Camps for boys:

• Crusaders and

Challengers (RA) Camp

• Lad and Dad Weekend

What would you like to highlight about your camps for Illinois Baptists?

RA Camp gives boys an opportunity to learn about missions and the Cooperative Program as they meet and have fellowship with a "real live missionary" every day. They learn about mission needs and about what God is doing through our Southern Baptist missionaries around the world. They also get an introduction to different cultures and customs among Christians in other parts of the world. This helps them to sense the reality of the worldwide fellowship we have in Christ. Each year, several boys at camp make personal commitments to missions.

Boys learn more about the Bible through daily Bible studies, devotions and worship services.

RA Camp also gives boys an opportunity to have fun in a Christian atmosphere. They participate in organized games and activities that help them to learn teamwork and good sportsmanship. They have the opportunity to learn basic survival skills and campcraft and they learn to experience and appreciate the beauty of God’s creation first-hand. Boys also learn archery, water safety and basic handcraft skills, as well as the importance of working together.

What do you hope to accomplish through your camps?

RA Camp gives us an opportunity to teach boys more about the Bible and to help strengthen their relationships to God. This, in turn, helps to strengthen their relationship with their local church. It also affords us the opportunity to teach them about missions and the Cooperative Program. We pray that, through RA Camp, boys will grow in their relationship to God and their church and will come to a deeper understanding of their own role in evangelism and missions. Our goal is to help them develop an "on mission" lifestyle that will carry over into their church and community and deepen their commitment to missions.

Who can benefit from your camps?

Boys in grades 1-4 and their dads can benefit from Lad & Dad Weekends. Boys in grades 4-12 can benefit from RA Camp. In turn, their church, home and community will benefit as the boys strengthen their relationship to God and their commitment to the work of His Kingdom.

Share why your camp is important.

RA Camps nationwide reach over 10,000 boys in grades 4-12 each year. Each year, we have boys make professions of faith at camp, and some rededicate their lives, as well. The spiritual importance of camp, where the boys are immersed in a totally Christian atmosphere for five full days, is incalculable.

Camp Information

Crusader & Challengers Camp

Dates: June 19-23 at Streator Baptist Camp, Streator

July 24-28 at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp, Pinckneyville

Cost per camper: $85

Who should attend: Boys grades 4-6 (Crusaders). Boys grades 7-12 (Challengers).

Registration deadline: June 12 for Streator and June 17 for Sallateeska.

Lad & Dad Weekend

Dates: June 23-24 at Streator Baptist Camp, Streator

July 28-29 at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp, Pinckneyville

Locations: See dates above

Cost per camper: $30

Who should attend: Boys grades 1-4 and Dads, or if the father is unable to attend, another adult male 21 years of age or older is welcome to attend camp with a Lad.

Registration deadline: June 12 for Streator and June 16 for Sallateeska.

Note: Boys do not need to be enrolled in Royal Ambassadors in order to attend.

For more information contact Linda Darden at (217) 786-2600, ext. 137 or e-mail

lindadarden@ibsa.org.

Registration forms are available online at www.ibsa.org/ ministries/missionsmobilization/baptistmensministries/.

Camps for girls

• Illinois Missions University

• Girls Mini Camps

• Ageless Mother/

Daughter Camp

What would you like to highlight about your camps for Illinois Baptists?

We will be building on the theme of "Lights, Camera, Action" at our camps this year. Our special guest will be International Mission Board video producer Margie Drane. Margie will be sharing her adventures in filming our missionaries all over the world. In building on the "movie" theme we want to help girls discover how they can "shine like stars in the universe."

What do you hope to accomplish through your camps?

The way we reach this young generation is by building relationships. We build relationships by spending time with them.

Children cannot remember what happened last week - but even as adults - they can remember in great detail an overnight camp experience. We provide an opportunity where children and youth can hear and respond to God’s call on their life.

Who can benefit from your camps?

Girls, mothers and women leaders can benefit from our camping program. Everyone is welcome. Our Mother/Daughter camp offers a great opportunity for mothers to get away and spend one-on-one time with their daughters. Mini-Camps allow girls to interact with missionaries, but also provides opportunities for giggles and fun. Illinois Missions University is an exciting setting that challenges teenage girls in their Christian walk.

Share why your camps are important.

The purpose of our camps is to provide missions education in an outdoor setting. We offer the opportunity to interface with positive Christian role models who can influence young minds for the cause of Christ. Our goal is to impact the Kingdom by nurturing children and youth in missions. We believe what we offer affects eternity.

