A retired communist general wearing military ribbons on his frayed uniform boasted proudly of his persecution of Christians. He told his stories to a group of Alabama Baptists as they served him through missions.
The group, a missions team from Hunter Street Baptist Church in Hoover where Buddy Gray is pastor, was part of a medical missions experience in Ukraine in April.
Dr. Kevin Schambeau and his wife, Stephanie, were part of the team. “We pulled more than 200 teeth in four days,” Schambeau said. “It was physically exhausting hard work but a rewarding and wonderful experience,” he said, noting they convinced the communist general to read Luke 16 and Matthew 15 in the New Testament the team gave him.
Dr. Vicki Masear, an orthopedic surgeon, has been on five missions trips, including the trip to Ukraine. “I was first asked to go to Ukraine by another physician but soon learned how much I wanted to make a difference,” she said.
Masear was especially excited to learn that the general eventually accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior and joined the local church.
This is just one of hundreds of stories being told around Hunter Street these days. With the church’s year-long focus on missions, Frank Blackwell, minister of missions, is busy finding enough places for members to go.
“We are pleased that more than 750 people are going on 30 missions trips, including four choir tours, before October during Hunter Street Baptist Church’s missions emphasis this year,” Blackwell said.
“God’s strategic plan in the Great Commission is for us to reach different regions of the world,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to set the stage for people who hear the calling for missions, let them experience a short-term missions trip and put a face to missions,” Blackwell explained.
Noting that a commitment service was held in January, Blackwell said Hunter Street members were asked to do three things in 2004:
1. Pray for missions.
2. Give to missions.
3. Be open to doing missions.
The commitment time was followed up with a missions fair in February.
Denise Michard, missions assistant at Hunter Street, said the missions fair helped inform members about their options to serve and what types of missions trips were available.
A missions celebration followed in March.
A 24-hour prayer event was held a week before the celebration to pray for the lost, the trips that would be taken, the work and the preparation efforts, Michard noted.
During the celebration, missionaries from around the world gathered at Hunter Street in traditional Alabama Baptist fashion for a missions conference or celebration.
Missionaries were also asked to participate in 30 days of prayer leading up to the event and were involved in several prayer events at the celebration.
Jeffrey and Glenda Haglund and their three children currently serve as Southern Baptist missionaries in the International Mission Board’s Central and Eastern Europe region.
“Volunteers play an important role in our partnership,” Jeffrey Haglund said.
“Most people can’t afford health care and feel hopeless in our missions areas. They see a skewed reality of American television,” he said.
“They see no way out of their situation until missionaries and (missions) teams bring them love, care and joy.
“I am blessed to be a part of leading the lost to Jesus,” Jeffrey Haglund explained.
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