MIDLOTHIAN, Va. — Peter and Tina Kim know that Asians in the growing city of São Paulo, Brazil, are in a unique position. As second, third and fourth generation immigrants, many Asians in São Paulo never quite fit into the culture of those around them. They don’t really fit the culture of their, or their parents’, countries of origin either.

LITTLE MOUNTAIN, S.C. — When wounded military personnel recovering in the Soldier Recovery Unit at Fort Stewart, Ga., are physically able, they venture into the great outdoors courtesy of a big-hearted veteran from South Carolina who knows the value of fresh air and sunshine to the body and soul. Chuck McAlister, who was stationed in Georgia more than 40 years ago as a young Army officer, welcomes injured soldiers onto a 200-acre sanctuary at Little Mountain, S.C., where they can get away from the sterile confines of hospital rooms and experience nature at its finest.

I’m a tea lover.  Every morning I brew a delicious concoction of green and black tea to drink throughout the day.  I bring water to a boil and steep tea bags for several minutes for optimum flavor.  Usually, the sound lets me know it’s getting ready.  I can hear the water molecules bouncing off each other telling me they are heating up. 

I do not like traffic, not one little bit. Of course, I don’t know many people that would say they do. Lately, traffic from Jefferson to Dacula in the mornings has been horrible. Maybe it’s the time change, construction, weather, school, summer, who knows, but it’s been bad.

MONTREAL—Numbers don’t do justice in describing the last two years for Kevin and Casey Kilgore and their family, but it’s a start. In just a little more than 24 months, the Kilgores have surpassed 70,000 miles traveled in their RV. They’ve visited and encouraged 265 pastors and missionaries. They’ve been to 48 out of 50 U.S. states.

BOSTON — Abdul first arrived in the United States in August of 2022 from Qatar, where his family was living in a refugee camp after the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took over. Abdul’s family of six became Send Relief Boston’s very first Refugee Care Circle and has slowly become a part of our community ever since.

APPLETON, WIS. — Mary Ellison, a missionary to Indonesia for 32 years, “went to bed on Sunday evening, September 24, died during her sleep and woke up in heaven.” That’s the way the news was delivered to The Christian Index by Tim McDaniel, senior adult pastor of Eastside Baptist Church in Marietta.

TOCCOA, Ga. — As Paul Garrison looks back over a half century of ministry, he sees how the Lord has fulfilled all of his childhood ambitions. With a smile, the Toccoa pastor explains that when he was a toddler, he wanted to be a garbage collector, just like those men he would watch from his window each week. In time, his ambition changed to being a firefighter and later a heart surgeon.

McDONOUGH, Ga. —  Five people surrendered their lives to ministry at a missions conference for Georgia college students last weekend, and five others made salvation decisions. They were among about 650 co-eds who attended Baptist Collegiate Ministries’ annual Confluence conference at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church. The focus of this year's conference was evangelism.

DULUTH, Ga. — A metro Atlanta pastor will lead the Georgia Baptist Education Commission, which provides scholarships to college students and monitors campus trends on behalf of the 1.4 million-member Georgia Baptist Convention. Tim Akin, pastor at First Baptist Church of Douglasville, was elected chairman of the commission on Tuesday in meeting that highlighted an ongoing spiritual movement not only on the state’s three Georgia Baptist-affiliated campuses but also in the Baptist Collegiate Ministries operating on public universities.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Rudy Kebreau and Randal Lyle are bound by far more than their mutual faith and pastoral calling these days. Lyle, senior pastor at Meadowridge Community Baptist Church, gave Kebreau, his next generation and children’s pastor, a priceless gift this summer when he donated a kidney to his friend and associate.

PHILADELPHIA – Volunteers with Send Relief’s Serve Tour arrived to minister in Kensington, a neighborhood in Philadelphia known as a hotbed for drug abuse and addiction. Theirs was one of the largest projects of the event that occurred in the city earlier this month.

