Articles by Guest Author

It is with great joy that I share the news of our Punan community.

For Texans, it can be hard to imagine a college without any sort of campus ministry. Yet for many universities around North America, that is the case.

By Abby Hopkins

In rural, economically depressed communities in Macedonia, one cow can go a long way.

Macedonia Cow Bank is a Texas Baptist Hunger Offering supported ministry that aims to serve these communities by providing cows to local farmers and pastors. Jeff Lee, director of the organization, began the ministry when he was introduced to a local who wanted to farm.

“The purpose of the cow bank is to help other local farmers and pastors through loaning a cow to them so that they can help their own family, sell the milk, or give the milk/cheese/butter to the congregation,” Lee said.

Lee and other staff identify potential applicants, meet with them to ensure they will work and do the job, then provide a cow when the applicant is ready. Recipients then repay the loan by giving back the first calf.

Last year, a group of local pastors approached Lee and requested help. Macedonia Cow Bank gave the pastors six cows and have seen successful results. The pastors have started selling milk and have used profits for outreach in their communities.

God calls us to go where we are needed most, where our gifts and passions are strong. It may not be where we expected or planned but God knows that we will do great work there.

Texas Baptists, Brazil Baptists, and local churches in South Asia are partnering together to support indigenous missionaries in South Asia.

What is it like to go to a Caribbean island, not for tourism, but for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? How would you serve? What needs do they have?

It was encouraging to know that God is there working in people’s hearts.

I had the honor of doing mission work in Tacoma, WA. We were able to work with Discovery Church. It was such an amazing experience because there were many opportunities to share about Christ everywhere we went.

By Abby Hopkins

A young, single woman decided last year to answer a calling on her heart she felt since a young age. She decided to become a foster parent. This “yes” brought four placements and many struggles over the course of eight short months. To ease the stresses and anxieties, Fostering Hope in Amarillo provided for Shelby’s needs.

Fostering Hope is a Texas Baptist Hunger Offering supported ministry that seeks to serve children, families, and foster care agencies by supporting and equipping them to better adjust to new placements and fostering hardships.

“Hunger Offering funds help meet the basic needs of the children who have been taken from their homes and the families who have been enlisted to provide for them,” said Trevor Brown, associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Amarillo. Fostering Hope is a ministry of First Baptist.

The church hosted a lunch more than three years ago with the purpose of engaging those who may be interested in foster care and adoption. David and Sydney Rieff, members of the church, felt a call to partner in the work, not through fostering themselves, but by equipping those who do. They launched Fostering Hope for this purpose.

When an agency goes out to place a child with a foster family, Brown said it usually happens quickly and unexpectedly, and the families are not always equipped. Fostering Hope’s Care Closet has everything the family may need, including furniture, clothes, toys, diapers, and more.

Standing in the midst of the Harmons, Jamaica, I felt as though I was surrounded.