Articles by Guest Author

Every year, first and second generation students from Texas Baptists Intercultural Churches come together for five days and four nights to grow their faith at Camp Fusion.

Education is a valued process of growth and development in pivotal years of one’s life, yet it is not always accessible. As a new school year begins, many are unable to afford the costs of learning.

I have been raised with this American and Texan Pride and I will always have a strong sentiment towards my heavily American and Texan roots. However, when I came back to Texas 2 weeks ago, it did not feel completely like home, and it still doesn’t, even though Texas has been my home my entire life. People say this feeling is common and it’s because you leave a piece of your heart on the mission field (as corny as it sounds, it’s true).

A full house gathered on July 30, for the annual Texas Baptist Missions Foundation (TBMF) Luncheon, held in Arlington, Texas, as a part of the 133rd Annual Meeting of Texas Baptists. This year, the luncheon honored three outstanding servants whose commitment to the Kingdom of God has impacted thousands around the state of Texas and beyond.

By Abby Hopkins

“Mom, we have a turkey for Thanksgiving!”

A young boy exclaimed this and looked at his mother in awe as he discovered his family would receive a turkey from ABC Primera Baptist Church Food Pantry.

Erika Guerrero, Primera’s missions chairperson, was able to hand the turkey to this family on her first day volunteering. Since then, she has joined the work and watched as God has provided turkeys every Thanksgiving, serving as a reminder of the purpose of the food pantry.

ABC Primera is a ministry that seeks to alleviate hunger by feeding the elderly, single parents, homeless, and ill in Bastrop and models a dependence on God for every need. The ministry is supported through the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering.

“We always have enough to pay; it always works out,” said Primera Pastor of Harold Welch. “We see that’s the hand of God.”

One night before worship, I asked for the Lord to reveal something to me, whether it be the message or just a word that stood out. One song that we sang was “At the Cross.”

Somewhere in my church life I got the idea that children’s ministry is on the back burner, and all the focus should be on adults and youth...I have been terribly wrong.

When we talk about doing missions, surely many of us think of going somewhere far from home, preaching the Gospel to a lot of people or having a place with a big crowd surrounding us and telling them about Jesus.

In having to dig up repressed emotions and scabbed wounds, Father has shown me it’s best to not leave them that way. He’s had to take me on a journey in order to bring those emotions to surface and teach me to fully trust, to live fully redeemed and complete in Him.

By Jaclyn R. Bonner

In a country where severe food insecurity increased by 30 percent last year, affecting 7.7 million people, imagine reducing chronic malnutrition among the most vulnerable -- pregnant women, children under 5 years old, and the elderly -- and creating food security for rural communities in one of the world’s least developed countries.*

These solutions do not come easily. Problems are complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is the second largest country in Africa and ranked seventh on the 2017 Fragile States Index.* Despite the nation’s instability and broken structures, the local church and leaders in the region have a vision for their people.

Deep in the heart of fertile Eastern DRC, 430 churches from three provinces are coming together to bolster a sustainable farming endeavor -- permaculture. Permaculture is an agricultural practice designed to break the cycle of poverty by diversifying crops, increasing control over production, and generating more income.