OhiO Baptist MessengerPublication of the state convention of baPtists in ohio

OctOber 2012 | VOlume 60 NO. 5

INSIDE: Midwest transitional Pastors training . .Page 2ohio collegiate Ministries . . . . . . . . . . .Page 3God’s Plan for sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 4Women’s Ministries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 8-9Press toward The Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 12

Lottie Moon ChristmasOffering

P.4

former Mission ohio pastor Roy fish went home to be with the lord september 10, 2012 . The arkansas na-tive moved to ohio with his family to serve as pastor of the fairborn first baptist church from July 1962 to au-gust 1, 1965 . he preached the annual sermon for the 10th anniversary of the state convention of baptists in ohio november 1964 . in 1965, he resigned as pastor of fairborn first baptist church to become professor of evangelism at the southwestern baptist Theological semi-nary . he preached during the 50th anniversary celebration of the state convention of baptists in ohio . visitation was held at laurel land Memorial chapel at lau-rel land funeral home in fort Worth from 6-8 p .m . on Thurs-day, sept . 13, 2012 . The address is 7100 crowley Road, fort Worth, tX . 76134, and the phone number is (817) 293-1350 .  his funeral service was held at 10:30 a .m . on friday, sept . 14, 2012, in the truett auditorium at southwestern baptist Theological seminary in fort Worth, with graveside services following at laurel land Memorial Park of fort Worth .

Homegoing of Roy Fish

The “1% challenge” is simply a request to every southern baptist pas-tor and every southern baptist church to increase their cooperative Program gifts by one percent of their church’s un-designated contributions . frank s . Page, president of the ex-ecutive committee, issued this chal-lenge during the executive committee report at the southern baptist con-vention annual meeting in Phoenix, arizona . he said, “to do better what we’re doing together, we’re asking you . . . we challenge you, we encourage you to raise your cooperative Program sup-port . Would you do that? one percent? next year?” During his report, he noted that though the dollar amount contributed through the cooperative Program has increased fourteen of the past twenty years, a twenty-year decline in percent-age of funds forwarded by local church-es through the cooperative Program was a reflection of a much larger cause

for concern . he said, “We’ve been headed in the wrong direction in several ways . in 1989 our gifts to total Mis-sions expenditures were 16 .5 percent of our total receipts [average per church] . twenty years later, in 2009, our gifts to total missions expenditures had declined to 12 .3 percent . That’s a 4 .25 percent drop in missions giving . Did you hear me? i’m not even talking about the coop-erative Program, i’m talking about mis-sions expenditures… that is not right! “added to this is the individual-istic mindset of twenty-first-century churches where everyone assumes they can do what they do best on their own rather than in cooperation with others . We have before us a great challenge and i believe we need to recommit to the principle of unified ministry . What we do best, we do together! to accomplish this, we request that our churches raise

their cooperative Pro-gram support by one percent next year .” in the three months since the sbc annual meeting, many pas-tors and churches have

stepped forward to accept the “1% challenge” for cP . Many state baptist conventions are adopting this simple plan for their cooperating churches and will present this challenge at their up-coming annual meetings . to view the “1% challenge” video, go to www .sbc .net and click on the “1% challenge” video on the home page . here’s how it works . if your church gave four percent of undesignated re-ceipts through the cooperative Pro-gram last year, consider giving five per-cent in the coming year . if your church gave two percent, or perhaps six per-cent, or even ten percent, consider giv-ing an additional one percent through the cooperative Program in the com-

ing year . The impact of this simple plan could generate almost one hundred mil-lion dollars more to fund the Kingdom enterprises of southern baptists . some churches may see this “1% challenge” as a starting place to increase the total missions expenditures in their church, accepting a “1% or more” challenge! no single church alone can reach every unreached and unengaged peo-ple group; no individual church can plant churches across north america to reach our nation for christ; no iso-lated congregation can accomplish the work of a cooperating state convention; no solitary church can, by itself, equip a new generation of pastors; no single voice alone can sway the direction of our culture . but, together, we can ac-complish much! truly, we can do more together than we can do alone! Pastors and church leaders are encouraged to accept the “1% challenge”—for the sake of the Gospel!

The “1% Challenge For CP”

When booking your hotel room mention State Convention of Baptists in Ohio and you will be offered a room with 2 queen beds for a discounted rate of just $89! This rate includes admission into the water park for the length of your stay! Call now at (877) 525-2427.

Roy Fish

Fred Luter: SBC President

Mike Wilson: Pastor Lincoln Heights Baptist Church

David Starry: Pastor First Baptist Church, Vandalia

More Than Gold Mission

Trip P.11-12

Page 2 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | October 2012

Jack Kwok, Ohio State Convention Executive Director-Treasurer, Editor; Linnett Snodgrass, Administrative Assistant; Spangler Production & Design, Publication Layout. Published every other month for members of Southern Baptist churches in Ohio. Subscriptions provided out of each church’s Cooperative Program gifts. Member of Baptist Press, news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Ohio Baptist Messenger (ISSN 0472-7096) is published every other month by the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio; 9000 Antares Avenue; Columbus, Ohio 43240-2011. Periodicals Postage Paid at Columbus, Ohio. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Ohio Baptist Messenger; 9000 Antares Avenue; Columbus, Ohio 43240-2011.

Special guest New Life Worship

Awesome God, Amazing Power, Amazing Wonders Aviation

By Brenda HollingsworthAmity Apple Valley Baptist Church

What an exciting way to learn about God’s amazing power through bible lessons, music, crafts, recreation and studying about missions . The children and workers at am-ity-apple valley baptist church, Mt . vernon finalized their vbs experience with a “fly-over candy drop .” Mr . chuck Whitney, owner and pilot of a piper cub plane thrilled the children as he flew his plane over a field and dropped para-chutes of candy to them . God held the rain off for the eve-ning while the children and adults enjoyed the block party .

