The Buckets of Hope were among the thousands that had been languishing in the capital city's port for two months before Haitian customs officials, overwhelmed by the processing of other shipments of supplies since the earthquake, would release the shipping containers transporting the buckets. Five containers filled with 6,750 buckets have been released by government officials as of June 25.

Another 13 containers remain at the port, while Florida Baptist Convention staff work through government bureaucratic channels for their release. For the disaster relief team on the ground in Haiti, which includes Southern Baptist volunteers and Florida Baptist Convention staff, each day brings additional meetings and the processing of paperwork to satisfy government officials. Each day the team wonders if more containers will be accessed so more Haitians will have food that night.

At the garbage dump, Moreno Robert, pastor of Eglise Baptiste Canaan, coordinated the food distribution to the tent city.

“Normally we don’t ask strangers to give food to our families,” he said through a translator. “But since Jan. 12 there is little work so there is little food. We are obliged.”

Robert started the church in the dump after an evangelistic crusade resulted in new Christian believers. Sweeping his hand across to the sea of blue tents along the mountain ridge, the pastor said, “What you see here was not here before the earthquake.”

As the buckets were handed to those first in line, each recipient quickly departed, unwilling to chance losing their bucket to someone else.

Despite having to stand in line for the promise of food, the crowd waited for their turn, never becoming unruly or disorderly.

That same day, nearly 250 people crowded inside Eglise Baptiste Bethaniem in Port-au-Prince as others stood outside waiting for the Buckets of Hope distribution at the end of the service. As pastor Louis Joseph called each name, some families sent their children to the front of the church to receive their bucket.

The buckets were given to church members as well as others in the community who attended the nearly two-hour worship service and heard the Gospel message proclaimed.

An air of solemn excitement filled the congregation while the 150 buckets were distributed. Guarding their newly acquired prize, families raced to their homes to open the five-gallon buckets.

The contents of each Bucket of Hope include flour, rice, beans, oil, pasta, peanut butter and other items that will feed a family for at least a week, depending on the size of their extended family.

Not only will the family consume the food but the buckets themselves will be used to carry water from wells and in numerous other ways as Haitians survive in abject poverty.

In all, Southern Baptists packed just over 155,000 buckets, over 2,600 were from Illinois, for the Haitian people after the earthquake. Other containers of buckets remain in Florida until the ones currently in Haiti can be systematically worked through customs.

Jean Phito Francois, a Baptist director of missions in Port-au-Prince, said he had been telling his churches that the buckets were coming.

“Many people asked, 'When did the U.S. people get time to do this?’” Francois said.

“This is a great blessing unto God,” he added. “See the buckets – the people are so happy to receive [them]. Especially for me, it has touched my heart.”

The concept for the Buckets of Hope originated with Fritz Wilson, director of Florida Baptists’ disaster relief, during his first trip to Haiti after the quake.

Wilson, who also is serving as the Haiti disaster relief incident commander for the North American Mission Board, determined the buckets’ ingredients after consultation with the Haitian kitchen workers at the Florida Baptist Mission House. He and his family assembled the first bucket when he returned to the States.

The rainy season in the tropical Haitian climate is in full force. Wilson constantly tracks the weather via the Internet to determine if any hurricanes or tropical storms are threatening the island of Hispaniola which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic.

The need for food could become increasingly critical during the next few months, he said.

“I have said it often, God in His perfect timing will release the containers at the perfect juncture. Our job is to wait on Him,” Wilson said.

“These students come ready to hear from God, ready to be taken to the next level spiritually.” Medford said the students’ expectation to hear life-changing teaching, and to have an opportunity to respond to God, is what sets Super Summer apart from most camps.

This year, 183 students from across Illinois came to Super Summer at Greenville College, joining more than 60 staffers who volunteered as teachers, worship leaders and logistics coordinators. The students were divided by age into schools, and each school focused on a different element of the Christian life. Topics ranged from “Foundations,” for students going into eighth grade, to “Accountability and Staying Christian in College,” for recent high school graduates. Other schools focused on evangelism, purity, worldviews and discipleship.

