Articulos en Español by Seth Brown/Biblical Recorder

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) -- Many Americans are "unaware of who we are and what we're going through," Jose Ocampo, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipient and a youth minister at Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C. Jose Ocampo, a junior at Wingate University near Charlotte, shared about his life during a trip to Capitol Hill in November to urge lawmakers to protect DACA program recipients like him, often called "Dreamers," once the policy expires in early March. Ocampo, part-time youth director for Hickory Grove's Latin American campus, joined a group of fellow Southern Baptists in Washington, D.C., to lobby for a permanent solution by sharing his experiences as an undocumented immigrant growing up in North Carolina.

BIG PINE KEY, Fla. (BP) -- Professional athlete, sports analyst and native Floridian Tim Tebow thanked North Carolina Baptist churches in a Facebook video posted Thursday (Sept. 21) for their disaster relief efforts across Florida after Hurricane Irma. "I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for what you're doing," said Tebow, a former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Florida. Tebow now plays professional baseball for the New York Mets organization. "You've gone above and beyond, and we thank you so much."

RALEIGH, N.C. (BP) -- A North Carolina pregnancy resource center faced another setback when the Raleigh Board of Adjustment re-classified the organization as a medical facility, overturning the city attorney's designation of the pro-life ministry as a civic group, according to The News & Observer. The board's Feb. 13 designation effectively bars Hand of Hope Pregnancy Resource Center from operating out of its Jones Franklin Road office, since the residential space must be rezoned for use as a medical facility and the Raleigh City Council denied Hand of Hope's rezoning request in 2016.

IRAN (BP) -- American pastor Saeed Abedini and three other prisoners have been released from prison in Iran, according to news reports. Abedini was detained in 2012 for organizing house churches and later sentenced to eight years in prison.

CARY, N.C. (BP) -- Southern Baptist leaders are responding to the headline "God isn't fixing this" that dominated the Dec. 3 cover of the New York Daily News. Images of tweets from Republican leaders surrounded the headline, displaying sympathetic "thoughts and prayers" for the people affected by a Dec. 2 mass shooting. "I'm hard-pressed to think of a more cynical and exploitative headline at a time of national mourning," Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told the Washington Post.

GREENSBORO, N.C.(BP) -- North Carolina Baptists approved an increase to their Cooperative Program budget and affirmed a resolution addressing ministry among immigrants during their annual meeting Nov. 2-3 in Greensboro. A total of 1,518 messengers, plus 234 guests, rallied around this year's theme, "Echo: Reproducing Gospel Life in Others." The theme was taken from 2 Timothy 2:2 that describes how making disciples is a recurring process that is passed from one person to another and continues for generations: "what you have heard from me ... entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."