Your Voice

Hearing their stories an important first step

By Frankie Melton
Pastor of Heath Springs (S.C.) Baptist Church

I was standing on the sidewalk in front of our church one afternoon when a gentleman walked by I didn’t know.

I approached him and introduced myself as the pastor of the local Baptist church. His face immediately communicated an openness and warmth.

As soon as he spoke I realized that Hugh McSweeney was not local. He had a British accent, which in a small South Carolina town is nothing less than exotic. My curiosity was immediately piqued.

As I continued to probe I learned he was from the Central American country of Belize. He had been living in our town for two years but somehow our paths had never crossed.

I invited him to church and he came the next Sunday. After some months, Hugh expressed a desire to become a member of the church.

I met with him over a series of weeks to discuss the gospel, church membership and baptism. Hugh affirmed that Christ was his Savior but because he had grown up in an Anglican church he had not been baptized by immersion.

He readily agreed to be baptized. Up to that point no person of color had ever been baptized at Heath Springs Baptist Church, much less an immigrant. The church rejoiced to receive Hugh into our membership and he was baptized during a Sunday morning worship service. He sings in the choir every Sunday and is one of the most faithful members of the church. He is also a dear friend.

Over the years as I have continued to get to know Hugh McSweeney, I have been reminded that everyone has a story. Every immigrant has a story and as followers of Christ we should have an intense desire to know their story.

Sometimes you may have a celebrity living in your midst and not know it. Hugh McSweeney was not just another Belizean immigrant who moved to South Carolina. In Belize he had served as the government’s finance secretary.

When I see Hugh on Sunday mornings, I am reminded of the amazing relationship and story of his life I almost missed. Scripture is clear that Jesus was attracted to people with all types of backgrounds. He spent time conversing and eating with tax collectors and sinners as well as religious leaders and Roman soldiers. James, in his New Testament epistle, reminds us that God is no respecter of persons. 

In the same way, let us be eager to hear the stories of people who don’t look or sound like us. The book of Revelation reminds us that around the throne there will be people from every nation, tribe, people and language singing praises to our God. In preparation for that eternal celebration, may the church on earth reflect the reality of heaven.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Frankie Melton is senior pastor of Heath Springs (S.C.) Baptist Church and assistant professor of Christian studies at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C. (BP)

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Missional life begins here

The twinkle in Ella Kate’s eyes says it all. She’s got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in her heart!

The joy she experiences during Missions Adventure Camp (MAC) at WorldSong is contagious. She loves being with friends and learning about Jesus. But those aren’t the only highlights Ella Kate and her friends experience. 

One of the things that makes WorldSong different is each camp’s unwavering focus on missions. Campers spend up-close and personal time with real-life missionaries. They hear about God’s heart for others in a place and environment where they both respond to God in salvation and in forming commitments to live on mission for their whole lives. 

God not only speaks to the campers but to the staff as well. Anna Beth St. Pierre credits her time as a cabin leader at WorldSong as a time that “forever changed my life” because it’s where she surrendered to the call of missions. 

Because of the gifts you give through the Cooperative Program and to the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering, girls and boys personally experience missions through MAC at WorldSong. Thank you! To God alone be all glory!

—Candace McIntosh

Editor’s Note: Candace McIntosh is executive director of Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union.

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Letters to the Editor

Your front-page article about Bible-reading habits in the Aug. 1, 2019, issue of The Alabama Baptist was very good.

I enjoy learning God’s word. I’m 86 years old and I can quote more than 40 verses or passages of God’s word. I do this each morning and then have my daily prayer time.

God didn’t say for us to read His word through every year. He said to study it (2 Tim. 2:15). 

I study a person’s life like Job, Abraham, Joseph, etc. I also read just a verse sometimes and run all the references on that word I can find.

Keep up the good work. I enjoy The Alabama Baptist newspaper. Jesus is coming back and I’m ready. 

