sharing Christ

Making Memories

U.S. soldiers battle to keep their families strong

By Janella Griggs

Walk through any major airport, and you're likely to see uniformed soldiers on their way to or from war. Often, spontaneous applause breaks out as they pass. Every now and then one will smile or appear embarrassed. Because they represent the cause of freedom, they almost seem larger than life. But sometimes, if you look closely enough, you sense a heart as heavy as the steel boots they wear.

That's why strong family relationships are so critical to the success of military personnel both in combat and at home. Chaplain Major Charlie Reynolds, 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Ft. Drum in New York, says that family cohesion is a crucial element of brigade combat readiness. "When soldiers have solid relationships with their families before they deploy, they'll be more effective."

Chaplain Reynolds devised a plan that would help the bond between parent/soldier and child plus make memories for a lifetime.

Like most chaplains, he's resourceful. He tracked down a buddy from his seminary days, Dr. John LaNoue, retired director of Texas High School Baptist Men, now serving as pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Corsicana, Texas. They planned a weekend for deployable soldiers to spend quality time with their sons.

Enter Sons of Virtue from the North American Mission Board, a study on the biblical character virtues of loyalty, friendship, courage, responsibility, honesty, faith, compassion, perseverance, teamwork and self-discipline. Designed to help shape the next generation of men and to draw together the hearts of fathers and sons, it was an ideal resource for what soon became an annual weekend event for Chaplain Reynolds and Dr. LaNoue, even as the chaplain was transferred to two other bases.

The program was so successful and demand so high, in 2005 they held two retreats. At each, they gave copies of Sons of Virtue to the soldiers who attended and based their teaching and weekend activities on it.

Making memories

In one weekend, soldiers and their sons can make memories that will last a lifetime. In fact, when Chaplain Reynolds and Dr. LaNoue look out at the attendees, they see women and men bringing daughters as well as sons. Again, being resourceful, they're adapting the weekend activities to the realities of military deployment.

Dr. LaNoue is no stranger to war zones. "I've been where these soldiers are going." He took a group of Baptist men to Iran to feed 14,500 Kurdish refugees plus excursions to North Korea and Sri Lanka. "Soldiers who come through combat and are best able to integrate back into their families are the ones with a strong base of faith."

One fun event is when soldiers lead their kids through an obstacle course. The two leaders capitalize on showing the second generation that their soldier parents are heroes in the eyes of a grateful nation.

The most moving part of the Father/Son Weekend is called the "Blessing." Parents give each child a verbal account of how much they love and value them, citing characteristics they're proud of and appreciate. It's a memory these kids will keep forever.

The time together is even more poignant as soldiers prepare to deploy in 2006 for the war against global terrorism. The unspoken reality is that "some of these parents may not come home," Chaplain Reynolds says. But for this weekend, there's no war-terrorism takes a back seat to family relations. And at this moment, the children are the center of the universe. They're making lasting memories that will carry them through when dad or mom is away.

Janella Griggs is a writer living in Montogomery, Alabama.

volunteering in missions

When disaster strikes, churches strike back

The need to help Katrina victims was apparent in Cumming, Georgia, less than a week after the disaster. Dozens of families had moved to the area with little more than the clothes on their backs. They had lost everything and probably wouldn't be returning to the Gulf coast any time soon. When North Lanier Baptist Church heard about this, they stepped into action. Members cleared and cleaned out an old house they'd used for storage so a family could live there. They partnered with an elementary school gathering supplies. And they took up an offering to help with financial burdens of property damage and other material loss. All said, the church gathered more than $25,000 and mobilized a dozen volunteers to assist Lacombe Baptist Church in Lacombe, Louisiana-right near the banks of Lake Pontchartrain. The team delivered truckloads of supplies from water and food to personal hygiene items. At that point more than a thousand people a day were seeking supplies at the church. The load of supplies was gone in 30 minutes.

"Our mission statement is to love God completely and love others compassionately. Our vision statement is that all may know and grow in Christ," says North Lanier lead pastor Hutch Matteson. "We felt this was an opportunity to fulfill both of these."

Members plan to take as many trips as needed to finish the job of restoring Lacombe Baptist Church and its community.
Churches such as North Lanier are finding ways of grouping their resources to help Katrina victims through Adopt A Church, an initiative developed by the North American Mission Board. For more information on adopting a church affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes, visit www.namb.net/dr.

volunteering in missions/sharing Christ

My Turn Disaster Relief White Hat-Pascagoula, Mississippi Operation Center

Providing a glimpse of hope

By Kay Cassibry

I arrived in Pascagoula the day after Katrina to a beautiful and sad scene. Like other smaller cities along the Gulf coast, this Mississippi community was easily lost in the shadow of devastation found in New Orleans and larger Mississippi cities. News coverage had barely touched the area, but Katrina certainly had.

