The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/18/2017 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- World's oldest person: an 'extra-precious' Baptist by Art Toalston Date: April 18, 2017 - Tuesday DUANVALE, Jamaica (BP) -- What has the world's oldest person, Violet Mosse-Brown, age 117, done nearly all her life? She has been a faithful, industrious church member, according to the Jamaica Baptist Reporter of the Jamaica Baptist Union. Mosse-Brown, baptized at age 13, became the world's oldest person after the April 15 death of Emma Morano of Italy, also 117. Morano was born on Nov. 29, 1899 and was the last living person born during the 1800s prior to her death. Mosse-Brown was born on March 30, 1900, in Duanvale in northwest Jamaica, 47 kilometers east of Montego Bay. "I live by the grace of God and I am proud of my age!" Mosse-Brown told columnist Jean Lowrie Chin of the Jamaica Observer during a May 2016 visit in the home where the mother of six children has lived all her life. Mosse-Brown's 96-year-old son, Harold Fairweather, lives in the house as well, "widely believed to be the oldest person with a living parent," Chin wrote. "I love the church," Mosse-Brown told The Gleaner, another Jamaican publication, in 2010, having made decades of "staunch contribution" at Trittonville Baptist Church in Duanvale. The Waldensia-Trittonville Circuit of Baptist Churches honored Mosse-Brown as "their extra-precious super-centenarian whom they affectionately call Sister Vie or Sister Brown" during a celebration of her then-116 years of life, according to the January 2017 edition of the Jamaica Baptist Reporter. "[T]he guest of honor was lauded and cited as a person of exemplary character and an ardent, dedicated and faithful servant of God, who served her church for more than 80 years in varying capacities," the Baptist publication noted. "She was also hailed as a mentor, historian, disciplinarian, business woman, outstanding church and community leader." The Jamaica Baptist Reporter article listed still more accolades, noting that participants at the celebration credited Mosse-Brown "for giving herself fully to the music and Christian education ministries of the church," serving as its organist and choir director "for many years" and as a Sunday School teacher and deacon. (An article amplifying the Jamaica Baptist Union's view of the deaconate also is in the January 2017 edition.) Jamaican pastor Hariff Allison told the gathering, "She was instrumental in changing the roof of the church and adding an overnight facility for pastors. Back in the old days, the church had only visiting pastors and they would have to sleep in the church if they wanted to stay overnight or for a few days." Mosse-Brown, the pastor said, "changed that situation by spearheading the people to build an adjoining room on to the church for accommodating visiting pastors." Mosse-Brown may have been a Methodist for part of her life, an article in The Jamaica Online Star suggested 10 years ago, reporting that she met her husband Augustus, who died in 1978, when they were members of Fraserville Methodist Church in Duanvale. Chin, of the Jamaica Observer, wrote that Mosse-Brown and her husband worked as cane farmers, and later she assisted him as the caretaker for a neighboring cemetery, keeping records in "beautiful handwriting [that] is a testament to the pride she took in her work." "Really and truly," Mosse-Brown told The Gleaner, "when people ask what me eat and drink to live so long, I say to them that I eat everything, except pork and chicken, and I don't drink rum and dem tings." Duanvale, incidentally, is in the same Jamaican parish, or district, Trelawny, where Olympian gold medalist Usain Bolt is from. Trelawny is an inland region "which, from the air, looks lush with conical mountains and ferocious waterfalls," travel writer Richard Moore of The Guardian of London recounted in 2015. "Up close it is even more spectacular, the roads narrow and [are] heavily potholed as they weave through the mogul-like hills and dense forest...." The region's coastal capital, Falmouth, 16 kilometers to the north of Duanvale, "with its dusty roads, crumbling buildings and hand-painted signs above shops -- it is as if the clock stopped in 1810, when the town was in its colonial pomp," Moore wrote. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TRUSTEES: Lemke named to NOBTS assessment role by Gary D. Myers Date: April 18, 2017 - Tuesday NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustees approved three administrators for new roles and elected two faculty members during their spring meeting April 12. The trustees approved a $24.3 million budget. Several significant curriculum adjustments were approved including the renaming of the Division of Christian Education to Division of the Disciple and Ministry Leadership and name changes for the seminary's counseling degrees. The board approved the creation of a new vice president position to oversee institutional assessment and named current provost, Steve Lemke, to the newly created post. Lemke, who has served 20 years as NOBTS provost, will transition to the vice president of institutional assessment role in August. The board also honored Lemke with the title of provost emeritus. NOBTS President Chuck Kelley said increased assessment requirements from the seminary's two main accrediting bodies -- the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges -- precipitated the development of the new leadership position. Kelley called Lemke a natural choice due to his long tenure as provost and his involvement in the past two 10-year reaccreditation cycles. Lemke, he said, will be charged with creating a "culture of assessment" at NOBTS. Trustees approved Norris Grubbs as the seminary's new provost, to assume the new role in August. He currently is professor of New Testament and Greek and associate provost for extension centers and enrollment management. Grubbs joined the Leavell College faculty in 2000 as an instructor in New Testament and Greek while completing his doctor of philosophy degree at NOBTS. He was elected associate professor of New Testament and Greek at Leavell College upon completion of his Ph.D. Grubbs holds a master of divinity degree from NOBTS and a bachelor of arts degree from Union University in Jackson, Tenn. Trustees also approved Jonathan Key as vice president of institutional advancement -- the office which oversees fundraising efforts, alumni relations, communication and marketing. Key replaces Randy Driggers who left the role due to ongoing health issues. Key has led the institutional advancement group on an interim basis since September 2016 while Driggers was away on medical leave. Key, assistant professor of Christian ministry in Leavell College, previously served as the assistant to the president and director of student enlistment at NOBTS. He holds doctor of ministry and master of divinity degrees from NOBTS. In 2012, the year Key graduated with the M.Div., he received the Broadman and Holman Seminarian Award. The board also elected Adam Hughes and James "Jamie" Killion to the NOBTS faculty. Hughes has served during the current academic year as a presidential appointment while Killion has served under presidential appointment the past two years. Hughes is assistant professor of expository preaching, dean of the chapel and director of the Adrian Rogers Center for Expository Preaching at NOBTS. Hughes came to NOBTS last year from First Baptist Church in West Albuquerque, N.M., where he was senior pastor. An Arkansas native, Hughes holds doctor of philosophy and master of divinity degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Killion was elected as associate professor of voice and conducting. Earlier this semester, Killion defended his dissertation in the doctor of musical arts program at the University of Oklahoma and will graduate in May. He holds a master of church music degree from Southwestern Seminary and spent nearly 20 years in music ministry at churches in California, Oklahoma and Texas. Before coming to NOBTS, Killion taught voice at California Baptist University. The board granted promotions to Rhyne Putman, from assistant professor to associate professor of theology and culture; Jake Roudkovski, from associate professor to professor of evangelism and pastoral leadership; Randy Stone, from associate professor to professor of Christian education; and Sandy Vandercook, from associate professor to professor of English and education in Leavell College. Putman also was granted tenure along with Peter Kendrick, professor of theology and culture, regional associate dean for Alabama and Georgia, and director of the North Georgia Hub. The board elected Frank Cox, pastor of North Metro Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., to serve as trustee chairman; R. Bryant Barnes Jr., pastor of First Baptist Church in Columbia, Miss., as vice chair; and Jack Bell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Hornbeck, La., as secretary/treasurer. Kelley also announced that Jody Dean, assistant professor for Christian education, has been appointed as senior regional associate dean for Louisiana and Mississippi. Academic initiatives Trustees approved a name change for the Division of Christian Education (CE). The new name, Division of Discipleship and Ministry Leadership, aims to better reflect new nomenclature of local church ministry positions. However, the name of the division's most popular degree, the master of arts in Christian education, will not be affected by the division name change. The board approved the following curriculum plans for counseling degrees to comply with Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accreditation requirements: -- master of arts in counseling with specializations in (1) clinical mental health counseling and (2) marriage and family counseling -- master of divinity with specialization in marriage and family counseling -- doctor of philosophy in counselor education and supervision In other academic moves, trustees approved: -- reinstatement of the doctor of philosophy major in church history -- relocation of the Jacksonville, Fla., extension center to the new Florida Baptist Convention Center. -- the addition of an undergraduate program at the extension center in Huntsville, Ala., for students transferring from the on-site but now closed Legacy Christian University. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Keep your eye on the ball by Randy C. Davis Date: April 18, 2017 - Tuesday BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP) -- It's been said the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. It's a tough point to argue. Take a guy like Nolan Ryan, one of the greatest fastball pitchers ever to play the game. Ryan unbelievably had a 27-year career and was still throwing the ball 95 mph-plus when he finally retired, ever the "Ryan Express" to the end. Now, imagine standing in a batter's box waiting to hit his fastball. Don't wait too long; you only have four-tenths of a second to make contact -- that's less than half a second. It takes a significant amount of focus and "keeping your eye on the ball" if you have the remotest chance of getting a hit. Allow distraction and you'll strike out. Southern Baptists are a lot like the batter standing in the batter's box waiting on the fastball. We look out at the world and we see a challenge staring back at us. This game is for keeps, though. The souls of our relatives, friends and neighbors are literally at stake. They can't afford for us to lose concentration and take our eye off the ball. The great thing is we aren't standing there alone. Over nine decades ago a network of churches that made up the Southern Baptist Convention met in Memphis and decided they'd give at least 10 percent from their undesignated receipts and began what we know as the Cooperative Program. With that commitment to work together and the decisive action that followed, our denominational forefathers launched the greatest global missions enterprise known to man. This missions mutual fund grew, and now ensures that global evangelism, ministerial preparation and benevolent ministries like orphan care will be financially supported. Our predecessors came together then despite some fairly deep theological differences because a shared Gospel passion fueled a Great Commission calling that burned hotter than the secondary differences they shared. And just look at us now. We have effectively done Kingdom work around the world that has led millions to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, helped the destitute and healed the hurting. There will always be distractions that tempt us to lose our focus, but we must recognize those distractions for what they are and determine that we are going to come to the table and work together for the sake of the Gospel. If a group of Southern Baptists could overcome their differences then, surely we can determine to overcome our differences now. The key is collectively focusing on what is important and what is at stake. For example, we have made inroads here in Tennessee over the past three years seeing a slight increase in baptisms, but if every church in our state were able to "win 17 in '17" as current Tennessee convention president Steve Freeman has challenged us to do, we would see a significant advance of the Gospel and we would reach our goal of seeing 50,000 Tennesseans annually saved, baptized and set on the road to discipleship. If, meanwhile, every Tennessee church increased its Cooperative Program giving, there would be countless additional millions of dollars available for state, national and international missions -- money like we've never seen invested in reaching people for Christ. No power on earth can dim the power of the Gospel when advanced by committed followers of Jesus Christ. I believe the human and financial resources necessary to shake this world from beneath the dark veil of spiritual lostness currently reside within our churches. However, for us to have that kind of impact we must work together. And for us to do that, we must maintain our focus and keep our eye on the ball. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE STATES: Wash., Calif. and Ala. evangelism/missions news; 'We gave birth to that church' by Staff Date: April 18, 2017 - Tuesday Today's From the States features items from: Northwest Baptist Witness (Washington) California Southern Baptist The Alabama Baptist ********** Encounter with God spawns multiple Wash. churches By Sheila Allen TACOMA, Wash. (Northwest Baptist Witness) -- A career move first brought Masaomi Takeuchi to the Northwest from his native Japan, but a life changing encounter with God redirected his career and life. "I worked for a Japanese engineering company in 1987 and came to the United States, working in Portland," Takeuchi recounted. "The company provided me with an English tutor and he was a member of the Japanese International Baptist Church in Tigard, Ore., which was a small church. That is when I first heard of Jesus Christ and I was baptized a few months later." Takeuchi returned to Tokyo a year later, in hopes of attending seminary and evangelizing his fellow countrymen, but after searching diligently he found no institutions to further his education. He sought advice from Mike Yokoy, pastor of Japanese International, who suggested he return to the U.S. Takeuchi quit his job and struck out on faith. "I had savings and a couple supported me," Takeuchi said. "A church in Portland let me stay in a house they owned and my tutor let me use a car while I attended the Pacific Northwest campus of Golden Gate Seminary (now Gateway Seminary.)" Although he sought a pastoral position in a church in Japan after seminary, with no experience, he had little success. But Japanese International was expanding their territory with a Bible study in Tacoma, with Yokoy traveling there every Monday, so Takeuchi was asked to shepherd the group. Japanese International Baptist Church of Tacoma became a formal congregation in 1993, meeting in borrowed space. Takeuchi eventually married and had had