the public sphere, as Christians, we can walk a delicate dance of ‘How much should we say? How much should we not say?’ So I
think this has been a helpful resource to know where to lean in and how to lean in properly in some of these conversations that affect peoples’ everyday lives,” said Dixon.
CAPITOL VISITS AND CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF CLC
On the second day, March 4, participants visited with their legislative officials and sat in the gallery for the 89th legislative session. A resolution was read during the session recognizing the legacy and 75th anniversary of the CLC, and Advocacy Day attendees were recognized from the Senate floor.
Emily Hughitt, a senior communication student at Howard Payne University, said she appreciated getting a Christian perspective on advocacy from Monday’s sessions. She said it was also helpful to learn about the specific bills the CLC was advocating for during the “Advocacy 101” lunch, prior to her visit in Texas Senator Phil King’s office.
“It was cool to see that you can go talk to them and try to make an impact on what they think about different bills. It's nice to know that we can be involved in Texas government, especially as
Christians,” said Hughitt.
Jay Abernathy, pastor of First Baptist Church Woodville, also met with his state representative, Trent Ashby. He said he felt well-equipped by the CLC for his visit and enjoyed getting to celebrate the ministry’s milestone anniversary.
“It can seem overwhelming, but the Capitol, though busy, is a welcoming place. Representative Ashby stepped out of a committee meeting, and we found a quiet hallway to discuss some of the bills pertinent to our priorities as Texas Baptists,” said Abernathy.
Abernathy, an Advocacy Day veteran, said the event is “an effective way to collaborate with Texas Baptists and communicate with our legislators about our priorities.”
Texas Baptists President Ronny Marriott served as Pastor of the Day for the Texas Senate, providing an opening prayer for the day’s session.
For more information on the Christian Life Commission and how to engage in public policy as a believer, visit texasclc.org/public-policy.
Love MERCY
‘Jesus is the only answer’: former Muslim finds Jesus, attends [un]Apologetic conference
By Jessica King
Nadeem Hajir was raised in Abu Dhabi by a split Muslim and Catholic family, with the Islamic faith being “built into [his] belief system, [his] worldview.” He and his family moved to the United States during his high school years, where he started to hear people talk about Jesus.
“I never really thought much [of it]. I thought it was just another religion,” said Hajir. “At that time, I was practicing Islam, but I wasn't really, I'd say, devout. I had a time when I was in middle school when I was actually trying… to honor Allah, but I felt like I was doing it just to check a box.”
That all changed when Hajir met a believer while working the Chick-fil-A drive-thru in 2021.
“I was 19 years old. I was [still] living that high school party life and doing all these things I wasn't supposed to, and I made a friend. His name [is] Pastor Mike. He actually came into the drive-thru pretty consistently, and he would order the same thing,” explained Hajir. “We ended up becoming close friends.”
As their friendship progressed,
Pastor Mike would invite Hajir to lunch and share the gospel with him. Hajir said he was “so closed off” at the time that he never accepted the gospel when Pastor Mike presented it.
Nearly two years later, though he’d lost touch with his pastor friend, Hajir met a woman who would become his fiancée, and she began to tell him about “the same Jesus” that Pastor Mike previously told him about.
Only days later, Hajir ran into another friend he hadn’t seen in a few months. She also began telling him how Jesus changed her life.
“[I was] like, ‘What's going on here?’
My now fiancée is telling me about Jesus, this good friend of mine is telling me about Jesus, and … at that coffee shop [where] I saw that friend [is] when I gave my life to Jesus. Then I went back to my [fiancée] and [said], ‘I don't know what this means, but I just gave my life to Jesus.’”
Nadeem Hajir was baptized by Mike Woods at Coronado Baptist Church in El Paso in August 2023 after accepting Jesus in March 2023.
Shortly after receiving Jesus in March 2023, Pastor Mike reconnected with Hajir.
“The Lord knows exactly what he's doing. Pastor Mike reached out to me [around] the same time that I met my fiancée and this friend,” said Hajir. “At that time, I was just like, ‘I really feel like God is trying to talk to me right now. I really feel like God is trying to show me something or show me who he is.’”
LEARNING HOW TO DEFEND CHRISTIANITY TO ISLAM
Hajir attended the [un]Apologetic conference in Sept. 2024 at First Baptist Church El Paso with a friend who invited him to be part of a class their church was hosting to reach people from other religions with the gospel.
“I had never, ever been to an apologetics conference. I've noticed that there's such an importance [and] there should be an emphasis on being able to defend the faith,” said Hajir. “There's so many biblical truths… that God has left for us, and they are as clear as day. If we sit down and objectively compare the different hints or clues, it's so clear that Christianity, that the Bible and Jesus is the only answer.”
Hajir said learning about apologetics has allowed him to feel better able to share the gospel with nonbelievers.
“It's given me a newfound confidence to be able to approach, especially, Muslims. I've approached Muslims
[with] conversations about Jesus, and [am learning] to have grace towards nonbelievers because I think there are so many ways that we drive nonbelievers away just by how we act. But if we treat them with love, with an unconditional love that Jesus has treated us with, then that will be more attractive to them,” said Hajir.
Nadeem Hajir with Mike Woods, former senior pastor at Coronado Baptist Church in El Paso, TX who shared the gospel with Hajir.
Before the [un]Apologetic conference, Hajir began reading Nabeel Qureshi’s “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus” as a part of the class at his church. He said Qureshi’s testimony is “tremendously impactful.”
“We recently finished the semester of an apologetics class… and we use[d] ‘Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus’ as the course materials. We were able to go through the video study that Nabeel Qureshi has online for ‘Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus,’ and I had several students there that were on fire taking notes” said Hajir. “I'm thankful that I was able to be there to share my experience because I think that there's a big kind of intimidation around speaking to Muslims, but they're like some of the nicest people ever. It's definitely given me more [confidence], like I know now what I'm talking about.”
Eric Hernandez, Apologetics l ead & Millennial specialist at Texas Baptists,
said he is encouraged by Hajir’s heart for the lost.
“I'm deeply encouraged by Nadeem's heart to reach those in the Islamic religion that he left. His story is a fascinating example of how apologetics transforms a believer into an evangelistic disciple of Christ,” said Hernandez. “I wish more people understood this principle because, if they did, they may find themselves with a heart for the lost like his.”
BEING INTENTIONAL IN SEEKING JESUS
Hajir said as he continues walking with God, he desires to “honor him with what I have” and be intentional in seeking him. He said he would also advise those seeking to know God to be intentional because “he wants a personal and intimate and deep relationship with us.”
“If we sit down and we truly, intentionally want to know God, he honors that, and he meets us where we're at,” said Hajir. “I'd say one of the biggest differences between Islam and Christianity is the dynamic between us and God. In Islam, it's a slave and a servant. There can be no relationship between Allah and humans there. … With Christianity, Jesus wants a relationship with us.”
To learn more visit txb.org/unapologetic.