October 2012 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | Page 3

in his book, How the Best Leaders Lead: Proven Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Your-selves and Others, brian tracy offers an incred-ibly potent, yet simple tool . i call it the “magic wand scenario .” tracy has his readers work through their list of their biggest goals or priori-ties, and then he directs them to: “imagine that you could wave a magic wand and have . . .any one [of those] goals achieved within the next twenty four hours . Which would it be?” tracy then urges the reader to focus attention and ef-forts on that highest priority . This process is more helpful than we might initially think . looking at our highest priorities, isolating the most important one or two, and then concentrating our efforts on those goals is a high yield venture . it has been true for me per-sonally, and it’s been true for countless leaders . Recently, i applied the “magic wand scenar-io” to ohio baptists and to ohio collegiate Min-istries . i came away with one single goal: that all ohio southern baptists would be fruit-bearing disciples of christ . Much goes into achieving this type of goal, and candidly, i don’t think there is a simple path for getting there . to the best of my understanding, the path to disciple-ship is a process, and it requires steps--and lots of them . here is where i’m afraid we get stalled out . We think about a long path of discipleship and all the steps it takes to create fruit-bearing dis-ciples, and we forget how critical incremental steps are . We lose sight of the fact that a faith step forward is a win, and that when we thread a series of spiritual steps or wins together, then we see discipleship increase and believers growing in their “fellowship .” from this perspective, i’ve reframed tracy’s question a bit and mixed it together with chip and Dan heath’s ideas in Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard and a concept or two from The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work by teresa amabile and steven Kramer . here is the new scenario (maybe a concoction) i’d like to submit: “What simple, one-time activ-ity would move a person forward significantly in their spiritual development?” What would be your four answers for your church? here are the four-one time activities that i’d like to propose:

Activity #1: Soularium Application - i would show every ohio baptist how to use soularium, and after a two-hour training, i would take them out personally to share their faith immediately . Most southern baptists struggle to share christ, and few observe someone else doing it . how would our culture change if regular evangelism became core to our culture?

Activity #2: International Mission Trip - i would accompany every ohio baptist on an interna-tional mission trip to a developing country, and

i would spend a great deal of time processing the benefits/learning of the trip before, during, and afterwards . one trip out of the country is a shock to the system, and more importantly it radically expands a person’s world view . how would it affect our engagement in mission if all of us did one mission trip this next year?

Activity #3: Experiencing God Course - i would lead every ohio baptist through henry black-aby’s 12-week “experiencing God” workbook study . The spiritual challenges that blackaby poses combined with his material on under-standing God’s activity are profound . even if only a small portion of our people embraced blackaby’s call to “look for God’s activity and join him there,” epoch shifts could take place in the spiritual climate of ohio . how would our congregations look if 10 percent of our people suddenly developed a radar for finding and join-ing God’s activity in progress?

Activity #4: The Align Concept - i would invite a facilitator (like steve hopkins) to lead all our congregations through align . This weekend re-treat, sometimes known as “Refocusing,” is in several ways an expansion of experiencing God thinking . it leads individuals to look for God’s work and activity in the past and at present to see and understand how God has shaped and prepared them for the future . We’ve seen peo-ple come to christ and surrender to ministry via align, and we’ve seen churches planted and churches grow because of the align process . how would our church landscape look if our congregations grasped God’s work and activity in our lives to bring about his purpose?

on october 26-28, 2012, ohio collegiate Ministries (ocM) will host our annual ocM Retreat at seneca lake (cost $20) . our key focus over the weekend will be on “Activity #4” above . We will use aliGn to lead our students in look-ing for God’s activity so they can follow him wherever and whatever that means . We hope to see your church there! We would also love to hear your answers on the steps you would use (or have used) to see “progress” at your church . Please send your thoughts and feedback to brian frye via email (bfrye@scbo .org) or twitter (@brifrye) . for more details about fall Retreat 2012, please see the ohio collegiate website (www .ohiocollegia-teministries .com) .

article submitted by:brian fryeCollegiate Evangelism StrategistState Convention of Baptists in Ohio

Progress, Discipleship, & Align 2012: Ohio Collegiate Ministries’ Fall Retreat

SEEKING STAFFVictory Baptist Church, 9564 Hazelton-Etna Road, Etna seeks pianist/keyboardist to play for worship on Sunday Morning, Sunday Evening and Wednesday Evening.  Special events as needed.  Contact Pastor 740-964-1577 or email revplaugs@aol.com. Salary negotiable.

The Parsons baptist church, located at 3930 Parsons avenue, columbus, oh will celebrate their 50th anniversary on the week-end of october 20-21, 2012 . activities include: speaker- larry lewis, hog-roast on october 20, 3 pm . celebration service 5pm . festivities continue sunday, october 21 beginning at 9:30 am . con-tact the church at 614-491-1185 or parsonsbaptist@bcglobal .net for additional information .

50th Anniversary Celebration

Parents, Missions leaders, it’s not too late to join the state wide mission project to fill the stowe center of central ohio’s food Pantry . Download the lesson plan for full details, www .scbo .org and search state Mission offering age-level resources . The 2012 Ray Robert’s state Mission of-fering age-level Resourc-es includes a challenge to collect dried and canned goods this fall . send them to: Missionary Michael brooks, 888 Parsons av-enue, columbus, ohio 43206 .

