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One year after tornado, rebuild team puts families in new homes

Meredith Flynn —  December 22, 2014

NEWS | Meredith Flynn

“Our town is starting to come back,” said Pastor David Siere. For a year, he has watched Brookport, Ill., recover from a tornado that destroyed several homes and killed three people in Massac County, located at the southern tip of the state.

The storm hit on a Sunday afternoon, part of a tornado outbreak that wreaked havoc all over the state. Siere’s church, First Baptist in Brookport, sits next to a mobile home park that was almost completely destroyed, he said.

But Brookport is rebuilding, and Siere and his church are playing an integral role in the process. The town is starting to look a lot better, he said, and “we’re praising God for what He’s done so far.”

Brookport_1_1222

The Massac Pope County Recovery Committee has helped rebuild five homes since a tornado tore through the region last November. Nine more new houses are under construction. Photo from MPCRC Facebook page

Immediately after the tornado, FBC became Brookport’s ground zero for storm recovery. A ministry facility they had built in 2011 across the parking lot from the main building housed donated food, water and clothing. The pastor sees God’s provision in that building—“I don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t had it.”

Illinois Disaster Relief teams moved quickly into the area to cut down damaged trees and visit with shaken residents. About a week after the tornado, Siere was approached by a city leader about being part of a long-term recovery team. Two of his church members, Bob Craig and Jerry Muniz, also joined the Massac & Pope County Recovery Committee.

So far, volunteer groups working through MPCRC have built five houses in Brookport, and nine more are in process. In August, the first homeowners moved in, including Clark Blasdel, who said he had never been through anything as bad as the tornado, and had never had anything as good happen to him as his new home.

“It’s unbelievable. I’m happy,” Blasdel told WPSD in Paducah, Ky.

The work of the committee is funded through grants and donations, combined with money provided to residents by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Their goal is two-fold: To provide housing for people who were displaced after the tornado, and to make Brookport a better place to live. In doing so, the team, which includes members of local churches, is also looking out for the spiritual well-being of their town.

“We keep God at the center of it, and I think that’s what makes a difference,” said Craig, noting that without God, it would be difficult to keep a sweet, loving attitude. The committee’s meetings start with prayer and Scripture reading, and they recently sponsored a “gospel sing” on the one-year anniversary of the
storm.

Craig, who pastored FBC Brookport before Siere, told around 200 attenders that with all the safety precautions people take—like storm shelters and weather radios—there’s a greater safety to be found in Christ. “You might not make it through another circumstance like this, and you need to have that provision taken care of,” he said.

When asked if there are stories from the past year that stand out, Craig recalls one young man whose mobile home rolled over several times during the storm, even as his wife and child were inside. They were bruised and banged up, Craig said, but survived. And the young man gave his heart to Christ.

“It was such a thrill, because it was a son-in-law of a long-time brother in Christ that I’ve known many years.”

To God be the glory
After the tornado, Siere was unsure what to put on the church sign, in light of everyone who had done so much to help Brookport. He settled on a simple message: “Thank you, everybody.”

Certainly, many are thanking the church in return. All of the houses built through the recovery committee have been constructed by volunteer workers, and those workers are fed at the church through the efforts of a woman from Metropolis who coordinates the meals. She was looking for a way to help and, Siere
said, “God led her here.”

The volunteer teams have slowed down for the winter; one group is scheduled for late December and one in January. But as the weather warms up, the committee expects more people will come to help.

When they started a year ago, eight houses was set as a goal, Siere said, and “God has seen fit for us to do a lot more than that.” The number 23 has come up, but whether or not the committee is able to see that many projects through, they want to help as many people as possible get a place to live.

Ultimately, he said, they want God to get the glory.

“We meet once a week still, here at the church, and as we’re seeing things happen, we just thank God because it has to be a God thing.”

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Home is here and the time is now

nateadamsibsa —  December 1, 2014

HEARTLAND | Nate Adams

Recently Chicagoland church planter Dave Andreson was addressing a group of mostly college students on the subject of how to pray for your community. I was there primarily because our son Noah was hosting the meeting at his church, Calvary Baptist in Elgin.

Nate_Adams_blog_callout_Dec1Most of the students were from Judson University there in Elgin, where IBSA is developing a church planting partnership. Dave spoke pointedly to them. “If you’re not currently praying for your community, let me tell you why that probably is,” he said. “It’s because you haven’t really taken ownership of this community. You think of your community as the place that you’re from, or where your family lives. You figure you’re just here for a few years, going to school, so why bother? In the meantime, many of the people you will meet here desperately need to know Jesus Christ.”

