Life was spiraling downward for Doris; her depression so deep she felt hopeless. Life wasn’t worth living. Late in the night she sat alone reading her Bible and praying for the last time before ending her life.
Doris got up to throw something away and that is when she saw the picture of the Portland Head Lighthouse on the front page of The Alabama Baptist. Her husband, David, had put the paper in the trash after reading it that afternoon.
Doris, who collects lighthouses and who had visited the iconic site in Fort Williams Park years earlier, picked up the paper to see the picture. That is when God spoke to her. Next to the photograph of the famous lighthouse were these words: “For thou art my lamp, O Lord, and the Lord will lighten my darkness” (2 Sam. 22:29).
“I knew the Lord was speaking to me,” she shares in a video promoting Read The Alabama Baptist Day. It took seven more years but Doris held on to that verse until a medicine was developed that turned her life around.
Doris calls seeing that photo and reading that verse a miracle that made a difference in her life.
Faye (not her real name) had lived a physically challenged life since birth. Part of the way she learned to cope was through drugs and alcohol. Her life had long since spun out of control.
During an infrequent visit to her mother’s house she saw a copy of The Alabama Baptist. The front page featured a Christian substance abuse program not far from where she lived. Faye read the story when no one else was around and decided to try again to change her life before it was too late.
Difficult journey
It was a difficult journey but today Faye is working regularly and is active in her church. Family relationships have been restored. More importantly, Faye has been sober and clean for more than five years.
Like Doris, Faye calls finding the Christian substance abuse story in The Alabama Baptist a miracle that made a difference in her life.
Not all the stories reported about The Alabama Baptist making a difference in the lives of individuals and churches are as dramatic as the experiences of Doris and Faye. Recently a small membership church reported being unsure of what to do after their pastor resigned. A part-time staff member read a feature section published in The Alabama Baptist on calling a pastor. He made copies of the entire four pages and gave them to all the members of the pastor search committee.
The staff member reports the information made a difference in how the committee went about its task and now several families in the church read the state Baptist paper regularly.
Seldom do staff members of The Alabama Baptist visit churches without hearing stories of how the state Baptist paper is making a difference. The stories are about ministry ideas gathered from reading about what other churches are doing. The stories share how a family or a church became involved in a missions project or trip because of information in The Alabama Baptist.
Readers tell about using the Sunday School lessons to prepare for teaching assignments, about insights gained from columns like Theology 101 and about being encouraged by stories of fellow Baptists.
Stories range from grandparents who learned new ways of being involved with their grandchildren because of stories in the paper to stories about the emphasis on remarriage after the death of a spouse, helping grown children better understand their surviving parents.
Frequently pastors jokingly comment that they have to be sure and read The Alabama Baptist before going to the Wednesday night service because someone will ask them about something in that week’s paper. Many times these pastors comment on the way providing The Alabama Baptist for church members made a difference in the discussion of church members. Instead of the weather or the local sports team, members often talk about stories read in their state Baptist paper.
In churches taking advantage of the local edition service, leaders practically always express appreciation for the stewardship savings the church enjoys by having its local news combined with association, state and national stories in The Alabama Baptist. There is not a better communications network available to Alabama Baptists than a customized local edition of the state Baptist paper.
Ongoing program of information
Numerous studies have documented that churches providing the state Baptist paper for active resident families give more to missions, participate more in denominational activities and pray more directly for Baptist activities than churches that do not provide the paper. Again, The Alabama Baptist is making a difference.
Perhaps that is because the state Baptist paper is the only ongoing program of information and promotion Alabama Baptists have. Whether it is a national entity like Southern Baptist Convention missions boards or the work of a state convention entity or work done by the State Board of Missions, The Alabama Baptist makes a difference as it tells the story of what God is doing among Baptists at home and around the world.
Sometimes the stories are dramatic like those of Doris and Faye. Sometimes they are inspiring to see how God used the experience of one person or one church to birth similar ministries across the state.
More often it is the long-term impact of being informed for understanding and perspective, being inspired for Christian discipleship and being connected with other Baptists for missions and ministry that allows The Alabama Baptist to make a difference in the lives of its readers — a difference made every week and a difference made for a lifetime.
As Alabama Baptist churches across the state participate in Read The Alabama Baptist Day on Sunday, July 31, please pray the state Baptist paper will continue to be used of God to make a difference in the lives of individuals and the lives of churches.
For information about Read The Alabama Baptist Day, visit www.thealabamabaptist.info/resources.
Share with others: