Baptist Press Archive

Friday, January 17, 2020

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  • NAMB, San Diego association back church planter in visa issue
    by Liz Tablazon/Biblical Recorder, posted Friday, January 17, 2020 (2 years ago)

    King's Cross Church photo
    SAN DIEGO (BP) -- The San Diego Southern Baptist Association (SDSBA) and the North American Mission Board (NAMB) are standing behind a British church planter and his family who are facing deportation at the end of the month.

    Obed Brefo, pastor of King's Cross Church in San Diego, and his wife Elena were working toward extending their religious (R1) visa and applying for permanent residency and eventual U.S. citizenship when the church sponsoring their visa terminated their application in 2018. Read More

  • Send Relief, churches serve Puerto Rico as needs persist
    by Brandon Elrod, posted Friday, January 17, 2020 (2 years ago)

    NAMB photo
    YAUCO, Puerto Rico (BP) -- Junior Martinez's church, Iglesia Bautista La Gracia (Grace Baptist Church) in Yauco, Puerto Rico, has served as a shelter for survivors following the Jan. 7 earthquake off the southern coast of the island. This week, he received an invitation to meet with the town's mayor to discuss the continued needs the community is facing.

    "Junior saw how tired the mayor was," Jonathan Santiago, a Send Relief missionary in Puerto Rico, said as he relayed the story. "So, Junior stopped the meeting and asked to pray for the mayor, who invited his wife to join. She broke down in tears when she learned that Junior wanted to pray for them." Read More

  • Disaster Relief volunteers respond to real-time disaster
    by Tess Schoonhoven, posted Friday, January 17, 2020 (2 years ago)

    Submitted photo
    MONTROSE, Ark., (BP) -- On the morning of Jan. 16, two Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief (ABDR) volunteers found themselves responding to a present emergency -- a real-time disaster.

    ABDR, a subsidiary of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) primarily focuses on giving aid to communities where natural disasters have struck.

    While volunteers were working on repairing a roof damaged from recent tornados in the southeast Arkansas region, they noticed smoke billowing up just a few houses down the street. Read More

  • Tennessee pastor stuck in India after judge retains passport
    by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, January 17, 2020 (2 years ago)

    American Center for Law and Justice photo
    SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- There are no immediate options to bring home a U.S. pastor whose passport was confiscated in India on a Customs charge, his wife told Baptist Press Friday (Jan. 17) after his fifth unsuccessful court appearance.

    "Right now, we do not know. We don't know," said Rhonda Nerren, wife of International House of Prayer pastor Bryan Nerren of Shelbyville, Tenn. "He's just stuck. He's not a hostage like holding a gun to his head; but you know, they are holding him in India for no reason." Read More

  • Global sporting events provide opportunity in Japan
    by Caroline Anderson, posted Friday, January 17, 2020 (2 years ago)

    IMB photo
    At the Rugby World Cup in Tokyo, IMB writer Caroline Anderson witnessed how global sporting events bring nations together. IMB missionaries have created a missions strategy for the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics, also in Tokyo. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: The long obedience
    by Susan Lafferty, posted Friday, January 17, 2020 (2 years ago)

    Leafing through a book her father read in 1953, Susan Lafferty sees in the notes and markings he made the traits and principles that guided him during his decades as a missionary. Read More

  • EDITORIAL: La fe y las obras siempre van juntas
    by Octavio J. Esqueda, posted Friday, January 17, 2020 (2 years ago)

    Últimamente he escuchado con bastante frecuencia a muchos líderes cristianos afirmar que la fe en Cristo es lo más importante de todo y que todo lo demás es secundario. ... Read More