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John V. Upton, Executive Director |
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Welcome to the latest edition of Advance Notice. We hope that this monthly eNewsletter provides you with relevant, useful information and resources.
“In the Presence of Wonder”
I’m not quite the same person I was a few weeks ago. I’ve lived the last month and a half in a state of amazement. I’ve been gazing at a miracle. I’ve gotten teary eyed, laughed out loud, done a lot of sighing. I’ve become a student of a newborn little girl, a granddaughter named Virginia Grace. I’ve made myself an expert on the delicate curves of little ears, studied the tiniest little toes, witnessed a hundred expressions already on her face, some of them hilarious. I’ve stared into brand new eyes that stared right back with disarming seriousness, as if from another world. I have felt on my cheek the softer-than-velvet softness of an infant face. And I have seen a son and daughter-in-law transformed, another source of awe for me.
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There is no doubt that strong, positive, spiritual leadership is necessary in order for a church to share the love of Jesus with people in their community and around the world. In order for a church to carry out the Great Commission, beginning with her own community, dramatic change has to take place in the DNA of that church. Learn how at the Pastor-Deacon-Church Leadership Retreat, May 11-12, 2007 at Eagle Eyrie. Online registration is open!
The Virginia Baptist Mission Board is offering a specialized training with national certification from the North American Mission Board in the areas of Royal Ambassadors, Challengers, Baptist Men, Church-Wide Missions, and Lay Renewal.
Four locations in Southwest Virginia are hosting these informative seminars on Vacation Bible School the week of April 23-30. Don't miss out!
Senior adult singers won't want to miss this great musical experience with conductor Dave Schwoebel. Singers may participate with their choir or ensemble, or may attend individually to sing with the mass choir. This annual event is not to be missed!
Since 1998, Transformers! has been an opportunity for adults to be actively engaged in a large group, hands-on mission setting. This summer, groups will be working in Staunton and Weber City. Registration is now open.
In April 1797 – 210 years ago – a male child was born who must have screamed louder than any other newborn. He certainly had healthy lungs! In time, he became a noted Baptist preacher who was said to have possessed a “voice like a trumpet.”
Cumberland George made an impact upon Central Virginia – the then rural counties of Fauquier, Stafford, Culpeper, Rappahannock, and Orange – which was felt long after his passing. He held protracted revival meetings which brought an untold number of souls into the Kingdom. Only the Lamb’s Book of Life can adequately tell the story of Cumberland George’s influence. One – and only one – of those individuals was John A. Broadus, who was baptized as a youth by Cumberland George and who in full adulthood became the prince of preachers.
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 Each month, we will provide you with downloadable calendars to guide you in reading the Bible through in 2007. This month, we are including the May 2007 calendar. We are strong believers in reading God’s Holy Word, and we pray that these calendars will help you and your church in reading the Bible regularly. Each calendar is provided in two formats (8.5 x 11 and 5.5 x 8.5, the latter designed for bulletin inserts) and may be viewed and downloaded
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Each month in this space we feature a different BGAV ministry partner. We hope these articles will help you gain a greater understanding of the Baptist General Association of Virginia.
LUCHA Ministries, Inc. is a not-for-profit Christian community-based outreach ministry with and among Latinos in the greater Fredericksburg, Virginia area. “LUCHA” stands for “Latinos Unidos por Cristo en Hermandad y Apoyo” (“Latinos United through Christ in Solidarity and Support”). In Spanish, the word “lucha” means “struggle.” Daily the Latino community struggles with cultural, linguistic, economic, legal, and religious questions that affect the lives of individual Latinos and their families. In many cases, social service organizations, government agencies, and religious groups are ill-prepared to respond adequately to the needs presented. LUCHA Ministries attempts to fill this gap through networking and partnering ministries, human needs ministries, spiritual and evangelistic ministries, and community advocacy ministries. LUCHA Executive Director Sue Smith and her husband, Greg, serve as Kingdom Advance Ambassadors with the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.
Visit LUCHA’s Website
- That according to 2005 estimates, the total Latino population in Virginia was 440,988 (roughly 6.0% of the total population of Virginia), making Virginia the 16th largest U.S. state in terms of Latino population?
- That the Latino population is not a racial group, nor does it share a single culture or language, yet all Latinos share a connection by ancestry to Latin America?
- That 59% of Latinos whose primary language is Spanish espouse fatalism (the philosophical view that it does no good to plan for the future because humans have no control over it), while 31% of bilingual Latinos hold to a fatalist viewpoint, and only 24% of English-dominant Latinos whose primary language is English feel this way?
- That the primary source of Latino growth in the coming decades will be births to Latino immigrants rather than immigration itself?
All information and statistics above are from the Pew Hispanic Center’s “Hispanics at Mid-Decade” (Sept. 2006) and “Hispanics: A People in Motion” (2005) publications.
The Baptist General Association of Virginia not only includes Hispanic churches, but also Cambodian churches, Chinese churches, Filipino churches, Korean churches, and Vietnamese churches. There is even a Brazilian church, an Ethiopian church, a Haitian church, and a Russian church. Although we worship in different languages, we work together to advance the Redeemer’s Kingdom.
Throughout the Commonwealth, Virginia Baptists are preaching the Gospel in many languages and meeting the physical and spiritual needs of people from many cultures through missions and ministries that are supported by the combined giving power of over 1,400 Baptist General Association of Virginia Churches to Cooperative Missions.
For free downloadable ads for use in your church bulletin, eNewsletter and/or website,
click here.
As always, we want to hear from you with your feedback. How can we better communicate with you? How can we better serve you? Let us know your thoughts by sending an e-mail to Paige Peak at paige.peak@vbmb.org. |
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