Walk HUMBLY
Beach Reach sees 246 accept Christ; God's continued faithfulness and sovereignty
By Jessica King
Rolling onto South Padre Island for five days of evangelistic outreach, Baylor University junior and thirdtime “Beach Reacher” Chloe Mandeville’s van passengers decided to get vulnerable about their struggles and fears heading into the first week of Beach Reach.
“We just exposed it all at the very beginning, which I've never seen before, and I was so encouraged because, by the time I shared mine, it was like nothing, because everyone before me and everyone after me had such similar stories,” said Mandeville. “It was like [we were] truly handpicked by God to be in that van together.”
Every spring break, hundreds of college students from Baptist Student Ministries (BSMs) across the state head to South Padre Island to join together in a mission effort called Beach Reach to share the gospel with those they encounter while providing free rides in decorated vans in late hours of the night and free pancake breakfasts each morning.
Sunday through Thursday nights, while many spring breakers are engaged
in revelry, Island Baptist Church opens their facility to act as a “home base” for Beach Reach’s ministry. From 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., a hotline opens for spring breakers to call and ask for a ride, and while vans with a team of five BSM students and a driver (mostly BSM directors) are dispatched to pick up the riders they were assigned, there is a team of students who stay behind and pray over the ride. The student acting as “navigator” on each ride tweets into the prayer wall using #brspi25 so those praying can pray for riders in real-time. Each BSM rotates between these two roles in three shifts throughout the night.
MEETING SPRING BREAKERS WITH LOVE AND GRACE
On the other side of the island, at Louie’s Backyard, a popular bar and entertainment space, Texans on Mission (TXM), the disaster relief arm of Texas Baptists, has a tent set up for “midnight pancake breakfast,” where BSM students can have spiritual conversations over pancakes with those coming to and from Louie’s.
When they are finished with their pancakes, spring breakers are walked over to the pickup line, where several vans are available to take them home without having to call the hotline. Each night, a new group of 40 Beach Reachers and their vans rotate to be “on the ground” at Louie’s.
Annie Hartman, a first-time Beach Reacher from Dallas Baptist University, said she was surprised by people’s “curiosity and interest in our faith.” She said Louie’s is an important opportunity for Beach Reachers to “not be scared of sin” but to meet spring breakers where they are “with so much love and grace.”
“I think [Louie’s is] probably a place that a lot of Christians would want to avoid. So, I think it's really good to be hands-on and reach people that may be lost and meeting people where they’re at,” said Hartman.
TXM volunteer Phil Winget has served pancakes at Louie’s for 10 years. He said the most encouraging thing to see each year is the amount of people giving their lives to Jesus. By Wednesday night of the first week, there had already been a total of 50 salvations reported.
“Where else can you see 50 college students accept Jesus as their personal savior in a week? Last year, we had close to 80 baptisms out in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Winget. “[That] is absolutely the most impactful thing. I've never been anywhere where there were 50 college students saved in a week.”
RETURNING TO SOUTH PADRE AND SEEING GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
One of those 80 baptized the previous year was Destiny, a college student who Mandeville and a few other Baylor students met at Louie’s. Mandeville said she “saw someone dancing around with a sign, and she ended up giving her life to Christ” toward the end of the week after attending the evening worship services held for Beach Reachers at the South Padre Island Convention Center. Beach Reachers are encouraged to invite spring breakers to join them to continue their connection.
Mandeville eventually lost contact with Destiny but continued to pray that her faith would grow. Her prayers were
not in vain, as she reconnected with Destiny after seeing Destiny’s cousins, who also accepted Christ and were baptized last year, on the beach Tuesday morning.
During the day, a few BSMs are on shift to host a morning pancake breakfast at Island Baptist Church, an opportunity to deepen their relationships with connections they’ve made on the vans the night before. The BSMs that are not attending the pancake breakfast have the option of “fishing,” meaning driving around the island to pick up people who were walking to their destination or going to the beach to invite spring breakers to call the hotline at night and have spiritual conversations.
“I went to the beach and I actually saw the cousins, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys, it's been forever. How are you?” explained Mandeville. “We were in a bit of a rush, and I had to scurry off. But the next day [the Baylor BSM was] hanging out at the church, and I was waiting for my van… It was so perfectly ordained by God because I was the only one out[side], and [Destiny] walked up with this guy. I didn’t recognize her.”
Destiny asked, “When do you guys do the worship service?”
“[Thinking she was talking about Island Baptist Church], I was like, ‘There's not one tonight.’ Unless she's talking about the convention center, but how would she know?” explained Mandeville. “We get within [ten feet], and she's like, ‘Wait, I know you,’ and I finally see her and I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, Destiny!’ She had come back! She knew that we were here, and she wanted to see us.”
Destiny updated Mandeville that in the last year, God had freed her from addiction, she had found a home church and was being discipled.
“Naturally, we get to the convention center, and I tell every single person I see, anyone who might have known her because, praise God, something truly happened in her life,” said Mandeville. “It's such an encouragement because you don't really see people after the fact. You interact with them once or maybe twice and then never again, so it's so cool to see her a year later and see she's still on
the straight and narrow.”
Destiny came to worship that evening and was “the most influential part of the night” for Baylor students.
“I had to let them know that they are making a difference… [there] may not be a hundred thousand people, but that one lost sheep is still important,” said Destiny. “I wanted to tell them… to never doubt themselves because God chose them… to be here.”
“Here she is, turning the tables and encouraging us… the Lord so clearly spoke through her exactly what we needed to hear in those moments,” said Mandeville.
Nathan Mahand, BSM director at Houston Christian University, encouraged the students before they went on hotline shift Tuesday evening that “the gospel is always on the move” and so to “not let the fact that it’s been a slow week discourage you from sharing” the gospel.
“You’re here this week because someone shared the story of Jesus with you, and you came to believe this story. You want other people to believe the story in the same way that you do. That only happens when you vulnerably go
and share what God has done in your life,” said Mahand.
As Mandeville shared her and Destiny’s story on Tuesday night, the prayer room went up in a roar of celebration as tweets on the prayer wall read that new believers were joining the Kingdom family on the vans.
GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY IN SALVATION
On Wednesday, a team from Midwestern State BSM went to the beach to
evangelize, and Evanne Kleinert, a second-time Beach Reacher, and Abigail Simbaña, a third-time Beach Reacher, had something to celebrate.
“We just prayed to have one good conversation, and then I saw a girl picking up shells on the beach, and so we went over to talk to her– we were asking people if we could pray for them– and I saw that she had a cross necklace on, so
we started… asking what that meant to her,” explained Klienert.
“After questions, she claimed that ‘God is her best friend,’ and I was like, ‘Have you heard about the gospel before?’ and she hadn’t, so I was like, ‘Okay, well, let me share the gospel with you!’ I shared the gospel with her and explained… what having Jesus as Lord and Savior means and the cost of that,” explained Simbaña. “She was like, ‘Well, I’ve been wanting to get baptized for a long time now.’”
Simbaña explained that she can’t obtain salvation by baptism but by putting her faith in Jesus.
“She was very receptive, and she was like, ‘I want to make that decision… [and] commitment,’” said Simbaña. “[She] definitely [had] a heart ready to receive the gospel.”
