Time for GRITTY Leadership in the SBC (#GCR)

by Mark Morris on March 1, 2010

Time for G.R.I.T.T.Y. Leadership in the SBC

Grit (noun)

  1. sand or stone grains
  2. sandstone
  3. texture of grains
  4. 4. firmness of character

The GCR Task force has given its report.  Tweets are flying.  Positions are being taken.  Debate is occurring. Now what?

Another way I’ve heard this question expressed is, “Ok, so how do we get there from here? What is the path?”

I’m neither a historian nor a fortune teller but a look at the past would tell me that the answer is not found in the perfect plan but in the right leadership. In June I’m sure a plan will be approved but it will not be the perfect system. The answer is not found in breaking historic commitments or renewing them.  The answer is not found in the perfectly worded vision statement or in changing our jargon about acceptable Baptist giving.  So how do we find our way forward to a brighter Southern Baptist future?

My answer?  G.R.I.T.T.Y. Leadership. This epoch is an irrevocable moment in time for which leaders of a different kind are needed.

Let me explain.

To illustrate my point, it’s taken the gritty leadership of Johnny Hunt to get us to the point of recommending a GCR Task Force, approving and selecting a representative GCR Task Force, plodding through the task of the GCR Task Force and finally presenting an initial GCR Task Force Report.   Whether you like the outcome or not, we’re talking gritty leadership against some serious barriers! I’m glad we have the report and I love the fact that Johnny has not ignored our uncertain future. On the contrary, Johnny Hunt has led the SBC to address the harsh reality that we must change our system in order to address the realities of today and tomorrow.  The GCR Task Force Report is nice (intentional understatement), but what it took to get there is what is earth shattering to me.

My point is that hope for a brighter SBC future is not found in this report or that – this proposal or that.  Hope is found in Christ as he is lived out through refreshing, catalytic, leaders such as Johnny has exemplified. What I’m praying for is three more of those G.R.I.T.T.Y. leaders.

While I am concerned that the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention not be an un-godly brawl, I’m not too worried about the tightness of the documents presented. A brawl at the convention will cost us the next generation of Southern Baptists.  I’m very concerned that we exercise godliness in our handling of this matter. Please, Holy Spirit, protect us from pettiness in Orlando.

I am most concerned that catalytic change agents of a different kind be put in positions of influence.  Scott Brewer, who prodded me to give my thoughts on this, recently said in a private exchange, “We are at the end of where we have been.” No truer statement has been made about our current crossroad.

Even if we can agree on something in Orlando, my hope for the future is not so much in the formula or the plan on which we settle. My deepest burden and my greatest hope for our denominations is the selection of the right kind of leaders in key vacancies.

In the past, denominational leaders would have paid their dues, having sat on the correct committees and most of all having been connected in the right ways.   I believe Johnny Hunt began this process in order to issue in a new generation and a different kind of leader.  The potential leaders about whom I’m referring object to the old good-ole-boy system and thus would be self-disqualified for lack of participation in the old vetting process.  In other words, the leaders of the future may not be found on the right committees and do not want to take the time to become acceptable within the existing system.     Nevertheless, those young catalytic leaders are in the wings and must be found in our midst.  Young catalytic leaders of the future SBC must be measured by a different stick than the one used to measure the leaders of the old SBC.

I’m praying that God will guide current trustees and Southern Baptist decision-makers to prayerfully seek and find leaders who represent the SBC of tomorrow, not the SBC of yesterday.

What type of leader is needed to build the SBC of tomorrow? G.R.I.T.T.Y. leaders.

Grit may be a small granule but its persistent and irritating quality matched with a firmness of character plays a defining and prophetic role.   It takes a tiny piece of grit imbedded within an oyster to create a beautiful pearl.

Currently, many of our children are going elsewhere for their mission connection in our cities and in the world.  That’s ok for them, but it’s telling for our denomination.  If we’re honest, it really bothers us that our children and grandchildren don’t value our SBC in the same way that we value it.   We have also seen the stats that tell us that we are in decline and that lostness is on the rise.  This SBC crisis of the future is the impetus that demands a transitioning SBC. While change is needed, we dare not throw out the baby with the bath water – we just need the right leaders who will examine the tub and make sure they identify where the baby and the bather water part. Thus, my conclusion is don’t give me a perfect resolution to pass, give me godly, catalytic leaders who will serve as grit in the oyster.

GRITTY leadership is what we need to produce the pearl of a renewed SBC for our children and grandchildren.

So what is a G.R.I.T.T.Y. Leader? (Forgive the acronym – I could not resist.)