Pre-School Mission Friends Project

Michael Brooks

View www.scbo.org for additional

Ohio Baptist Messenger news items.

Page 4 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | October 2012

The north american Mission board launched a 10-year evangelism initiative in 2010 entitled GPs: God’s Plan for sharing (every believer sharing – ev-ery Person hearing .) This initiative encourages chris-tians to be intentional about sharing the Good news of Jesus christ (the gospel story) with every person in america by the year 2020 . The initiative is based on four biblical principles: Praying (for the lost by name), equipping (every church member to share their personal testimony), sowing (engaging people in your community in gos-pel conversations), and harvesting (trusting God to see people saved, baptized, and discipled in a nt church) . in 2010 more than 400,000 gospel tracts were dis-tributed to ohio homes with a personal invitation to attend an sbc church on easter sunday . Many of the churches participating in GPs saw increased atten-dance, salvations, rededications, and a renewed enthu-siasm by their church members to engage their com-munities in a Godly, biblical, and compassionate way . following is an overview of the GPs initiative (media saturation) that took place in northwest and northcoast associations in March and april this year .

OHIO GPS STATISTICS for 2012:•OHhadatotalof2,449visitstothewww .findithere .

com website from March 1 – april 30•OHrankedinthetop15(ofparticipatingGPSstate

conventions) for visits to the www .findithere .com website

•22%ofthosewebsitevisitorsclickedthroughtothe“find a church” page

•OHrankedinthetop10(ofparticipatingGPSstateconventions) for click through visitors to the “find a church” page

•OHhad105phonecallstotheEvangelismResponsecenter (eRc) hotline number (1-888-Jesus – 2000) which was featured on radio, tv, and billboards . see www .namb .net/erc for more information .

•OHrankedinthetop3(ofparticipatingGPSstateconventions) for eRc hotline calls

•OHisaboveaverage(morethan9%)invisitorre-sponse action rate (which is a visitor looking at a page and clicking through to another page wanting more information)

INSIGHTS INTO THE 2012 GPS STATISTICS:•PeopleinOHarestillcuriousaboutthegospelwhen

they hear it•Churchevangelismstrategies should includesome

form of media communication: - technology Media (an up to date web page, e-

mails, etc .)

- Printed Media (door hangers, flyers, signs, etc .)- social Media (wise use of facebook, twitter, etc .)- audio visual Media (cD’s, DvD’s, vimeo, You-

tube, etc .)• Inadditiontotheuseofmediaandtechnology,agood

church evangelism strategy would include an ongoing evangelism process that encourages christian involve-ment in the local church and on the mission field in areas such as:- Personal evangelism (using tools such as soulari-

um, share Jesus Without fear, The Roman Road, The story, etc .)

- intentional and attractive evangelism events (block parties, parades, vbs, fairs, men’s outings, women’s outings, and children’s outings, etc .)

- sunday school and small group studies- Missions opportunities (in your neighborhood, in

the us, and around the world) if your church would like more information about GPs 2012/13: Reaching across north america (empha-sizing evangelism events) please visit www .gps2020 .net , www .findithere .com, or www .namb .net/gps . addition-ally you can contact your state evangelism resource team (jackhelton@scbo .org; duanefloro@scbo .org, brianfrye@scbo .org, or timbinns@scbo .org) for information regard-ing evangelism strategy, support, or training .

There is victory in Jesus,Jack helton, evangelism Director

October 2012 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | Page 5

North Wooster Baptist Church Gets New Home

after twelve years of meeting in a school gymna-sium, north Wooster bap-tist church has moved into a permanent location . Years of weekly setting up and tearing down in a once-a-week-only meeting place ended . not having a place to call home has been replaced with the joy of meeting in their own sanctuary . The trailer contain-ing the equipment and fur-nishings has been retired and members of north Wooster baptist church are rejoicing! While always in prayer for a permanent location, this opportunity came rather un-expected . north Wooster bap-tist church had only recently been turned down for a loan on another property prospect so when the current building,

property and parsonage be-came available, the church did not consider purchasing it a possibility . but one must never underestimate an awesome God!

feeling curious about the property in question, Pastor Jamie Rickard attended the auction with no thought of pursuing the sale . Yet, when the holy spirit kept urging him to bid on the lot, Pas-tor Rickard nervously but obediently offered a bid . at the end of the auction, the bid fell to him . Placing a call to the trustees, Pastor Jamie wrote the check and texted his wife, “honey, i just bought a church .” needless to say, the bank approved the loan, the sale closed and north Wooster baptist church grateful-ly dedicated the building back to the lord on July 29, 2012—just one week before the church had their vacation bible school scheduled!

shifting gears to hold vbs in their own facility instead of at the park, members pitched in and the church was quickly transformed . The week came off without a hitch and God graciously gave them their highest vbs attendance to date .

visitors have attended each week since services be-gan at the new location and the church is praying that the trend continues . Please join them in prayer for God to use this fellowship in this place for his glory .

The bible teaching and leader-ship Resource Group strives to provide quality training in the areas of sunday

school and small group to our churches across the state . in the month of august we held two sunday school train-ing conferences . our first conference was held on august 4th in the northern part of the state in elyria . This training was based on the book “Missionary sunday school” writ-ten by David francis, Director of sunday school lifeWay chris-tian Resources . our keynote speak-er was bob Mayfield from the oklahoma convention . bob chal-lenged the group to understand the impor-

tance and role of sunday school, and the overall impact it plays in the King-dom work . state trainers brought to light the meaning of being a Missionary sunday school class .

