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HIGHLIGHTS
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BWA NEWS
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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CONGRESS
 | | 21st Baptist World Congress (#BaptistCongress15) |
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Movements and Changes
Honduras
Andr�s Cort�s, elected president of the National Convention of Baptist Churches in Honduras, succeeding, succeeding Julio Mazariegos
Let us know of changes in leadership in your convention or union at the levels of president and general secretary
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BWAID
The following are disbursements by Baptist World Aid during the month of June. Unless otherwise stated, amounts are in United States currency. Africa Democratic Republic of the CongoTomato Project$ 3,350.00
Duck farming Project
$2,000.00 EthiopiaEmpowering Female Headed Households $10,000.00 Sierra LeoneSchool Development in Rural Areas
$6,000.00
Zambia
Rural Water & Sanitation Project
$9,500.00 AsiaBangladesh
Adopt a Village Arsenic Mitigation Project
$4,500.00
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From the General Secretary
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A Festival of Giving
By Neville Callam
In a matter of days, several thousand Baptists will converge on Durban, South Africa, for the 21st Baptist World Congress. Participants will experience the joy of giving and receiving as we encounter each other with the riches of our unique experiences that are filtered through the lenses of our common commitment to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus. From the experience of sharing with each other, we expect to develop a more mature awareness of the ways in which God blesses and challenges us for faithful discipleship.
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Member Bodies in Action
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Baptist Union of Trinidad and Tobago
Baptist presence in Trinidad can be dated from 1816. The first Baptists were companies of black soldiers who had fought alongside the British during the American War of 1812-1814. At the end of the war the defeated British forces found a homeland for their supporters who could no longer remain on American soil.
Six companies were settled in Trinidad and out of this settlement emerged the Baptist community. They had embraced the Baptist faith while in slavery in the US. Through their own efforts and with the support of missionaries from the Baptist Missionary Society in the United Kingdom and later that of the Southern Baptist Convention in the US, Baptist work in Trinidad prospered. More than 100 churches were established in both the north and south of the island.
The Baptist Union of Trinidad and Tobago (BUTT), was formed in 1854.
During the 1940s and 1950s divisions arose in BUTT as a result of differences in opinion over modes of worship, attitudes of foreign missionaries, and minor doctrinal issues. Factions broke away and formed individual associations, conventions and unions, such as the Independent Baptist Missionary Union and the Independent International Baptist Churches. Sometime later the northern group of BUTT churches formed the Trinidad and Tobago Baptist Association (TTBA).
The Trinidad Baptist Mission (TBM), which was involved in the training of pastors and church workers, was formed as an independent body by US missionaries. Changes in the immigration laws led to the dissolution of the TBM. Former TBM churches are now part of the TTBA.
In the mid 1980s, a move toward unification of the various groups resulted in the formation of the Trinidad and Tobago Baptist Fellowship (TTBF). This umbrella body facilitated cooperation in leadership training, Christian education, evangelism and other areas of ministry. Highlights of the movement include an annual rally, an annual dinner for pastors and their spouses, and annual retreats for training in music, stewardship, Sunday School and Vacation Bible School.
In 2003, the name of the TTBF was changed to United Baptists of Trinidad and Tobago (UBTT). The United Baptist Theological Institute was formed to bring the various leadership training programs and groups into one unit.
The UBTT also established the United Baptist Credit Union and the United Baptist Choir, which conducts free public concerts focusing on evangelism.
In 2016, the UBTT will celebrate the bicentenary of Baptist witness in the twin island republic. A Heritage Committee has been formed to lead in the planning of the celebration.
The original Baptist Union of Trinidad and Tobago, the only one of the groups in Trinidad with Baptist World Alliance membership, has some 3,400 members in 22 churches.