a family as he ministered in his new hometown of Tacoma. "Most of the people we reach are Japanese ladies in mixed-race marriages," Takeuchi said. "Some of their husbands might be Christian, but may not attend church. The husbands, many who are servicemen, are often uncomfortable coming to church, so the ministry grew slowly." In 1996, Takeuchi started another Bible study in Bremerton, Wash., and the congregation at Kitsap Lake Baptist Church supported the ministry by providing the use of their facility. This ministry also reaches many Japanese women who attend the Bible study after their children are in school. The Japanese Church Planting Network was formed in 2002 after Pastor Yokoy of the Tigard church received a vision from God about a network of Japanese churches and was eagerly joined by Japanese International in Tacoma and a sister church in Phoenix, Ariz. Since 2002, the network has grown to 15 congregations across the U.S. As more people of Japanese descent located in the northern part of the Puget Sound, Takeuchi assisted with a church plant in Lynnwood until the congregation grew large enough to call their own pastor, Gordon Kaneda. "We gave birth to that church," Takeuchi added. "We currently have two services at our church in Tacoma on Sunday morning and then drive to Bellevue in the afternoon for another small gathering of 25 people." As the cost of property skyrocketed, the Japanese International Baptist Church in Tacoma received a gift from God -- the city issued a special use zoning permit for them to build a facility on property they owned. "For six years we used a small house and saved money," Takeuchi said. "It is really difficult to borrow money for a small church. We spent five years completing the building and it was finished in 2011, although we still have a mortgage." Of the 15 churches started through the Japanese network, only seven churches have pastors. "We are always praying about who will succeed us in ministry," Takeuchi said. "We are looking for Japanese/Americans, as we need church leaders that understand both and are praying for that. We encourage our people to join two-week overseas mission trips. We need a world view and as God raises more people to go, He will increase our population in our churches." --30-- This article appeared in the Northwest Baptist Witness (nwbaptist.org), newsjournal of the Northwest Baptist Convention. Sheila Allen is managing editor of the Northwest Baptist Witness. ********** Calif. church's local project leads to new believers By Carrie Blackaby Camp VISALIA, Calif. (California Southern Baptist) -- Mission work does not always require a passport and boarding pass. Sierra Baptist Church in Visalia recently discovered their mission field only a parking lot away. The church had neighbored the New Visions for Women drug addiction treatment center for years, but Mark Wilson, Sierra's bivocational senior pastor, was unsure how to build deeper relationships with the center's residents. Not only is New Visions for Women a secular organization, but the frequent turnover of its residents made building long-term relationships challenging. "We had a cordial relationship, but nothing that would really draw the women to come and be a part of what God is doing at (our church)," Wilson said. "We've always struggled with how we can build a bridge across the parking lot." Wilson found an opportunity when his church hosted the California Southern Baptist Convention Tapestry Women's Conference last April. In addition to attending worship services and breakout sessions, conference participants also typically perform local mission projects the host church helps organize. An idea for a project struck Wilson one day as he was raking leaves in the church parking lot. "I thought about putting together a little packet of items to give the ladies when they come (to New Visions) as a welcome bag," Wilson said. He shared his idea with the center's staff, who agreed to distribute the welcome bags on the condition that the recipients clearly understood they were gifts from Sierra Baptist Church. "I asked if there was an item they thought would be beneficial," Wilson continued. "They said the ladies could really use reusable sport water bottles, because they go on outings and need something to put their water in." Wilson's research indicated that ordering water bottles bearing the church's logo would cost $300, funds the church did not have available in the budget. "But then a gentleman who had been visiting the church on Wednesday nights said he wanted to give $300 to the church for whatever we are trying to do," Wilson said. "And I thought, 'Wow!' "I hadn't even mentioned this need to him!" Taking God's provision as confirmation, Wilson ordered the water bottles and secured New Testaments from the California Southern Baptist Convention to include in the welcome bags. The women attending Tapestry were encouraged to bring supplementary materials such as non-perishable snacks and lotion. During the two-day Tapestry Conference, participants took turns assembling 150 bags and writing personalized notes of encouragement to include with each one. As soon as the conference ended, Wilson began taking the welcome bags across the parking lot. "I started noticing the women as they walked in front of the church, sometimes they'd be carrying the water bottles," he said. "So I knew they were getting