I winced with conviction at the truth of Dave’s observation, and not just for college students. Sadly, I’ve known people who seem to have the mindset that their situation is temporary, and as a result they seem to be just biding their time spiritually.

“Oh we just came here for Bill’s job, but we’ll be going back home eventually,” they sometimes say. And yet when asked how long they’ve lived there, the answer is often twenty or thirty years.

Or, “When our kids are older and life slows down some, we may have more time to do missions or help with outreach.” Especially in today’s ever-changing and mobile society, we cannot wait until our situations are more “permanent” to take ownership of our communities. That day may never come.

Dave went on to speak of the passion that Jesus had for a city, and for a crowd, and for a man named Zacchaeus. He urged us to be like Jesus and see our city, and our crowds, and the God-created individuals around us with spiritual eyes. And he invited us to pray with him for Avondale, the Chicago neighborhood that he has now made his home, and where he is seeking to plant a new church. Avondale is a community of only two square miles, yet 40,000 people live there. It has no Baptist church, and little if any evangelical witness.

Dave challenged us all that night to take ownership of our communities, wherever we find ourselves, and to do it now. We can’t wait for more permanent or ideal circumstances. People need prayer, and relationship, and the Gospel message.

His challenge reminded me of a time that our family ate at a fast food restaurant, when our boys were still little. Though the employees were working hard, the dinner rush had overwhelmed them and more than half of the tables were a mess while the trashcans overflowed. So as we left, I asked our boys to help me clear the rest of the tables in the restaurant, in addition to our own. “But Dad, we don’t work here!” one of them cried. And yet because I asked them to, they helped me take responsibility for other people’s messes, there in our temporary community.

As we enter another Christmas season and begin reflecting on the birth of Christ, let us remember that Jesus willingly entered our world and made it His home. He “became flesh and dwelt among us.” He saw us in our sorry state, and paid the price to clean up the mess of our sin that he didn’t make.

So let’s enter in and spiritually invest in our own communities, even now. Let’s take ownership of where we live, even if it doesn’t feel permanent, or even if it’s in a difficult place like the Avondale neighborhood of Chicago. Our community, wherever it is, is our mission field. Home is here, and the time is now.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

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The Briefing: Annual meeting of Illinois Baptists this week

Meredith Flynn —  November 4, 2014

The_BriefingTHE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

The Illinois Baptist State Association’s Annual Meeting and Pastors’ Conference is in Springfield this week, beginning today at 1 p.m. Check our blog for coverage throughout the week, or at Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist and Twitter.com/IllinoisBaptist.

“Parents, love your LGBT or same-sex attracted children and point them to a life of costly discipleship following Jesus,” Christopher Yuan told attendees at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s National Conference last week. The Moody Bible Institute professor’s journey out of a lifestyle of addiction, which included same-sex relationships, was shaped by the love of his Christian parents, The Christian Post reported.

After same-sex marriage became legal in their state Oct. 10, six magistrates in North Carolina stepped down rather than be required to preside over same-sex marriages, the Christian Examiner reported. “For me to do what the state said I had to do, under penalty of law, I would have to go against my convictions, and I was not willing to do that,” said Magistrate Gayle Myrick. “I want to honor what the Word says.”

Theologian R.C. Sproul said “the pervasive influence of humanism” is evident in a new survey produced by LifeWay Research and commissioned by Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries. The online survey of 3,000 Americans asked 43 questions about faith, covering topics from sin and salvation to the Bible and the afterlife.

It was announced last week that the network of 13 Mars Hill churches founded by recently resigned pastor Mark Driscoll will dissolve by the beginning of 2015. According to a Christianity Today report, the churches have three options: become independent, merge with an existing church, or disband.

Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore is one of the speakers set to address a Vatican colloquium on marriage and family later this month. The religious groups that will be represented certainly have their differences, Moore blogged, and the meeting won’t change that reality. “That said, I am willing to go anywhere, when asked, to bear witness to what we as evangelical Protestants believe about marriage and the gospel, especially in times in which marriage is culturally imperiled.”

 

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What Jonathan Edwards meant by ‘extraordinary prayer’

Meredith Flynn —  October 27, 2014

And why it matters to Baptists now

HEARTLAND | Eric Reed

After his election as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd has called Southern Baptists to prayer, but not just any prayer—extraordinary prayer. The phrase is not original to Floyd, as he stated from the start. It’s almost 300 years old.