The pastor and staff of First Baptist Church and their families had found refuge in the church and were trying to offer support to 15 other families who had lost their homes. The pastor said he and his family watched their belongings swept out the front door and into the flood.

People sauntered directionless to the church wearing blank and hopeless looks reminiscent of those I'd seen in Indonesia as I worked disaster relief in the tsunami aftermath. They were so confused, they couldn't decide which door to walk through. Without question, Katrina was the tsunami all over again on Mississippi's coastal areas. In 11 years of working disaster relief, I've not seen such widespread devastation.

And yet, as Mississippi Baptist Convention Executive Director James Futral has said following Katrina, "the darker the night, the brighter the light." In Pascagoula we saw this light as food units from Georgia and medical units from Texas and Mississippi rolled in. In a matter of two days we had several hundred people fed and loaded with supplies. Within two weeks, DR chaplains had led to Christ an average of five people a day as they waited in supply lines. And here's another miracle. The Georgia DR food unit was
a meal away from empty. Their supply order was late in arriving. Many hungry people were relying on us for meals. But as anyone who's seen God pull through in the most desperate of circumstances, we prayed and waited, and our miracle came. The next day disaster relief personnel from the Maryland-Delaware Convention -personnel trained by Mississippi DR (now that's providence!)-arrived with food donated by a restaurant owner. The food stuff was almost identical to the delayed food order.

Acts of love continued for weeks as believers who'd lost their homes ministered to fellow Katrina victims. Stranded businessmen pitched in. People who would have been happy with only a hot meal and shelter received genuine love and, as needed, a listening ear. And what's been most encouraging is to see how Southern Baptist Disaster Relief stands out from most other organizations of its type. We are some of the few who are able to offer-in addition to medical help, hot meals, supplies and shelter-a glimpse of the hope found in Christ.

Kay Cassibry is WMU director for the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board.

impacting the culture

New Church
See you at the movies

Ridge Stone Church
Canton, Georgia

Location: Riverstone Carmike Cinema

attendance: 340

Target Audience: Young, unchurched families

Senior Pastor: Gary Lamb

Pastor's path: A Georgia native, Gary Lamb planted Heartland Church in Ames, Iowa, in the winter of 2001. After he started Heartland on a building program and helped find a pastor, he felt called back to Georgia to start a new kind of church. "I believe that a new type of church-something nontraditional-would reach out to those who have been burned by church or given up on church."
a Brief History: A daughter congregation of West Ridge Church in Hiram, Georgia, one-year-old Ridge Stone reaches in the northwest Atlanta suburbs people of all backgrounds to worship God in a contemporary, casual and relevant environment. "We chose Canton because it is one of the fastest growing areas in Georgia. We saw it as an area where we could make a difference."

contact: www.ridgestonechurch.com or 770-345-2737

Tell His

Siteseeing...
www.namb.net/dr Go here for updates on disaster relief efforts, to

Siteseeing...

www.namb.net/dr Go here for updates on disaster relief efforts, to read accounts of what God is doing through volunteers on the Gulf and other disaster sites and to find out how to give time, tithe and talent to Katrina and other disaster relief.

www.uncommondescent.com On the weblog of philosopher and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor William Dembski, you'll find the responses of a well-respected scholar to some tough questions about the origins of life.

www.imb.org A good destination as you pray, give and consider going in response to God's call to reach the international community abroad. Here you'll find updates on the international mission, creative ways of missions giving and inspiring stories of God's work in the hearts of people around the world.

www.narniaontour.com Part of www.thematthewshouseproject.com, this website will introduce you to all things Narnia including dates of Narnia On Tour visiting more than 30 cities throughout the U.S. This is also a good site to pass along to your skeptic friends.

www.answeringinfidels.com The Christian web response to infidels.org, answeringinfidels provides truth seekers with reason and truth amid unreasonable skepticism. With essays by philosophers, former atheists and Christian thinkers, this is a place to challenge the mind with objective though reasoned truth.

Now that's an idea--outrageously practical

Cheaper gas

In the throes of a gas shortage, North Park Community Church in Trussville, Alabama, decided to partner with a gas station and shave several cents off the cost of gas. Let's say gas is $3/gallon. North Park will advertise a gas buy-down one day for a certain period of time, the gas station manager will drop the price let's say to $2.50, and North Park will pay the difference. At the end of the day, customers are happy because of the price, the business is happy because of the traffic, and more people learn that your church can make a difference in their lives.

