Just three months after losing her hus-band and being seriously injured in Iraq, Carrie McDonnall is telling people who feel called to a dangerous task for the kingdom that they had better go. Just three months after losing her husband and being seriously injured in Iraq, Carrie McDonnall is telling people who feel called to a dangerous task for the kingdom that they had better go. "We have to keep going to the hard places," McDonnall said during a recent interview. "We have to keep going to the violent places. God’s call was not just to go to the places that were easy." McDonnall was the lone survivor from a March 15 drive-by shooting in Iraq in which her husband, David, and three fellow Southern Baptist International Mission Board workers were killed. The five while traveling in northern Iraq as part of efforts to provide a water ministry to people. Weeks later, still recovering from her wounds, McDonnall said she hopes people do not look at her and decide not to go to places like Iraq. "I hope this fires people up, not that they say, ‘I can’t go. Look at her, look at the tragedy in her life,’ but rather say, ‘Look how God has overcome this,’" she … [Read more...]
She was an African witch doctor-in-training – until …
Rose Nanyongas faith pilgrimage has been a journey of transformation - from an African witch doctor-in-training to a nursing student in Dallas. Rose Nanyongas faith pilgrimage has been a journey of transformation - from an African witch doctor-in-training to a nursing student in Dallas. She now attends nursing classes and works as an intensive-care nurse, a striking departure from her beginnings as a witch doctors acolyte in Uganda. She still is uncertain how her father was able to get her approved for witchcraft training, which usually is restricted to males. But she knows a witch doctors prophesy before she was conceived played a part. "My mother had four sons and no daughters, so, she was taken to the witch doctor," Nanyonga recalls. "My father was on the verge of turning her out because daughters were valued for the dowry they would bring at marriage. The witch doctor told my mother she would have a girl, and she would be significant to the family." Her training as a witch doctor began when she was about 8 years old, just after her mother died. Nanyongas family went to great expense, but they knew if she succeeded in training, as a female witch doctor, she … [Read more...]
Sole membership issue headed to New Orleans Seminary trustees
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustees apparently will decide in October how to handle the issue of sole membership. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustees apparently will decide in October how to handle the issue of sole membership. They could accede to a request from convention messengers and adopt the sole membership model of corporate structure. They also could agree to do what they proposed to do in April - go to the 2005 convention with two options, one of which would be the sole membership model. The issue of sole membership and the seminary has become a touchy one. The seminary is the last entity (other than the SBC Executive Committee) to adopt the model, which is designed to tie agencies securely to the national denomination by making the convention the sole owner. Seminary leaders have agreed to take steps to tie the entity to the convention. However, they have raised questions about the sole membership model. Essentially, they express fears that it could violate historic Baptist polity by opening the possibility of centralized control and that it will not work under unique Louisiana law. Southern Baptist … [Read more...]
Different kind of victims
It appears that ministers of all types, who are good people, are being sacrificed at the altar of trendiness and convenience. It appears that ministers of all types, who are good people, are being sacrificed at the altar of trendiness and convenience. They are not accused of wrongdoing or impropriety - they were victims of "a different direction" syndrome. How sad. When this occurs, I would hope that congregants would make certain their churches do the right thing in seeing that these ministers are treated fairly. Benjamin Harlan, Professor Southwestern Seminary Fort Worth, Texas … [Read more...]
It was 25 years ago – the SBC was about to change
Note: Just prior to the start of last months Southern Baptist Convention, some 600 persons gathered for a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the conservative resurgency. The following two articles relate to that anniversary. Note: Just prior to the start of last months Southern Baptist Convention, some 600 persons gathered for a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the conservative resurgency. The following two articles relate to that anniversary. Twenty-five years ago this summer, some 15,000 Southern Baptists gathered in Houston for their annual meeting. That 1979 convention featured a special mission emphasis (Bold Mission Thrust) as well as a sermon by evangelist Billy Graham. However, today, the meeting is best remembered for one thing - the beginning of the conservative resurgence. Messengers elected then-47-year-old Adrian Rogers with 51 percent of the vote on the first ballot, marking the first of a long string of conservative victories and signaling the denominations shift to the right. But it did not happen overnight. From 1979 to 1990, conservatives and moderates struggled for control of the denomination, nominating opposing … [Read more...]