Along with twice-a-day meetings in their schools, Super Summer participants signed up for elective classes covering topics like leading worship, expressing faith through art, answering hard questions, and growing to maturity in Christ.

Students are asked to leave cell phones and iPods at home, so they can fully focus on what God is saying to them. It all adds up to “as intense a discipleship experience as is offered for young people,” said Travis Peterson, who has served as a Super Summer leader for more than 10 years. Peterson, who also pastors Olney Southern Baptist Church, said the students are characterized by a thirst for a deeper, authentic expression of their faith. In the school focused on evangelism, for example, rather than learning different methods of sharing their faith, students learned to internalize the Gospel message, so that sharing it becomes a natural part of their lives.

Jordan Richter is one student on whom the training week has had a lasting impact. The high school senior from First Baptist Church, Columbia followed this year’s Super Summer with a mission trip to Bulgaria. He went as part of a team of students from across Illinois to share the Gospel through community ministry and specific outreach initiatives. This was his second summer in Bulgaria; his first trip to the country came as a result of a calling he first felt at Super Summer.

Richter said God has used the camp to clarify things He wants him to do, and to remind him of the ultimate purpose of his life.

“Put aside your pride, put aside what you think about yourself, and give it to God. Let Him be in charge of your life.”

This year’s Super Summer theme, “The Kingdom,” also will serve as the basis for Youth Encounter, a two-day event held December 28-29 at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield. See future issues of The Illinois Baptist for more information about Youth Encounter.

On the other end of the vocational spectrum is John Stillman, a nuclear engineer who spends three days a week working at Argonne National Laboratory in nearby Woodridge, helping ensure the safety of nuclear reactors around the world. He also serves as preaching pastor at Crosswinds, the Plainfield church he and Schultz planted more than four years ago.

Schultz and Stillman were both lay leaders at Friendship Baptist Church in Plainfield when the church called Odis Weaver as pastor in 2004. In an initial meeting at Friendship, Weaver said he believed God’s vision for the church was to start new churches. Stillman was at the meeting, and had a sense of what God was calling him to do in the future.

“In my heart, I thought, ‘Maybe that’s what I’m supposed to be doing,’” Stillman said.

Several years earlier, he felt a call to ministry, but didn’t feel led to leave his job as an engineer. Instead, God pointed him toward teaching and leadership roles at Friendship.

At the same time, Schultz was serving as a Sunday School teacher and outreach leader using his gifts to plan evangelism events. He felt God calling him, too, but knew he had to surrender to serving however God would lead before he could begin a specific ministry.

The specifics started falling into place soon after Weaver came to Friendship, when the church held an On Mission Celebration. Several North American Mission Board missionaries shared their stories, including a bivocational church planting strategist from Michigan. After the service, Schultz and Stillman knelt in the church parking lot to pray about the calling they both felt.

Over the next months, they met and prayed with Weaver, who helped them share the vision for a new church with the congregation at Friendship. Five families committed to help plant Crosswinds, and the core group began meeting in September 2005. At Christmas, they held a worship service at a local coffee shop, and the next month, celebrated their first public worship service in a growing section of Plainfield, four miles from Friendship.

“New churches reach new people,” Schultz said, explaining the mindset that helped the two congregations, one established and one brand new, partner together to reach unchurched families in their community. In the beginning, Crosswinds’ average Sunday worship attendance was 45 people; now, they regularly see 110 people each week. The church’s growth represents at least 35 new Christians; in other words, nearly one-third of the people attending Crosswinds accepted Christ and were baptized in the new church.

More than four years later, both Schultz and Stillman are bivocational pastors, balancing their jobs with the work God has called them to do at Crosswinds. Schultz averages 10-15 performances a month, although during the summer, nearly every day is scheduled with shows at corporate events, festivals and amusement parks. Balancing performing with his role as Crosswinds’ outreach pastor is a “constant decision,” he said, but one that allows him to uniquely identify with his church.