Klienert said her Beach Reach experience reminded her how every person truly does play a unique part in leading somebody to Christ.
Hayden Womack, a sophomore and first-time Beach Reacher from Lamar University, said the same.
“I've been uplifted by seeing the church work together– for lack of a better term– like a Rube Goldberg machine,” said Womack. “I'm just a
small piece in the wheel, you know?... God has an ornate and sovereign way of knitting everything together perfectly.”
At Wednesday evening worship, Joe Osteen, East Texas BSM regional coordinator and Beach Reach coordinator, referenced Isaiah 49:5-6 and challenged the students to “walk in obedience” even as the end of the week was approaching. He reminded them that “God's salvation is meant to advance to all the ends of the earth.”
“Jesus comes and does the work to make [salvation] a reality, by living and dying and rising from the dead and saving all who call on his name, and he enlists us, in his grace and goodwill towards us, to be a part of that redemptive work,” said Osteen.
He encouraged the students to consider what obedience looks like off the island.
“Perhaps it’s too small to only pour ourselves out like this here at South Padre. Perhaps there’s a bigger purpose, for us to take what we’ve learned and what we’ve experienced here, back to our campuses and be encouraged to continue sharing the gospel,” said Osteen. “Perhaps God is calling you to lift your eyes a little bit and see beyond your campus to the area around you or to a mission opportunity or to a nation… who needs to know who Jesus is.”
STAYING ALERT FOR GOSPEL OPPORTUNITIES
Non-believers are not the only ones Beach Reachers are encountering on the island. There are plenty of believers who need to be reminded of the gospel message. Womack talked with a young man on a van ride who needed just that.
“[My van] was taking fishing assignments, and we picked up this young man named Isaiah… I got talking with him. [He said] he was a Christian, [but] it seemed that he didn't know the gospel. At first, it seemed like there was a works-based salvation,” explained Womack.
Womack shared the gospel with him to clarify that we are saved by grace through faith, not works. He said Isaiah confirmed that he believed that, but was “hung up” on earning his salvation through works.
Womack then told him about the Great Commandment to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Isaiah felt “a lot of conviction” that he had previously visited 62 countries and “hadn’t used the opportunity to share the gospel at all.”
Womack prayed over Isaiah and scheduled a meet-up with him on a later day of Beach Reach.
Even as BSM students are on their daily afternoon break, prior to evening worship, many stay alert and ready to take any opportunity that arises to share the gospel. On her break, Avery Marsh, junior and first-time Beach Reacher from the University of Houston, got to use a special skill to have a spiritual conversation in a coffee shop.
“I learned sign language during my high school years, and I don't remember a lot of it, but I remember some words, and I was in this coffee shop, and one of my friends was like, ‘Avery, this person's deaf,’ I was like, ‘Oh, what? Who is?’ And I saw this sweet [older lady] with a tiny little dog, and I got to sit there and talk with her,” said Marsh.
Patt had been hearing for about 40 years and went deaf, gradually, and was starting to learn sign language.
“She is able to read lips and speak and ended up just telling me about her life story and telling me things that I could be praying for,” said Marsh. “It was so encouraging to me that God doesn't let anything go to waste, that this skill that I learned in high school randomly because friends adopted deaf kids, I got to use in this way to get to know [Patt].”
Over two weeks of Beach Reach, from March 9-20, 13,832 van rides were given, 10,014 spiritual conversations were had, 7,750 spring breakers were prayed with, 246 people accepted Christ, 86 recommitted their lives to Christ and 87 were baptized.
For more information about Beach Reach and how to partner, visit beachreachspi.org.
Texas Baptists support California Baptist wildfire relief, recovery
Texans On Mission (TXM), the disaster relief ministry of Texas Baptists, began ministering on the ground in California on Monday, January 13, just days after the Palisades fire began.
Texas Baptists Evangelism Team signs MOU with Apartment Life
On Feb. 17, during the Evangelism Strategic Planning Committee meeting, Texas Baptists’ Evangelism director, Oza Jones, signed a memorandum of understanding with Pete Kelly, CEO of Apartment Life. The partnership helps Texas Baptists churches to identify and send missionaries to Apartment Life’s communities.
Texas Baptists produces explainer resource to help churches amidst changing immigration landscape
The Texas Baptists Center for Cultural Engagement has released an “explainer” resource aimed at helping churches navigate changing immigration enforcement policies.
"Your/Our Identity in Christ" teaches readers 'our indentity in Christ is the most important thing about us'
Dr. David Sanchez, director of Ethics and Justice at Texas Baptists, wrote "Your/ Our Identity in Christ” out of a desire to create a discipleship tool for today’s young people who are wrestling with their identity. The book focuses on having a holistic conversation about what it means to be in Christ.
February Board approves church starting arrangement, insurance program launch and affirms traditional Baptist beliefs in affiliation process
The February meeting of the Texas Baptists Executive Board was held on Feb. 17-18 in Dallas, TX. Board directors heard ministry reports and passed recommendations related to the NAMB/Texas Baptists church planting arrangement, the continued practice of welcoming churches that affirm traditional Baptist beliefs, the creation of a Texas Baptists Insurance Program and more.
Aaron Summers
has joined the Center for Ministerial Health as new coordinator for pastorless churches.
Carol
Plant
has joined Texas Baptists has the new director of Human Resources.
has joined the Center for Ministerial Health as the new director of the Millennial/Gen Z Network. David Foster
Jonathan
Smith
has been promoted to associate director of the Center for Church Health. He will continue to serve at the director of the Church Health and Growth Team in addition to his new role.
Joshua Minatrea
has been promoted to senior director of resource development. In this new role, he will oversee communications, cooperative program and other ministries.
has joined the Discipleship & NextGen team in the Center for Church Health as the new youth ministry specialist. Kurt Krodle
Lucy Floyd
has joined the Center for Cultural Engagement as the new director of ISAAC.
txb.org/ministrysafe
Ludy De La Fuente
March 21, 2025
'Raising Kingdom Leaders!' OBEY! @Congreso @TexasBaptists North Dallas Family Church #NDFCfamily
Meadowbrook Baptist Church
March 12, 2025
Pray for our Youth Mission team serving at a BOUNCE Spring Break mission site with @Texas Baptists @bouncesdr
Leonida Quarles
March 15, 2025
Thanking God for another amazing African American Leadership Conference! Many Thanks to the Westside BC Family for their immaculate hospitality, to all of our very impactful Keynote speakers and Breakout facilitators and all of the young people of Westside who served us well! Job well done
Carlos Francis and all of the AAM Crew!
@TXB_African American Ministries @Texas Baptists
Julio Guarneri
February 28, 2025
Look who dropped by our Texas Baptists office today! Great visit about what God is doing around the world and the excitement of #finishingthetask
Thank you Pastor Rick Warren for stopping by and visiting with us. ‘The church at its birth was the church at its best.’ May the first century church inform our twenty first century mission. #greatcommandment #GreatCommission #kingdomcollaboration
Grace Ogari
March 21, 2025
Thank you guys for an amazing experience! God moved is so many ways! I was blessed to be a part of it. It is all thanks to God and my amazing supporters.