Camp Information:

Camp: Illinois Missions University

Dates: June 20-22

Location: Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp, Pinckneyville

Cost per camper: $50

Who should attend: Girls grades 7-12

Registration deadline: June 1

Camp: Girls Mini-Camps

Dates: June 26-28 at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp, Pinckeyville

June 29-July 1 at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp, Pinckeyville

July 5-7 at Streator Baptist Camp, Streator

Locations: See dates above

Cost per camper: $50

Who should attend: Girls grades 4-6

Registration deadlines: June 1 or until camper spots are filled.

Camp: Ageless Mother/Daughter Camp

Date: June 23-24

Location: Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp, Pinckneyville

Cost per camper: $25

Who should attend: All mothers and daughters

Registration deadline: June 1 or until camper spots are filled.

For more information contact Marsha Johnson at (217) 786-2600, ext. 138 or e-mail marshajohson@ibsa.org.

Registration forms are available online at www.ibsa.org/ ministries/missionsmobilization/womensmissionsandministries/.

Note: Girls do not have to be a member of a missions organization to attend.

Co-ed Camps:

Super Summer

What would you like to highlight about your camp for Illinois Baptists?

The impact Super Summer makes on students as they return home. Matt Miller is one example. After attending Super Summer last year he created his own ministry to junior high students. His youth pastor died suddenly of a heart attack and then his family moved to a nearby city that didn’t have anything going for students, so as a senior in high school Matt got something going for the junior high students in his town. He brought a group to Youth Encounter and now with the help of his folks, he is bringing some students to Super Summer.

What do you hope to accomplish through your camp?

Our goal is equip students to go back home and step into leadership at their local church. We want to take them deeper in their walk with Jesus Christ.

Who can benefit from your camp?

I compare Super Sumer to a Blue Chip basketball camp. At a Blue Chip camp students already know the basics and are pushed on the finer points of the game. The same with Super Summer, students that know the basics and want more will benefit from the Super Summer experience.

Share why your camp is important.

I think it can have a great impact on a student if they are open to take the complete experience of Super Summer. From the teaching times in the schools to the team recreation, students are challenged to walk closer with Christ and then given an opportunity to flesh out what they have learned right then and there.

Camp Information:

Dates: June 26-30

Location: Greenville College, Greenville

Cost per camper: $200 through June 1, $215 until June 16

Who should attend: Students who have completed grade 7-college sophomores

Registration deadline: All applications must be received by June 16.

For more information contact Cathy Waters at (217) 786-2600, ext. 124 or e-mail cathywaters@ ibsa.org. Register online at www.ilstudentz.com/ss.

Children’s Music Camp

Youth Music Camp

What would you like to highlight about your camps for Illinois Baptists?

Beverly Schmidt will be the guest director at Children’s Music Camp. Beverly is the adult choir director at Bethel Baptist in Bourbonnais and a school music teacher. Our camp band director is Dale Jones, minister of worship and creative arts at Logan Street Baptist in Mt. Vernon. Andy Latta, minister of worship and music at First Baptist in Fairview Heights is our worship coordinator.

We have several special guests at Youth Music Camp. Billy Davis, a former Christian recording artist and the new minister of music at First

Baptist, Metropolis, is directing the camp choir. Sim Flora, the chair of the Music Theory Department at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., is the camp band director. He is also going to be teaching improvisation and arranging. Our worship coordinator is Chad Ozee, associate pastor of worship at First Baptist, Anna.

What do you hope to accomplish through your camps?

I want to provide a way that God can call the called - those He wants to use whether as a lay minister or in full-time Christian service. I also want to develop skills in music, worship and leadership.

Who can benefit from your camps?

Youth or children who need to develop their music gifts. Another category of youth and children are those who never realized they had music gifts and want to develop them. We want to provide an atmosphere or community of love that every church in IBSA can model.

Share why your camps are important.

The number of kids who are called into full-time Christian service through these camps is phenomenal. It’s a breeding ground for Christian leaders. God lights the fuse; we just encourage it.

The camps are not all about music. Drama is a big part of both camps. We also have classes teaching signing for the deaf, recreation and Bible study. The children’s camp has puppetry and the youth camp has clowning.

Camp Information:

Camp: Children’s Music Camp

Dates: June 14-17

Location: Greenville College, Greenville

Cost per camper: $130

Who should attend: Students grades 4-6

Registration deadline: June 2

Camp: Youth Music Camp

Dates: July 17-20

Location: Greenville College, Greenville

Cost per camper: $150

Who should attend: Students grades 7-12

Registration deadline: July 7

For more information contact Debbie Muller at (217) 786-2600, ext. 126 or e-mail debbiemuller@ibsa.org. Register online at www.ibsa.org/ministries/churchstrengthening/wcm/.