“There’s an influence that happens, and also an integrity of being able to be in the workplace and say to the congregation, ‘I know what you’re going through. We all have to have a job. We all have to make a living. And we all have to do ministry.’”

The pastors have found that some of their job skills are transferable to their roles at Crosswinds. Schultz, a natural initiator, designed the structures for many functions of the church, like worship and children’s ministry. He also works to develop leaders to carry part of the ministry load as the church grows.

Stillman uses his gift for analysis, which he calls “the gift of spreadsheets,” to manage budgets, timelines and projects like the recent remodeling of the church’s new meeting space. As Crosswinds’ primary Sunday morning preacher, his pastoral role allows him an opportunity to express his creativity, and to fulfill a commitment he made to God that he would always be teaching His Word.

Recently, Crosswinds moved into a new space located near Route 59, a main highway that runs through Plainfield. The building offers room to grow and more visibility among their neighbors, who are the focus of every ministry effort.

“People come because they’ve been treated with kindness, and this is a place where needs can be met,” Stillman said. “Where we are right now, we have an even greater opportunity to minister to our community.”

For more information about Crosswinds Church, go to xwindschurch.org.

The past two summers, Caleb’s friend Ryan has joined us in our hiking adventures.  Mt. Huron was Ryan’s eighth fourteener, and he clearly has caught mountain fever as well.  As we were sitting and nursing our sore feet and legs a couple of nights ago, he said to me, “I want you to know I still remember one thing you said when we were hiking last year.”

I must confess that I tend to toss out spiritual observations or life lessons as we hike.  I was delighted that Ryan found something I said memorable, though of course I was a little surprised there was only one thing.

“What’s that?” I replied.

“You said, ‘Remember, when you get to the summit, you’re only half way there.’”  We both smiled in agreement with the truth that the hike back down the mountain is often as demanding and dangerous as the hike up. You don’t truly finish your journey to the mountain until everyone is back down safely.

This summer many of our churches are witnessing mountaintop experiences of their own.  Vacation Bible Schools, summer camps and even mission trips often bring a surge in professions of faith, especially from excited children and students.  When those professions are made public or those testimonies are shared in a worship service, the entire congregation celebrates, along with the angels.

This is as it should be, and I hope your church is one of those filling its baptistery with regularity this summer.  As we celebrate the mountaintop of someone’s salvation, though, let’s remember that the Great Commission of Jesus is to make not just converts, but disciples.  The steps that take place after a new believer’s conversion are just as important as the steps that led to it.

I remember with gratitude the Vacation Bible Schools I attended in Southern Illinois, when my teachers taught me how to explain the plan of salvation using different colored hearts.  I remember the incentives they gave us to memorize at least one Bible verse a day, and only later realized how strategically selected those verses were as they equipped me with key foundational truths from God’s Word.  And I remember how my Sunday School teachers continued that discipleship process in my life on a week-by-week basis.

Later as a teenager, when I was trying to reconcile my childhood discipleship training with the pressures of high school in suburban Chicago, volunteer youth leaders taught me how to have a quiet time, how to study the Bible for myself, and how to find answers for the questions and temptations life was throwing at me.

Then as a college student and young adult, it was my Christian friends, usually meeting in small groups for Bible study, prayer and fellowship, who continued the discipleship process in my life.  Their encouragement, positive peer influence, accountability, and discussions of the deeper truths of the Bible helped me further down the path toward Christian maturity.

I’ve been occasionally surprised at how little intentional discipleship has apparently been invested in the lives of even the adult Christians I meet. And when I see children or students come forward to profess their faith in Christ or be baptized, I wonder if they will have the same opportunities I had.

As you celebrate the mountaintop of salvation with children, students and, yes, adults in your church, do you have a solid, intentional plan for walking down the path of discipleship with them?  Do you have the kind of small groups or one-on-one mentoring relationships in place that will protect new believers from the cares and distractions of the world?  If we here at IBSA can help your church in this area, we’d love the opportunity.

