POUND, Va. – Eddie Johnson had stopped at Robo’s Drive-In restaurant in rural southwest Virginia for a burger and fries, but he got far more than that. An unexpected encounter with a team of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief workers at the roadside restaurant would lead to Johnson rededicating his life to Christ and four others accepting Jesus as their Savior.

NALERIGU, Ghana – For missionary kid Trey Haun, wearing the Ghanian colors at the 2022 Unicycle Convention and World Championship was a no-brainer. What was a surprise, though, was winning two medals at the event. Winning the first-ever medals for Ghana created not only international media buzz but guest appearances at celebrations all over Northern Ghana.

LAS VEGAS (BP) — There are similarities to how Heiden Ratner leads WALK Church and his style on the basketball court from college and a year as a professional in Israel. Energetic. Excited. …

KABUL, Afghanistan (BP) – Christians in Afghanistan are forced into greater secrecy and largely cut off from humanitarian aid, International Christian Concern  said in its report on the first anniversary of U.S. withdrawal from the Muslim country.

COMMERCE, Ga. – If Pastor Chuck Cook had to put his finger on just one factor that has led to the revitalization of Beaverdam Baptist Church, he would point to a palpable feeling of love that visitors experience when they walk through the doors. “Everyone who visits, they feel that love,” Cook said. “The congregation has such a welcoming nature about them. A high percentage of our first-time visitors come back. They get plugged in. And they invite their friends to come. The excitement is contagious.”

VILLA RICA, GA – Those who attended the annual session of the Georgia Baptist Convention last year will remember that one of the most thrilling aspects of the meeting was the music of the choir of First Baptist Church of Villa Rica, where GBC president Kevin Williams is pastor. Georgia Baptists will gather in Augusta at Warren Baptist Church November 13-15 to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of our state convention and once again the music should be spectacular.

NEW ORLEANS - Jamie Dew, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College president, welcomed new and returning students during Convocation and urged them to remember that worship is an encounter with God. “Never forget, when we deal with the things of God, we deal with the Almighty, the One who created with the simple word … when we come into His presence, acknowledge Him for who He is,” Dew said Tuesday at Leavell Chapel.

WAKE FOREST, N.C.  -  Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and The College at Southeastern President Danny Akin charged students to be faithful to the Great Commission and to remain content in Christ, at the schools' 2022 convocation. Akin challenged students, staff, and faculty to be content in Christ wherever God calls them, narrating the life and ministry of Betsey Stockton as an inspiring story of faith in Christ and faithfulness to the Great Commission. 

ROME, Ga.  – Shorter University begins celebrating its 150th anniversary year this Fall, having completed several major capital improvements just in time for students’ arrival back on campus. Building projects, including dorm renovations, new science labs, and athletic facility upgrades, are being completed in time for the University’s sesquicentennial academic year.

SULPHUR SPRINGS, Texas (BP) – The new school year can be especially tumultuous for children in foster care, Union Baptist Church Senior Pastor Jacob Smith learned as the church prayed about the viability of a foster care ministry. Seeing God affirm the ministry, Smith contacted Journey Road, a new non-profit, nondenominational foster care ministry in Pickton, Texas, to learn about current needs.

HIAWASSEE, Ga. - Macedonia Baptist Church is a church on a mission. Actually, many missions. Pastor Wade Lott, spurred by the vision he believed God would have him share with the church, challenged his congregation to engage in local, regional, national, and international outreach. And the church has responded.

NASHVILLE (BP) – The capacity for help from Southern Baptist Disaster Relief is high. In fact, one key disaster relief leader says it ranks right up there with the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army in resources available to people in crisis. Still, that’s not what sets it apart among relief organizations. Coy Webb, the crisis response director for Send Relief, says it’s the intentional Gospel focus that makes Southern Baptist Disaster Relief stand out.

NASHVILLE (BP) – This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Explore the Bible curriculum, and will focus on 2 Kings 19:10-19, 32-34.

ALONG THE JORDAN RIVER — For the thousands of Georgians who take pilgrimages to the Holy Land each year, one of the highlights is visiting the Jordan River. They may not realize that water usage is up and the water level is down. The environmental group EcoPeace Middle East is sounding the alarm that decades of water diversions for agriculture and domestic use are taking a toll on the river.

“Partnership is a beautiful word when churches and associations work together in reaching people for Christ!” said Tony Gray, Associational Missionary for the Habersham Baptist …

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble…” Psalm 50:15 I cried at the Mexican restaurant last Saturday.  Normally a place of chips, salsa, and laughter, I was reflecting on the …

LVIV, Ukraine (BP) – About 400 Ukrainian Baptist congregations have been lost in Russia’s war on Ukraine, said Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary President Yaroslav Pyzh, who is …

SHELBY, Mont. (BP) – You wouldn’t think a pastor would have much in common with the bassist for one of rock’s legendary bands, but there’s a connection to be made. Chad …

NASHVILLE – The U.S. Department of Justice has begun an investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention in the wake of an internal probe that found the Executive Committee had mishandled sex abuse allegations over a period of years. Executive Committee lawyers told The Associated Press that federal investigators have already issued a subpoena. They didn’t specify whether that subpoena was civil or criminal. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is neither confirming nor denying that it is investigating, saying “grand jury matters are secret.”

NASHVILLE (BP) – A Department of Justice investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention is currently directed at one entity and no individuals. As of Monday only the SBC Executive Committee had been subpoenaed.

NASHVILLE (BP) – John Yeats, who served 25 years as Southern Baptist Convention recording secretary, describes the SBC Annual as “one big aggregation” of all that Southern Baptists accomplish in the span of two days each June.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The last few years have witnessed world-changing events that have disrupted supply chains and limited access to food for many people. Southern Baptists will, on Aug. 28, recognize Global Hunger Sunday to raise support for those in need.

LIMA, Peru (BP) – An ongoing partnership between First Baptist Church Hesperia, Calif., and Morado de Dios in Lima, Peru, has been a blessing for both churches, First Baptist Pastor Richard Spring said. First Baptist’s most recent trip resulted in 102 salvations.

LIVINGSTON, Texas (BP) – About 200 of the inmates at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit – a Texas Department of Criminal Justice maximum-security prison near Livingston – are housed on Death Row, where prisoners typically spend 23 hours a day in a small, single-occupancy cell. But Terry Joe Solley, an inmate in the general prison population who devotes 12 to 14 hours a day to visiting those otherwise-isolated prisoners, is committed to turning Death Row into “Life Row.”

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Two pastors who have seen massive growth in their churches in Florida and Georgia will be featured speakers at the SPARK total church conference’s regional training events on Saturday. Jimmy Scroggins, lead pastor at Family Church in South Florida, will be at First Baptist Church in Alpharetta, and Ken Adams, pastor at Crossroads Church in Newnan, will be at Byne Memorial Baptist in Albany.