Two-year WMU emphasis to focus on ministering to those in poverty
Southern Baptist women were challenged recently to spend the next two years focusing on - and helping - the poor. Southern Baptist women were challenged recently to spend the next two years focusing on - and helping - the poor. Southern Baptist Womans Missionary Union leaders unveiled the organizations new "Project HELP: Poverty" during their recent annual meeting in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis. The goal of the effort is to connect churches to peoples needs, organizers said. Through Project HELP, Womans Missionary Union identifies a social and moral issue and then ties in national projects to address it through the course of two years. "How much do you love Jesus?" Kentucky WMU President Cathy Chinn asked women at the recent annual meeting. "Because the amount of love you have for him determines how much you love others." Project HELP: Poverty will use the recently published book "Breaking the Cycle: Issues Affecting Poverty" by Cathy Butler as its primary resource. Through the effort, WMU leaders will encourage churches to adopt local, national and international action plans during the next year, … [Read more...]
Weekly Briefs
For the week of July 15, 2004 Cooperative Program Gifts through the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program totaled $13.1 million last month, a decrease of $1.9 million (12.7 percent) from the previous June. Nine months into the conventions fiscal year, gifts total $142.8 million, an increase of almost $3.8 million (2.7 percent) from the same time last year. The total also stands $6 million (4.4 percent) ahead of budget at this time. Meanwhile, designated gifts total $19.1 million last month, a decrease of $734,102 (3.7 percent). Overall, designated gifts total almost $171.7 million, an increase of $22.2 million (14.9 percent) from the same time last year. New Orleans Seminary The executive committee of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustees approved two missions initiatives and a doctoral specialization in a recent meeting. Trustees voted to support missionary training by approving a tuition discount for returning Journeyman and International Service Corp missionaries. The discount is designed to help returning workers to prepare for additional missionary service. Trustees also approved a new 25-hour graduate certificate in missions. The certificate is designed … [Read more...]
A step back in time
A step back in time: In June, East Bayou Baptist Church brought members and area residents back in time - all the way to the first-century world of Capernaum that Jesus knew so well A step back in time: In June, East Bayou Baptist Church brought members and area residents back in time - all the way to the first-century world of Capernaum that Jesus knew so well The small boy approached the robed man wandering through the Jewish marketplace with a purpose - and a question - in mind. "Are you the Jesus from heaven?" he asked the man. The man replied that he was. The small boy leaned in with his primary question then - "Did you see my granddaddy in heaven?" No, the man was not really Jesus - and the encounter between the two did not take place in a real first-century Jewish marketplace. But for hundreds of Lafayette residents, what was presented at East Bayou Baptist Church on four June nights was as real as it could get - a detailed depiction of first-century Capernaum, complete with a full-scale marketplace where Jesus himself walked. Held in a multi-purpose facility, East Bayou members erected an elaborate set of shops and … [Read more...]
For this pro, it is not all about golf and money – but faith and family
Just about a year ago, Kenny Perry was a solid, friendly - yet largely unknown - PGA Tour golf professional. Just about a year ago, Kenny Perry was a solid, friendly - yet largely unknown - PGA Tour golf professional. Paid to wear colorful Tabasco golf shirts and raised in a small town in Kentucky, Perry was a former Tour winner but had faded into golfs background. However, that was before Perry won three tournaments in the summer of 2003, including back-to-back events at the Bank of America Colonial with a career-low third-round score of 61 and the Memorial Tournament the following week. Then, the entire golf world learned that Perry is devoted to his faith, his family and his small-town roots. "The greatest thing about last year is that (the golf media and fans) told my story about how important my faith is to me, about growing up in a small town and about wanting to help others," Perry says. "Im just one simple guy, but God tells us to be ready at all times." Perry won more than $4 million in PGA Tour prize money last season with his three wins. He is using that money to fund scholarships at David Lipscomb University - a Church of Christ school in … [Read more...]
Convention search committee issues call for day of prayer
The committee charged with nominating a new executive director for the Louisiana Baptist Convention has issued a called for a day of prayer. The committee charged with nominating a new executive director for the Louisiana Baptist Convention has issued a called for a day of prayer. Members of the search committee recently called on Louisiana Baptists to set aside August 15 as a day of prayer for the group and its work. In a released statement, committee members asked Louisiana Baptists "at all levels" to engage in concerted prayer for the search process. The full statement of the call reads: "The executive director search committee requests that Louisiana Baptists at all levels participate in concerted and continuous prayer as we seek Gods man to lead Louisiana Baptists. "This pivotal time in history of the Louisiana Baptist Convention requires the clear leadership of God to be present at every stage of the process. "Specifically, we ask that you set aside Sunday, August 15 as a special day of prayer for our search committee. We are confident that God has a bright and glorious future for Louisiana Baptists. "May we join the … [Read more...]