As we descend the mountains we’re climbing this week, we encourage one another, guide one another, and point out potential dangers and stumbling blocks.  We direct other climbers to the summit where we’ve just been.  We talk about the joys and challenges of today’s journey and how to prepare for tomorrow’s.  And this week, for the first time, I took a day off to nurse a sore toe and let Caleb and Ryan hike alone.  In a sense, I’ve discipled Caleb as a climber, and now he’s walking alongside Ryan.  And Ryan is learning the lesson that we need to keep remembering in our churches.  After the mountaintop comes the rest of the journey.

The CLS student chapter at Hastings invites all law students to its meetings, but its voting members and officers must affirm its Statement of Faith which includes the belief that Christians should not engage in sexual conduct outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. That means CLS would not allow unrepentant atheists or adulterers to lead Bible studies. Thus, CLS could not affirm the law school’s policy, and was denied access to facilities.

What impact might this decision have on other ministries? Some ministries are hoping the CLS holding is so narrow that it will never affect them. They think: “we don’t use facilities on a state university campus, and we don’t take student activities fees, so the CLS case has nothing to do with us.” Pastors and ministry leaders, and those who advise them, should think twice before concluding that the CLS case will never affect them.

Assume that a Baptist Student Union has been ministering at “State U” as a recognized student organization, using a student union classroom for its weekly Bible studies. BSU always has a booth at welcome week for new students, and does service projects like helping new students move into the dorms.

Now assume State U adopts an “all comers policy” like Hastings. The BSU is told that in order to retain its RSO status and its benefits, BSU must open its membership and leadership to everyone, including atheists. In good conscience, BSU leaders decline to affirm the “all comers policy,” and BSU is removed from the list of recognized student organizations.

Will this policy kill the BSU ministry at State U? Not necessarily. Will the policy adversely impact BSUs? Absolutely. Some BSUs already own their own buildings, and do not seek recognition as a student organization. They may thrive as “off campus” ministries. But is it equal access if Baptist students are forced off campus because of their religious faith? Is it justice when non-religious groups get all the benefits of recognition, while the BSU is excluded and exiled off-campus? The answer is clearly no. This is not neutrality, but blatant hostility toward conservative religious views.

CLS attorney Kim Colby said: “Christian student groups shouldn’t be forced to deny their faith in order to be treated the same as other student groups. … True tolerance and real diversity require that each group be able to ensure that its leaders agree with its core mission.”

While the holding of the case is narrow, the damage of the CLS case is broad and breath-taking. Like a ruptured well of secularism, this decision will continue to gush gallons of toxic hostility into the gulf of the public square, until it can be “capped” by a new precedent. Then will come the daunting task of clean up from the damage this case may do over the next decade.

Mike Whitehead is a trial attorney in Kansas City, MO.  He is an active Southern Baptist layman, having served in numerous positions with local, state and national SBC entities.  He is a former national board member of the Christian Legal Society and was co-counsel in the landmark Equal Access case of Widmar v. Vincent.  To read Whitehead’s full column visit IBSA.org.  An article about the decision also appears on page 4 of this issue.

The report’s findings suggest the most effective evangelistic churches are those which are utilizing attractional evangelistic events.

Evangelistic events are defined as special events, which intentionally draw lost people through relationships and attraction, clearly present the Gospel and provide an invitation to respond.

The report comes at a time when, in some quarters, the value of attractional methods has been questioned for reaching communities with the Gospel.

“This research further proves that the line of thinking that event evangelism does not work anymore is simply not true,” noted Tim Sadler, Illinois Baptist State Association director of Evangelism. “There are four major components to a great evangelistic event – planning, publicity, production and post-event follow-up.  If done with excellence, event evangelism remains one of our greatest tools to identify, meet, and engage unchurched prospects in our communities.  Prayerful intentionality, superb planning, organization, information gathering and post-event follow-up are the keys to an evangelistically successful event.”

The study revealed several common denominators emerged among highly effective churches:

– They sponsor attractional evangelistic events, do several of them annually, do them especially well and get excellent results.

– Two-thirds of highly effective churches sponsor both evangelistic events and an active personal evangelism program.

– Significantly more highly effective churches sponsor evangelistic events than less effective churches.