"It has been a great pleasure for me to serve with IBSA for the past seven and a half years," shares Shelby. "These past few years with the Missions Mobilization Team have been especially meaningful. I would like to thank the Lord and the staff and board of directors of IBSA for this privilege."

"I would like to emphasize that this has nothing to do with [IBSA’s executive director, Dr. Nate Adams] coming on staff as our new executive director. It has always been my intention to retire at the age of 70, at the latest."

Executive Director Nate Adams told the Illinois Baptist, "Jack and I have been friends and worked together for years while I was at the North American Mission Board in areas such as disaster relief and missions education. He is widely respected throughout the SBC missions community, and has served so faithfully both on the international mission field and here at IBSA. Before I knew I was returning to Illinois Jack told me his unofficial plans were to retire this summer, and while I’ll miss working with him in the office on a regular basis, I know he'll be active in missions even in retirement. ‘We’ll work 'til Jesus comes’ is one hymn that comes to mind when I think of Jack’s heart and life commitment, and we certainly wish him the very best as he enters this next chapter of life and ministry."

Shelby, a graduate of Southern Illinois University and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, has done doctoral studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological seminary. He has studied Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Cantonese, Malay, Tamil, Hindi, Thai, Mandarin, German and Russian. Shelby plans to spend more time with his grandchildren and family, visit friends scattered around the United States, do some writing and be more involved in volunteer work, specifically with disaster relief. Jack and his wife, Avah, have one daughter and two sons.

Performances by Brock Gill, a Christian illusionist, and Chaos on Wheels, a Christian stunt bike team attracted more than 1,700 people over two nights.

Charles Campbell, IBSA’s Student and Discipleship Ministries director, is looking for other churches and associations to partner with to host a two-day Brock Gill Event or a three-day Freedom Experience (includes Gill, Chaos on Wheels and a Christian band).

Contact Campbell for more information at (217) 786-2600, ext. 135 or charlescampbell@ibsa.org.

Many people feel that the president of the Southern Baptist Convention should come from a church that generously supports Cooperative Program missions. Others cite the autonomy of the local Baptist church and the legitimacy of other kinds of missions giving and involvement that do not pass through the Cooperative Program. If you serve as a messenger from your church to this year’s Southern Baptist Convention, I hope you’ll prayerfully consider this issue.

The reality, however, is that most people reading these words will not be voting in that election. My sincere request to you is that you still cast your most important vote for the Cooperative Program, and for the local and worldwide missions impact it supplies!

"How would I do that if I’m not going to vote at the convention?" you might ask. While I don’t want to understate the importance of electing the president of the SBC, in my view that decision pales by comparison to the decision that each local church makes regarding the Cooperative Program as it approaches its own annual budget or spending plan. For many churches, that planning will begin this summer or early fall.

The influence a messenger has on the vote in Greensboro matters at least a little to the Cooperative Program. But the influence each one of us can personally have on our own church’s giving through the Cooperative Program and through our local association can matter a lot! Each of our churches has its own needs, but one of our main goals should be to get as many resources as possible beyond our walls and out into the harvest fields.

In each of the three churches where I was member and/or interim pastor during my past eight years in Georgia, I asked the group putting together the annual church budget for an opportunity to talk with them about SBC missions, and about the Cooperative Program in particular. There were often leaders in those churches who had not "grown up" in a Southern Baptist church, or who were not familiar with this effective, evangelistic missions engine.

Once they understood a little more about the Cooperative Program, each of those churches chose to increase their missions giving through that important channel, and in one case the giving went quickly from almost nothing to over $50,000 per year. I have found that most devoted Christians in our churches want to give generously through the Cooperative Program, once they understand it. They simply need someone to inform them and challenge them in that direction. I am committed to being that kind of "someone" in whatever church I serve. And especially if you’re a pastor or church leader, I invite and challenge you to be that kind of someone in your church too.

Next month I plan to write every SBC church in Illinois and ask the pastor and leadership to consider - even gradually - increasing its Cooperative Program giving as well as giving to its local association so that more cooperative missions and ministry can happen not only here in Illinois but around the world. I’m going to personally ask them for that "vote of confidence" in our cooperative mission together. I hope to learn a lot in that process, and more importantly I hope to find that a lot of churches have simply been waiting to understand better, or to be asked.