Free wrapping

Here's a good way to wrap up the year with servant evangelism: wrap up your community's Christmas gifts. Providing a gift-wrapping service is a great way to lighten the load of shoppers during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. North Park took on the community outreach project two years ago. From year one to year two, the number of people wanting their gifts wrapped doubled. If you don't have enough paper and ribbon for the entire community, or, if the man-power and -hours just aren't there, pick a certain store during Christmas and offer to do free gift wrapping for its customers. While volunteers are wrapping, they can share with customers the reason they celebrate Christmas. You might want to have information about your church available to hand out. Location is everything. Pick a spot that's convenient for shoppers. Providing a place for shoppers to relax and get off their feet is a plus.

Ideas for the New Year

Create a mission plan for 2006 using an Acts 1:8 strategy (www.ActsOne8.com)-
providing opportunities for members to reach their community, state, continent and international areas. Host a Valentine's banquet expressing your love for a people group by adopting, praying for and going to the people group in North America and internationally. Visit www.peoplegroups.org to find a people group or contact your associational office for more information.
Celebrate the Week of Prayer for North American (www.AnnieArmstrong.com) and International (ime.imb.org/LottieMoon) missions by creating a week of prayer bulletin board featuring missionary bios, location descriptions and photos. Members are reminded and can pray as they're walking through the church halls. You might also post similar reminders in Sunday school classrooms.

Send us your church's outreach ideas!
On Mission magazine
4200 North Point Pkwy
Alpharetta, GA 30022
amiller@namb.net

Top Picks

Voices of the Faithful (Integrity, 2005) by Beth Moore is a collection of daily devotionals written by Moore and International Mission Board missionaries. Don't let the word "devotional" fool you into thinking these are cute anecdote-fueled, feel-good theological shorts. Voices provides a view through the eyes of missionaries living by faith as they take the gospel to the frontlines. Not only do these deep one-pagers inform us about the world, but they inspire us to go out and reach it for Christ.

Pop Goes Religion (W, 2005) by Terry Mattingly explores how religion affects popular media, how popular media affects religion and how American culture is affected by both. "If you study the statistics, the typical modern American is much more likely to be exposed to a new religious insight or doctrine at the mall or the movie multiplex than in a traditional sanctuary," writes Mattingly. "This is how modern Americans spend their time, spend their money and make their decisions. Day by day, they have evolved into mass-media disciples."

Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God (Crossway, 2005) by Noel Piper tells the stories of five ordinary women-Sarah Edwards, Lilias Trotter, Gladys Aylward, Esther Ahn Kim and Helen Roseveare-who trusted in their extraordinary God as He led them to do great things for His kingdom.

When Worldviews Collide (Lifeway, 2005) by Ergun Caner is a seven-week worldview workshop including CD-ROM, DVD and workbook that help Christians decipher the beliefs of the "olive-skinned" people living in North America-Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and Muslims. A self-proclaimed "olive-skinned," Ergun, a former Muslim, offers a new approach to understanding and confronting other belief systems with gentleness and respect.

Facing Terror (Integrity, 2005) by Carrie McDonnall tells the story in vivid, beautiful detail of her and her husband's lives in Iraq and the tragic sacrifice they made reaching the Muslim people.  Both IMB aid workers, McDonnall's husband was killed in an insurgent ambush March 15, 2004.

Extraordinary Leadership for Everyday People (Insight Internation, 2005) by Chuck Allen and Benj Smith outlines the essentials to knowing and doing God's will. Offering precepts on calling, contentment, character, crafting and coaching others, Allen and Smith, both business and organizational leaders, share candidly and biblically about leadership roles for everyone in every station of life.

In the Beginning God Created...The Country Church (Resource Publications, 2005) by Butch Ikels tells the story of The Country Church in Marion, Texas, where the author, a church planter, saw God reach "plain ole country folk" in a county of 1,100 people. A touching, down-to-earth and instructing tale, The Country Church is a thin volume with big miracles.

The Judge Who Stole Christmas (WaterBrook, 2005) by Randy Singer is the story of a showdown between a Christian father determined to set up a traditional manger scene in his town square and a judge equally determined to stop him. It's a fun story (not a political track or legal brief by this award-winning author of legal thrillers), but it takes the reader on a surprising journey to the heart of Christmas.