Credit Jonathan Edwards, the Puritan preacher with poor eyesight who often read from a manuscript his most famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

Floyd adopted the term “extraordinary prayer” from a book by Edwards called “An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God’s People, in Extraordinary

Prayer, for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth, Pursuant to Scripture Promises and Prophecies Concerning the Last Time.” (Titling was not their strong suit in the 18th century.)

But what did he mean by extraordinary prayer?

The 2014 IBSA Annual Meeting theme is Mission Illinois: A Concert of Prayer. For more information, go to IBSA.org/ibsa2014.

Mission Illinois: A Concert of Prayer is the theme of the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Baptist State Association. For more information, go to IBSA.org/ibsa2014.

From Zechariah, Edwards drew a picture of prayer that would result first in revival of the church, then awakening and regeneration of lost people. “God’s people will be given a spirit of prayer,” Edwards wrote, “inspiring them to come together and pray in an extraordinary manner, that He would help his Church, show mercy to mankind in general, pour out his Spirit, revive His work, and advance His kingdom in the world as He promised.

“Moreover, such prayer would gradually spread and increase more and more, ushering in a revival of religion.”

Edwards offered an example he had witnessed personally. In 1744, a group of ministers in Scotland called on believers to engage in prayer. “They desired a true revival in all parts of Christendom, and to see nations delivered from their great and many calamities, and to bless them with the unspeakable benefits of the Kingdom of our glorious Redeemer, and to fill the whole earth with His glory.”

The group pledged to pray every Saturday evening, Sunday morning, and all day on the first Tuesday of each quarter—for two years.

During that time, many churches were renewed. In one town alone, 30 groups of young people formed and committed themselves to prayer for revival. Buoyed by the results, the ministers sent 500 letters to pastors in New England urging their own two-year commitment.

Edwards noted: “Those ministers in Boston said of this proposal: ‘The motion seems to come from above, and to be wonderfully spreading in Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland and North America.’”

And they extended the two-year pledge to seven years of prayer.

Edwards, who with George Whitefield and others, was at the heart of the First Great Awakening, cited prayer as vital to the movement of God’s spirit in the colonies.

Extraordinary prayer sidebar

 

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Campers on Mission: A traveling band in search of ways to help

Meredith Flynn —  October 13, 2014
Gary Watson works on a carpentry project outside Light of Christ in East St. Louis, where a group of Illinois Campers on Mission served for a week in August.

Gary Watson works on a carpentry project outside Light of Christ in East St. Louis, where a group of Illinois Campers on Mission served for a week in August.

HEARTLAND | Meredith Flynn

The three-year-old sleeping in Leroy Burnett’s lap hardly stirred as he talked at a lunch table at Light of Christ Church. Burnett and his wife are in East St. Louis with their fellow Campers on Mission to work on a variety of projects in this hulking building on the corner of Cleveland Avenue and 16th Street. But during lunch, Pastor Barnicio Cureton’s daughter, Chloe, has found a comfortable spot for a nap.

“You’ve got your work cut out for you,” Irma Burnett told her husband.

Leroy Burnett adds “LOCC” lettering to the outside of the church’s building.

Leroy Burnett adds “LOCC”
lettering to the outside of the church’s building.

It’s a far cry from what Burnett was doing a few hours ago—affixing new lettering above an entryway in the church’s courtyard. The Campers came here ready to fix an electrical issue in the kitchen, add new signage outside and inside the building, pour a sidewalk to the parking lot, and complete various other projects. Plus, prepare all their meals and drive back and forth every day from the Collinsville church where they’re parked for the week.

“There’s no way this group of old people can get this done,” said Jan Kragness, who, with her husband, Don, is a regular volunteer with the Campers. “But one way or another…”

Judging from the projects they took on here, it does indeed “get done.”

They show up
Campers on Mission got its start in Illinois in 1975, when charter members formed the state’s chapter of a national Southern Baptist fellowship of campers. Irma Burnett’s parents were involved from the beginning, and Leroy traveled with them to projects during the 1980’s. The Burnetts, who are members of First Baptist Church in Morton, have been steady participants with the Campers since 2002, Leroy said.

Lois Dodson and Karen Watson clean up after lunch at Light of Christ Church.

