A few years ago, a Baptist woman in her mid-20s traveled to China on a missions trip, decided to look up a young Chinese woman she had corresponded with in high school via the Universal Pen Pal Project and ended up leading her to the Lord.
When Paul Reitzer steps down this year as president of the 600-member strong Fellowship of Baptist Educators (FBE), those are the kinds of stories that will remind him of why he stepped up in the first place.
The pen pal project, which facilitates correspondence between Christian teens in North America and international students who want to practice English, is just one of several FBE ministries that he feels has helped further the Great Commission exactly as intended.
Reitzer, a former history professor at Charleston Southern University in South Carolina, and a former vice president for academic affairs at Judson College in Marion, became president of the organization in 2007.
He stayed on an extra year — the president serves a two-year term — because the vice president was unable to take on the position because of health reasons.
Of course, Reitzer previously served as vice president and treasurer. And as pastor of both Newbern Baptist Church and Mount Olive Baptist Church, Sprott, in Cahaba Baptist Association, he coordinates the efforts of churches in Cahaba and Selma associations to collect Christian literature for FBE’s Book-Link Inc. ministry, which ships the material to missionaries, pastors and libraries in more than 40 countries.
“Paul has been responsible for helping us to broaden our scope,” said John Carter, FBE executive director emeritus. “He’s done a great job.”
For his part, Reitzer deflects any praise back to the function and purpose of the fellowship itself.
“I don’t pat myself on the back,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed serving and I’m just convinced that [FBE] is a great organization.”
For more information, visit www.shelby.net/~baptisteducators. (TAB)
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