Gifted for the task.   If the new NAMB is going to be about church planting in the cities of North America then we need more than a statesmen as NAMB president. We need a NAMB leader who is a city church planter at heart.   If the IMB is going to be about serving churches to reach the least reached around the world and at home, then we need a mission strategist who is experienced at reaching the lost around the world and in the US. If the executive leadership of this denomination is going to chart a course for the future then we need to find an executive committee leader who has innovated a non-traditional course under extraordinary circumstances among a younger population.  These are just examples of the kind of giftedness needed.  For each role we need the person appropriately gifted and skilled for the daunting task ahead of him.   Since our children and grandchildren value authenticity over glitz and perfect planning, we need leaders in all of these key positions to be transparent and innovative.  For the generations that come, leadership is about being someone whose DNA and way of life reflects the desired outcome.  In other words, don’t give me a leader who points me to the path. Give me a leader who will lead me by living it out.  I’m praying that God will lead us to gifted leaders who understand the realities of global lostness and the North American church context of tomorrow.

Righteous in Christ and empowered by God’s Spirit.  Grit is solid in character and that character is strong enough to withstand great tension. If there is ever a time when solid character is needed, it is now.  The leaders who will issue in an SBC of the future will suffer immense criticism and enormous attack. Their character must be unblemished if they are to weather the storm and remain fixed upon our Lord’s direction for our future.  As godly leaders, their character must reflect Kingdom rather than self-serving values.  Righteous leadership will be found through prayer and fasting.

Innovative leaders. I’m not convinced that at the upcoming SBC gathering we can all agree upon and vote in the most innovative plan.  In fact too much innovation at this point would create havoc. I am convinced that if the IMB, NAMB, and Executive leaders of the future are innovators, that God will lead these godly men to develop the new plans that will create the path for our children.  Innovative leaders are not managers. Innovative leaders are thinkers, strategists, and dreamers. Innovative leaders are intelligent risk takers who are forward leaning rather than historically inclined.  More than ever, we need innovative leaders who are empowered to lead.

Tested leaders.   This is where it gets tricky.  Some would say that young leaders simply are not tested.  However, there are exceptions.  A young leader may have been through the necessary experiences in ministry and life to be well tested.  Although tested leaders are more often than not, older, we have some tremendous young leaders in our midst.  For the task we face as Southern Baptists, the leaders who will carry this burden must be tested but they must also be young enough to be able to dream a new dream and carry it through to fruition.

Temperate leaders.  I’m not suggesting we find meek and mild leaders. Instead, I’m praying that God will lead us to bold leaders whose lives reflect Godly self-control.  Such is the fruit that grows out of a close walk with our living Lord. Power, influence and access to great resources all have a corrupting influence.  The leaders, on whose shoulders the future is carried, must be humble, and temperate in character. Such comes through suffering and walking with Jesus.

Younger leaders.  I’m not suggesting a twenty-something leader. However, I am suggesting that younger leaders are needed at this time in order to build their future and ours.  Young leaders have everything to gain by shaping the DNA, and by building the plans and systems for the SBC of tomorrow.  This is not the time to hand our future to older leaders, whose vision is built off of memories of yesterday and whose inclination is to bolster the past and maintain the present course.  A new course is required. I trust that God will place His vision for the future in the hearts of young leaders. And I pray that those selecting them will look far enough and pray hard enough to prophetically select today, the leaders of tomorrow.

My greatest burden and prayer is for the ones who are making these important decisions about our future – the selection committees that are choosing the leaders of the new SBC.

Will you pray with me for our future SBC leaders?

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Scott Brewer’s Reflections on GCR Report

by Mark Morris on February 27, 2010

I want to introduce Scott Brewer.  He is Pastor of Meadowbrook Church in Redmond, WA and is also President of the Northwest Baptist Convention representing SBC work in the North West.  Scott attended the GCR Task Force Report and gives these reflections.  I’m particularly interested to hear the response of this church planter/pastor/ convention leader from a “pioneer” state. Such a pioneer perspective will not be heard as loudly or as often as that of a pastor or leader from a Southern State.  It’s worth listening.

Reflections on the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force Report
Scott Brewer, February 26, 2009

Because of my role during this year with the Northwest Baptist Convention I was invited to attend the February 22, 2010 meeting of the SBC Executive Committee. During the evening plenary session the GCRTF gave their report. My reflections are in essence my process of thinking “out loud”. I haven’t drawn any conclusions yet. The report was described as “preliminary” and therefore may see some change. A final report is to be released to the entire convention May 3, 2010. A vote on the recommendations is expected at the annual meeting of the SBC June 15-16, 2010.

The report was given in 6 “Components” and I’ll respond to each.

Component 1
I understood this to be a call to Southern Baptists to being a more focused missional people. As such we would agree that the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be presented to every person in the world and that we must be about the work of making disciples. In this component I heard the call to a new day of including the next generation of leaders, building trust and unity across the convention and elevating the importance of the local church over the convention.

No one can disagree with Component 1. I did not hear anything that would indicate how we would address this. As with subsequent components, the questions “how will we address this” and “who will be accountable for addressing this” was not clear.

Component 2
I heard this component to be a call to reinvent the North American Mission Board. At the heart of it I heard the call for “empowering” NAMB in the works of starting churches and strengthening churches (in evangelism and discipleship) by decentralizing NAMB out of Atlanta and deploying personnel around the country. This decentralization would happen by creating 7 regions.

This component includes an empowering of NAMB financially by doing away with “cooperative agreements” with state conventions. As I understand it, with respect to the NWBC, we would no longer receive CP dollars from NAMB for church planting and church strengthening (which is a large portion of the NWBC budget). Rather NAMB would use those funds for implementing their strategies in each of the newly formed 7 regions. Obviously this raises questions about the future of state conventions that exist outside of the South. I’m not sure how a large southern state convention would be impacted by this but our convention would be radically impacted.

One stated goal was to see a redistribution of CP funds that make up the NAMB budget so that areas of America that are outside of the South would receive more funding for church planting and strengthening. The funding suggestion though is in the context for greater empowerment of NAMB’s involvement in these regions with the stated goals of seeing better efficiency and accountability of the funds.

A final piece to this component was to see NAMB develop THE “Leadership Center of America” for training and developing church planters and church leaders. This overlaps with the assignment of Lifeway and therefore will involve some clarification of who will do what.

Component 3
This component suggests that the International Mission Board must be released to accomplish the mission of reaching un-reached people groups “without regard to any geographical limitations”. I heard this to be a call for IMB to not only be intentional about penetrating every people group outside of America (even so-called closed countries) but also those same non-American people groups within the USA.  This component seeks to leverage that IMB expertise upon US soil. I think this has been something needed for some time. How this will be coordinated with a more empowered NAMB remains to be seen.

Component 4
The recommendation for this component is to move the responsibility for stewardship emphasis and promotion away from the SBC Executive Committee and to the state conventions.  The EC has held this responsibility since 1997 when Lifeway said that they could not effectively carry out this assignment. In short, I simply see this recommendation as a way to add some justification to the later recommendation for moving 1% of the CP money that the EC receives to IMB.  How state conventions that are outside the south and that will already face significant financial “hits” from these recommendations can add the stewardship assignment remains to be seen.

Stewardship emphasis and promotion is very significant since the average Southern Baptist contributes only 2.56% of their income. The mission of the church is seriously hampered by this poor stewardship.

Component 5
In short this component seemed to me to be a redefining of how Southern Baptist giving is considered and categorized. While affirming the importance of the Cooperative Program, the recommendation is to identify a larger category of missions giving called “Great Commission Giving”. Therefore, a church’s giving through the Cooperative Program as well as other designated giving for state conventions and local associations would all be considered Great Commission Giving. I think this also includes a local church’s mission projects and trips.

The implications are not clear to me but here’s what occurs to me. For years there have been churches that have chosen to redirect their giving around the CP and directly give to IMB or NAMB or seminaries, etc. because of the dissatisfaction with either what their state convention was doing or with the amount of CP dollars their state convention kept before passing it on to the national level.  A result of that practice was that those churches looked like poor contributors to missions because their CP numbers were low. It seems to me that being able to count a church’s CP contributions and designated contributions as the new benchmark of Great Commission Giving better legitimizes those churches with low CP numbers.

I think one of the desires of the GCRTF was to address the shortfall of national dollars available for the work of missions and IMB especially. There has been an unsuccessful call for several years now for state conventions to keep fewer CP dollars and pass on a greater portion. This seems to me to be a way to get around that. I could be way off base here.

Component 6
The GCRTF recommends that the CP breakdown of funds increases the IMB share by 1% so that it is now 51% and decreases the Executive Committee share by 1% so that it is now 2.4%.  I agree that IMB should receive more of the CP pie. I could agree to 55% but from which area to take those funds I don’t know.

Closing Thoughts:
1. It seems to me that the call for being a more focused missional, unified people is right but must contain some idea about how to get there. Trust is a “relational thing” and relationships demand time and proximity with each other. This also demands humility and a willingness to give up power. Only a Spirit stirred repentance and recommitment to Christ’s mission can do this.

2. Something radical does need to happen with NAMB. Decentralizing and regionalizing makes some sense. What impact will this have on advancing the reorganization and new direction of the NWBC? There has already been so much change for our staff I’m concerned about morale and the capacity to focus on today and implement newly developed strategic plans.

3. How will all of the GCRTF recommendations play with the average pastor and church? I consider myself to be aware of and involved in convention life in an above average way and at the end of the day we only have so much time for convention matters.

