2008 Bridges of Hope Mission Offering
Goal: $131,000
International Partners
Alliance of Baptists of Brazil $10,000
Our newest international partner, the Aliança de Batistas do Brasil, offers a much-needed alternative to traditional Baptist patterns in South America’s largest nation. That alternative is characterized by the early adoption of a founding covenant based on that of the Alliance, contextualized to particular circumstances in Brazil. Among these is a crisis in theological education similar to that experienced a quarter of a century ago in Baptist life in our own country, and one of the principal reasons for the creation of the Alliance.
Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe $7,500
Over the past decade, our offering and other special gifts from Alliance churches and individuals have helped our brothers and sisters in this once prosperous nation in southern Africa withstand the scourges of hyperinflation, rampant unemployment, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and widespread hunger. Now, faced with strong pressure to disassociate the convention from the Alliance, BCZ leaders are reviewing our partnership. The outcome of that review will determine whether 2008 mission offering funds are welcomed.
Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe
$10,000
In the midst of the crisis within the Baptist convention, the Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe remains staunchly committed to academic freedom in a distinctively Christian context. Under the leadership of Principal Henry Mugabe, who is also an adjunct professor at the Wake Forest Divinity School and Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, BTSZ embodies the core Alliance value of “theological education in congregations, colleges and seminaries characterized by reverence for biblical authority and respect for open inquiry and responsible scholarship” (Covenant, Alliance of Baptists).
Baptist Seminary of Mexico $5,000
Under the visionary leadership of President Javier Ulloa, the Seminario Bautista de México for a second time will benefit from the Alliance mission offering in 2008. Funds will be used to support the seminary’s work with 40 indigenous congregations on the outskirts of Mexico City and in the poverty-stricken rural states of Puebla and Oaxaca. Described by Dr. Ulloa as a “seminary without walls,” SBM ministries are “especially effective because the pastors and workers they train are recruited from the indigenous tribes and speak the local languages; the faculty, who also speak the local languages, go out to the smaller surrounding communities and teach the local people how to start churches.”
Baptist Union of the Republic of Georgia $5,000
In collaboration with the American Baptist Churches in the USA and a foundation in Switzerland, the Alliance will continue to support a student center at the Betheli House in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, to assist economically deprived students. Our mission offering funds will be used at the center to underwrite courses in computer science and languages.
Bright Stars Summer Academy $8,000
Bethlehem, Palestine
Under the auspices of the Bright Stars of Bethlehem Foundation, the summer academy offers 300 Palestinian children and youth, ages 6-16, a wide range of educational, training and recreational activities, programs and workshops in a five-week academy. “The environment we provide nurtures the minds, bodies and spirits of our participants,” U.S. coordinator Erin Wright explained in this year’s application. These come “from every background – boys and girls, Christians and Muslims, kids from refugee camps and villages and cities…. Children’s initial ideas, no matter how insignificant they may seem, are recognized as original and creative, and are treated with the respect they deserve.”
Eglise Evangelique au Maroc, Ifrane, Morocco $3,000
Longtime Alliance leader Karen Thomas Smith, chaplain to the local university and itinerant minister to the Eglise Evangelique au Maroc, describes her ministries thus: “The need we seek to address is the need for a Christian presence, witness and action in the developing nation of Morocco that is not the dominant evangelical model; in this time of socio-political conflict between Muslims and Christians, we seek to model an alternative way of being Christian in a Muslim country.”
Face-to-Face $5,000
Annually, the Alliance convocation task group builds into the convocation budget some of the travel expenses to bring international guests to participate. Face-to-Face funds from the mission offering enable these international partners to visit Alliance-affiliated churches during their stay in the U.S.
Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba $20,000
For the past 17 years, the Alliance of Baptists has benefited from a fruitful partnership with the Fraternidad de Iglesias Bautistas de Cuba, like the Alliance a freedom movement among Baptists in our respective societies. At the center of our partnership is the joint sponsorship of sister-church relationships which have mutually enriched some 50 congregations in Cuba and the United States, and this in spite of the hostility between our two governments. Here in the nation’s capital, the Alliance is a significant member body of a growing religious coalition that seeks a return to normalized relations between the U.S. and our Caribbean neighbor.
Fulaa Lifeline International $2,500
Nimule, Sudan
Organized in 1997, Fulaa Lifeline International is “committed to ministry to and with displaced persons and refugees of East Africa by sharing in word and deed the gospel of Jesus Christ” (FLI Mission Statement). One expression of that ministry is the Nimule Child Care Program for orphaned and homeless children who drift from place to place trying to survive. Finney Williams, a key U.S. representative for FLI and member of the Alliance-affiliated Ravensworth Baptist Church of Annandale, VA, noted in his application for this year’s offering that our gift “will provide support for the full care of at least 50 children for one month.” That care includes simple meals, clothing, medical care, and school tuition and supplies.