People walked away from this con-ference challenged, and with a renewed sense of excitement . on august 11th our second confer-ence was held in Dublin, ohio . our key-note speaker was Dr . Thom Rainer, Pres-ident of lifeWay christian Resources . Dr . Rainer, along with a complete team of lifeWay personnel, unpacked the scope of Missionary sunday school . as the team shared the “What”, Dr . Rainer explained the “WhY” . for details, visit the Mission ohio e-Quip link on the state convention of baptists in ohio website and view the video presentation . The day was filled with questions and answers around the purpose, his-tory, and importance of sunday school . We also enjoy adding a little fun into our events . Dr . Rainer shares a passion for alabama football, so we honored him by presenting him with an ohio state shirt . Go bucks! sunday school groups, small groups, or any other type of small

community have played an impor-tant role in the longevity and health of any church . This is why it is important that our churches understand the con-nection between groups and worship attendance . statistics indicate that 86% of peo-ple who attend worship anD are con-nected to a small group are still active after five years . only 16% of people are still active if they only attend the wor-ship service . What a staggering statistic . connecting people to a small group is essential . That is why the bible teach-ing and leadership Resource Group strives to provide as much training as possible . We are excited to announce the 2013 sunday school training confer-ence dates scheduled in partnership with lifeWay christian Resources . Please mark your calendar and plan to attend . Please look for additional informa-tion in the near future . on occasion the state convention of baptists in ohio is asked to part-ner with another state convention to provide various training events . This year we were asked by the alaska state convention to provide sunday school

training for some of their churches . Please pray for this team as we travel to alaska during november 9–17, 2012 . We are very excited about the re-ports we are receiving about churches and sunday schools working together to make a great impact in their commu-nities . Keep up the good work!

in his service,Dwayne leeAssociate Team LeaderBible Teaching / Leadership Resource Group

Sunday SCHOOl WORkeR TRaining2012

Bob Mayfield

The National Sunday School Director Seminar

April 13, 2013

The Pastor/Sunday School Director Workshop

June 1, 2013Transform

August 3, 2013All conferences will be held at the

following location:First Baptist Church Grove City

3301 Orders Rd.Grove City, Ohio 43123-9270

Thom Rainer

David Francis

Pastor Jamie Rickard

Page 6 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | October 2012

Michael Ritter Duke A. Hall Arjun P. Nagra Zachary Scharf Sean Clayton Greg Pyles Robert Bettis

Dalton Golden Ethan Pickrell Doug Yoder Jerry Nelson

David Troutman Caleb J. Vogel Mark A. Seymour

Michael Tobin McCuen

Genoa Troop Ministry • Fall 2012“pray continually,” 1 Thess. 5:17

Praying daily and sending gift packages monthly to our active duty troops around the world.Visit the troop display outside the Genoa Worship and Activities Center for more information on how you can help!

Genoa Baptist Church • 7562 Lewis Center Road • Westerville, Ohio 43082 • 740.965.5548 • www.genoachurch.org • genoa@genoachurch.org

Adam Robert Beaver John Ramer

Jeremy Hawkins Nick Chou Eric Evans

Carly Carter

Shaun CarterJohn Ritter

David Girgis

Travis John Williams

Stacy Beaver

Caleb Crabtree

Roger M. Crakaal, Jr.

Farrell Duncombe

John Petot

Richard Matthew Reed

John Riggs

Michael D. Sweeney

Shad Adams Veronica Arquette

Derik Bennett Charles J. Bryant Michael Cervantes

Donald Dauer Sean Dewolfe

James C. Girgis Brandon C. Gumney

Matthew Isganitis

Zachary James Haylee McLean

Jarrod Stritt Caleb Vrancken

Zachery Walker David James Yarnell

if your church is looking for an effective outreach that will be well re-ceived by the people you are targeting, look no further . a christian based ‘troop Ministry’ for your local church could be the answer . in the wake of the peace-keeping missions, and the battles fought in iraq and afghanistan, doors have opened wide for churches in every town and city to impact our young men and women overseas, as well as stateside . Genoa baptist church in Westerville, ohio, has been reaching out to troops in our area since 2006 . What began as an outreach to five families has now grown to a monthly ministry that has impacted over 250 families . This ever-growing service to our troops began when church member sue clark pursued a gentle nudge from God to consider giving a gift to service mem-bers who spent each day laying down

their lives for their country . sue was relentless in her pursuit to find donors, helpers and service members who were in need of prayer and a caring touch in the central ohio area . Many willing hearts joined this new adventure, and with only $100 in funds donated by a sunday school class, the first five gift boxes made their way across the sea in December 2006 . since that humble beginning, over 250 families and service members have received over 2400 ‘boxes of love,’ as re-cipient service member sean clayton fondly called his care packages . in addition to that, church mem-bers have been challenged to pray for troop members through baseball style magnetized cards with photo and infor-mation on individual troop members to be placed on refrigerator . There is a Patriotic wall in the church lobby that features a 5X7 photo of each individual with a tiny flag showing what country

around the world they are serving in . over the years, Genoa bap-tist church has been blessed by the numerous thank-you letters from the troop members which they serve, but none have warmed the hearts and ef-forts of the volunteers more than the stories of lives which were physically and spiritually touched by God through this ministry . for example, in spite of her urging, nancy vincent’s husband brian refused to go to church with her . shortly after he was deployed to afghanistan, brian began receiving monthly packages from the ministry, which included Genoa’s weekly sermons . for father’s Day, nan-cy sent him a DvD player with a tiny nine-inch screen, and he began to hold sunday services after other soldiers asked him to share the sermon messag-es with them . his ministry grew to in-clude a catholic priest, who then shared with other troops who were hungry for

the word of God . During one phone call home, brian jokingly relayed to his wife that he believed Genoa baptist was bet-ter known in afghanistan than in ohio, and following his return home, brian excitedly began attending church ser-vices at Genoa with nancy . one service member spoke of how the packages and caring letters got him through his final deployment . in a thank-you note, he related, “When it seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel, and i was in a place that was dark and scary, and it seemed like there was nothing to look forward to, you guys brought me hope and the will to push on . Without those cD’s i do not think i would be here today walking with God .” other service members shared how the tiny toys, stuffed animals and candy saved their lives . in afghanistan, there are long dusty roads filled with roadside

A Free Outreach Ministry Guide For Your Church To Serve Our Troops

An Effective Ministry Of Love For All Churches

Troops~ Continued on Page 7

October 2012 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | Page 7

Small-Groups Can Reach People in Your Community!Fueling a Movement for Starting and Strengthening Churches

The Vision: A Biblical small group within walking distance of every person on the planet.

Small Groups Lab with Rick HowertonThursday, October 25    1 pm - 3 pmHosted by Red Door Church1140 Smiley Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45240(513) 549-5390 Register at www.iamreddoor.org/events/small-groups-lab

Rick’s history demands he see group life through multiple lenses. His experience as an elder, college pastor, associ-ate pastor, teaching pastor, senior pastor, church planter, and church consultant have shaped who he is and how he thinks. You will quickly realize that Rick sees beyond what is and forces us to consider what might be. He has authored many small group studies, is a highly sought after trainer and speaker, and is the author of Destination Community: Small Group Ministry Manual.  His revolutionary book, A Different Kind of Tribe: Embracing the New Small Group Dynamic, released June of 2012.

Provided by NavPress and Cooperative Program giving of churches with The State Convention of Baptists in Ohio.

Small Groups Lab with Rick Howerton

Rick Howerton Global Small Group Environmentalist

for NavPress Christian Publishing

Find out how it can be done in your church

whether small or large, new or established.

bombs, otherwise known as ieD’s . The troops who share these goodies with the afghan chil-dren often begin to establish relationships with them, and in return, the children would warn them of the whereabouts of these bombs . today the Genoa troop Ministry is comprised of ap-proximately 50 volunteers who have a heart for service men and women . some are hon-oring relatives who are cur-rently serving in the military, or have served in the past . others serve because they are grateful to those who are will-ing to protect them and offer peace to this great country . There are volunteers who un-derstand the sacrifices that the troops make each day, so that they can sleep soundly at night, and that fact inspires them to give of their time . one very ac-tive volunteer shared that she joined the ministry due to her own unfulfilled desire to serve her country in the military, as well as to honor her father who

served in the navy and her husband who served in the air force . she was also inspired by a young man who was a part of the youth group which she led . When he enlisted in the Marines, she began shipping much needed items to him on her own . There is a great spiritual need in the military right now, and Genoa believes that God is preparing the hearts of his people to share in filling that void . With veteran’s Day and christmas approaching, there is not a better time to find the names of the men and women in your community and begin ministering to them in a tan-gible way . Genoa baptist church is more than happy to provide a troop Ministry “how to” man-ual, free of charge, to interested churches in ohio . send a re-quest on your church letter-head to: Genoa church troop Ministry, 7562 lewis center Road, Westerville, ohio 43082 .

Troops ~ Continued from Page 6

Page 8 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | October 2012

Women’s Missions & Ministries Women’s Missions and Ministries Resource Group sponsors Missions camp . 2012 is significant because this privilege now includes ohio Ra camp . The girls and guys joined forces to collect school supplies for the Missions camp Project . baptist Global Response (bGR), provides this mission opportunity as an iMb project: connecting Kids in need with Kids who care! campers packed forty-six complete kits, plus two large boxes full of more supplies . to learn how your church may also supply Kits for Kids go to www .gobgr .org . The Ras of-

fering was also sent to bRG to assist with shipping costs . Girls for Missions camp M, missionary, shared a unique evangelism strategy and taught the girls how to use it in a prac-tical way . often Ms in third world countries use a teaching method called bible storying . some years ago a journeyman serving in an african country where henna hand painting was popular developed the henna story method . our M adapted that idea and chal-lenged the girls to draw sym-bols on a hand pattern . Then, their story was drawn on their hand which serves as a unique

and easy way to share Jesus with their friends and family . Girls for Missions daily of-fering provided $300 .00 for their camp M’s special radio project . Due to security the girls M may not be named in print . Rob Davis, currently serv-ing with the international Mis-sion board connecting in uganda, stirred the hearts of boys . Known as uncle Rob to MKs, missionary kids, around the world, he brought two of his children to camp, seth and Kiira . They were a double blessing . 2013 Missions camp is scheduled for august 5 – 9, www .scbo .org .

Missions Camp 2012

Missionary Rob Davis with son Seth and daughter Kiira.Sawing logs.

October 2012 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | Page 9

Women’s Missions & Ministries

BLOGwww.scbo.org/wmm

Date EventUpcoming EventsOctober 12-13 Mother Daughter RetreatNovember 8 Pastor’s Wives LuncheonDecember 2-9 Lottie Moon International Missions Offering

Join Us On Facebook! OWN-Ohio

Women’s Network

Missions celebration, former-ly known as the WMu annual Meeting, was held on september 14 in connection with the annual ladies fall Retreat at seneca lake baptist assembly, september 14 and 15 . one hundred fifteen participants were…

2012 Missions Celebration & Ladies Fall Retreat

Inspired

The ohio WMu 2013 officers (l to R) sue stickel, vice-President; Joanne hopkins, President; cheryl sellers, Recording secretary; Jean Difilippo, Women on Mission consultant; amanda Mishne, collegiate consultant; Missy Miller, acteens and Youth on Mission consultant; betty Ricer, Ga and children in action, not pictured bob andes, challenger and Ra consultant)

national WMu® exists to provide mission education resources so every christian believer may understand and be radically involved in the Mission of God . lisa taylor, iMb connecting appointed Missionary energetically shared the Mission of God first presented to abraham in Genesis 12 . We are blessed to be a blessing to all the peoples of the world . Diane Daniels passionately shared her research and experience with The Media’s Role in human trafficking, Project help® . Women’s Missions and Ministries Resource Group and the ohio Women’s leadership team spent many hours in prayer and collaboration during 2012 to understand where God is working in our state . We believe he is intently working all across ohio in women’s lives to draw us into deeper personal relationship with him . We believe he is imparting his spirit on each of us in a fresh empowering . We believe he is igniting his daughters all over ohio to invest our lives in the mis-sion field he has brought to ohio . WMM is giving a shout out to all praying women, all women who are ready to use their painful life experiences to give comfort and courage to abused and hurting women, all relational women who are willing to invest time and energy in others, all women called to support and be involved with church planting or send city strategies, and all women with a heart for the nations who now call ohio home . contact WMM: amanda Mishne, amanda@scbo .org or cathy Pound, cpound@scbo .org to get involved, or for more information, or for resources to inspire and involve your women in Mission ohio!

Informed

Involvedin missions

Page 10 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | October 2012

Without a shadow of a doubt, this will have been my best summer yet . “Why?” do you ask? Well, because 10 other people from all over ohio and i got the opportunity of a life-time . We traveled to london, england, to participate in min-istry opportunities going on all over the city with a ministry called More than Gold . More than Gold is a mission orga-nization that travels around to every olympics and partners with the churches in the olym-pic city to do ministry evange-lism while the olympic Games are taking place . What a great way to reach the nations for christ when they are all gath-ered in one place! starting out, i was not sure how this trip was going to work . it seemed like we got very little information about logistics and how we would be getting around . We were not even sure what church we would be part-nered with until the week be-fore we left . everything seemed a bit crazy when our team set out for london on July 24th . This did not throw our amaz-ing God off though . our team was constantly amazed at God’s provision . it did not matter what the difficulty was, God took care of it . What an awe-some feeling, knowing that we can rest assured in his hands and that he will take care of us every step of the way . trust, therefore, has to be the biggest lesson i learned while in england . i finally learned how to trust God in a

very practical way . i could see God in just about anything we did or wherever we went . God is so good . We had the unique op-portunity of working with two very different churches in two different parts of lon-don while we were there . our team was split up for the first few days of ministry . seven of our group went to stratford (where olympic village is lo-cated) and served with a two year old church plant called hope church newman . The team helped put on and invite children to a Kids club in the afternoons . a Kids club is sort of like a vacation bible school in the united states . The other part of our team served with the ethiopian christian fellowship church at King’s cross . They did a hos-pitality ministry where they would pass out flyers inviting people to come to the church for free refreshments . They would then have an opportu-nity to talk with the visitors about Jesus . if you know any-thing about the city of london, you will know that King’s cross is a high traffic area . The st . Pancras international railway station is at Kings cross and it is one of the busiest hubs in the london railway system . This turns out to be a great situation for the ethiopian church’s min-istry . They are able to engage the people in this high volume area and invite them in . eventually our team was brought back together and we

all served with the ethiopian christian fellowship church . These people were so giving and sweet . What a great com-munity of brothers and sisters we were brought into to help share the Gospel . i have so many stories i could tell about God’s provision during our trip, and the great experiences we had . however, i want to give some of the other mem-bers of our team of 11 a chance to share some of their experi-ences .~Ashley Stickel (Adult Chaperone)

While in london, i expe-rienced many things . i made some amazing new friends, saw a beautiful city, met people from all over the world, and grew exceptionally closer to christ . i learned the impor-tance of prayer in all circum-stances . being as busy as we were, it was easy to get dis-tracted . it was then i realized how important it was to be in constant prayer, that we might not get dis-tracted and lose

focus on our purpose there . i also saw the importance of being in the Word . When con-stantly using it, and being as tired as we were, i saw how im-portant it was to read and have a quiet time . it was then that i was refueled and energized for the long days that we had . in london, i saw God’s hand at work . While in strat-ford, i saw it in the faces of the kids while we played games, or in the Muslim boy who was listening diligently . While at King’s cross, i saw it in the enthusiasm of the ethiopian church members . i saw it in my team members as they pre-sented the gospel to each per-son . i saw it when we would all share about our day, and how God had faithfully provided for us once more . everywhere i looked, i saw God moving in the city . Keep london and the ethiopian church in King’s cross in your prayers .~Brianna Giles

The mission trip was an amazing opportunity to see God bring people together from all over the world to share the gospel . i person-ally moved out of my comfort zone as well as many of the others . i was truly blessed . i came back with a different look at evangelism now and that it very much needs to be intentional . You can plan to do outreaches but you very much need to be willing to share the gospel . if you don’t share, it’s just a good deed . i have always loved mission work . it’s my passion . but this trip gave it a whole new look . if we don’t intentionally share or plant the seed, it’s a huge missed opportunity . We came across so many different walks of life and circumstances people have been through that we will never understand . but we have such an amazing, forgiving and loving God that we can share with others . ~Missy Miller (Team Leader)