4. What’s the answer to the “so what?” question? If all of the GCRTF recommendations move forward, what difference ultimately will that mean to 40,000+ SBC churches? It will impact church plants because they have limited autonomy and have to be responsive to convention initiatives or practices in order to receive their funding.   Established churches do not.

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Chile Quake -BGR Response

by Mark Morris on February 27, 2010

On the heels of Haiti disaster, BGR mobilizes for Earthquake response in Chile.

Sign up on www.gobgr.org for updates.

See latest article below.

Please help us spread the word! Do you know other believers who care about helping people in need?
Why not forward this e-mail and encourage them to subscribe by visiting gobgr.org!

BGR moving to assess needs after 8.8 Chile quake
Feb. 27, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Baptist Global Response is moving quickly to assess relief needs in the aftermath of an 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile at 3:34 a.m. Saturday, killing at least 78 people, collapsing buildings and setting off a tsunami.

Disaster relief specialists from South Carolina and California are on standby to respond, said Jim Brown, director of BGR’s U.S. office.

“I’m in conversation with those leaders and we will decide within the next 12 hours what our initial response will be,” Brown said. “If our ministry partners on the ground in Chile request it, we will have an assessment team on the way immediately. Southern Baptists are blessed to have on-ground partners in Chile who will be able to help respond immediately with the basic necessities.”

The epicenter was located just 70 miles from Concepcion, a city of more than 200,000 people, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. A tsunami wave struck the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles off the Chilean coast and tsunami warnings have been issued for Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Chile’s president, Michele Bachelet, declared a “state of catastrophe” in three central regions of the country. Several hospitals were evacuated and communications with Concepcion were knocked out.

“We know that immediate needs usually include things like food, water, shelter and medical needs,” Brown said. “We have emergency response funds available to help with the crisis response. Southern Baptists always respond quickly when a disaster like this strikes. They pray and give from the heart. We’re glad to know so many people who care are ready to spring into action to help people in need.”

Baptist Global Response will issue further announcements about needs and response as more information becomes available. For updates, watch www.gobgr.org, subscribe to the BGR AlertNet e-mail or follow twitter.com/GoBGR.

http://www.baptistglobalresponse.com/new/details.php?id=110

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The GCR Recommendation-Bare Bones Version

by Mark Morris on February 23, 2010

Are you wondering what Southern Baptists are buzzing about? I’ve seen more tweets on this than warts on a frog. (Do frogs really have warts?)  So after viewing the 90 minutes and reading the full paper along with it – I’ve stripped the 90 minute presentation and 32 page report down to the pure and simple recommendation.

The 6 components of the recommendation include a new SBC vision with 8 core values. The North American Mission Board is asked to reinvent itself around urban church planting. The International Mission Board is entrusted with the Unreached of the World plus the Unreached peoples of North America. This change removed geographical restrictions for work among the least reached peoples which is the IMB’s forte.  In addition the report affirms Cooperative Giving while also affirming direct designations to SBC missional causes and entities.  This one point throws its weight behind the holy grail of the Cooperative Program while challenging the traditional Southern Baptist mentality which nearly condemns designated giving as if it were unbiblical.  (Traditionalists will hate this one while others will be saying – duh!)

The job of promotion of the Cooperative Program is shifted to State Conventions. Wow – this one surprised me. It will be interesting to see how that fleshes out.  Finally we come to the allocations – the recommendations is that the average allocations shift to 51% toward International Missions. With the IMB taking on North American Unreached Peoples this makes good sense.

Ok – that’s my GCR for dummies version. Enjoy this light version – but if you want the full ninety minutes and the 32 pages - go for it.

GCR Recommendation

Component #1: We believe in order for us to work together more faithfully and effectively towards the fulfillment of the Great Commission, we will ask Southern Baptists to rally towards a clear and compelling missional vision and begin to conduct ourselves with core values that will create a new and healthy culture within the Southern Baptist Convention.

We believe our missional vision needs to be the following: As a convention of churches, our missional vision is to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and to make disciples of all the nations.

A new and healthy culture within the Southern Baptist Convention. These core values articulate what we stand for, how we should work together, how we govern our personal relationships, and how we should be guided in making decisions.

Therefore, we desire that these eight core values be embraced:

CHRIST-LIKENESS We depend on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and prayer to make us more like Jesus Christ.

TRUTH We stand together in the truth of God’s inerrant Word, celebrating the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
UNITY We work together in love for the sake of the Gospel.
RELATIONSHIPS We consider others more important than ourselves.
TRUST We tell each other the truth in love and do what we say we will do.
FUTURE We value Southern Baptists of all generations and embrace our responsibility to pass this charge to a rising generation of every age, faithful until Jesus comes.
LOCAL CHURCH We believe the local church is given the authority, power, and responsibility to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world.
KINGDOM We join other Christ-followers for the Gospel, the Kingdom of Christ, and the glory of God.

