Southern Baptist Leaders on School Prayer
Bob Reccord, Richard Land, and Jimmy Draper, the presidents of three Southern Baptist Convention entities, urge pastors and students to join together and bring prayer back into high school campuses.
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Witness of World Changers youth leads 1,544 individuals to Christ
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--A student working with World Changers led a man to the Lord who worked as a "bouncer" in a bar in Waukegan, Ill., earlier this summer.
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NAMB documentary offers inside look at Wedgwood shooting and its aftermath
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--A new television special produced by the North American Mission Board's broadcast communications group examines in detail the Sept. 15, 1999, shootings at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth -- and the inspiring testimonies of the survivors.
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Spiritual awakening among youth creating passionate followers of Christ
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--The "youth group" of Crestwood Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., made a strategic shift in 1998 to becoming a "youth ministry." Everything now is focused on making disciples, with campus clubs serving as the evangelistic "front door." Passionate God-centered worship defines midweek meetings. 
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Missions, evangelism opportunities abound for Southern Baptist youth
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Here are just a few of the missions and evangelism-related opportunities available to Southern Baptist youth.
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New York, Miami announced as next 'Strategic Focus Cities'
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Two of the world's largest cities -- New York and Miami -- will be the focus of concentrated, five-year efforts by Southern Baptists to introduce people to faith in Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith.
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Interdenominational cooperation report, $126 million budget approved at NAMB
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--North American Mission Board trustees, in their regular meeting Sept. 27, affirmed a report from its Interdenominational Task Force that explained the agency's relationship with non-Southern Baptist groups, learned that 114 new missionaries had been appointed since the board's last meeting in June and adopted a 2001 budget of $126 million.
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70 New Missionaries Commissioned for Church-Planting Ministries
WOODSTOCK, Ga. (BP)--An Oct. 1 commissioning service gave North American missionary Vance Pitman an opportunity to share with his sponsoring congregation how God had called him to be lead a church-planting team in Las Vegas.
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Southern Baptist Leaders on School Prayer
Bob Reccord, Richard Land, and Jimmy Draper, the presidents of three Southern Baptist Convention entities, urge pastors and students to join together and bring prayer back into high school campuses.
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Decisions increase 134 percent thanks to Phoenix VBS efforts
PHOENIX (BP)--Joy in the Desert Baptist Church was a relatively new church meeting in a local school with about 80 people earlier this summer. But like 92 other churches in the Valley of the Sun this year, they were part of a cooperative Vacation Bible School effort that has become one of the most significant components of the Strategic Focus Cities evangelism and church planting initiative in Phoenix.
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Postmoderns extremely receptive to the gospel, says evangelism head
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP)--In an age when truth is relative and the end justifies the means, people are searching for something that transcends the "cultural free-for-all" called postmodernism, says Ray Jones, personal evangelism specialist at the North American Mission Board.
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Statistics indicate renewed belief in traditional morality, Colson says
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP)--The cultural decay of the past 30 years has begun to come full circle, according to evangelical commentator and author Charles W. Colson, to the point where statistics indicate the first signs of improvement in the nation's moral climate.
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Rodeo provides bronco bustin' setting for evangelistic witness in Phoenix
CAVE CREEK, Ariz. (BP)--Men and women donned cowboy hats and boots to rope cattle, ride bucking broncos, wrestle steers and hear God's Word in a dusty rodeo arena the weekend of Nov. 10-12. 
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NAMB debuts new video series called 
"E-ssentials for the On Mission Church"
ALPHARETTA, GA - When Mike Martindale wanted members at Bacon Heights Baptist Church, Lubbock Texas, to know what their non church-going neighbors likely thought about the Bible, Jesus and church, he used "E-ssentials for the On Mission Church," a new video resource produced by the North American Mission Board.
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American Red Cross, NAMB forge new agreement on disaster relief
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--The American Red Cross signed an agreement with the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board Nov. 2 that continues a longstanding disaster relief partnership between the agencies, a partnership that last year resulted in a combined savings of an estimated $14 million. 
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Huckabee challenges diplomats to set climate of righteousness
WASHINGTON, D.C.  (BP) -- Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee challenged a crowd of nearly 200 diplomats, embassy officials and other guests Dec. 12 to act as "thermostats" rather than mere "thermometers" - setting the climate of righteousness in leadership rather than merely reflecting shifting values.
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NAMB adds new church-planting leadership,
including new emphasis on multi-housing
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- The North American Mission has added new national leaders coordinating church planting among Hispanics, African Americans, and -- in a new area to receive full-time attention - people living multi-housing developments.
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Evangelistic advertising campaign results in 48 professions of faith
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--A recent series of nationwide evangelistic television commercials sponsored by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board has resulted in more than 6,200 total responses to an offer of a free "Jesus" video and 48 first-time professions of faith in Christ. 