The various actions messengers will take in Greensboro next month, including the election of a new president, are important. Yet it is the utmost importance of the Great Commission that gives every one of those actions its context, and it is the Great Commission that deserves first place in our church budgets. This summer, will you be the "someone" that challenges your church to vote a new, even higher level of confidence in the Cooperative Program?

We have recently mourned the passing of a 91-year-old family member. Actually, she was just 13 in human years but you see, "Dixie" was a dog. Dixie had been declining the last few months. Unable to eat her regular dog food, I fed her ice cream and cut-up bologna for several weeks. (I still can’t believe I did it!)

The veterinarian attributed her gradual degeneration to old aged and bad teeth. Finally, he suggested that maybe some tooth extractions would help. It was risky to anesthetize her at her advanced age, but it was obvious she couldn’t last much longer in her present state.

The morning she was to go in for the oral surgery, she was so weak I had to lift her into the car. I left her, not realizing what the rest of the day would hold. About mid-morning, I received a call at the office. After Dixie was anesthetized, the doctor was able to do a more through examination. A large malignant tumor was discovered in her mouth. He said other vital organs were probably in the same condition. At best she could live only another week or so.

I phoned my wife, and we reluctantly decided that Dixie’s suffering should not be prolonged. I went by the animal hospital and signed the papers that would permit her to be put to sleep permanently.

That night, one by one, we called our four children. Especially difficult was the conversation with our daughter, who was only a week away from her college graduation. She had literally grown up with Dixie. We wept together for several moments.

I suppose I had sort of a love/hate relationship with that mutt we got as a scrawny little pup from an animal shelter. Few things could exasperate me as that stupid canine. (A friend used to vow that the reason I had such a calm temperament publicly was that I vented my frustration and anger on that dog at home!)

Yet, that mongrel had a special place in my heart. Why? I’m not sure, but I think it may have something to do with unconditional acceptance. You see, anytime, day or night, that I came home, Dixie was there to greet me with wagging tail, happy bark and jubilant jump. Didn’t matter whether I had failed or succeeded; pleased or displeased others; felt sad, mad or glad. She loved and accepted me as I was. Thanks, ole girl. You’re missed. Some of us humans could learn from you.

I’m no economist, so I’m not sure if the writer Michael Hudson had it right. Still, the article made at least superficial sense to me. He argued basically that the citizenry could not long endure soaring real estate prices and the debt load they were forced to shoulder to enter the housing market. Through a series of 20 charts and graphs, he argued that something had to give.

With their no-money-down, interest-only loans, lending agencies have played a powerful role in the mortgage boom. So too has government, whether through home-mortgage deductions or the shift in emphasis from property taxes to sales and income taxes. But the big factor is consumer confidence that a home is a great investment and not just a place to live. The last decade has encouraged that conviction since gains in real estate value have far outstripped gains in income, e.g., approx. $3,300 vs. $600 in 2004. And spurred by such factors, more Americans than ever have indebted themselves to banks, to the tune of a record $11.8 trillion. At this rate, within ten years, mortgage debt will equal the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (the market value of its output of goods and services).

So far, so good, one might say. But it has to stop somewhere. People can’t commit 100 percent of their income to paying off home loans. I suppose it would be nice if home prices leveled off gradually so that everyone would have good warning, but Hudson doesn’t think it will work out that way. He sees a big drop, leaving a lot of homeowners in the lurch, paying off debts with money they cannot hope to recoup when they sell. Beats me whether his doomsday scenario is plausible, but his article sounds an important note for Christians: Be careful lest the home you own owns you.

Of course, there are words of caution from the Bible, too. Proverbs 22:7 observes, "the borrower is servant to the lender." And in Romans 13:8, Paul says, "Owe no man anything" (at least in the King James Version), but is this an absolute? I hope not, or I’ll never be able to rent another car; the companies won’t accept cash. If loans and borrowing are evil per se, then I sinned dozens of times, when, as a denominational worker, I flew to distant places to speak to churches, associations and state conventions. But I don’t think I did in that connection. I believe the NIV has it more nearly right when it translates Romans 13:8, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another." In other words, Paul is saying, "Don’t be in arrears. Be paid up - except in the case of love, where you’re always obliged to pay more." Besides, there are Bible passages which honor lending, and so borrowing, without which there could be no lending, e.g., Deuteronomy 15:7-8 ("freely lend to him [the poor man]").