#TXBSM @Texas Baptists
Southside Community Church
February 23, 2025
can’t even express how much my heart is filled with so much joy. The Lord truly met us in a special way today at Southside Community Church. I mean the Southside showed up strong to support a true hometown hero and our African American Ministries Director, Carlos Francis for Texas Baptists we were truly blessed with a mighty word from God. There were no greater way to end Black History Month than the way that we did in the 76104 of #FortWorth There’s a brook that’s flowing with water on the Southside and a thriving church filled with God’s people and his spirit. Hallelujah, to God be all of the glory.
Tag Texas Baptists on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for a chance to be featured in our next magazine.
BGCT and NAMB leaders clarify path forward with church starting arrangement
By Texas Baptists Communications
DALLAS—Leaders from the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) and the North American Mission Board (NAMB) agreed in principle to a clear path forward for providing church-starting resources and support for BGCT churches desiring access to NAMB resources during a two-hour meeting hosted at the BGCT’s Dallas office on Wednesday, January 8.
The gathering was the culmination of numerous meetings and discussions between pastors and organizational leaders since Julio Guarneri, Texas Baptists executive director, initially reported on NAMB support for BGCT-sponsored church starts in Texas during his address to the BGCT executive board in May of 2024. Representatives from NAMB and the BGCT previously came together on Aug. 15 in Dallas.
NAMB’s trustees and the BGCT’s executive board will review the arrangement at their respective February meetings.
The revised agreement emphasizes four areas: the use of “white label” Send Network church starting resources for BGCT churches who desire them, the disposition of NAMB’s church starting grant for BGCT-sponsored church starts, access to church planter training events for BGCT churches and improved communications with pastors, churches and associations who relate to the BGCT.
The agreement clarified Send Network planting, training
and coaching materials will continue to be made available to BGCT churches who desire to use them, bolstering the resources already on offer through the existing BGCT church starting process. These resources will afford BGCT churches that support the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 (BFM 2000) and want to start BGCT churches in Texas with additional tools and assessment opportunities.
While the BGCT will continue to receive an annual grant of $300,000 from NAMB, moving forward, the dollars will be allocated exclusively for church starting and will be requested by the BGCT on an as-needed basis for each church start in accordance with BGCT’s and NAMB’s church starting funding policies and procedures.
The NAMB funds will be made available through the BGCT to church planters who complete either the Send Network or a similar church starting assessment. Only BGCT churches that align with the BFM 2000 and have given to the SBC Cooperative Program and Annie Armstrong Easter Offering the previous year will be eligible for the NAMB funding. Churches planted through these funds will affirm the BFM 2000.
Churches that do not meet NAMB’s criteria but do meet the BGCT’s criteria will continue to have access to the same BGCT funding they’ve previously received.
In September, the BGCT executive board passed a
recommendation from the Missions Funding Council to increase the maximum amount that may be approved for any new church start from $75,000 to $125,000 to further resource new BGCT-sponsored church starts.
The NAMB grant supplements the approximately $3 million given through the Texas Baptists Cooperative Program, Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and donor-directed funds that the BGCT annually invests in church starting.
The agreement also notes that NAMB and BGCT leaders will “explore the possibility of conducting [Church] Planter Pathway training events” for BGCT churches and church starters and work together to ensure “pastors, churches and associations have reliable, true and updated information as to how BGCT churches can relate to NAMB.”
Noe Treviño, director of the Texas Baptists Center for Missional Engagement, and George Ross, Send Relief’s regional director for the South Region, will work to discuss and plan future training opportunities and resource sharing.
NAMB president Kevin Ezell is already scheduled to host a series of information sessions with BGCT
churches in areas including Dallas/ Ft. Worth, Austin, Houston and West Texas to connect with pastors and association leaders and clarify partnership opportunities.
Guarneri expressed his appreciation for the collaborative effort and its importance for Texas Baptists churches.
“I’m so pleased with the outcome of this process and look forward to working under this renewed agreement in the days ahead,” he said. “While things have changed in the denominational landscape at multiple levels, what hasn’t changed is the need to work together to
reach people with the gospel in Texas and North America. It is vital that Texas Baptists churches have clarity on how they can be supported in church starting.”
Support, he said, is available to any affiliated church that meets the appropriate requirements.
“The BGCT is a diverse family of churches that include those who align with the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message, those who align with the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, or similar Baptist confession of faith,” Guarneri said. “All of these have access to assessment, training, coaching and funding from the BGCT as long as they meet the criteria set forth and follow the process.”
Guarneri also pointed to the implications of the arrangement for singly aligned churches that desire to partner with NAMB.
“This agreement specifically addresses churches that desire to have access to NAMB resources, including assessment, training, coaching and funding through the BGCT,” Guarneri said. “It ensures Texas Baptists churches who meet NAMB requirements and desire to start new congregations receive all the support available while remaining singly aligned with the BGCT.”
Ezell shared optimism about how the new arrangement can boost church planting efforts in Texas.
“NAMB exists to serve Southern Baptist churches, and I believe this updated agreement with the BGCT will strengthen those efforts in Texas. I appreciate the time Julio and his team have taken to work through these details,” Ezell said. “This is a great example of Southern Baptists coming together and working together for the sake of the gospel.”
Guarneri and Ezell were joined by the following attendees: Rusty Shuler, NAMB’s church relations mobilizer; Jeff Williams, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Denton; Pete Pawelek, senior pastor of Cowboy Fellowship of Atascosa County; Chad Edgington, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Olney; Tom Howe, associate director of the Texas Baptists Center for Missional Engagement and director of the Texas
Baptists Church Starting Team; Dan Newburg, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Devine; Noe Treviño, director of the Texas Baptists Center for Missional Engagement; Heath Kirkwood, Texas Baptists Executive Board chair and lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Lorena; Craig Christina, Texas Baptists associate executive director; Ronny Marriott, Texas Baptists president and pastor of First Baptist in Richardson; Ward Hayes, Texas Baptists treasurer/ CFO; and Sergio Ramos, director of Texas Baptists GC2 Initiative.
NAMB’s trustees are scheduled to meet Feb. 3-4 in Long Beach, CA. The BGCT executive board will hold its winter meeting on Feb. 17-18 in Dallas, TX.
In addition to the church starting arrangement, BGCT and NAMB are continuing to partner to produce Crossover Dallas, the evangelistic effort held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention taking place on June 8-11 in Dallas, TX, and the Send Relief Ministry Center in Laredo, TX. More than 1,000 individuals heard gospel presentations when Texas Baptists and NAMB partnered for Serve Tour Brownsville held Oct. 11-12 in and around Brownsville, TX.
“The Texas population continues to grow at a fast rate, and the proportion of people in our state who do not know Christ as Savior and Lord is also growing,” Guarneri said. “We must urgently multiply our efforts in church starting as we seek to strengthen a multiplying movement of Great Commandment and Great Commission churches in Texas and beyond.”
