Articles by Kirsten McKimmey

When Gaston Oaks Baptist Church faced the impending reality of closing its doors for good, leadership in the church sought to utilize the resources and property the Lord had given them to keep their ministry alive. The result was a reimagined ministry that would reach the nations right in their neighborhood. They named this new endeavor the Gaston Christian Center.

Sometimes UT gets assumed to be a godless place, but the reality is every day Jesus is engaging one of the 45,000 lost students with His Gospel and we get to watch that happen and we get to watch what people assume to be godless be incredibly glorifying.

The combined missions efforts of Texas Baptists over Spring Break involved more than 1,400 middle, high school and college students engaged in ministry across the United States. Projects ranged from rebuilding homes in Houston damaged by Hurricane Harvey, providing free van rides and pancakes to fellow college students in South Padre Island and engaging in evangelistic efforts alongside church planters in New York City.

From March 12-13 & March 15-16, the 580 students and student leaders volunteering with BOUNCE Student Disaster Recovery completed projects such as installing drywall, insulation, siding, painting and flooring for homeowners who had been affected by the disaster.

“It's a blessing to have Tom Howe on the Missions Team,” said Josue Valerio, director of the Missions Team. “Tom is a team player that brings his pastoral giftedness, experience and creativity, and a spiritual leader who trusts that God's Spirit is in the midst of whatever reality we face.”

We are pleased to have John as a part of the Missions Foundation team. He brings extensive development experience and will be working with donors west to Kerrville and east to College Station. He is a committed Baptist layman with a heart to help people use their resources to make a difference for God's kingdom.

Texas Baptists was recently recognized by the North American Mission Board (NAMB) with an evangelism award for the “Highest Number of Baptisms” for the 2016 calendar year. Texas Baptists churches had a recorded 28,765 baptisms, making this the second year in a row for Texas Baptists to receive this national award.

As Texas Tech’s campus is growing, so is the ministry and vision of Tech BSM. A new building will generate excitement among an increasing student population and will provide additional space that the BSM currently lacks, including a prayer room, missions room, leadership training area and a larger meeting room. These areas will serve as a catalyst to help them accomplish their vision of reaching the campus.