the bags." To Wilson's delight, some of the women from New Visions started slipping into the church for worship services. "Sometimes we'd have 10-15 women there from next door," Wilson said. "So that was exciting to see! They had a genuine spirit of worship." Wilson has seen God work powerfully in the lives of some of the women since they started attending the church. "A couple weeks ago it was really a blessing because two women before the service even began came to me and said, 'Pastor Mark, we really want to be baptized,'" Wilson recounted. "So I talked to them about having a personal relationship with Jesus. They said they have asked Jesus to come into their life to be their Lord and Savior and they really wanted to be baptized." On Feb. 5, Wilson had the honor of seeing pure joy on their faces as they publicly proclaimed their faith in Jesus Christ through baptism. "This is just a neat initial fruit of (this ministry)," Wilson said. "I look forward to seeing more fruit in the future." --30-- This article appeared in the California Southern Baptist, newsjournal of the California Southern Baptist Convention (csbc.com). Carrie Blackaby Camp is a correspondent for the California Southern Baptist. ********** Ala. church wants people to see 'beauty in diversity' By Neisha Roberts MONTGOMERY, Ala. (The Alabama Baptist) -- We shop in diverse places. We live in diverse neighborhoods. We work in diverse places." It's because of these circumstances that Terrence Jones, pastor of Strong Tower at Washington Park, thinks it's actually "harder for Christians to be segregated than it is to be together." But on Sunday morning "we somehow find ourselves … in a place where everybody looks like us and lives like us," Jones said. "We kind of have to cut off all of our connections in our lives" to go to a church like that. That's why the Montgomery-area church Jones helped plant was founded on the fact that the blood of Christ on the cross tore down the dividing walls of hostility (see Eph. 2:11–12). From the beginning, Strong Tower leadership didn't "see 'multicultural' as a thing to be manufactured but saw it as an outworking of what Jesus did on the cross," Jones said. "It takes the pressure off of trying to engineer it. We wholeheartedly believe that Christ died for a group of people to be family -- from every tribe, tongue and nation." Strong Tower, which was voted into the Montgomery Baptist Association in 2015, now sees about 150 gather every Sunday morning with about 45 percent African-American, 45 percent white and 10 percent Latino. However, to be multicultural does take intentionality, Jones said. The team that planted Strong Tower was diverse at every level, which then funneled into the congregation, he said. The music and culture of worship also has to be inclusive, Jones said. "You cannot say you want to be multicultural and all your music is white or all your music is black. We intentionally sing hymns, gospel and contemporary because we want people to feel that there's beauty in diversity. There's something beautiful from every culture." But being multicultural is not the only "unique" thing about Strong Tower. Washington Park, an area just south of the intersection of Interstates 65 and 85, is unique in that the neighborhood itself is considered 70 percent unreached, according to Jones. Its residents see a median income of $10,000 and 39 percent of residents over age 18 do not have a high school diploma. "All those things can create an atmosphere of chaos and a different culture of how they deal with problems," said Jones, noting that problems are often addressed through violence and drugs to "cope with the hopelessness." A man was murdered in Washington Park the very weekend that Jones and his wife were on their first vision trip there. They'd traveled from California to see if Washington Park was where God was leading. "As we were praying about what to do we realized, 'Why would we not come here to help? There is such a huge need,'" Jones said. Soon after that trip Jones and his wife and five children moved to Washington Park. That was five years ago. Growing from 25 to 150, Strong Tower has seen an explosion of growth in the last 18 months. And it's not because the church building is aesthetically pleasing, Jones said. Strong Tower meets in a partially finished gym owned by the ministry Common Ground Montgomery. "We don't have a fancy building but we do preach the Bible." In November 2016, nine people were baptized at Strong Tower and since then there have been two or three new believers trusting in their Savior every month, Jones said. Making outreach a priority When it comes to missions, Strong Tower makes outreach a priority. Members of the church have taken three missions trips to Thailand as well as serving in Africa, Haiti, Ecuador, New York and Clarkston, Ga. Locally the church has what they call "missional communities" -- small group Bible studies held in a member's home. Sunday School classes also started in early March. On April 29 the church will host a free medical clinic with a North American Mission Board mobile clinic offering several health screenings onsite. "We're always trying to figure out ways to serve our community. I think people appreciate the church because we're very active." State missionary Lamar Duke, who works closely with church planters for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), said, "It's pretty exciting to watch what God is doing in a community that needed the Lord." Duke, who has visited Strong Tower a few times, described the church service as a "heavenly experience." "In Revelations it talks about every tribe, tongue and nation so Strong Tower is kind of like heaven practice," said Duke, noting that the way Jones leads the congregation is exemplary. "He has a lot of people doing a lot of different things and lets others take ownership and responsibility for their acts of service." 