Institute of Higher Biblical and Theological Studies
Havana, Cuba $3,000
A remarkably successful experiment in theological education dating to 1995, the Instituto Superior de Estudios Bíblicos y Teológicos (ISEBIT) is open to a wide variety of students in Cuba’s capital city and its environs. This is a degree-granting program that meets on Saturdays in the Episcopal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and draws students from all walks of life, including laypeople from churches ranging from Catholic to Pentecostal and philosophy majors at the University of Havana. Equally eclectic is the faculty, which includes Midiam Lobaina Gámez, a Baptist lay leader who is assistant dean and professor of gender studies.
JourneyPartners, Inc. $4,000
Founded by longtime Alliance leader Bonnie Jean Dixon, JourneyPartners “is an ecumenical, interfaith, not-for-profit organization, committed to partnering individuals and groups, around the world and at home, for mutual understanding, growth, community-building, and service.” Each year, JourneyPartners sponsors a trip to Zimbabwe. This year’s principal project is to rehabilitate a water system in Chambuta, a rural region in southeast Zimbabwe. By its completion next summer, the project will provide clean running water to students and faculty at Chambuta Baptist High School, a medical clinic serving 30,000, and additional thousands of residents who otherwise will remain without a safe and reliable water supply.
Orantes Fund $3,000
El Salvador
The Orantes Fund of Alliance-affiliated Central Baptist Church of Wayne, PA, supports two Baptist congregations in El Salvador whose pastors, Ruth and Alex Orantes, live out a commitment “to the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ and the calling of God to all peoples to repentance and faith, reconciliation and hope, social and economic justice” (Covenant, Alliance of Baptists). These courageous servant leaders live out their faith at great personal risk and have asked Alliance people to support them both financially and spiritually. We do so through our gifts to the mission offering and the offering of fervent prayers for their well-being.
Shalom Children’s Center, Ghana $2,000
Located in the village of Twifu-Hemang, the center provides a safe place for pre-school children, where they are taught basic study skills and provided with a nutritious lunch. Mission offering funds also were used last year toward the purchase of a van to transport children from the village to the center and for a multitude of other uses. This project was identified and is largely supported by the Alliance-affiliated Lake Shore Baptist Church of Waco, TX.
Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya $10,000
For the past several years, the Alliance has been privileged to be in partnership with this union of the 20 Baptist churches on the island of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. Last summer, the Sangamaya’s executive committee voted reluctantly to suspend the partnership because of disagreement with the Alliance’s stated positions of affirmation of persons of a same-sex orientation. The Alliance missions committee is considering an appropriate response, to be forwarded to the board of directors. That response will determine whether funds from this year’s mission offering are sent.
Domestic Partners
Advent Spirituality Center $3,000
Mars Hill, NC
Coordinating Director Paula Clayton Dempsey, a former president of the Alliance, describes the mission of Advent Spirituality Center: “There is a deep need among Christian disciples for spiritual nurture. Many who hunger for more spiritually often turn to other traditions that have been responding to that hunger longer than Baptists. The Advent Center nurtures the quest for a deepening life in God – and is particularly called to respond to the spiritual hunger found in the Baptist family.” The mission offering grant is for scholarships for students from seminaries and divinity schools to participate in spiritual formation events sponsored by the center.
Latino Ministry, Calvary Baptist Church $4,000
Washington, DC
Among many exemplary accomplishments in recent years, this historic and vibrant congregation in the heart of the nation’s capital has succeeded in integrating its Latino Ministry into the fabric of church life. One evidence is the calling of Edgar Palacios, a native of El Salvador, as minister of Christian education. This year’s grant will be used for curriculum and books, support for Latino members of the congregation to attend training sessions, retreats and conferences, as well as for support of a children’s ministry and a holistic health project for Latino women in the community.
Dogwood Abbey $2,000
Greensboro, NC
A new mission offering grantee this year, the Abbey is described by founder Zach Roberts as a “contemplative community” that seeks “as many faith and interfaith partnerships as we can develop.” Among the disciplines to be fostered in the community are three spheres of spiritual formation that make up the “Abbey Pathways” – Solitude/Identity, Hospitality/Friendship, and Prayer/Vocation. “Of significance is that our community will be formed by practices and not programs,” Zack elaborates. “We are trying to create a space where all are welcomed to participate….”
Edna Martin Christian Center $2,500
Indianapolis, IN
Programs at this faith-based community center serving the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood of Indianapolis include an after-school tutorial service for 55 elementary-age children called “We Will Succeed.” Because its primary goal is to improve children’s performance in school, Edna Marin personnel work closely with the public schools the children attend. In the words of Executive Director Larry Lindley, “The most direct benefit is that the children do better in school, resulting in better learning and a better overall experience, equipping them for a better chance of continuing their education at higher levels.”