In spring 2021, I was visited by an unwelcome guest — the coronavirus. The first two or three days after the diagnosis felt like mild flu. Then, for a few days, I felt fine. However, when days nine through 12 arrived, my situation took a nosedive. I became dehydrated, ran a high fever, hallucinated, went to the hospital and had terrible fatigue. I pretty much lived in my recliner for four days. There was one person who kept me company and was safe from my contagious condition. His name was Peter Falk, better known as Lt. Columbo.

One of the foundational missions verses in the Old Testament is Genesis 12:1–3. God tells Abraham that all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through him. In the first century, the Jews, for the most part, neglected to be missional. In this passage, Jesus not only provides food for a poor woman. By His example and teaching, He communicates important missional concepts.

NEW ORLEANS — The “Abre Mis Ojos” conference, Spanish for “open my eyes,” yielded salvations as more than 800 guests from the Hispanic community gathered at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for the second annual event earlier this month. The conference was developed as an intentional way for NOBTS to engage the Hispanic community.

ATHENS, Greece — Ever-rising numbers of refugees and migrants, a smaller than 1% evangelical population and recent fires and floodings make Athens, Greece a city ripe for gospel outreach through compassion ministry. Earlier this month, more than 65 Serve Tour Volunteers from 13 churches joined Greek local churches to bring physical help and gospel hope to a diverse city. 

Asian American and Hispanic church leaders are expressing their “profound concern, dismay and disappointment” following staff cuts by the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee that included two associate vice president positions responsible for overseeing ethnic relations.

MOUNT VERNON, Ga. — Members of the community came together earlier this month for the annual Brewton-Parker College President’s Gala. This year’s special guest was former head coach for Clemson University’s football team, Tommy Bowden. The funds raised during this event will help fund the construction of a new nursing building on the BPC campus.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — If you’re looking for a Southern Baptist church, you’re most likely to find one in the South. If you want to find a growing Southern Baptist church, however, you might want to try the Northeast. Analysis of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Annual Church Profile by Lifeway Research revealed the convention is made up of mostly smaller churches dotting the southern United States. Still, more than 1 in 5 churches are outside of the South.

BAXLEY, Ga. — Hundreds of people streamed out of the bleachers at Jimmy Swain Stadium on Wednesday, responding to a call from evangelist Rick Gage to get right with God. In a scene that harkened back to  evangelistic crusades of yesteryear, they crowded around the platform where the man dubbed the “small-town Billy Graham” had just wrapped up  a fiery gospel sermon that warned of judgment for unrepentant sinners and promised eternal life for those willing to turn from their sins and commit their lives to Christ.

PASADENA, Calif. — Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary student Lachune Boyd performed live before the nation on America’s Got Talent during the fifth qualifying round of the hit show on Tuesday. Boyd, a Master of Music student with a concentration in voice, previously made it past the audition stage with a unanimous decision by the panel of judges.

DALLAS — Julio Guarneri, lead pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen, was elected to serve as the next executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas on Tuesday during a regularly scheduled meeting of the convention's executive board. The election follows the Executive Director Search Committee’s announcement of his candidacy earlier this month.

Noah’s journey did not begin when he stepped onto the ark.  It began hundreds of years before.  He had walked with God for centuries before the ark. In the book of Genesis, the Bible does not say Noah’s father, Lamech, walked with God.  Or his grandfather, Methuselah, who lived to the ripe old age of 969 years.  Though he is known as the oldest man in the Bible, there is no reference that Methuselah walked with God.

This had been an expensive week at the Johnson household. Wouldn’t you know that in the same week my vehicle and my husband’s vehicle would BOTH need new tires? It would have been nice to try and not do both in one month, but that didn’t happen.

MARIETTA, Ga. — On April 8, 1906, the Rev. Charles S. Wing preached a sermon that was published in the New York Tribune. As a part of his sermon, he referred to the “Story of the Engine that Thought it Could.” Despite the steep climb and heavy load, the engine slowly succeeded in pulling the train over the high mountain while repeating the phrase, “I think I can.”