Guarneri said the BGCT is “committed to doing our best to help churches plant churches so that we can win Texas for Christ.”
BGCT churches started more than 30 new churches through the BGCT’s church starting process in 2024.
Texas Baptists is a movement of God’s people to share Christ and show love by strengthening churches and ministers, engaging culture and connecting the nations to Jesus. We are more together.
South Asia pastors respond in spontaneous worship to Pastor Strong training
By Jessica King
Editor’s note: Names have been changed to protect the identity of individuals in this story.
In 2014, Kevin Abbott, Area 5 representative and director of Pastoral Health Networks at Texas Baptists, was pastoring First Baptist Church Red Oak and felt God put a burden on his heart to partner with local indigenous pastors in South Asia. He began praying for a partnership.
“We were supporting somebody in China. We were supporting somebody in Honduras… but I felt like God wanted us to have a personal relationship and partnership with somebody on the ground in South Asia, where some of the highest levels of persecution were starting to happen and are happening because of the Hindu religion,” said Abbott.
Two years later, in 2016, Abbott’s former pastor and founder of Light the Window Ministries, Joe Moody, reached out to him to have coffee. Moody told him he needed to meet “the Billy Graham of Nepal,” Peter, who is a church planter in South Asia.
“He's the guy that's well-respected and moving and shaking when it comes to evangelism and church planting and lots of very cutting edge, at least for Indian people in that area, cutting edge church planting movement and gospel movement type stuff,” explained Abbott. “I go, ‘Well, okay, I got to meet this guy.’”
Peter came to the United States for a visit, and after meeting, Abbott set up a trip with his church’s leadership team to “see the work on the ground [in South Asia] and go to villages and meet pastors.”
“We came back, and we were all convinced that God wanted us to partner with South Asia and [Peter]… and the rest is history,” said Abbott. “Every couple of years, I've gone over
there, except for a couple of years in COVID, but [I’m] always trying to pour into their leaders and connect resources to them and their needs.”
Before coming on staff at Texas Baptists, Abbott developed Resilient Pastors Cohorts at the Union Baptist Association (UBA), a 6-month learning cohort focusing on the five habits of leaders who finish well. Every time Peter would visit Houston, he would participate in a Resilient Pastors Cohort and “really loved what we were doing.”
“He said, ‘Man, I would love to bring this to South Asia,’” explained Abbott. “I said, ‘Well, that’s great. Let’s talk about it,’ [and] that turned into a two-year conversation. Then I moved to Texas Baptists, and we're launching [Pastor] Strong cohorts… and that's when I said, ‘What if we could do Pastor Strong South Asia, and I can bring all those elements of what we did in Houston, which are now part of Strong, and bring it over there under the umbrella of Texas Baptists.’”
This January, Pastor Strong was brought to South Asia.
DEVELOPING LEADERS AND SPONTANEOUS WORSHIP
On Jan. 20-25, 11 pastors across South Asia met in Nepal for a week-long training on leadership development, focusing on material from J. Robert Clinton’s “The Making of a Leader.” The pastors learned “how God develops a leader over a lifetime and how we can use that as a model of developing our leaders.”
Abbott said most of the pastors are also regional pastors, mentoring between 5 and 15 pastors each, so they also went through coaching skills training to get “some tools in their bag”
for shepherding them. He said he was encouraged by the level of commitment from the pastors to learn and be in community together.
“[I] told them upfront that this is an alongside formation environment, that we are in a cohort together and really hammered home pretty strong the value of learning and community; that it wouldn't be me lecturing, but we're learning together, and they really took off on that,” said Abbott. “It's kind of a foreign concept to them, and so for them to really engage in that was pretty powerful to watch.”
Each day was centered around a different theme. The first day evaluated how to finish well. Drawing from “The Making of a Leader,” the pastors considered the six barriers to ministry and the five habits of finishing.
The second day was a session called “Focused Living,” which helps pastors get clarity on their “unique Kingdom calling.” During the session, participants create a sticky note timeline of their life to “gain sovereign perspective of how God has shaped them” for their purpose.
Abbott said at the end of the day, the pastors reflected on their timelines and were encouraged to “mine out of each chapter a couple of blessings from God or lessons.” After concluding the time with prayer, an older pastor among the group “stood up with his hands in the air and just started singing a worship song.”
“He was singing this worship song from his heart language of Nepali, and Peter, sitting next to me, leaned over and said, ‘This is what he's singing… I will sing your praise with thanksgiving, oh Jesus, my Lord. Your goodness to me is numerous, millions of thanks. You have given me more than my merit with your compassion. I have received more than I have asked for. I'm grateful to you, oh Lord. You are the true and living God. I have my trust in you, Lord; give me the gifts so I may serve you in such a way that I may get rewards from you,’” explained Abbott.
He said every other pastor soon joined the spontaneous worship session.
“This was just a response with tears of worship [and] Peter's interpreting to
me [and] I didn't know what to think. I was like, ‘Oh, this is powerful,’” said Abbott. “So, those are some of the beautiful things, spontaneous things that [came] out of this with these leaders.”
THE INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT OF GOD
Abbott said Texas Baptists pastors could learn a lot about the power of prayer and passion for the gospel from their South Asian counterparts.
“As Americans, we tend to get self-dependent… and it's so refreshing to go into an environment like India or Nepal or countries like that… [because] these pastors, they don't do it for the money, they do it for the love of God and the kingdom call of ministry,” said Abbott. “Their hearts bleed the gospel and the need for people. Their passion about the gospel is real.”
He said they closed every evening on their hotel’s rooftop patio in a
glassed-in room, which they donned the “Upper Room” as a reference to Acts 1:1214, sharing what they learned from the day and praying over each other.
At the end of the week, the pastors were commissioned to “take this model to your leaders in your regions” to train them to utilize the same skills they learned during Pastor Strong.
Abbott said he wants the Pastor Strong South Asia cohort to be an encouragement to Texas Baptists pastors that the work being done in Jesus’ name around the world “[is] not dead.”
“I would encourage our pastors to really lean in and partner with local pastors and… church planter leaders in some of these countries, especially the 10/40 window where the most
unreached people groups are, which happens to be mostly Muslim countries and Asian countries,” said Abbott. “I think our pastors, some of them are doing really great at it, but if they're like me, when I was pastoring, my focus was right there on Red Oak and North Dallas County and very little focus on the international movement of God.”
PARTNERING WITH WHAT GOD IS DOING INTERNATIONALLY
Looking to the future of Pastor Strong Cohorts, Abbott said he desires for Pastor Strong Texas cohorts to have a “true partnership” with Pastor Strong South Asia cohorts to connect and provide tools and resources for them. He said he would eventually like to set up a sponsorship program where Texas pastors can directly adopt a church and pastor financially.
The main priority at this time, he said, is for Texas pastors to “gain awareness of what God is doing [in South Asia].”
“I think it is a great marriage to partner what we're doing here with pastors in Texas and what we're doing at the same time with pastors in South Asia now,” said Abbott “[I] really wanted there to be this type of partnership and support amongst our local pastors with what God's doing internationally.”