Lois Dodson and Karen Watson clean up after lunch at Light of Christ Church.

The group, comprised of volunteers from around the state, hold annual work weeks at the Baptist Children’s Home in Carmi and IBSA’s camps in northern and southern Illinois. Usually, they’re at Streator in the spring and Lake Sallateeska in the fall. But due to a scheduling change this year, the Campers worked at the southern Illinois camp last October and this April, meaning they played a key role in Sallateeska’s extensive renovation campaign.

“During those two trips, they helped tear down the old camp store and game room; they helped frame a front porch on the dining hall; they helped insulate the new dining area; and helped put some of the log siding on,” said Camp Manager Philip Hall.

“Overall, they’ve been a phenomenal help for us in our ministry here over the past year.”

The Campers also help local churches with building or improvement projects, like this one at Light of Christ. Earlier this year, they installed siding at Beaucoup Baptist Church in Pinckneyville. “Usually all we ask is a place to park our camper, have water and electricity,” said Leroy Burnett, who serves as the group’s project coordinator.

The group generally works from April to September, while the weather is RV-friendly. But bringing a camper isn’t a requirement; churches often allow the volunteers to use their facilities while they serve there or nearby. Most of the volunteers are retired, but not everyone. The official roll of 30 to 40 Campers on Mission includes two bivocational pastors and a married couple in their 20s, Burnett said.

When Gary and Karen Watson were first exploring what they would need to do to join Campers on Mission, the response was, “Just show up,” Karen remembered. Standing in the gym at the church, she talked about the group’s camaraderie, which she experienced first-hand after her open heart surgery last year. The Campers were among the first to minister to her family after the surgery, Watson said. “That gives me goose bumps.”

Later on this afternoon in East St. Louis, Watson goes on a back-to-school shopping trip for two boys living at the homeless shelter housed at the church. A few weeks later, she and Gary helped deliver bunk beds for the boys, who were sharing a twin bed.

Whatever it takes to share the light of Christ.

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Messengers called to pray at Springfield annual meeting

Meredith Flynn —  October 6, 2014

Revival in churches and spiritual awakening needed in Illinois

NEWS | Eric Reed

ConcertofPrayeropenartweb_edited-2“It is good for us to draw nigh unto God in prayer,” Charles Spurgeon urged his contemporaries 150 years ago. “Our minds are grieved to see so little attention given to united prayer by many churches.”

His words sound familiar today.

“I believe we need to cry out to God for spiritual awakening in our state, and for revival in our churches,” said Nate Adams, executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association, calling on messengers to the IBSA Annual Meeting to come prepared for a “Concert of Prayer.”

“I believe many pastors and church leaders across Illinois are working tirelessly every week, with Great Commission hearts and toward Kingdom purposes. I know our IBSA staff are,” Adams said. “Yet our impact is not keeping pace with the increasing lostness of Illinois.

“So at the Wednesday evening session of this year’s Annual Meeting, we are choosing to focus less on what we have been doing, and more on asking God to do what only He can.”

The call for prayer for revival and spiritual awakening in Illinois, in development over a period of months, appears to be part of a larger work God is doing among Southern Baptists. Seemingly independent of each other, special prayer meetings have arisen in several neighboring states.

And SBC President Ronnie Floyd called pastors together for prayer on several occasions prior to his election. “No great movement of God ever occurs without first being preceded by the extraordinary prayer of God’s people,” Floyd said.

“I really believe that the real key to the future of our entire nation and the church of Jesus Christ in America and beyond is if the United States, the church of the United States has a major spiritual awakening.”

The state of our state

The entire Annual Meeting will be permeated by prayer, leading to a special Concert of Prayer on Wednesday evening. Following the pattern in Isaiah 6:1-8, messengers will be guided through a cycle of prayer:

  • Lament
  • Repent
  • Intercede
  • Commit

“We don’t lament anymore,” Adams observed. It’s not characteristic of evangelical culture to identify our sins and wail over them as the Jews do, or to pound our chest as the Orthodox do. Given the grievous sins of our culture and our nation today, a period of lament will require that we identify them, then think about them for a while before rushing to repentance.

The Isaiah cycle leads pray-ers to repent of their own sins and the sins of the nation, as Isaiah did when confessing the “unclean lips” of himself and his people.

A season of intercession for the lost will bring the needs of Illinois before God and His people, and ultimately, the need for God’s people to commit afresh to renewal of their service and seeking the salvation of lost people.