When i received the in-formation about a mission trip that was going to take place in london, england, during the olympics, i knew i had to par-ticipate . The idea of being able to join in with others to share the Gospel of Jesus with people of so many different nations was absolutely an opportu-nity for which i felt the lord’s calling . God was so faithful in allowing me to be a witness for him! as we served with the people of the ethiopian fellow-ship in King’s cross in provid-ing a hospitality center during the olympics, God brought in people from many different nations so that we could wit-ness to them about his great salvation . i personally had the pleasure of sharing Jesus with people from ecuador, spain, italy, ukraine, Ghana, the ca-ribbean, holland, and england . The greatest experience for me while i was in london was for my daughter sara and i to be able to witness to a man by the name of Jake . Jake was a homeless man who had come in to enjoy the food and warmth of the church building . as he was sitting there eating, i walked over to where he was and started to converse with him . he was a very broken man . he had been stabbed, shot and had served time in jail and now lived the hard life of living

More Than Gold Mission Trip To The 2012 London OlympicsJuly 24-August 3, 2012

Ashley Stickel standing in front of Big Ben and the House of Parliment on the day we had off to do some sight-seeing.

Missy Miller and Pastor Girma Bishaw’s daughter, Amen Bishaw

Kaelyn Moore posing with her Knight in Shining Armor.

The whole group poses for a picture just outside of the station at King’s Cross. L-R: Brianna Giles, Kaelyn Moore, Lillian Shelton, Ben Shelton, Julie Miller, Sara Fra-sure, Terri Frasure, Ashley Stickel, Missy Miller, and Salam Picard.

October 2012 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | Page 11

on the streets of london . he said he had been searching for Jesus but could not find him . We shared with him about how to find Jesus and how to give his life to Jesus . as we talked, Jake decided to give his life to christ . We led him in a prayer to follow christ as his savior! Jake was so grateful that some-one had told him how to find Jesus! he sat teary eyed and just kept saying “Thank You, Thank You!” he asked us for a bible . The ethiopian fellowship did not have an english bible so my daughter gave him hers so that he would have the Word of God to take with him! he as-sured us that he would treasure it and read it . We pray that he will do so and that God will send people to him that can help him grow as a christian . ~Terri Frasure (Adult Chaperone)

london was an amaz-ing experience! i loved being there and sharing christ . God had this in sight for me . it was nice meeting other people and sharing christ with everyone . There is one lady with whom i still kind of keep in contact .

i actually related with her . london was just an awesome experience . it helped me keep my faith strong and it helped coming back home . My faith is stronger than ever . ~Julie Miller

every mission trip is so im-portant, but the idea of sharing the Gospel to nations was just mind blowing to me! When the opportunity came up for me to go to london, england while the olympics were going on i had to say “Yes” to God calling me . i learned so much while staying in england; however, i feel the most significant thing i learned was how important it really is to study the bible and to always have an answer for when people ask questions . i Peter 3:15 says, “but in your hearts honor christ the lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect .” While witnessing, there were many times i was asked the question, “how do you know that the bible is true?” i learned

how appreciative i was of the bible verses that i had memo-rized growing up in church . They were of great help when explaining sin and the forgiv-ing love christ has for us . We were very thankful to everyone who prayed for the whole team as we were prepar-ing to go, and as we were in london, england . let me just say that they were felt big time! Please continue to pray for the churches that are in england and around there as they strive to reach out to their communi-ties in sharing what love and grace really is .~Sara Frasure

God has taught me that i can trust him to go out of my comfort zone to serve him . some of the things that i en-joyed when i was in london are that i got to experience dif-ferent cultures . also i liked see-ing the historical sites in lon-don .   i also enjoyed making new friends on our team and in london .~Salam Picard

i learned many things on our trip to london .  however, there are three major ones i would like to share with you .  first, i learned to be more pa-tient . We were often late to the places we were going and we didn’t always get along with everyone .  This trip definitely helped me to be more flexible and go with the flow .  second, i learned to be thankful for even the little things God does for us .  We were new to the area; so we had to ask for directions all the time .  but everyone we asked was very kind and help-ful .  i believe that was God’s work in keeping us safe and just showing us that he is in control .  last but not least, i learned that God has a plan for all of his children .  We may not know what it is at this point in time, but we will figure it out . 

i am only 16 and do not know what God has in store for me right now, but i will be ready and willing to do whatever he calls me to do . ~Kaelyn Moore

This summer, i was afford-ed the great privilege of being a male chaperone for a gather-ing of teens on a mission trip to london, england . for me this was no ordinary mission trip (as if there are any “ordinary” mission trips), due in large to the time and location of the adventure . The 2012 summer olympics were being hosted in london, england making for a grand opportunity for interna-tional ministry – as the nations of the world gathered at a cen-tral location . This experience was life-changing for me in many ways . as a father, i had been in prayer about an opportunity for our family of four to sacrifice our yearly family vacation for Jesus’ Kingdom . My wife, Khalilah and i received a unique oppor-tunity to do so in participating in this mission trip . We were excited to combine two of our favorite things: traveling and serving Jesus! The trip for us (and our daughter lillian) was faith stretching and exciting . We saw God provide for us financially, we experienced the love of our home church in sending us out to engage the lost, and also God in his grace granted us unity with our brothers and sisters – from ohio and abroad . God was gracious, generous, and extremely kind in uniting the hearts of the mission team and granting us genuine hearts to help and serve the two church-es with whom we partnered in london: hope church new-man and ethiopian christian fellowship church (uK) . God did an amazing work in and through the mission team and our family . i was personally

