‘We will gather in hope’

The following is from CBF field personnel Nancy and Steve James who serve in Haiti.

It has been two months since the earthquake on Jan 12, 2010 in Haiti. No one ever gets used to the devastation of home or the loss of family friends or livelihood, but what we have observed on our visits to Port Au Prince that the people are trying to carry on in spite of great hardships. Many are buying and selling, around the ruble that remains of homes and businesses, schools that were not damaged are opening. Tent cities have sprung up everywhere but others are living in lean-tos that are very unstable.

Taking the lead from a child

I am always amazed and inspired by children who “get it” and do something that makes a difference in the lives of others. Sometimes ”getting it” happens on their own, but often it happens because adults saw the giftedness and value within those children and gave them permission and opportunity to do something with their gifts. Here is an awesome story of the adults and children at North Broad Baptist Church in Rome, Ga., who, inspired by their study in Spark, took on a project last fall that ultimately led to them helping the people of Haiti.

Dueling Disasters-Haiti vs. Chile

The title of this blog post may seem flippant. That is not my intent. In our fast paced, media driven society we are oftentimes ruled by our computers and TVs, whatever catches and holds our attention, captures our hearts and wallets. Unfortunately, as soon as another breaking story occurs our attention spans break with it. The recent plague of natural disasters has made this all too evident.

Tent cities like this one have continued to spring up throughout Haiti.

As the waves of earthquakes began, a wave of volunteers followed. During a time of year when group applications normally trickle in for various summer projects and engagement options, the short-term office saw a surge in the number of willing applicants. Individuals and congregations also responded through monetary gifts as well. We found that we could not get information updated fast enough. People wanted to hear from us, they wanted to know what they could do. This remained true for over a month. Then the Chilean earthquake struck, and then the one in Turkey. Landslides in Uganda were also in the news. And just this past week, another 6.9 aftershock has once again shook Chile. How can anyone possibly keep up with this devastating news? How can we respond? In what order? How do you prioritize when the need is so great and so widespread?

‘Making good progress to receive teams’

Tents are part of the base of operations for response in Haiti.

The following is a report from Scott Hunter, a CBF short-term worker in Haiti who is working with CBF field personnel Nancy and Steve James on long-term recovery efforts:

We are settling in at Grand Guave and are making good progress to receive teams.  The only major task left is to get the water tower up and the shower toilet set ups in the base.  The rest is good to go.  The new tents are fantastic and we have enjoyed the dinning flys, except we learned not to leave the trash in the tents overnight, the dogs got in making a hole in the mesh which we can fix.

 

Samaritans Purse Came in yesterday and did about two weeks worth of work for us with a track hoe and trucks hauled off the rubble.  So the first teams will not be doing much demolition and we can go straight to construction.

General Assembly is My Favorite Form of Social Networking

Are you one of those addicted to the new life found through various forms of social networking? I find it amazing how small the world has become now that, with a simple search, I can find old friends and connect in ways that are still relevant even though we live miles apart and, often, in different hemispheres.

Well, I’ve just read my Facebook and find myself experiencing a warm, fuzzy feeling after being reminded of the many people who have been so important in my journey. Today, I certainly had my fill of laughs and was moved by the concern of others for my welfare.

I signed off, and as I did, I asked myself, “When was the last time I had this sense of communal bonding?”

I thought on it a minute and then went to work – time to continue planning for … General Assembly! That’s it.

A church’s compelling vision for Haiti

The following story is from Charles Ray, CBF National Disaster Response Coordinator and CBF Arkansas’ Special Projects Coordinator.

A few years ago I introduced Walt Barfield to Millard Fuller.  Since then Walt

Walt Barfield, pastor of Cornerstone Church

has stayed in touch with the Fuller Center.  I didn’t know that.  Walt is the pastor of a small Evangelical church in the Arkansas lake country, north of Little Rock.  On a good Sunday Cornerstone Church may have 30 in worship.  Cornerstone is not a CBF church, nor is it Baptist.  Nevertheless, it was the first church to make a donation to CBF-AR two years ago when a killer tornado hit the church’s area.  Walt and Liz are faithful givers to CBF.

I just sat in on a global meeting.

Our Global Missions program is doing some heavy thinking about our future.  People have been interviewed as well as organizations re: which dreams and vision, or advice, they have for CBF in the future and now groups of engaged people are working out plans to take our group down this road into the future.  It’s pretty cool.  This morning a group of about 8 people sat in a conference room in Atlanta listening to a speaker phone and viewing an extensive document via a computer and projector.

Approaches to Long Term Community Development

Development and change in communities occur whether we want them to or not. But by taking a proactive approach to development, we can look at different models for change and begin to pick and choose the ideas that we think might be the most helpful for our work or ministry. This is nothing new. Churches and ministries have been looking at the field of community development for a long time, but the application of these principles is sometimes hit and miss.

As Together for Hope (TFH) seeks to work alongside communities, we try to operate from a framework that is focused on the local capacities of the community, with a desire to connect with residents around their area of passion or interest. Often, churches who have similar gifts or interests find ways of developing relationships with these local communities. Along the way, we have the opportunity to see our rural neighbors in a different light, one that acknowledges their unique giftedness, and at the same time form relationships that result in needs like home repair or literacy that may be present being addressed as well.

Visiting with the Saints

If you have ever been asked to help plan a church service, you’ve probably experienced the type of writer’s block associated with creating an order of worship where you sit and stare at a blank sheet of paper or computer screen thinking to yourself, “Where do I begin?”

David Bolin

With the debut of the Celebrating Grace Hymnal this week comes a new online tool called The Worship Matrix™ to help worship planners “visit with the Saints” and other church members social-networking style to create a meaningful worship experience.

Baptists and the light we shed

This post is the transcript of the message by Rob Nash presented at the Jewish-Baptist Dialogue March 2 at the Atlanta Food Bank. The event was co-sponsored by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia and the American Jewish Committee of Atlanta.

You’ve given me an impossible task tonight—but not for the reasons you think.  Obviously, I speak today as a Baptist and so I only speak for myself. By the time I finish my remarks today, every Baptist in the room will have disagreed with me at some point if not with my entire presentation.  We Baptists are both blessed and cursed by this reality.  No Baptist can really speak for any other Baptist.  No Baptist church can tell another Baptist church what to believe, think or do.  Bill Clinton is Baptist, Jerry Falwell was Baptist, Martin Luther King, Jr. was Baptist, Charles Stanley is Baptist.