Abbott said this trip “reconfirmed the power of the process” and the design of the cohorts.
“[I learned] that this type of training… works in any culture, in any language, and that leaders struggle with the same things everywhere; it just is flavored a little bit different,” said Abbott. “I was reaffirmed in Nepal in this training, once again, the power and the need for what we're trying to do as Pastor Strong Cohorts in Texas: that we want a different type of environment. We want an environment where you come alongside each other, and you learn together… [It was] a confirmation that what we've been doing is valuable.”
To learn more about Pastor Strong Cohorts and how they can be a resource for you, visit txb.org/ministries/ pastor-strong-cohorts.
OCTOBER 6–7, 2025 FIRST BAPTIST
One thousand students and leaders learn how to live in "complete obedience" at Congresso
By Jessica King
Malachia Merlos, a high school sophomore, and Sapphire Merlos, a middle school student from United By Grace Baptist Church in San Antonio, said they returned to a second-time Congreso because they experienced life-change last year.
“Every time I come here… I think of my dad and my family and what we've gone through,” said Malachia Merlos. “[Congreso] really transformed and changed me to be better.”
“I chose to come back because Jesus saved my life… and I love coming to Congreso and praising him,” said Sapphire Merlos.
March 20-22, 1,132 students and pastors gathered at First Baptist Richardson for a time of worship, fellowship and teaching. With the theme “Obey,” students attended workshops, participated in missions opportunities around the city, learned from three keynote sessions and enjoyed a concert by Kenny Rivers, a faith-based producer and recording artist, at their Friday evening concert.
Robert Purvey, podcaster and director of Partner Strategies for Tenx10, an organization focused on discipleship and keeping young people engaged in their faith, delivered the keynote messages, and Chris Benites & Co. from Freedom Church in Fort Worth led worship.
THE INVITATION AND INSTRUCTION TO OBEDIENCE
Purvey kicked off Congreso by sharing a message on what it means to obey God. He told attendees that there is a call on our lives to obey. God invites us to follow him and gives us the instructions to obey him.
“For the next three days, you’re going to be challenged to jump and be obedient to the voice of God that's calling you into the deep and saying ‘If you jump, I will teach you how to swim,’” said Purvey. “God is calling you to obey… Tucked in between the ‘O’ and the ‘Y’ of ‘Obey’ is ‘BE,’ and you cannot be who God is calling you to be if you don't obey.”
Drawing from Matthew 4:18-22, Purvey challenged students that “obedience begins with a willingness to respond to God's call.” He said Jesus’ invitation to his disciples was to follow him.
“Obedience begins with a willingness [and] his disciples were willing to leave everything behind and follow Jesus,” said Purvey. “He has a purpose and a plan in your life that he wants to reveal to you when you say yes. The issue is that in order to follow him, your heart has to be willing, but your heart will never be willing to follow him if it is controlled by something or somebody else.”
Purvey explained that after we willingly accept the invitation to follow him, Jesus gives us instructions. Focusing on Matthew 4:19, he said the scripture shows that we “have the invitation to
obedience and the instruction in obedience is ‘I will make you.’”
He encouraged attendees that they are “in a season of your life where God just wants to mold you,” but warned them that “it's all about whose hands they are in.”
“[He] takes your life like a broken piece of clay and puts it on the potter's wheel, and molds you… into who he's called you to be. [But], in order to become who God is calling you to be, you can't be in the hands of people and expect the outcome that only the potter can make,” said Purvey. “People, broken in their hands, they can't fix you. But, broken in the hands of the potter, he can restore you.”
Purvey concluded his message by challenging the students to ask themselves these two questions: “Will you obey the call and follow his voice? Even deeper, do you even know what his voice sounds like?”
WALKING BY FAITH
Friday morning, students and their leaders had the opportunity to attend 15 unique workshops on topics including discipleship, apologetics, chasing purpose, living out the Great Commission and more.
Marisol Sandoval, missional lifestyle strategist for preschool, children and youth at WMU of Texas, led a workshop titled “The Cost of Discipleship: Obeying God in a World That Rejects Him.” She walked students through Matthew 28:1620 and Acts 1:8, and explained that we are called to be disciples and witnesses of Jesus.
She explained that Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations” is a “call to action.”
“[Sometimes] we think that [we] have to go from A to B to actually be able to share Jesus with others, but in reality, as
we're going from A to B, we can share Jesus with others,” said Sandoval.
Students collaborated and considered what it looks like to be disciples and witnesses in their areas of influence.
Sandoval ended the workshop by encouraging students that in order to be effective disciples and witnesses of the gospel, they need to obey God’s word, and the more time we spend in God’s word, the more we are compelled to obey.
Damien Ruiz, a middle school student from Grace Temple Baptist Church in Dallas, said this workshop reminded him that God is always with him and “has everything planned out” for how we should live as disciples.
Fernando Rojas, pastor of Azle Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, led a workshop on how to overcome fear in obedience.
Referencing 2 Chronicles 20:3-4, Rojas challenged students to consider, “When trouble comes, what is your first instinct?” He encouraged attendees that it is normal to be afraid, but “it’s what you do next that matters.”
He told the students that “as Christians, our instinct must be to walk by faith.”
He gave them four steps to take in faith to overcome fear: seek God, listen to God, act in obedience to God and praise God. He emphasized, “if you want to walk, you’ve got to take multiple steps.”
“If you want to experience God, you have to work on this equation… [that] is going to transform your life. Faith plus obedience equals experience. You’ve got to put your faith in God with your obedience,” said Rojas.
He concluded the session by encouraging students that every problem they face “has a name” and “the name of Jesus is above that name.”
“He has control over [your problems],” said Rojas. “So stop trying to fight it on your own. Because when the battle is over and God fights the battle for you, what's left over is the reward for us. God rewards those who walk by faith.”
After workshops, students had the opportunity to participate in mission projects around the city including serving with Texans on Mission, Buckner International and the Cliff Temple Baptist Church’s "Mission Oak Cliff” food pantry.
OBEYING GOD RIGHT NOW
In his second keynote session, Purvey challenged attendees that “half obedience is complete disobedience” and that God is calling them to “obey him and take the weight off” that hinders them from running their race.
“God requires complete obedience from those who follow him… [and] one of the hardest things to do when it comes to following God is not only leaving behind the people or the things you don't need, it's also fighting the urge not to pick up the things that make your life heavy,” explained Purvey.
Purvey illustrated what it looks like “trying to live life weighed down” by having a student run around the sanctuary with bricks in his backpack.
“This is what happens in life… you're running, trying to live life weighed down, and there are people cheering for you to keep running with weight when God is calling you to obey him and take the weight off,” said Purvey. “What makes obedience easier is when you don't have the added weight in your life, there is some weight you need to take off.”
Sapphire Merlos said she was impacted by the illustration and learned the importance of taking the weight off to be obedient.