Still, just because borrowing can be licit, it does not follow it is always or even usually prudent. And that brings us back to home loans, with which I have had some experience.

Our first home, bought when I was a Wheaton professor, appreciated nicely over five years, and when God called me into the pastoral ministry, we had enough equity to attend seminary, where we used it up. So we were back to zero financially - but with an M. Div.

Graciously, our first church loaned us money for a down payment, and we were again homeowners. But since we served in oil country, and the price of a barrel of oil plunged in the 1980s, our home lost value. Graciously again, the church forgave the loan when we moved to a post with the Indiana convention. Zero equity again, but debt free.

After two years in an apartment in Indianapolis, we mustered the resources for down payment on a home construction loan, but three months after moving in, we were called to work for the SBC Executive Committee. By God’s grace we broke even on that home, working some sale-by-owner deal. Then, with help from family, we managed down payment on a home in Franklin, Tennessee, where we made a little over a five-year period, money that soon went to college tuition, etc. Since then it’s been "parsonage" residency and apartment rental.

Poor guy - 57 years old and no equity. Yes, I suppose, especially with the dim first light of retirement showing on the horizon. And what of provision for family if I don’t make it much longer. Important issues. But along with no equity comes no debt and much freedom. At least we know that we won’t be feeding a mortgage monster, regretting our losses from a real-estate bust, or spending our days lashed to unsellable property in our golden years, should we have them.

Reading the book of Acts, one longs for the spiritual vitality and missionary freedom of the Early Church. And it hard to imagine these first century saints comprehending the way in which today’s Christians are hobbled by real estate. Now you find disciples wishing for a simpler lifestyle, but unwilling to downsize because they fear the capital gains bite or the reduction of their equity nest egg. Then there are the ministers who insist upon equivalent housing, no-loss guarantees and such before they’ll make the move to the place of new calling. And what of the saints who, in moving, shackle themselves to a second home loan, unwilling to let go of the first house until it sells at a suitable gain? And pity the latchkey kids whose moms are helping service a hefty mortgage with a second income. So much bondage.

Sure, I’d consider buying another house if the opportunity arose. It would be nice to deduct those mortgage interest payments, but I’m in no hurry. Some equity would be nice, but it could easily turn to debtquity, should the market go sour. Yes, a parent’s paid-up housing can be good for the kids, but not at the cost of higher callings. Further, as a renter, I don’t have to sweat upkeep or cloud my sense of calling with reluctance to sell in a bum market or zeal to get "more house for the money" in another locale.

The seductions are real, and we all need to be careful, lest God exclaim, "Ouch, lost another potential Paul to Ditech!"

Mark Coppenger is pastor of Evanston Baptist Church. Send comments to: m.coppenger@ comcast.net

The churches in Chicagoland and the surrounding associations recently played host to their second Lostness Tour. Folks from across Illinois and some other states gathered to catch a fresh vision for the vast sea of people lost without Christ and the need for starting new congregations and strengthening existing ones. Directors of Mission’s Mark Inman (Fox Valley Association), Dan Eddington (Three Rivers Association) and Keith Draper/Bob Goette (Chicago Metro Association) were absolutely inspiring as they cast the vision and the challenge before Illinois Baptists.

The fact of the matter is there are pockets of population all across this great state that desperately need to hear the Good News. We must never lose sight of the lostness in the lives of 8.2 million people right here in our own backyard. A church-planting expert recently shared that Illinois would need to plant 959 new works per year just to maintain with our present population. We cannot do that, you say? Perhaps not (apart from a supernatural intervention); however, I do know that we must be strategic and intentional. We must decide whether we will be missional or maintenance-minded. We can plant more as we work together than we could ever plant alone!

I visited with two pastors in Sinnissippi Association in northern Illinois and a Ugandan pastor the other day. Folks from the two churches in Sinnissippi were on mission in Uganda last year. There were over 200 professions of faith during the eight-day effort. The Ugandan church baptized 175 since last summer. The pastor from Uganda has planted thirty-two new congregations in his homeland since becoming a pastor about four years ago. Wow!

So, do these two Illinois churches take a portion of their Cooperative Program dollars to fund direct missions efforts? Absolutely not! Both pastors share that it’s a "both and," not an "either/or" - and their giving is better than ever! Has this taken away from their commitment to Acts 1:8 obedience? Obviously not. Both churches are healthy and growing!

Whether I am in Sterling or Savanna or Simpson, Chicago or Carlinville or Cairo, Ashton or Aurora or Anna, I find God’s people on mission to reach out to the lost. Is this a great state or what?