Component #2: We believe in order for us to work together more faithfully and effectively towards the fulfillment of the Great Commission, that our North American Mission Board needs to be reinvented and released. Therefore, in order to do this, we will ask Southern Baptists that the North American Mission Board prioritize efforts to plant churches in North America and to reach our nation’s cities and clarify its role to lead and accomplish efforts to reach North America with the Gospel.

Component #3: We believe in order for us to work together more faithfully and effectively towards the fulfillment of the Great Commission, we will ask Southern Baptists to entrust to the International Mission Board the ministry to reach the unreached and under-served people groups without regard to any geographic limitations.

Component #4: We believe in order for us to work together more faithfully and effectively towards the fulfillment of the Great Commission, we will ask Southern Baptists to move the ministry assignments of Cooperative Program promotion and stewardship education from the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and return them to being the work of each state convention since they are located closer to our churches. Our call is for the state conventions to reassume their primary role in the promotion of the Cooperative Program and stewardship education, while asking the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention to support these efforts with enthusiasm and a convention-wide perspective.

Component #5: We believe in order for us to work together more faithfully and effectively towards the fulfillment of the Great Commission, we will ask Southern Baptists to reaffirm the Cooperative Program as our central means of supporting Great Commission ministries; but in addition, we will ask Southern Baptists to celebrate with our churches in their Great Commission Giving that goes directly through the Cooperative Program, as well as any designated gifts given to the causes of the Southern Baptist Convention, a state convention or a local association.

Component #6: We believe in order for us to work together more faithfully and effectively towards the fulfillment of the Great Commission, that a greater percentage of total Cooperative Program funds should be directed to the work of the International Mission Board. Therefore, we will ask Southern Baptists to support this goal by affirming an intention to raise the International Mission Board allocation for the 2011-2012 budget year to 51%, a move that is both symbolic and substantial. At the same time, we will ask Southern Baptists to reduce the percentage allocated to Facilitating Ministries by 1% as part of our initial effort to send a greater percentage of total Southern Baptist Convention mission funds to the nations.

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YouVersion-Free Mobile Bible

by Mark Morris on February 9, 2010

I love mission innovations.  The technology which is available to us is under-utilized for the advance of the gospel.  So I love to see God’s people innovate for the kingdom and then give it away. That’s exactly what YouVersion is about.

It was two years ago at Catalyst in which I passed on news about a free mobile-version of the Bible – an innovation of lifechurch.tv.

To date nearly 4 million people have added this mobile Bible to their handheld devices.  That’s amazing!  Remember – it’s free!

Here’s an update from the developers of the iphone, blackberry, and mobile device application that has set all kinds of records when it comes to Bible distribution.   It’s phenomenal – both the application and the number of downloads it has generated.   We’re talking rapid distribution of God’s Word around the world in multiple languages!

Here’s the latest update from The YouVersion Team.

Hi YouVersion Friend!

Wow, what a start to 2010 for the YouVersion community! In the last month, more than 600,000 new users have installed the YouVersion mobile app, which takes us past 3.9 million total users. We want to let you know just how much we appreciate you reading the Bible with YouVersion and telling your friends about it – thank you!

As we grow, we’re working on some things that will make YouVersion even better for you, including increased stability, upgraded support, and an accountability system that will help you stay on track with your Bible reading goals. You can keep up to date on the latest developments on the YouVersion Blog: http://blog.youversion.com/.

We hope you’ve found yourself spending valuable time with God’s word this year. Don’t forget, you can start a reading plan : http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/.

If you’ve already signed up for a plan, here are some handy tips for the times when you start falling behind:

Build yourself a support system. Sign up for accountability emails (friendly updates on your progress that get sent to you or a friend) by logging in at http://www.youversion.com/ and adjusting the settings for your reading plan.

If you’re several days behind, just start with current day’s reading and make up what you missed later.

Do your daily reading on your phone before you get out of bed in the morning.

Try reading in several short sessions instead of one long stretch. Reading a small amount in the morning, on your lunch break, and before bed might be ideal for you.

Use your down time by reading the Bible on your phone whenever you’re waiting in line, for an appointment, at the airport, or while your kids are at soccer practice.

Don’t forget about the audio Bible that’s available on YouVersion.com. You can listen to your reading anytime you’re near your computer.

Big News!
And big news if you’re an Android user! Today we released a new YouVersion Android app update just for you, featuring access to reading plans, the ability to log in, an improved interface and design, easy integration with Twitter, many bug fixes, and improved speed and performance. To download the update, go to http://youversion.com/download from your mobile phone.

Keep up the great work, YouVersion users! We’re excited to see just how quickly you take our community past the two billion minute mark for reading Scripture. (Hint, we think it’s going to happen in about half the time it took to reach the first billion minutes!)