“When that boy was running, I'm pretty sure it was heavy for him, and so we were actually cheering for him to keep going. [But], we're supposed to get the weight off of ourselves, not to have the weight on us. We have to let it go and let God handle it,” said Sapphire Merlos.
Purvey told students that God is not calling them as a suggestion but as a command.
“Faith is not believing in spite of evidence, it's obeying in spite of the consequence… I can't afford not to obey God. There's too much at stake. There's souls to be won. There's his kingdom to build,” said Purvey. “He wants to use [you] and he's not calling you as a suggestion, he's calling you as a command.”
Purvey encouraged students not to wait to obey later but to obey now.
“Do not despise your youth; God wants to use you right now,” said Purvey. “Despite where you come from, in spite of what you're going through, he's calling
you now. He wants to use your life as a testimony to his power.”
Purvey concluded his message with a time of invitation for students to accept Christ and say yes to their call to ministry.
STAY CONNECTED, STAY FRUITFUL, STAY DEPENDENT
The third keynote session began with a Q&A time, where Oza Jones, director of Evangelism at Texas Baptists, asked Purvey questions sent in by attendees over the weekend. Purvey then closed Congreso with a message on remaining in Christ.
Drawing from John 15, he told attendees that after they say yes to Jesus, he asks us to do three things: stay connected, stay fruitful and stay dependent.
He told attendees that Christ is their power source.
“Staying connected to Christ means you only get your power from him because… there's nothing you can do
apart from Jesus Christ,” said Purvy. “If you want to do something great for your community and you want to do something great for your family; If you want to do something great in this world, you can't not do it disconnected from Christ.”
Purvey encouraged attendees to stay connected to stay fruitful.
“Fruit represents the evidence of a transformed life… The more you stay connected to Jesus, the more you reflect his love, joy, and peace to others,” said Purvey. “The more you stay connected, the more fruitful you become. If you want to know the type of life you're living or leading, look at the fruit you're producing.”
Purvey said the final thing Christ asks us to do is stay dependent on him.
“Stay dependent on the Lord's power to empower you by staying in your Word… Let your heart be connected to him. When your heart is connected to him, you will produce fruit that looks like him, that sounds like him, that looks like him,” said
Purvey. “May your heart forever be postured towards him, and may your eyes forever look to him for everything. May Congreso forever be a recharge for you and not a restart for you.”
He concluded his message by challenging attendees that to “get [Kingdom] work done,” they have to obey and remain in Christ.
Malachia Merlos said coming to Congreso is “like a release of all the stress and everything we're going through.” She said she would tell students considering attending Congreso that the weekend could “change their perspective about Jesus and following him” and encourage them to continue “walking with him and continue listening to and reading His Word daily.”
For more information or to stay updated on Congreso 2026 dates and details, visit txb.org/congreso.
Mil estudiantes y líderes aprenden cómo vivir en “completa obediencia” en Congreso
Por Jessica King, 26 de marzo, 2025
Malachia Merlos, estudiante en décimo grado, y Sapphire Merlos, estudiante de escuela intermedia de United By Grace Baptist Church en San Antonio, dicen que regresaron a Congreso por segunda vez por la transformación que experimentaron el año anterior.
“Cada vez que vengo pienso en mi papá y mi familia y lo que han tenido que pasar”, dijo Malachia Merlos. “[Congreso] me ha transformado”.
“Quise regresar porque Jesús salvó mi vida…y me encanta venir a Congreso y alabarle”, dijo Sapphire Merlos.
Del 20 al 22 de marzo, 1,132 estudiantes y pastores se reunieron en la iglesia First Baptist Richardson para un tiempo de adoración, compañerismo, y enseñanza. Con el tema de “Obedecer”, los estudiantes participaron en talleres, oportunidades misioneras alrededor de la ciudad, tres sesiones generales, y disfrutaron un concierto por Kenny Rivers, un productor y cantante basado en la fe, durante un concierto el viernes en la noche.
Robert Purvey, podcaster y director de Partner Strategies for Tenx10, una organización enfocada en discipular y mantener a los jóvenes activos en su fe, fue el predicador invitado, y Chris Benites & Co. de Freedom Church en Fort Worth, dirigió la adoración.
INVITACIÓN E INSTRUCCIÓN A LA OBEDIENCIA
Purvey inició Congreso al compartir un mensaje en lo que significa obedecer a Dios. Predicó que hay un llamado sobre nuestras vidas a obedecer. Dios nos invita a seguirle y nos da instrucciones para que le obedezcamos.
“Durante los próximos tres días, serán desafiados a responder y obedecer la voz de Dios que les llama a lo profundo y dice: “Si das el paso, te enseñaré a nadar”, predicó Purvey. “Dios los llama a obedecer. No podemos ser lo que Dios quiere que seamos si no obedecemos”.
Basándose en Mateo 4:18-22, Purvey desafió a los estudiantes al afirmar que “la obediencia comienza con una disposición a responder al llamado de Dios”. La invitación de Jesús a Sus discípulos fue a seguirle.
“Los discípulos estuvieron dispuestos a dejar todo y seguir a Jesús”, predicó Purvey. “Él tiene un propósito y plan para sus vidas que desea revelarles cuando ustedes responden afirmativamente. Para seguir a Jesús, el corazón tiene que estar dispuesto, pero nunca estará dispuesto si está controlado por algo o alguien más”.
Purvey explicó que, después de aceptar la invitación a seguirle, Jesús nos da instrucciones. Afirmó que las Escrituras dicen en Mateo 4:19 que “tenemos la invitación a obedecer y la
instrucción en obediencia es “los haré”.
Afirmó a los estudiantes: “Están en una etapa de la vida donde Dios quiere moldearlos”, pero advirtió que “depende de las manos en quién estemos”.
“Jesús toma nuestras vidas como pedazos de barro, las coloca en la rueda del alfarero, y nos moldea…en lo que quiere que seamos. Sin embargo, para llegar a ser lo que Dios quiere que seamos, no podemos estar en las manos de otras personas y esperar el resultado que solamente el alfarero puede lograr”, predicó Purvey. “Solamente Jesús puede restaurarnos”.
Purvey concluyó su mensaje con un desafío a hacerse dos preguntas: “¿Obedeceré el llamado y seguiré Su voz? Aún más profundo, ¿puedo reconocer Su voz?”
CAMINAR POR FE
El viernes en la mañana, los estudiantes y sus líderes tuvieron la oportunidad de asistir a 15 talleres en temas incluyendo discipulado, apologética, buscar propósito, vivir la Gran Comisión, y más.
Marisol Sandoval, estratega de estilo de vida misional para preescolares, niños, y adolescentes en la Unión Femenil Misionera de Texas, dirigió un taller titulado: “El costo del discipulado: Obedecer a Dios en un mundo que lo rechaza”. Enfocó
con los estudiantes en Mateo 28:16-20 y Hechos 1:8 y explicó que somos llamados a ser discípulos y testigos de Jesús.
Explicó que el mandato de Jesús a “ir y hacer discípulos de todas las naciones” es un “llamado a la acción”.
