WEEK OF PRAYER: Reaching ‘poverty I’ve called you to’
BURNABY, British Columbia (BP) -- Victor and Candice Thomas landed in Vancouver, British Columbia, promising they'd never stay. Five years later, they're still in town.
The South African entrepreneurs arrived in 2007, allowing Victor Thomas to start a four-month stint as a researcher at Simon Fraser University, an adventure he called an extended honeymoon for the newlyweds. His study focused on environmental science and poverty, but the couple found a new calling in Burnaby, a quick train-ride from downtown Vancouver.
Three weeks before they were to return to Cape Town, Thomas walked the Burnaby campus of Simon Fraser, his eyes seeming to open for the first time. "I saw these students with blank looks on their faces, and I started to tear up. For a South African male that's not cool," Thomas said. "It was as if God was saying, 'Isn't this the poverty I've called you to?'" From a family with seven generations of pastors, Thomas told his friends he'd never follow suit. And indeed he'd stayed true to his proclamation for more than two decades, though he always served the poor alongside his dad. He also started a company consulting on construction projects in environmentally sensitive areas. "Life was good back in Africa," Thomas said. "I'd just hired a friend and we had several big contracts. We'd never intended to stay in Canada." As God began to draw the Thomases to the work of The Point Church, a long drive with then-planter of The Point, Kelly Manire, sealed the decision. "He told us he was moving on," Thomas said, "and that he wanted me and Candice to take over." The Point, a Canadian National Baptist Convention church, had started years earlier, but had dwindled to a small Bible study. Taking over The Point would amount to relaunching the church. As Thomas saw it, this also meant launching additional campuses in suburban Coquitlam and
downtown Vancouver. Victor Thomas is just one of several church planters serving in the greater Vancouver area, and is helping to achieve the vision of Send North America: Vancouver. ...TRUSTEES: 1.9% increase in offering, Ezell says, reflects ‘unmatched’ heart for missions
SAN DIEGO (BP) -- North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell expressed gratitude to Southern Baptists whose giving to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering increased 1.9 percent in 2012.
Collegians trek to N.Y. to tackle hurricane survivors’ mud-out needs during winter break
NEW YORK, N.Y. (BP) -- Southern Baptist college students are spending their winter breaks making homes livable again for residents spending Christmas in dwellings damaged by superstorm Sandy. 
About 325 students are working with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief efforts through Jan. 22 on Staten Island and in other affected areas. At least 27 groups of students will gut homes, haul debris and minister while living in a tent village at Staten Island's Zion Lutheran Church.
Call to Prayer: January is ‘pivotal opportunity’
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- Southern Baptist leaders are hoping churches will start 2013 with an emphasis on prayer and the lost during the month-long SBC Call to Prayer beginning Jan. 1.
SBC Call to Prayer
Southern Baptist leaders are hoping churches will start 2013 with an emphasis on prayer and the lost during the month-long SBC Call to Prayer beginning January 1. The effort will help congregations focus on prayer in several key sets of relationships, seeking ways to engage those without Christ. “The SBC Call to Prayer is a […]
Pastor braves Gulf of Mexico, triathlon for bivocational pastors
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (BP) -- Tim Dowdy had been in training for more than a year when he looked out over the Gulf of Mexico, ready to brave it for a swim. 
Members of the church where Dowdy is pastor, Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Ga., had joined him on the beach to cheer him on. The waves were choppier and the water colder than expected, and he was about to swim farther than he ever had. A 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race and a marathon run would put Dowdy's mind and body to the test for nearly 15 hours. It would be a meaningful feat, no matter his reason for doing it. But Dowdy wasn't staring at the expanse of water just to prove he could finish the 140-mile Ironman Florida triathlon on Nov. 3. The 51-year-old pastor and his 25-year-old son Micah were in Panama City sending a message to Southern Baptist bivocational pastors. "The water's a little chilly today, but it's warm outside so hopefully they'll balance each other out," Dowdy said as the crowd of competitors gathered at the start gate. "Bivocational pastors, this is for you. I hope you're praying for me. I'm going to float on the prayers of people today. Thanks for all that you're doing." Iron Men of the SBC Early last year, as then-chairman of the North American Mission Board's trustees, Dowdy was inspired by NAMB's goal of a net gain of 5,000 congregations by 2022. He was also struck by the reality that it would require many more pastors ...
Metro Chicago’s diversity tugs at visiting mission board members
CHICAGO (BP) -- "I was raised in a place where there's a Baptist church on every corner," Sissy Franks said during a visit to Chicago. "When I come here and I see this, then my heart is reminded that we have much to do," said Franks, a trustee of the North American Mission Board. 
"To see the work of a church planter in places where they leave their home and family and come because of mission, vision and passion for sharing the Gospel reminds me there is much to do -- and everybody needs to be involved," said Franks, a member of Philadelphia Baptist Church in Deville, La. Franks and other North American Mission Board trustees, in conjunction with their trustee meeting in Chicago on Oct. 10, saw firsthand the great need for churches and missionaries to reach the United States' third-largest city for Christ. Among the 8.7 million people in metro Chicago's 77 neighborhoods, there are only 308 Southern Baptist Convention churches, one for every 32,000 residents. Trustees dedicated a day to visiting three SBC church planters who have recently begun new congregations in Chicago. In places like Wicker Park, the University District and Northlake, trustees saw eclectic and impoverished boroughs often within several blocks of each other.
Veterans Day offers ministry opportunities
NORFOLK, Va. (BP) -- This Veterans Day churches throughout the United States are seeing a rise in the number of military veterans returning home after deployment. Many say it is an opportunity for churches to serve and help meet the needs of transitioning soldiers.
Veterans Day offers ministry opportunities
NORFOLK, Va. (BP) -- This Veterans Day churches throughout the United States are seeing a rise in the number of military veterans returning home after deployment. Many say it is an opportunity for churches to serve and help meet the needs of transitioning soldiers.
Ezell envisions next generation of missionaries
CHICAGO (BP) -- North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell underscored the need to develop the next generation of Southern Baptist missionaries during NAMB's trustee meeting Oct. 10 in Chicago.