Emmaus House $2,000
Raleigh, NC
A ministry of the Alliance-affiliated Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Emmaus House addresses what residence director Mike Levi calls “a severe shortage of longer-term programs and facilities that provide safe, decent and affordable housing and caring support” to homeless men seeking to overcome substance abuse and dependency. Residents pay $75 a week in rent and are required to set aside another $25 a month into a savings account. Each resident is assigned a coach to help him set and accomplish measurable goals, including employment. “We are grateful that the Alliance continues to be receptive to supporting small but effective organizations that focus on the most marginalized segments of society,” Mike says.
Farley Community House $1,500
Richmond, VA
Students and spouses from three schools comprising the Richmond Theological Consortium reside in this house, adjacent to Ginter Park Baptist Church, its principal sponsor. Residents form an intentional community for reflection and spiritual development and involve themselves in Ginter Park’s life in various leadership roles and acts of Christian hospitality.
Hyaets, Inc. $2,000
Charlotte, NC
Hyaets, Inc. founder Greg Jarrell notes that this inner-city “house of hospitality” came into being when four persons purchased a residence in “one of Charlotte’s toughest neighborhoods” and committed themselves “to living with the urban poor in our place.” “We have opened our home to the homeless for shelter, to the hungry for food and to the lonely for companionship,” Greg writes. “We live in a neighborhood plagued by violence and gangs, and so the area for which we are requesting specific funding involves our efforts at teaching practical peacemaking and conflict resolution skills, primarily to the youth in our neighborhood.”
Oakhurst Recovery Program $4,000
Decatur, GA
Described in its mission statement as “a residence where individuals who are chemically dependent live as they begin the lifelong process of recovery,” this model program is sponsored by Oakhurst Baptist Church, one of the first churches to affiliate with the Alliance. Program director Frank Painter says further: “Of the chronically homeless in Atlanta, well over half of them are single men with addiction to drugs and/or alcohol…. The residents are given a respectful, supportive environment in which they can make some life changes.” Typically, each resident spends 10-12 months at the house, where “the men are challenged to look at their past, take responsibility for it, and begin to create new attitudes and behavior that will enhance their opportunities for future sobriety.”
Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries $2,000
New York City
This grant supports the Page Turners After-School Program, a component of a model community service ministry in Manhattan sponsored by Metro Baptist Church. Page Turners is the after-school program of Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries and addresses the literacy development needs of elementary-age children in a community once described as Hell’s Kitchen. Most of the children served come from immigrant families in which English is a second language. The program operates from 3:00 to 5:30, three afternoons a week during the school year, and includes a library and computer lab. Volunteers assist with homework assignments, and an enrichment activity is provided every day.
Reconciliation Ministries, Inc. $1,000
Nashville, TN
An ecumenically based ministry to prisoners and their families in the Tennessee state prison system, Reconciliation “recognizes that the families of the incarcerated are forgotten victims of crime,” who “often are blamed and ostracized by friends and the community.” Among services provided are a guest house where family members stay when visiting inmates and “Kid’s Corners,” designated visitation areas that promote family bonding. A special focus is on family reunification issues once prison terms have been served.
The Sabbath House $1,000
Bryson City, NC
Customized retreats are the hallmark of Sabbath House, a dream turned into reality by Alliance founder Jim Strickland and co-director Rachel Lackey. Supported by a board of directors comprised principally of Alliance members, Sabbath House affirms the Sabbath principle, “the foundation of spiritual, emotional and physical health.” This principle “has always been important,” Jim writes, “yet it is one that is often lost in the hectic pace of contemporary culture.” Sabbath House retreats are open to all, especially to clergy, “who more often than not do not have, or make, time for Sabbath in their lives.”
Safe Places, Center for Healing and Hope $3,000
Little Rock, AR
This year’s grant to Safe Places, a ministry begun by veteran Alliance leader Kathy Manis Findley, is for a program called “Chances & Changes,” which Kathy describes as “a violence prevention and intervention program for children, adolescents and their families.” It consists in part of weekly sessions in eight-week cycles for preschool children, older children and adolescents. These group sessions will include more than 500 African American and Latino children and youth who are at very high risk for exposure to violence.
Seeds of Hope Publishers $1,000
Waco, TX
Our 2008 mission offering grant to Seeds of Hope will help underwrite a web-based resource titled, Hope Is in Our Hands: Lessons & Activities about Hunger for Children & Youth. It is to include children’s sermons, activities and worship opportunities for children and youth, and brainstorming sessions for leaders who work with children and youth – all designed to raise awareness in younger people and those who work with them of the hard reality of hunger, near and far away.
Strive $4,000
Chicago, IL
A mission of Alliance-affiliated Ellis Avenue Church on the south side of Chicago, Strive supplements educational and recreational opportunities available to children in some of the poorest neighborhoods of the city. Many of these children attend schools that routinely perform poorly on standard measurements of academic success and are unable to compete for placement in Chicago’s better high schools. In addition, Strive builds bridges between the community of Hyde Park/South Kenwood, largely comprised of people with connections to the University of Chicago, and its much poorer neighboring communities. Strive employees consist primarily of high school students, thereby addressing yet another pressing community need.