The musical group Veritas will help guide the phases in the Concert of Prayer, with seasons of worship at the beginning and end.

“Frankly, it’s uncomfortable for me personally to devote the core of our IBSA Annual Meeting to worship and prayer time where we simply gather and ask God to move in our hearts,” Adams said. “I’m a planner and a doer, and our Wednesday night sessions are usually well programmed. But this year our primary program is prayer. May the Lord honor our desire to hear specially from Him.”

For a complete preview of the IBSA Annual Meeting and Pastors’ Conference, go to www.IBSA.org.ibsa2014.

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Gifts that keep on giving

nateadamsibsa —  September 29, 2014

HEARTLAND | Nate Adams

Years ago when I worked in Christian magazine publishing, one of my jobs was to help write headlines for our subscription promotions. Almost every Christmas, we would go back to the tried and true headline, “Give the gift that keeps on giving.”

With one act of generosity you could send your gift recipients magazines several times throughout the coming year. It was a gift that allowed people to give over and over and over again.

In the days ahead, I believe that principle of year-round giving is something that we as Illinois Baptists need to apply more and more to the needs of our Illinois mission field. For one thing, those needs are now greater than ever.

Nate_Adams_blog_calloutAs I mentioned in my last column, North American Mission Board funding shifts have necessitated that IBSA absorb full responsibility for our state WMU and Women’s Ministry Director, for other missions positions and initiatives that are not specifically church planting, and for funding that assists local associations. We have also received notice that areas such as collegiate ministry, urban ministry centers, and disaster relief coordination will not be funded by NAMB in future budget years.

With Cooperative Program giving from churches currently about 4% lower than last year, it will be difficult to sustain many of these important ministries unless there is a substantial increase in gifts through the Mission Illinois Offering.

The “season of prayer” and emphasis on Illinois missions has traditionally been in September of each year. Thank you in advance for the gift you may have already given through your church this past month! But here are three additional ways that Illinois Baptists can think, pray and give through the Mission Illinois Offering, throughout the year.

1. Starting in 2015, IBSA will provide Mission Illinois Offering promotional materials starting in January, giving your church the option of promoting and receiving an offering for Illinois missions at any time during the year. This will also allow churches that have an annual missions conference to access videos and other information about Illinois missions at any time during the year.

2. Whether your church receives a formal Mission Illinois Offering or not (about half of IBSA churches do not), individuals can now give directly to the Mission Illinois Offering at any time during the year, though the IBSA website. Simply go to http://www.IBSA.org and choose “Give to MIO” from the Donate menu. This option will be especially helpful to those seeking to make an additional, tax-deductible gift before the end of the year.

3. Through the Baptist Foundation of Illinois, you can set up your own “Family Giving Fund,” sometimes referred to as a donor advised fund. It’s like a savings account for your or your family’s charitable giving. You can place money in the fund with BFI, and decide later the non-profit causes to which you want to disperse those funds.

Perhaps you want to save in order to help with the next disaster relief effort in the state. Or save to send Christmas gifts to students at the Christian Activity Center or the Baptist Children’s Home. Or maybe you want to invest in the statewide ministries of IBSA that I mentioned above, simply by directing your fund to the Mission Illinois Offering. For help setting up a
Family Giving Fund, simply contact Doug Morrow at the Baptist Foundation of Illinois (doug.morrow@baptistfoundationil.org or 217-391-3102).

Year-round giving isn’t for everyone, but if you are one of the Illinois Baptists whose heart God is stirring to give more than once a year, I hope one of these year-round options will help you do just that. Your gift to missions in Illinois is one that keeps on giving, even into eternity.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

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Meredith Flynn —  September 14, 2014

The Mission Illinois Offering and Week of Prayer, marked this week in churches across the state, focuses on ministry to kids and families. The crucial “4-14 window” is the best opportunity for churches to effectively share the gospel with the next generation. Use this daily devotion guide, and go to http://www.IBSA.org/mio for videos, stories, mission study teaching plans, and ideas for prayer and worship.

oneDay 1: Scott Kelly, Pastor, Campus Minister
A century-old house in Evanston, Ill., is a home base for ministry to students at Northwestern University. Scott and Megan Kelly and their three kids open their home on a regular basis to students who come for parties, prayer meetings, or just dinner. “The students I meet are open to speaking with me about Jesus and what the Bible says, as we meet in the dorm or over Dunkin coffee at the student center,” said Scott, who also pastors Evanston Baptist Church. “But the best conversations I have with students are when they are around my family.” Pray for Pastor Scott as he leads his church and the campus ministry at Northwestern University.