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North American missions offering jumps 11% to $48.4 million in 2000
SHOCCO SPRINGS, Ala. (BP)--Receipts for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions jumped 11 percent in 2000 to $48.4 million, the largest increase since 1982 and the eighth consecutive record offering.
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NAMB president challenges staff, introduces new five-year theme
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- North American Mission Board President Robert E. "Bob" Reccord used video clips from popular movies Jan. 12 in inspiring agency staff to press forward in their mission even when circumstances aren’t ideal. He also introduced a new five-year theme for the agency: "On Mission Together for Kingdom Growth."
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NAMB affirms defunding of association, 
adopts chaplaincy endorsement manual
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) - By a unanimous standing vote Feb. 7, trustees of the North American Mission Board affirmed agency President Bob Reccord’s decision to join the Georgia Baptist Convention in withdrawing funding from the Atlanta Baptist Association. The action followed the association’s Jan. 30 decision to remain in fellowship with two homosexual-affirming churches.
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NAMB's 'His Heart, Our Hands' toolkit: evangelism through meeting human needs
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--The North American Mission Board's commitment to meeting human needs as an essential element of its evangelism strategy is being reinforced with the introduction of a new resource to make it easier for churches to implement a broad range of ministry initiatives. 
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Missionaries testify to God's grace during NAMB commissioning service
SNELLVILLE, Ga. (BP)--Kenny Grant was a new U.S. Marine Corps recruit about 22 years ago when he learned his young girlfriend was facing an unplanned pregnancy. But God used those circumstances and the witness of a fellow soldier to lead him to faith in Christ.
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Registration underway for SBC DayCamp 2001
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Children attending the 2001 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting with their parents in New Orleans this June will have an opportunity to experience missions through SBC DayCamp 2001. 
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Missionaries/churches to dialogue in live Internet 'chat' sessions
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Church groups and individuals will have the opportunity to participate in live online "chat" sessions with missionaries of the North American Mission Board March 4 and March 8 as part of the Week of Prayer for North American Missions. 
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Crossover returns to New Orleans; Baptists from across U.S. invited
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--The Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting left behind a lasting legacy when it came to "The Big Easy" in 1996, but it wasn't only from the business and reports in the Louisiana Superdome.
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Messianic Fellowship to reorganize 
after disputed withdrawal from SBC
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--The Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship will reorganize this June in the wake of a disputed vote earlier this year to sever ties with the Southern Baptist Convention.
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NAMB resource seeks to foster 40,000 mission strategy centers
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--An unprecedented package of resources from the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board is designed to help churches equip and mobilize every member in fulfilling Christ's Great Commission. 
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First Baptist Church, Houston, votes to embrace new convention
HOUSTON (BP)--First Baptist Church of Houston, in a congregational vote, approved a study committee's recommendation to reduce the church's ties to the Baptist General Convention of Texas to minimal levels and shift Cooperative Program support through the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
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Heed God's alarm over temptation, Bob Reccord counsels seminarians
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--Hear and heed the "alarm of God," Robert E. Reccord counseled students at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary March 28.
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FIRST-PERSON: First year at helm of national WMU full of life-changing experiences
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)--My first year of service as executive director for Woman's Missionary Union has been filled with many life-changing experiences. Just changing locations would challenge the best of us. But, add to that graduating two from college and law school; planning your only daughter's wedding; changing vocations (you and your husband); selling a house you've lived in for more than 15 years; buying a new house; and trying to maneuver an enterprise the size of WMU into the 21st century. You can now spell stress with a capital "S."
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Teen's death & subsequent revival leave legacy of faith & ministry
HINDMAN, Ky. (BP)--The flames of revival have cooled nearly five years after being sparked by the death of a popular teenager. But the pastor who baptized nearly 200 people from 1996-98 said a legacy of faith remains in Hindman, Ky.
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Video takes in-depth look at Islam through eyes of Muslims, Christians
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--In a mosque in Southern California, a young man makes a vow that will profoundly change his life: "I declare that there is no God except Allah, and the prophet Muhammad is the messenger of God." It is an authentic conversion to Islam, a ceremony similar in some respects to the Christian ordinance of baptism.
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Amid bumper-to-bumper race fans, officers buoyed by Baptist workers
LEBANON, Tenn. (BP)--While 40,000 excited fans enjoyed the Busch Series Pepsi 300 at the new Nashville Superspeedway, one man was content to take a break from the crowd.
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Boston Marathon's spectators receive Baptist volunteers' aid & witness
BOSTON (BP)--As Boston Marathon runners filled the streets April 16, more than 180 volunteers ministered to spectators walking past two Boston-area churches along the route.
      They met physical needs by handing out countless bottles of water, free seven-minute phone cards and even maps of the race. And they offered an evangelical Christian witness as well, including a brief printed presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ on the maps and small booklets describing a relationship with Christ in more detail. 