'A great leader' Jones, who went through SBOM's church planting assessment process, three-day church planting boot camp and coaching for a year, is "a great leader," Duke said. And all SBOM resources made available to church planters like Jones are made possible "by gifts from Alabama Baptists through the Cooperative Program." As Jones and church leadership look to the future, they see loads of possibilities and have a robust five-year plan in place for Strong Tower that includes: -- Building a multipurpose facility on 13 acres of land they purchased (with help from an SBOM grant). -- Hosting an extension site of a job-training program already in place at First Baptist Church, Montgomery. -- Beginning an after-school program to reach the 2,000 kids in a three-mile radius around the property. -- Planting a church. Jones said, "We see the budding in all of these things. Someone in our church has already said they want to be a church planter." So what has produced all this growth and progress at Strong Tower, the first church Jones has ever served as pastor? That's simple, Jones said. "I think the Lord is just blessing it ... and has His hand on it." --30-- This article appeared in The Alabama Baptist (thealabamabaptist.org), newsjournal of the Alabama Baptist Convention. Neisha Roberts is a writer for The Alabama Baptist. ********** EDITOR'S NOTE: From the States, published each Tuesday by Baptist Press, relays news and feature stories from state Baptist papers and other publications on initiatives by Baptist churches, associations and state conventions in evangelism, church planting and Great Commission outreach, including partnership missions. Reports about churches, associations and state conventions responding to the International Mission Board's call to embrace the world's unengaged, unreached people groups also are included in From the States, along with reports about church, associational and state convention initiatives in conjunction with the North American Mission Board's call to Southern Baptist churches to broaden their efforts in starting new churches and satellite campuses. The items appear in Baptist Press as originally published. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Malatya murders: 10 years of forgiveness by Ed Allen Date: April 18, 2017 - Tuesday MALATYA, Turkey (BP) -- Ten years ago, in the Turkish city of Malatya three Christians were martyred for their faith by men who pretended to be interested in the Gospel. Tilmann Geske, Necati Aydin and Ugur Yüksel went to their office on April 18, 2007, to study the Bible with a group of five young men, some of whom they had known for several months. The young men, none of whom were older than 20, threatened the Christians, tied them up and tortured them. When another local Christian became suspicious, he called the police. As the police were arriving, the young men took the lives of the three Christians. The youth were caught red-handed, arrested and tried for their crimes. The plot was later revealed to be part of a larger conspiracy in which powerful people had agreed to support the young men's families if they would commit the crime. In the days following, the press spoke to one of the widows, and she declared her forgiveness for the murderers. In Turkish culture, however, forgiveness is not a common trait -- and it certainly was unheard of that someone could forgive such an act of evil. So the story spread, and people across Turkey were talking about it in their homes, tea houses and places of business. Proclaiming forgiveness This message of forgiveness is the message Christians carry wherever they carry the Gospel. All of us stand guilty before God. It is only when we accept the sacrifice of Christ's death on the cross that we find forgiveness for our sins. When Tilmann's widow shared her sentiment, she was simply following the teachings of Scripture: "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:13, NIV). During the 50-plus years of evangelical Christian work in the modern era of Turkey, this message of forgiveness has been proclaimed hundreds of thousands of times. Sometimes it is proclaimed through God's Word, sometimes through preaching and prayer, but rarely has it been declared more vividly than in the sacrifice of our brothers and in the words of this widow. Many people have heard these proclamations of truth and, currently, the evangelical church of Turkey lists its number of believers at around 6,000, a number about double from 2007, the year of the murders. When compared to a total population of between 75 million to 80 million, this number seems incredibly small. But to discount a small number is to discount the miracle of 6,000 lives changed by the Gospel. In a country like Turkey, the entirety of society, culture and family life is predisposed against someone responding to the Gospel. When the