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Church Spotlight
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Zebulon Baptist Church (ZBC) of North Carolina in the United States, formed in 1868, has gone through several name changes to reflect the communities to which the church has moved. First known as the White Stone Lodge Baptist Church in the Rosenburg community, it was renamed Wakefield Baptist Church in 1895 after its relocation to Wakefield, and then given its current name after a move to the new town of Zebulon in 1906.
ZBC describes itself as a center of worship, a place of ministry and as a fellowship of believers. The congregation has committed itself to being a place of authentic hospitality where persons are transformed, becoming engaged in a community where persons are committed to Christ and are devoted to each other in love. It endeavors "to avoid a spirit of complacency and promote a spirit of enthusiastic love for God, for one another, and for the community we serve on God's behalf." ZBC aims "to connect more of our members and persons in our community to spiritual growth opportunities." Youth in the congregation have engaged in Youth Mission Week during which they worked with children and older adults, in construction projects, and backyard Bible clubs in Zebulon. Through Operation Inasmuch Missions Day, ZBC got involved in creative mission work through a variety of projects in partnership with business and civic groups in the community. The 2020 Vision Team, formed in 2014, leads in-depth conversations with the congregation, and analyzes congregational data and community ministry opportunities. After a period of spiritual discernment, the 2020 Vision Team will present a vision to the church to guide it to the year 2020. Recommendations for changes will be made to ministries as needed. "We value our call to proclaim the gospel to every person," ZBC announced. "While we respect the beliefs of others, we desire to share the good news of God's salvation in Jesus Christ with everyone through our words and deeds."
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In Memoriam
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Walter Richards, former president of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention, died on May 29, in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
He was 83 years old.
Richards, pastor of Salem Baptist Church and of First Baptist Church, Clay-Ashland for more than 40 years, held significant positions in church and public life in Liberia. He served as principal of the Student Union School in Monrovia, principal of the Baptist-affiliated Ricks Institute, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary, and was a founding member of both the Liberian Council of Churches and the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia (IRC).
He was a deputy minister in Liberia's Ministry of Education, president of the Board of Trustees for the University of Liberia, president of the High School Principals Association of Liberia and vice chair of the West Africa Examinations Council. He also served the Young Men's Christian Association and the Rotary Club in Liberia.
In 1977, he founded and was chair of the board of trustees of the Liberia Opportunities Industrialization Center (LOIC), a manpower training program for underemployed and unemployed young adults. LOIC, which had branches in all 15 counties in Liberia, trained more Liberians in technical and vocational trades than any other institution of its kind in the West African country.
Within the Baptist World Alliance, Richards was a member of the General Council, the Commission on Human Rights, and the World Evangelization and Strategy Workgroup. His BWA involvement began when he was private secretary to William Tolbert, BWA president from 1965-1970 and vice president of the government of Liberia. He accompanied Tolbert on many of his travels to BWA meetings and gatherings. Tolbert later became president of Liberia from 1971-1980 but was overthrown and assassinated in a military coup.
Richards earned degrees from the University of Liberia, and the Palmer Theological Seminary (formerly Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary) and the University of Pennsylvania, both in the United States.
Beginning in the 1980s, Richards, through the IRC, brought faith leaders together to help broker peace in Liberia. During the difficult years of the country's civil wars in the 1990s, Richards and his wife, Ora, were instrumental in helping to establish the Buduburam Refugee Camp near Accra, the capital of Ghana. The camp, at one time accommodating more than one hundred thousand Liberian refugees, became a major haven for those fleeing the civil war.
For his commitment and distinguished service, Richards was decorated by the government of Liberia as Knight Commander. He was awarded the Ralph Bunch Award by OIC International in the US, for more than 20 years of distinguished service to LOIC.
Beginning on June 26, funeral services were held at Providence Baptist Church, Salem Baptist Church and First Baptist Church in Clay-Ashland. Burial took place at the cemetery of First Baptist Church in Clay-Ashland, on June 27.
He leaves wife, Ora, sons, David, Warren, Julius, William and Walter, and daughters, Audrey, Ingrid and Hadiya.
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