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Elian's rescuer learned 'God could still use me'
CUMMING, Ga. (BP)--The rescue and eventual return to Cuba of 5-year old Elian Gonzalez last year was an international incident for the United States government and a major news story for the world's media. But it spurred a return to God for the man who pulled the little refugee from the ocean.
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SBC Executive Committee, boards, commission, seminaries, committee nominees announced
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--Nominees to serve on the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, the four denominational boards -- International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources, and Annuity Board -- the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the six seminaries and the Committee on Order of Business have been selected by the 2001 SBC Committee on Nominations.
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NAMB exec tells Southern students: There is persecution in America
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--If Christians are to reach America with the gospel they must be prepared to face persecution and ostracism for their faith, a North American Mission Board official said April 19 at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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Trustees share Christ in Las Vegas during NAMB awareness experience
LAS VEGAS (BP)--In the midst of one of the largest "swap meets" in the western United States, Jim Guenther had an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with a Hispanic man and his family May 5. 
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Golfers 'Making the Turn' in NAMB television special
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Golf fans will get a personal look at some of the sport's top players, including the source of spiritual strength that keeps them successful even when their golf game is not, in a new television program produced by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board. 
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Hurricanes, floods, other disasters call SBC relief volunteers to action
SEVEN SPRINGS, N.C. (BP)--W.A. Weeks was familiar with Southern Baptists, particularly Seven Springs Baptist Church where his wife was a member and he attended sporadically. But it wasn't until he experienced Christianity through Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers from Seven Springs and other churches that he realized his own need for a personal relationship with Christ. 
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Baptist centers see lives changed via meeting needs, sharing gospel
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--His background as a successful businessman was of no help to Mel Jones when an addiction to crack cocaine left him homeless for nearly a year. But then someone told Jones about the Clovis T. Brantley Center in New Orleans, one of at least 100 ministry centers operated by Southern Baptists across the country. 
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Housing renovation ministry changes students, residents, communities
ROCK HILL, S.C. (BP)--There's a street on the Catawba Indian Nation reservation in Rock Hill named World Changers Lane -- a lasting tribute to the students who helped build four new houses there in the summer of 1996. World Changers volunteers have since returned to the South Carolina reservation each year to rehabilitate a total of 228 homes. 
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NAMB missionaries commissioned at First Baptist, Jackson, Miss.
JACKSON, Miss. (BP)--Sixty-eight new missionaries were commissioned before thousands of onlookers at First Baptist Church, Jackson, in what is believed to be the first such North American Mission Board service in Mississippi. 
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NAMB calls for 'rescuing' individuals 'lost at sea'; intros 2 new TV spots
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--North American Mission Board President Robert E. Reccord called on Southern Baptists June 13 to go on a "rescue mission" to save millions of people in the United States and Canada who are "lost at sea" without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
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Hundreds saved during rainy Crossover efforts
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--The rain might have been torrential, but thanks to covered porches at the Fisher public housing complex in Gretna, La., teams of lay evangelists still were able to lead more than 300 residents to faith in Jesus Christ June 8 as part of the Crossover New Orleans evangelistic emphasis.
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Baptist women share friendship, kindness with exotic dancers
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--The new dollar coin bearing the likeness of the Native American heroin Sacagawea gained new meaning to many exotic dancers on New Orleans' notorious Bourbon Street June 8-9. It became a symbol of both God's unconditional love and the concern of Christian women willing to step out of their comfort zones to bring them small no-strings-attached gifts as a way of demonstrating that love. 
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Chaplains recall pre-war birth of Southern Baptist endorsing body
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--It was months before the Pearl Harbor attack, but American military forces were rebuilding -- and increasing numbers of chaplains were needed. That prompted the Southern Baptist Convention in 1941 to authorize its then-Home Mission Board to form a Committee on Army and Navy Chaplains to endorse candidates for military chaplaincy. 
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'Until He Comes ... Go!' challenge carried to SBC annual meeting
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Whether through short-term mission trips, church planting, personal evangelism, social ministries or taking a stand for truth in a hostile society, Southern Baptists were challenged to fulfill the theme of their annual meeting in New Orleans by going and sharing the gospel with the world until Christ returns.
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Disaster Relief units from seven states respond to West Virginia floods
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Deadly flash floods that swept through much of southern West Virginia July 8 have prompted activation of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers from six states - including three feeding units, clean-up units from five states and two communication units.
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Tracts breaking new ground as witnessing tool for laypersons
ATLANTA (BP)--Few Southern Baptists are soul winners because they don't know how easy it really is. Joey Hancock, a former Southern Baptist pastor who spent nearly 30 years trying to convince laypersons of the ease of leading someone to Christ, believes he has found something to make it more user friendly than before.
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