Thanks,
The YouVersion Team

Connect with us:
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/youversion
Become a fan on Facebook: http://facebook.com/youversion

Get help with YouVersion: http://support.youversion.com

Read the Bible anywhere with your mobile device. Download now: http://youversion.com/download

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Haiti Volunteers

by Mark Morris on February 6, 2010

Thank you (from Baptist Global Response)! All of you are playing a crucial role in the Haiti relief effort: praying, giving, going, staying informed – and telling others how people who care are helping people in need.Thank you! Remember: If you do not wish to receive e-mail alerts from BGR, you can click on the “Manage your subscription” link at the bottom of this e-mail.

Haiti volunteers making the difference – even in U.S.
Feb. 5, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Volunteers are making a profound difference in the lives of Haitians who survived the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake – from medical professionals and disaster relief experts who are using specialized skills to relieve suffering, to the multitude of lay people who have been fervently praying and generously giving for the past three weeks.

While medical teams from Kentucky, Mississippi, Florida and South Carolina have been joined in Haiti by a leadership coordination team from the North American Mission Board, a Feb. 10-11 meeting in Atlanta will chart the course for the long-term response and involvement of general service volunteers, said Jeff Palmer, executive director of Baptist Global Response. Additional medical teams from Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee, a multi-state water purification team, chaplains, and a volunteer coordinator from Florida will be among the volunteers leaving for Haiti over the next four days.

But volunteers also are playing a crucial behind-the-scenes role in Haiti earthquake relief from right here in the United States – multiplying the effectiveness of full-time staff by catching phone calls, answering e-mails, and processing contributions, noted Megan Stull Riel, associate director of Baptist Global Response’s U.S. office.

For the past two weeks, a steady stream of volunteers from Brentwood Baptist Church near Nashville has given the small staff in BGR’s U.S. office the breathing room they need to focus on urgent issues of coordinating response to the disaster.

“We couldn’t have done it without them. We have one person in our office to handle donations on a daily basis – and that was probably only for about an hour a day,” Riel said. “The earthquake greatly increased the number of donations we received. In all of last year, we processed 400 to 500 donations; after the earthquake, we received more than 500 donations for Haiti in one day. Besides that, the number of phone calls increased dramatically. Before the volunteers came in, the only thing we were doing the whole day was answering caller questions. We weren’t able to get to anything else.”

Scott Harris, the associate pastor at Brentwood who focuses on hunger and relief ministries, knew BGR’s Nashville staff was limited in number and would need help responding to a crisis of this magnitude.

“As soon as we heard about the earthquake, we called BGR,” Harris said. “We knew we could assist by offering prayers and financial assistance, and, in time, long-term involvement. But we also wanted to aid BGR in more tangible ways.”

Harris offered to make office space available at the church and asked if they could send volunteers to help them in the Nashville office. In two weeks, 20 Brentwood volunteers provided 150 hours of donated time.

“We were able to send rotating shifts of volunteers to help process donations and help with other tasks,” Harris said. “Our people continue to volunteer at BGR’s facilities.  It instills such confidence in our people to see the character and competence of the BGR staff up close and personal.”

Brentwood Baptist first became acquainted with Baptist Global Response through BGR’s promotion of the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund. The church hosted BGR’s first official event, a world hunger summit in the fall of 2007. Harris is glad they have the opportunity to lend a hand with the office tasks.

“We are blessed to have BGR in our own hometown. Through our relationship with BGR, we are able to touch the world right where we are,” Harris said. “Global missions can indeed be local.”

Local office volunteers make an important difference as BGR’s stateside staff focuses on preparing the way for the larger volume of general service volunteers that will be flowing into Haiti in a few weeks, said Jim Brown, director of BGR’s U.S. office.

“Our role in sending volunteers to Haiti is the role of facilitator,” Brown said. “We work with partners like the North American Mission Board, International Mission Board, Florida Baptist Convention, and other state conventions to find appropriate places for volunteers to serve and facilitate logistics to make that happen. This is not an easy task, considering our small personnel resources in the Nashville office. Volunteers make an enormous difference.”

A lot is at stake in designing an appropriate response to the earthquake that doesn’t create Haitian dependence on American resources, Brown added.

“BGR’s goal is to focus on both short- and long-term disaster response efforts that work through the local church – helping Haitians to help themselves – in a sustainable way that minimizes the challenges related to dependency,” Brown said. “This will be a huge challenge the longer we are there, as the response moves from the initial disaster relief stage to rehabilitation and then on to development work.”

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Medical teams to lead Haiti response

by Mark Morris on January 31, 2010

Medical teams to lead Haiti response
Jan. 26, 2010
By Barbara Denman

HIALEAH, Fla. (BP)–The joint Southern Baptist response to the Jan. 12 Haiti earthquake will launch in the coming week with four “strategically selected” medical teams, leaders of the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Network decided Jan. 26 at the Florida Urban Impact Center in Hialeah, Fla.

