Rev. James Amaziah "Jackie" Perkins, Jr., 74, of Evans, GA, formerly of Greensboro, passed away on Sunday, August 18, 2024, at Piedmont Augusta Hospital. He was born on January 28, 1950, in Greensboro, Ga., the son of the late James Amaziah "Jack" Perkins, Sr., and Martha Tuggle Perkins.

FLINT, Mich. — Earlier this month, Send Relief’s Serve Tour overwhelmed Flint. In partnership with the Baptist State Convention of Michigan, Genesee Baptist Association, and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, 606 volunteers from 49 churches representing ten states served 4,480 people from the community over two days.

SANDERSVILLE, Ga. — In his opening prayer on Sunday, Aug. 11, Sisters Baptist Church pastor Kevin Carter praised God for His faithfulness over the course of the congregation’s 200-year history. “Father,” he said, “You have been with us through depressions and wars and famines and all kinds of storms of life… We praise you for Your goodness and Your faithfulness.”

SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. — Soon after Steve Freeman accepted his first pastorate more than 20 years ago at Slayden Baptist Church in Cumberland Furnace, he realized after a few months that he was in over his head, he recalled.

Baptist General Convention of Texas and North American Mission Board representatives met at the Texas Baptists’ offices last week on Aug. 15. The meeting followed up the exchange between Dustin Slaton, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Round Rock, and North American Mission Board President Kevil Ezell at the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis.

The portable baptismal pool had been brought out of storage, filled with water, and placed in the sun. We were on the ballcourt at the jail, an enclosed space with wire overhead. This was our sanctuary for the afternoon.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn — Not only are churchgoers watching Christian movies, but some find them useful as an evangelistic and discipleship tool.

ROME, Ga. — Evan Wyatt, a Shorter University Music Education Major, won second place and $500 in the Floride Dean Scholarship Competition sponsored by the Georgia Federation of Music Clubs. This is a state-wide competition in which students submit a video of themselves performing two contrasting pieces, one of which must be by an American composer.

We received some disappointing news this week. After 19 months of waiting, we received word that Wayne's disability claim was denied.

CHULA, Ga. — C.S. Lewis, in his book Miracles, defines a “miracle” as being the opposite of an “ordinary.” It is something so unexpected that it speaks to divine intervention. In recent years, a miracle takes place each July in the small South Georgia community of Chula, and BCM Send Me Now Mission Teams are some of the instruments that God has used to make it happen.

DALLAS (BP) – Preparations are underway for the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting. The volunteer group preparing the way for Southern Baptists is holding a kickoff rally Thursday, Aug. 22, in Fort Worth.

DAVIS, Okla. — For more than 1,700 college students and collegiate ministry leaders, the beginning of the month marked a launching point for a school year full of gospel conversations and ministry on campuses throughout North America and the world.

In Indonesia, there’s a healthcare triad affecting more than the region of East Java. The network includes a Baptist hospital, rural clinic and nursing college and reaches far beyond the island’s, and even the country’s, borders. Together, Southern Baptists and medical professionals are investing in patients and students who are receiving and spreading the gospel to the nations. 

JEFFERSON CITY. Mo. — When God called Rhonda Schrage to leave a traditional career and build a new one where “faith and art intertwine,” some thought she was crazy, but she stepped out in obedience and found the Lord walking with her every step of the way.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. — This week Southeastern Seminary welcomed pastors and associational leaders from across nine states for its sixth annual Associational Mission Strategist (AMS) Conference. On August 13 and 14, over 60 leaders gathered to learn from key speakers and engage in breakout sessions centering around the theme of missional vitality.

The Georgia Baptist Mission Board kicked off its series of SPARK church-strengthening conferences earlier this month with gatherings in Cornelia and Columbus. Initial attendance numbers are very encouraging, says Scott Sullivan, the board’s discipleship catalyst.

VERSAILLES, Ky. (KT) – The nine youth who were baptized last Sunday at Versailles Baptist Church was a celebration that came about through a gospel investment.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – Only 2 percent of an estimated 80 million Deaf people alive today have ever been told the gospel in their sign language, with at least 380 sign languages in use globally, according to ministry leaders.

Every person needs a go-to guy — that particular person who is willing to step up, help out and lend a hand when needed. This type of relationship should be reciprocated. It is not much of a friendship if one person does all the giving while the other does all the taking.

The Church rises spiritually no more than the level of its prayer life. Throughout both his Gospel and Acts, Luke emphasizes the importance of prayer.

ROME, Ga. — Shorter University is excited to welcome new faculty members to campus starting in the fall semester. 

A team of Georgia Baptists from First Baptist Church of Jonesboro and the Georgia Baptist Mission Board recently returned from a fact-finding and ministry trip to Poland and Ukraine. Lanny Loe, missions pastor at FBC Jonesboro, in consultation with the International Mission Board, organized the visit to the war-torn nation with GBMB staff Chris Reynolds and Marty Youngblood.

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico – Send Relief crisis response experts and volunteers with Kentucky Baptist Southern Baptist Disaster Relief were already in Puerto Rico for a long-scheduled training session when Tropical Storm Ernesto rapidly developed into a storm that caused widespread damage on the island.

Michelle Chitwood tilted her head as she slowly looked around the courtyard. The wife of the International Mission Board president wanted to take in every aspect of this pastors’ wives tea in Lusaka, Zambia.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief will opening a second recovery site in the Savannah areas on Monday, Aug. 19. The site will be located at Chevis Oaks Baptist Church.