– They sponsor significantly more evangelistic events and do significantly better preparation and follow-up for evangelistic events than less effective churches.

– They sponsor more holiday-related, revival-like and sports and recreation evangelistic events than any other types (in that order). More than half sponsor revival-like evangelistic events.

The report was compiled from survey’s of 3,200 Southern Baptist churches last year as part of the Evangelistic Event Research Project.

With additional reporting by Lisa Sergent.

Dale Davenport, IBSA director of Education and Leadership shared, “VBS is a 5-day, 2-3 hour time when leaders can build relationships with students. They are making an impact on the students who are hearing the Holy Spirit and responding.  This is why 25 percent of the baptisms in our churches come as a direct result of VBS.”

With VBS 2010 in full swing, LifeWay has announced that VBS 2011 will take students on a “Big Apple Adventure.” Using the sights and sounds of New York, they will hear Bible stories about people who stepped out in faith and connected with Jesus Christ.

Each day’s Bible story focuses on someone having his or her faith challenged. The first day the centurion has to decide whether to trust Jesus to heal his servant. The second day VBSers see how a woman responded to Jesus' love by anointing His feet with perfume but was chastised by others. On day three, they will learn how Nicodemus had to choose to trust or distrust Jesus. Day four tells the story of the Samaritan woman who made a decision to trust Jesus when other men had been unkind to her. Day five tells how the disciples had to step up and step out to carry the Gospel to the world when Jesus went to heaven.

LifeWay also offers a second line of VBS resources, Club VBS. “Hit the Beach,” the Club VBS theme, takes kids on a trip to the beach and gives churches an opportunity to offer kids – and leaders – a great summer program or a mission trip option.

IBSA is hosting a free VBS 2011 Preview Party on October 30 at the IBSA Building.  For more information call (217) 391-3124 or e-mail cathywaters@IBSA.org.

August

Jesus-Focused Youth Ministry Forum: August 7, 9 a.m.-4:45 p.m., First Baptist Church, Columbia. Come with your ministry team to refocus on Jesus’ simple approach to life and ministry. You’ll discover how to put that into action in your lives and ministries. Cost is $35 per person through August 4, $50 after. For more information or to register, call (217) 391-3127 or e-mail barbarahalleman@IBSA.org.

Evangelistic Small Groups & Organic Church Training: August 12, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Baptist Student Center in Carbondale, 825 W. Mill Street. NAMB National Missionary Lyle Seltmann will lead this training to equip pastors and lay leaders to use small groups to reach the unchurched and to start new works. This free conference includes lunch. Registration deadline is August 11. For more information or to register, call (618) 534-7654 or e-mail chaseabner@IBSA.org.

Youth Ministry Forum: August 13, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Third Baptist Church, Marion. Connect with other youth ministry leaders across the state, and share your needs, concerns and successes. For more information, call (217) 391-3127 or e-mail barbarahalleman@IBSA.org.

Churches of Strength Conference Super Saturday Seminar: August 14, Deep South –Third Baptist Church, Marion. This free conference begins with a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. followed by three hours of training in music, worship, Sunday School, evangelism and more. For more information, call (217) 391-3124 or e-mail cathywaters@IBSA.org.

IBSA Slo-Pitch Softball Tournament: August 21, play begins at 7:30 a.m. at Rotary Park in Decatur, located on Business Route 51 South between Decatur and Elwin. Cost is $90 per team, players must attend a Southern Baptist church and sign the roster form. Register by 4:30 p.m. on August 16. For more information or to register, call (217) 391-3127 or e-mail barbarahalleman@IBSA.org.

Churches of Strength Conference Super Saturday Seminar: August 28, Chicagoland – Broadview Baptist Church, Broadview.  This free conference begins with a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. followed by three hours of training in music, worship, Sunday School, evangelism and more. For more information call (217) 391-3124 or e-mail cathywaters@IBSA.org.