Plans to respond to the urgent, intermediate and long-term needs in Haiti were addressed by assessment teams that had just returned from the quake-ravaged nation, along with representatives from Baptist Global Response, the Southern Baptist international and North American mission boards, the Florida Baptist Convention and other Southern Baptist disaster relief representatives.

The group wrestled with logistical arrangements and how to send mission teams and respond to needs in a country where transportation and in-country support for teams is practically impossible. Access to airports and shipping docks are extremely restricted, the teams reported.

“At this point, all we can sleep safely in Prince-au-Prince is 55,” said Cecil Seagle, director of the mission division of the Florida Baptist Convention.

The group decided the next step will be to send four “strategically selected” medical teams through the Dominican Republic to Haiti next week, along with two representatives from the Florida Baptist Convention, who will continue to make arrangements for trained disaster relief teams to travel in and out of the country.

Another meeting to discuss the logistics of getting additional response teams into Haiti will be held Feb. 11-12 in Atlanta, the group decided.

“Once we get the mechanisms in place, we will have numbers of teams in there, week in and week out,” said Mickey Caison, who directs disaster operations for the North American Mission Board.

“One of the things I am very excited about is that the four entities came together around Southern Baptist disaster relief to develop plans to respond to the disaster in Haiti,” Caison added. “I believe God is going to do something very good through all of us working together in Haiti. Through it all our efforts will be touching lives, changing lives and giving hope. Our purpose is to carry the message of hope found in Jesus Christ.”

The group acknowledged that Southern Baptists are passionate about responding to the immediate needs in Haiti.

The group hoped to reassure Southern Baptists that the response in Haiti will be long-term, but in the meantime they can minister to Haitians in their own communities and pray for people in Haiti, who are afraid to return to homes that are still standing because of the danger posed by aftershocks.

The group pled for patience as they try to solve logistical nightmares.

Southern Baptists will be asked to purchase and contribute “Buckets of Hope” to send to Haitian families – five-gallon buckets packed with rice, cooking oil, black beans, flour, sugar, spaghetti noodles and peanut butter. Even after Haitians use the supplies, the bucket can serve multiple uses for a family.

While Southern Baptists will mobilize to meet urgent needs, they also will be very focused on long-term assistance to help Haitians rebuild their lives and communities.

“Other relief agencies in Haiti are running a 100-yard dash; we are running a marathon,” said Fritz Wilson, disaster relief director for the Florida Baptist Convention.

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Barbara Denman is director of communications for the Florida Baptist Convention (www.flbaptist.org).

A downloadable bulletin insert raising awareness about relief needs in Haiti is available at gobgr.org.

To donate to BGR’s Haiti disaster response fund, click here.

Follow BGR on Twitter @GoBGR

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Haiti Conditions – Relief Pipeline Opening

by Mark Morris on January 21, 2010

Please help us spread the word! Do you know other believers who care about helping people in need? Why not forward this e-mail and encourage them to subscribe by visiting gobgr.org!

Haiti conditions bad, but relief pipeline opening
Jan. 21, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Conditions on the ground in Haiti are very difficult, a member of Southern Baptists’ joint assessment team reported from Port-au-Prince Jan. 20. A U.S. military commander, however, said important progress has been made on enlarging the conduit for relief shipments into the quake-ravaged island nation.

“We’ve seen quite a bit of damage – more so toward the center of the city,” reported Jim Brown, U. S. director for Baptist Global Response, in a terse e-mail sent from his cell phone. “We’ve helped with a couple of deliveries. Helicopters everywhere. People still being found alive!”

In another report, relayed to a meeting of the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Network, team member Bruce Poss indicated that traffic in Port-au-Prince is terrible and milling crowds are making travel and security serious concerns. He reported seeing 5,000 or more people lined up outside the US Embassy in the capital.

The five-member team delivered relief supplies – water, plastic sheeting, bottled gas, beans, rice, eggs, diesel fuel, canned goods – to a couple of churches and orphanages, Brown said. They were planning to connect with a Florida Baptist assessment team later in the day.

A U.S. military commander said the flow of relief supplies into Haiti would be helped by the opening of three new airfields and the country’s seaport, news services reported. Gen. Douglas Fraser, who heads the U.S. Southern Command, told the Miami Herald newspaper the capital’s seaport would reopen Jan. 21 and could accommodate about 150 shipping containers per day. The port’s capacity is expected to grow to 250 containers per day by Jan. 22.