“A veces pensamos que tenemos que ir de A a B para poder compartir a Jesús con otros, pero en realidad, al ir de A a B, podemos compartir con otros”, dijo Sandoval.
Los jóvenes colaboraron y consideraron qué es ser discípulos y testigos en sus
áreas de influencia.
Sandoval concluyó su taller exhortando a los jóvenes a que, para ser discípulos y testigos del evangelio, hay que obedecer la Palabra de Dios. A más tiempo pasamos en la Palabra de Dios, más motivados estaremos a obedecer.
Damien Ruiz, un joven en escuela intermedia de Grace Temple Baptist Church en Dallas, dijo que el taller le recordó que Dios siempre está con él y que “tiene todo bajo control” para cómo vivir como discípulos.
Fernando Rojas, pastor de Azle Avenue Baptist Church en Fort Worth, dirigió un taller en cómo vencer el temor en obediencia.
Usando como referencia 2 Crónicas 20:3-4, Rojas desafió a los estudiantes a considerar: “Cuando vienen los problemas, ¿cuál es su primer instinto?” Los exhortó a que es normal sentir temor, pero “lo que importa es lo que hacemos con eso”.
Les dijo que “como cristianos, nuestro instinto debe ser a caminar por fe”.
Les dio cuatro pasos a tomar en fe para vencer el temor: buscar a Dios, escuchar a Dios, actuar en obediencia a Dios, y alabar a Dios. Enfatizó que “para caminar hay que dar múltiples pasos”.
“Si queremos tener una experiencia con Dios, tenemos que resolver la siguiente ecuación que transformará nuestras vidas. Fe más obediencia es igual a experiencia. Tenemos que depositar nuestra fe en Dios con nuestra obediencia”, enfatizó Rojas.
Concluyó la sesión exhortando a los jóvenes a identificar cada problema “por nombre”. Cada problema tiene un nombre, y “el nombre de Jesús es sobre todo nombre”.
“Jesús tiene control sobre nuestros problemas”, dijo Rojas. “Dejemos de batallar por nosotros mismos. Al final de la batalla, cuando Dios pelea por nosotros, lo que queda es nuestra recompensa. Dios recompensa a los que caminan por fe”.
Después de los talleres, los estudiantes tuvieron la oportunidad de participar en proyectos misioneros alrededor de la ciudad, incluyendo servir con Texans on Mission, Buckner International, y la despensa de alimentos de Cliff Temple Baptist Church “Misión en Oak Cliff”.
OBEDECER A DIOS AHORA MISMO
En su segundo sermón, Purvey desafió a los participantes a saber que “obediencia a medias es completa desobediencia” y que Dios los llama a “obedecerle y deshacerse del peso” que evita que corran la carrera.
“Dios requiere completa obediencia de los que le siguen. Una de las cosas más difíciles de hacer cuando se trata de obedecer a Dios no es solamente dejar atrás las cosas que no necesitamos, también es resistir la tentación de volver a tomar las cosas que nos estorban”, explicó Purvey.
Purvey ilustró a qué se parece tratar de vivir “con peso que nos estorba” al pedirle a un joven que corriera alrededor del santuario con ladrillos en su mochila.
“Esto es lo que sucede en nuestras vidas…corremos, tratamos de vivir nuestras vidas cargando con peso que nos estorba. Hay personas que nos animan a continuar corriendo con ese lastre cuando Dios nos llama a obedecerle y deshacernos de eso”, dijo Purvey. “Lo que facilita la obediencia es no tener peso adicional en nuestra vida; hay peso que eliminar de sus vidas”.
Sapphire Merlos dijo que le impactó la ilustración y aprendió la importancia de deshacerse del peso que nos estorba para ser obedientes.
“Cuando el joven estaba corriendo, yo sabía que la mochila pesaba, y lo animamos a continuar corriendo. Sin embargo, estamos supuestos a deshacernos del peso, no a cargar con él. Tenemos que echarlo a un lado y dejar que Dios se encargue”, dijo Sapphire Merlos.
Purvey enfatizó que el llamado de Dios no es una sugerencia, es un mandato.
“La fe no es creer a pesar de la evidencia, es obedecer a pesar de las consecuencias. No podemos darnos el lujo de no obedecer a Dios. Hay demasiado en juego. Hay almas que ganar. Hay un Reino que edificar”, predicó Purvey.
Purvey invitó a los estudiantes a no esperar para obedecer más tarde; la obediencia es ahora.
“No menosprecien su juventud; Dios quiere usarlos ahora mismo”, insistió Purvey. “No importa de dónde son o por lo que estén pasando, Él los llama ahora. Quiere usar sus vidas como testimonio de Su poder”.
Purvey concluyó su mensaje con
un tiempo de invitación para aceptar a Cristo y responder afirmativamente a su llamado al ministerio.
MANTENERSE CONECTADOS, DAR FRUTO, Y PERMANECER
La tercera sesión comenzó con un tiempo de preguntas y respuestas, donde Oza Jones, director de Evangelismo con los Bautistas de Texas, dialogó con Purvey al presentar preguntas de los adolescentes. Purvey concluyó Congreso con un mensaje en permanecer en Cristo.
Basándose en Juan 15, insistió que, después de responder afirmativamente, Jesús nos pide que hagamos tres cosas: mantenernos conectados, dar fruto, y permanecer. Les dijo que Cristo es la fuente de poder.
“Permanecer conectados con Cristo significa que recibimos poder de Él. Separados de Él no podemos hacer nada.
Si queremos hacer algo por nuestras comunidades, familias, y este mundo, no podemos hacerlo desconectados de Cristo”.
Purvey exhortó a los estudiantes a mantenerse conectados para dar fruto.
“El fruto es la evidencia de una vida transformada…A más conectados estamos con Jesús, más reflejaremos Su amor, gozo, y paz a los demás”, dijo Purvey. “A más nos mantenemos conectados, más fruto daremos. Si queremos saber qué clase de vida estamos viviendo, miremos el fruto que estamos produciendo”.
Purvey dijo que lo tercero que Cristo nos pide es que permanezcamos en Él.
“Dependamos del poder del Señor al permanecer en Su Palabra. Que nuestros corazones estén conectados a Él. Cuando nuestro corazón está conectado a Cristo, produciremos fruto que se parece a Él y suena como Él”, insistió Purvey. “Espero
que sus corazones y ojos siempre estén dirigidos y enfocados en Él. Espero que Congreso sea siempre un lugar donde vengan a recargar sus corazones y no a comenzar de nuevo”.
Concluyó su mensaje al desafiar a los participantes a que, “para hacer la obra del Reino”, tienen que obedecer y permanecer en Cristo.
Malachia Merlos dijo que ir a Congreso es como “soltar la tensión por las cosas que estamos pasando”. Dijo que esperaba que los estudiantes que participaron de Congreso este año “cambien su perspectiva acerca de Jesús y le sigan”, y los exhortó a continuar “caminando con Él y escuchando y leyendo Su Palabra cada día”.
Para información adicional o para mantenerse al día con fechas y detalles de Congreso 2026, visite txb.org/congreso.