September

Churches of Strength Conference Super Saturday Seminar: September 11, Gateway/Metro East – First Baptist Church, O’Fallon.  This free conference begins with a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. followed by three hours of training in music, worship, Sunday School, evangelism and more. For more information call (217) 391-3124 or e-mail cathywaters@IBSA.org.

Illinois Mission Offering: Suggested dates for this year’s Illinois Mission Offering Week of Prayer are September 12-19, and the goal is $400,000. This year’s offering will help support nearly 100 Illinois missionaries, start new churches, initiate campus ministries and train leaders throughout the state. Promotional materials will be mailed to churches at the beginning of August. For more information, call (217) 391-3116 or e-mail IMO@IBSA.org.

Building Powerful Ministry Teams: September 17-18 (Friday 6:15-9:15 p.m., Saturday 8:30 a.m.-3:45 p.m.), First Baptist Church, Machesney Park. Cost is $20 per person. Facilitators will be Pat Pajak and Sylvan Knobloch. For more information or to register, call North Central Baptist Association at (815) 633-6323.

Chaplaincy Conference: September 17-18 (Friday 10 a.m. to Saturday 4 p.m.), IBSA Building in Springfield. Participants can choose from two classes: Grief Following Trauma and Pastoral Crisis Intervention. Both classes are limited to first 40 participants, and cost is $40 per person. Participants are responsible for travel, food and lodging expenses. The registration deadline is August 2. For more information or to register, call (217) 391-3137 or e-mail lindadarden@IBSA.org.

Axiom (Collegiate Conference): September 24-25 (Friday 6:30 p.m. to Saturday 5 p.m.), Vale Community Church, Bloomington. This Collegiate/Next Gen conference will feature Nathan Carter, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Chicago, and Rick Futch, a worship leader from Hendersonville, Tenn. Cost is $15 and covers conference fee and lunch on Saturday. Participants are responsible for hotel reservations and fees. For more information or to register, call (309) 838-4115, e-mail serenabutler@IBSA.org or visit axiomconference.net.

Churches of Strength Conference Super Saturday Seminar: September 25, Mid South – Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Mt. Vernon.  This free conference begins with a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. followed by three hours of training in music, worship, Sunday School, evangelism and more. For more information call (217) 391-3124 or e-mail cathywaters@IBSA.org.

OTHER EVENTS

The Acts 1:8 Motorcycle Ministry will host two upcoming events:

August 21, Biker Bash at Cornerstone Community Baptist Church, North Aurora. Event begins at 11 a.m. and includes food, fellowship, biker games, and a ride to end the day. Please bring non-perishable food items to be donated to the local food pantry.

September 11, Ride to Carmi for cookout and motorcycle ride at Baptist Children’s Home & Family Services. Meet at BCHFS at noon, the ride with the children begins at 1 p.m. Please be sure to have insurance and extra eye protection and a helmet if you’ll be part of the ride with the children. Visit acts18riders.com for more information, or contact Cliff Woodman at (618) 946-5720 or cliff woodman@mac.com.

Hoofprints for Christ will host horse whisperer Paul Daily at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur on Saturday, September 18, from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Come watch as he breaks and then rides a previously unbroken horse, relating horse training to trusting in God and obeying Him. The day will also include a cake walk, silent auction, food stand and a music stage.

MINISTRY POSITIONS

Bivocational Pastor: Marshall Creek Baptist Church in Odin is seeking a committed bivocational pastor for a small country church. Candidates must be committed to the doctrines of the Bible, and desire to build a stronger and more spiritual congregation for the cause of Christ. Call (618) 775-8229, and please leave a message if no answer.

Pastor/Church Planter: Heyworth First Baptist Church is in a growing area of new subdivisions and schools. Send resume to Heyworth FBC, P.O. Box 350, Heyworth, IL 61745. Call Mike Peterson at (309) 473-2171 or e-mail dpeterson@bromenn.org.

FREE

Twenty-four oak pews, 15’ 3” in length. For more information, call First Baptist Church, Effingham at (217) 342-3976.

ADDRESS CHANGE

Please note the following new address:
Greater Wabash Baptist Association
101 NE 7th Street, Fairfield, Illinois 62837-2152