twoDay 2: Tim Sadler, IBSA Evangelism Director
IBSA churches baptized just over 5,000 people last year, but more than 400 of our churches baptized no one. Tim says, “Generous giving through the Mission Illinois Offering allows me to assist churches taking the Gospel to their mission fields. I can provide resources such as Gospel tracts and training to churches who want to reach their communities for Christ. It allows me to do customized training and strategy development for IBSA churches.” Pray for Tim and for renewed evangelism in IBSA’s 1,000 member churches.

threeDay 3: Chet Cantrell, Christian Activity Center Director
Every day after school at the Christian Activity Center, kids in East St. Louis get a healthy snack and help with their homework. They learn Bible stories and songs, play in the gym, and spend time in the computer lab. It’s a world far removed from how this street—known as a center of prostitution—used to operate. “In the early days our mission was to keep our kids alive,” said Chet Cantrell, who directs the CAC, “but our mandate was bigger than that. We want to help them thrive, so they can be what God intends them to be.” Pray for Chet, the ministry team at the Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis, and the hundreds of young lives they touch each year.

fourDay 4: Carmen Halsey, Mission Mobilization Director
There are 13 million people in Illinois, and at least 8 million of them do not know Christ. Carmen sees tremendous opportunity for the Gospel. “Our lives begin to make sense when we realize that they are a platform for God’s word to be demonstrated to others. Illinois Baptist Women are embedded into society all across our state. With our resources, we are developing women to recognize and seize everyday opportunities to share the gospel.” Pray for Carmen and Illinois Baptist Women who are mobilized to share Christ. Pray for spiritual awakening in Illinois.

fiveDay 5: Brad Pittman, Church Planter
Davis Junction in Northwest Illinois was a community of more than 3,000 people, but only one church. Until recently. In this town 15 miles south of Rockford, Brad Pittman and his family are planting Grace Fellowship Church. It’s the third location for a multi-site church that started in Ashton and also meets in Amboy.

Brad was a member of the Ashton location for 13 years before joining the staff with pastors Jeremy Horton and Brian McWethy. “We want to be an Acts 1:8 church that not only plants here locally,” he said, “but we’re going into our state, that we’re going into our nation, we’re also going into our world.” Pray for The Pittman family and all church planters in Illinois. Pray for the 322 places and people groups where new churches are needed.

sixDay 6: Chase Abner, Collegiate Evangelism Strategist
“God changed my life through a college ministry supported by IBSA,” Chase says. His salvation as a young adult at SIU Carbondale urges him forward. “Generous giving by Illinois Baptists helps me to assist churches as they reach out to students on campuses across Illinois. These campuses are home to nearly one million students. Before they leave school, we must share Christ with them.” Pray for Chase and the campus ministries he helps start and facilitate.

sevenDay 7: John Mattingly, Church Planting Catalyst
24 new churches were started in Illinois last year. And 13 are in progress in the northwestern region. “Our new church plants in northwest Illinois are building relationships that help bridge the gap of misunderstanding of who Southern Baptists are in the North,” John says. “They are also enjoying a harvest of souls that is due to the on-going relationships between planters and our established rural churches. It is a testimony of the power behind steady giving and praying.” Pray for new ministries to reach the 4 million people who live in non-urban settings in Illinois.

eightDay 8: Rex Alexander, Disaster Relief Coordinator
Rex is one of 85 IBSA missionaries, ministry staff, and church planters. This offering makes it possible for all the team to represent Christ wherever and whenever needed. “We provide opportunities for Disaster Relief workers to bring help, healing, and hope to victims of natural disasters in Illinois and North America,” Rex says. “God uses their skills, and the additional training IBSA provides, to help people physically and spiritually as they attempt to rebuild their lives.” Pray for all the IBSA team, including staff and volunteers. Pray that we will reach the $475,000 goal to keep them serving on our Illinois mission field.

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The power of praying for other churches

Meredith Flynn —  August 11, 2014

Daniel_WoodmanHEARTLAND | Daniel Woodman

Editor’s note: This column first appeared on Baptist Press (BPNews.net) as part of the Southern Baptist Convention’s call to prayer.