challenged to invest more into global missions, live more as a missionary (like Jesus) daily, and consider the need for more intentional and aggressive evangelism as a family . it was great to see God save someone through the witness-ing efforts of our team . i be-lieve that this alone made the trip worthwhile and gave much glory to Jesus christ! in all, it was a phenomenal trip which provided spiritual growth, a venue to display our love for christ, appreciation for the vastness of God’s Kingdom, love for other baptists in ohio, and a continual burden for the lost – both locally and globally . ~Ben and Khalilah Shelton (Adult Chaperones)

i want to personally thank you for your prayers and support for this mission trip . You may not have known you were pray-ing for our team specifically, but if you said a prayer for london and the people there at anytime during the olympics, then you were praying for us . it feels great knowing that we have brothers and sisters in christ all around the world who are of one mind, and that is that all may know . as some of the team requested, please do continue to pray for the churches we served with in london . also, please pray for those with whom we shared the Gospel . some were close to making a decision, some made a decision for christ, and others were so very far away . Pray that those seeds we planted will grow into a saving knowledge of the lord Jesus christ as their savior .

ashley stickelBible Teaching/LeadershipState Convention of Baptists in Ohio

Brianna Giles (L) seats with Sara Frasure before the first flight to London, anticipat-ing what was next to come as they traveled to London. When she arrived back at that same airport, people who were quite unfamiliar with each other at the start of the trip had become great friends and Brianna would not be the same person she was when the trip began. Instead, Brianna would be stronger in Christ, and closer to Him than she had ever been.

LEFT: Pastor Grima Bishaw of the Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, with his wife and Sara Frasure after a lovely dinner at their house on our last night in England. CENTER: Julie Miller and one of the ladies from the Ethiopian Christian Fellowship church. RIGHT: Julie Miller sharing the gospel using the EvangeCube with a group of visitors while Terri Frasure looks on.

Page 12 | Ohio Baptist Messenger | October 2012

George W . truett once said, “a church that isn’t missionary doesn’t de-serve the ground on which its building stands .” “Missions” is at the heart of what it means to be a southern baptist . it is the intentional purpose of seeking to fulfill the Great commission given by our lord . Mission ohio is the intentional purpose of southern baptists in ohio to obey the Great commission in our state to reach 1,000,000 people for christ in 2020 con-gregations by the end of 2020 . one of the ways we cooperate together to help fulfill the Great commission in ohio is the Ray Roberts state Missions offering . Ray Roberts and his wife gave their adult life to missions in ohio . for this reason, southern baptists named the state mission offering in his honor . The goal for 2012 is $200,000 . These funds will be distributed between ministries to start new congregations (60%) and ministries to strength-en present congregations (40%) . in the area of starting congregations, each association will receive 10% of what the churches in the association gave to help start new congregations . Partnership with the asso-ciations and the state convention is essential for the success of Mission ohio . This fall, each association will conduct its an-nual meeting . Your participation will further empower your association to be on mission in ohio . The state convention of baptists in ohio will also hold its annual meeting this fall . The dates are november 7-8, and the place is the Kalahari Resort in sandusky, ohio . You will want to hear the reports of what has happened this last year and the plans for the coming years . excitement continues to grow as we discover what God wants to do through Mission ohio . Mission ohio depends primarily upon the cooperative Mission Program for financial support . even though special mission offerings help considerably, neither the state conven-tion of baptists in ohio nor the southern baptist convention at large could operate without the support of the coopera-tive Mission Program . God gave southern baptists the co-operative Program in 1925 . hopefully, your church will plan a celebration that will include cooperative Mission Program education and challenge . Mission ohio is why God put us in the great state of ohio . May all our churches deserve the ground upon which its building stands . let us press toward the mark of reaching 1,000,000 people for christ in 2020 congregations by the end of 2020 .

For information about the State Convention

of Baptists in Ohio and more Baptist Press news, go

to our website www.scbo.org.

How to submit Church News Send all church news and

information to Linnett Snodgrass at lsnodgrass@scbo.org

if you are not a christian, have never surrendered your will to the lord Jesus, let me share briefly how you can make this life changing decision . GOD WANTS YOU SAVED.

First, you must believe that God loves you and wants you to have peace in your heart and an everlasting life (John 3:16) .

Second, you must recognize that you are a sinner, that you have done things which have displeased God and that you have separated yourself from him (Romans 3:23; 6:23) .

Third, you must believe that Jesus came to this earth, was actually God in the flesh, lived a perfect life, and yet went to a cruel cross, dying for your sins, paying once and for all the penalty of sin (i Peter 2:24) . however, it’s not enough

just to know these three things . Many of us knew them for years before we ever gave Jesus our lives .

Fourth, you must personally ask Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sins (Revelation 3:20) .

You can pray this prayer now and if you mean it with all of your heart, Jesus will come in just like he said . he cannot lie .

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I’m really sorry for my sins, Lord. I ask you now, Lord Jesus, to come into my heart, forgive me of my sins, take control of my life, and make me the kind of person You want me to be. I now receive You into my heart. Thank You for coming in. I will follow You all the days of my life. In Your name I pray, Amen.

How to become a

Christian

PrESS TOwArd ThE MArK

Jack Kwok, Ph.D.Executive Director-TreasurerState Convention of Baptists in Ohio

By Pastor William Combs

first southern baptist church, camden conducted a vacation bible school and a sports camp that resulted in five children coming to know the lord . World changers installed a new roof and painted storage sheds at trinity baptist church . We are so grateful to both Mission teams and the lord for all that was done .

Mission Teams Help Out Trinity Baptist Church, Parma