Mrs. Edward Varner
Deatsville, Ala.

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One person coming to Christ is better than 10 Academy Awards.

Stephen Kendrick
Film writer and producer

Alabama is considered to be the heart of the Bible Belt yet over half of our residents do not attend church. We have to do something about it.

Lamar Duke
Lead church planting strategist, Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM)

When the opportunity came to go to Alaska, in my spirit and in my heart, it was very clear that it was the step God wanted me to take.

Jae McKee
Director of Church Planting and Missions for the Alaska Baptist Convention, Acts 1:8 Connections missions partner, SBOM

If someone comes to Christ through disaster relief work it is because of everybody from the admin to the local associational coordinators to the people who keep equipment up and running.

Cookie Baker
Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief chaplain, Etowah Baptist Association

Jesus was such a master at leadership strength that He could deliver it with compassion or confrontation.

George Yates
Church health strategist, SBOM

Doors may serve a number of different purposes. Most of them open up and allow us to go through to reach some other place; however some may lead us nowhere or to the wrong destination. Jesus said, “I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9a). His door has a cross … a real cross … His cross. His door opens up into everlasting life. His door is the only door that can take us there. 

Bill King
Associational missions director, Tuskegee Lee Baptist Association

I find that in general, foster and adoptive families need these four primary pillars of support: tangible, educational, relational and spiritual. This list is not exhaustive but is merely representative of the types of things church leaders can be thinking through as they work to wrap around and support families in their communities.

Jason Johnson
Author, “Everyone Can Do Something: A Field Guide for Strategically Rallying Your Church Around the Orphaned and Vulnerable”

One day we were walking downtown and we asked some girls, “Would you like to be our friends this summer?” We were so excited when they said yes. So we also said yes — to going to the mall and to the cafes with them downtown. Finally one day through just sharing our lives with them, sharing our stories, we were able to share the gospel with them. We were able to walk them through why we were created in the first place. Then one of them asked, “What do I do to be saved?” We said we have an answer for you. What I learned this summer is not to give up and just to go and keep going and keep giving people the chance to glorify God. 

Grace Mitchell
Nehemiah Teams member

I am glad [for] everything that happened to me because had it not, I probably would have made another $50 million playing baseball but I would have never met Jesus.

Darryl Strawberry
Former baseball player and Strawberry Ministries leader

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@myarnell

Father, just as you are the source of all blessing, let me be the source of blessing to others today. Jesus, as you are the place in which all blessing resides, make my life a place for blessing. Holy Spirit, as you are divine blessing itself, move out through me. (Eph. 1:3)

@scottdawson

I cannot determine what happens to me, but I do choose what happens inside of me. Situations will either make me choose to be better or bitter. I choose to trust that “He who began a good work will be faithful to complete [it].”

@speak4theunborn

May we proclaim God’s praises as we walk into a new week, thanking Him that we are His people and have received mercy! Let us share this hope with those who have not yet received such great grace. The gospel is our only hope for lives to be truly changed and saved. #ProLife

@BCHawk83

Don’t take for granted the missions partnerships your church builds overseas; it could be an answer to prayer for Christians across the globe.

@jdgreear

“If we make disciples on campus today, we’ll have disciples in places of influence tomorrow.” — Josh Miller

@Stu_Davidson

Humility is an important factor for the follower of Christ. Humility is something God gives; it is not something that we automatically possess. Humility bestows the blessing of wisdom in weary circumstances.

@SharayahColter

Jesus, the only perfect person in all history, had enemies — enemies that hated Him so much they lied about Him, conspired against Him and killed Him. He told followers not to be surprised when enemies opposed them as well and to pray for, bless and love them. Jesus, what a Savior!

@IMB_SBC

“When I joined the Story One Church [for deaf believers in Thailand], it was the first time that I felt like I was equal in God’s eyes to a hearing person.” — Alisara, deaf believer in Thailand