The main airport in Port-au-Prince, which has one runway and one loading ramp, has been a bottleneck for the arrival of humanitarian aid, even after it was reopened. A total of 1,400 flights are backlogged to land at the airfield, Fraser said. Because congestion on the roads has been hindering delivery of relief supplies, 63 U.S. helicopters have been dropping water, food and medical supplies into the most inaccessible areas, he told the newspaper.

The U.S. Military has distributed 1.4 million bottles of water, more than 700,00 meals, and about 22,000 pounds of medical supplies directly to people in need, Fraser said.

As many as 2 million Haitians are homeless because of the Jan. 12 earthquake, relief officials say, with vast numbers of people living in makeshift tents made of sheets and sticks. The estimated death toll stands at 200,000, but humanitarian medical groups warn that number will continue to grow as people die of untreated injuries and disease that infects the ramshackle camps, news services report.

Southern Baptist medical personnel who are willing to help in the relief effort can e-mail haitiresponse@imb.org to register their availability. Baptist state convention disaster relief offices also will be organizing teams of volunteers to help once the assessment teams have returned with strategic recommendations for the response.

The Southern Baptist relief effort, like the one mounted after Hurricane Katrina and the South Asia tsunami, will be focused on the long term, Mickey Caison, who directs disaster operations for the North American Mission Board, told the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Network Jan. 20. Previous strategies have focused on short-term help for people being missed by large-scale humanitarian projects and a long-term emphasis on helping people rebuild their lives and communities.

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To donate to BGR’s Haiti disaster response fund, click here.

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Haiti Team Update – Major aftershock hits Haiti

by Mark Morris on January 21, 2010

Do you know other believers who care about helping people in need? Why not forward this e-mail and encourage them to subscribe by visiting gobgr.org!

Major aftershock hits Haiti
Jan. 20, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The five-member BGR assessment team is on the ground in Haiti, driving toward Port-au-Prince. They are accompanied by Mark Rutledge, who has 26 years of experience serving as an International Mission Board worker in Haiti. The team will be connecting with Haitian Baptist leaders, surveying earthquake damage, and delivering relief supplies.
A strong aftershock measuring 6.1 in magnitude struck Port-au-Prince at 6:03 a.m., Jan. 20, according to news reports. The shock sent people scrambling for open ground as buildings damaged by last week’s quake shuddered and rubble began falling to the ground. Eyewitnesses said people already traumatized by the horrors of the past week cried and screamed at the new tremor. More than 40 significant aftershocks have hit since the Jan. 12 quake.

Members of the assessment team reported they did not feel the aftershock at their base in the Dominican Republic. However, Steve Leach, a member of Round Grove Baptist Church in Miller, Mo., who operates an independent hospital in northwest Haiti, reported the aftershock “brought down some of the damaged buildings that were still standing and will keep anyone from going back to what buildings are still standing for many days to come.  With so many severe aftershocks over the last week and now another new quake, who knows when people who have a place to go will feel safe to return there.”

Leach said about 1,200 refugees have come to the hospital for treatment and he has been sending trucks into the capital to look for survivors with family who live near the hospital.

“We live in a place that is about as far from the capital as you can get and still be in Haiti and yet we have watched these very poor people trying desperately to figure out a way to get their family members out here so they can take care of them,” Leach said. “The truck drivers are less and less willing to [drive into the city] as the situation in Port deteriorates.”

Relief efforts are struggling to get essential relief supplies to hundreds of thousands of desperate people, but destroyed infrastructure and disorganization are hampering the effort. Officials are concerned that the desperation people feel will boil over into violence. Looters by the hundreds have been fighting each other with broken bottles, clubs and other weapons over whatever goods they can still find in damaged stores.

“Pray specifically for God to give those in control wisdom to direct the relief effort,” Leach said.

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What is Your Church Doing About Haiti

by Mark Morris on January 19, 2010

So…what is your church doing about Haiti?

Here’s what our small, 1 year old church did.  We are mostly and African American congregation with about 40 solid members and about 80 in attendance on a good Sunday.  Our offerings will vary from $400 to $1000 on an given Sunday.  We don’t have a lot of expenses compared to other churches our size – we just don’t have all the frills of large churches or most churches of our size that have been around a while.

All that said, we’re grateful for $4oo on Sunday and we used it all for God’s glory.  That said, it was an extremely meaningful and powerful decision for us to give our entire last Sunday’s offering to the Baptist Global Response, Disaster Response offering.  Knowing that 100% of each dollar of the Disaster Response fund goes directly to meet needs is important to a small church like ours. We don’t want 10% or 20% going to administrative overhead.

Our little part is not a sacrifice compared to those who lost their lives and property in Haiti.  Our little part is costly to Christ Fellowship of Memphis – an entire Sunday’s offering is a lot.

Nevertheless – it was a joy for all of us to give this Sunday entirely to the needs in Haiti and to do so through a trusted source.

So…what are you doing about Haiti?

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