If you attended the Southern Baptist Convention in Baltimore or watched online, you know prayer played a big role in this year’s annual meeting. Messengers spent time praying together in the convention hall, and also adopted a resolution on praying for other churches that are struggling, “so that together…we can more effectively reach our neighbors and our nation with the Gospel.”

The resolution was a response to a growing number of churches taking action and praying for local sister churches. Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville, Ill., is one such church.

Noticing the need for unity among local churches, Emmanuel began praying for sister churches in its local Baptist association on a weekly basis. The church prays for three churches and their pastors each week, rotating the list to pray for all 27 churches in the association multiple times each year.

Church members and leaders alike began to observe a noticeable, positive impact from this prayer focus. Taking note of the cause/effect relationship of the power of praying for local churches, Emmanuel recently expanded its regular prayer list to include two church plants outside of the association.

The church prays a specific, scripted prayer for each church and pastor each week: for “the physical and spiritual protection of the pastor so that he would deliver the message that God has given them, and to lead the people with passion to reach the lost in their community.”

This scripted prayer addresses an eternal need for each church, according to Cliff Woodman, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church: “I wanted it to be a specific prayer that could apply to any church. The mission of every church is to reach the lost and make disciples.”

If more Southern Baptist churches take this kind of initiative to pray for each other and unify under the banner of Christ, then communities will come together spiritually and the Kingdom of God will expand as a result, Woodman said, citing Jesus’ words from His high priestly prayer: “I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23).

Daniel Woodman is an entering freshman journalism major at the University of Missouri and a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville.

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An especially good Sunday

nateadamsibsa —  July 28, 2014

HEARTLAND | Nate Adams

It feels like I have had more than a few challenging days of ministry recently. But today is an especially good Sunday, and I’d like to tell you about it.

I leave home very early, to drive almost 200 miles to an IBSA church where I know the pastor, but have never attended on a Sunday morning. It’s their 70th anniversary, and I have a nice plaque from IBSA to present to them. In all those regards, it’s not really an unusual Sunday.

Nate_Adams_July28What’s a little more unusual is that my wife, Beth, is traveling with me. Our youngest son Ethan is leading the worship team at our home church in Springfield, and Beth would like to be there too. But by evening we will be at the church where our middle son Noah is youth pastor, and so she has decided to come along. So it’s already an especially good Sunday.

We drive past one, two, three IBSA churches, and eventually past the one where I recall speaking three years ago when my oldest son Caleb also shared his testimony. He had just returned to the Lord after years as a prodigal. And as I realize that today my wife is with me, and that all three of our sons are worshiping and serving in an IBSA church, I realize that this is an especially good Sunday.

At the church celebrating its 70th anniversary we are greeted warmly, with appreciation for both IBSA and for our long drive that morning. I watch as an effective pastor loves his people, and they love him back. I meet a 93-year-old former church planter and pastor, who tells me he helped plant one of the first SBC churches in northern Indiana. He’s surprised I don’t recognize his former supervisor’s name, until I remind him I wasn’t born yet.

Later when I’m presenting the plaque, I tell both the 93-year-old church planter and the 70-year-old church that my wife and I are on our way, after church, to IBSA’s first “ChicaGO” student camp at Judson University. It’s a pilot church planting camp that we hope will continue to produce church planters, church plants, and eventually 70-year-old churches. And as I describe this picture of church planting across the generations – I realize that this is an especially good Sunday.

We arrive at Judson University late in the afternoon, and help greet students and chaperones from 11 different IBSA churches. Then a bus-load of IBSA All State Youth Choir students unload, and I remember they are there for a couple of days too, to join the ChicaGO mission week, and share a couple of concerts in the area.

That night the choir sings at Calvary Baptist Church in Elgin. In addition to being my mom’s and son’s church, this is also the church where Wilma and Jack Booth are members. During the concert, IBSA Worship Director Steve Hamrick reminds us that Wilma was one of the leaders that started the IBSA All State Choir 36 years ago. And as I reflect on the blessing of tomorrow’s worship leaders being equipped for churches across the generations – I realize that this is an especially good Sunday.

I will have to wait until my next column to tell you about the “week in the life of church planters” that follows this special Sunday. But let me punctuate this account by telling you that as the All State Youth Choir led us in singing “Jesus Messiah,” I found my eyes welling up with tears. God was reminding me that, though there will be challenging days, He is steadfastly building churches and growing leaders across the state and across the generations here in Illinois. And whenever I can see that as clearly as I do today, well, it’s an especially good Sunday.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

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