message of forgiveness in Christ is shared with the people of Turkey, they typically find it too easy. They have been taught that God requires a complex system of balancing the good and the bad of life, without ever knowing if they can stand in honor before God. To hear that someone is offering forgiveness for free doesn't make sense to them. This happened when they heard this widow's message of forgiveness. People questioned how she could say that. Some said she must not truly love her husband. What they didn't understand was that while her family must live on, grieving their loss, Tilmann, Necati and Ugur's eternal fates were sealed in Christ. They had been forgiven, so their physical deaths did not end in condemnation. The message of the gospel for the people of Turkey and for people around the world is one of acquittal. People live as captives of guilt, but the message of Christ offers hope for all: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned" (John 3:17–18). Every year on the anniversary of the murders in Malatya, the Turkish church has called Christians around the world to remember these martyrs with a Global Day of Prayer for the Church in Turkey. This month, as we look back on the past 10 years at the growth of the church in Turkey, we can celebrate the miracles of salvation and rejoice in the growth of the church and the maturity of many leaders in Christ. At the same time, we can cry out for mercy for the millions who don't know or understand that Christ's righteousness can be theirs if they will only accept His message of forgiveness. Join with us in both praising the Lord for what He has done and calling on His name to act among the Turkish people in ever more mighty ways. (For more stories like this, visit imb.org.) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Chonda Pierce's 'Enough' in theaters April 25 only by Diana Chandler Date: April 18, 2017 - Tuesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Christian comedian Chonda Pierce likes to borrow a line from Lucille Ball, who proclaimed "I'm not funny; I'm brave." Pierce considers herself brave enough to share the savory and unsavory aspects of her life in humor that heals the heart. The touring comedy artist continues her transparency during the one-night-only documentary "Enough" on April 25 in 850 theaters in the U.S. "We are still in a culture where thousands of women are trying to identify themselves with something, either to have a man, or to get the job they want, to be the size that culture is telling them they have to be," Pierce told Baptist Press. "So women are bombarded with this thought that I am not enough. I am less than." Pierce has only turned the corner in the last few months herself, she told BP, on her journey to thrive after the 2014 death of her husband David, who battled alcohol addiction during their 31-year marriage and died during surgery to treat a stroke. You realize "that you're breathing again and laughing again," she said two weeks before the film's release. "You just have to walk the road. There's no easy way around it," said Pierce, who has suffered abuse, depression, rejection and loss in her journey of 57 years. "God is always faithful, and you have to stay faithful to Him, and you start breathing again." Pierce hopes the 90-minute film, continuing her story after the 2015 "Laughing in the Dark" documentary on her depression and other struggles, will help women see they are enough to live the life God has for them. "I think that the feeding ground for Satan to grow into the mind of a woman is that you're never going to measure up, when you and I both know that the great, beautiful, merciful side of Jesus is that we are now heirs to the King," Pierce said. "We are a princess in His eyes. Our Daddy is the Big Daddy, the Mac Daddy." The film includes commentary from a circle of Pierce's closest friends, her struggles and joys as a "widow" -- a word used for "spiders and old ladies" -- and a pre-recorded question-and-answer segment led by fellow comedian Mark Lowry. Pierce's struggles have taught her the source of her strength, whether she's single, married or widowed. "It has empowered me as a woman to know where my strength comes from when my lonely nights are here," Pierce said. "He's capable of being a comfort, and in that, it has taught me that I am enough to traverse life with someone, or without someone." Pierce, who has toured successfully for nearly 20 years of her 25-year career, finds it hard to believe that she was named in 2013 by the Recording Industry Association of America as the top-selling female comedian in history, including Christian and secular artists. "We comedians, if we do our jobs well, we make it look like it's so easy that anybody could do it," she said. "But the truth of the matter is, it can sometimes be a difficult task. Clean comics and Christian comics, we don't run to the well of bad words to shock our audience. "We truly have to come up with a great storyline and a punchline and do it to the best of our ability. It takes some work," she said. "And my hat's off to anybody who's been brave enough to especially make the body of Christ laugh." Tickets to Enough are available across the U.S. at chondamovie.com, with tickets to shows at the 115 former Carmike family of theaters in the South expected to be available closer to the viewing date, according to chondamovie.com.