The Muslim call to prayer pierced the air at First Baptist Church, Montgomery, on Dec. 5 at the same time it echoed through the streets of Bethlehem.
And as Muslims in Jesus’ birthplace were praying, the Montgomery Baptist Association congregation was praying for them.
The experience was part of a pilot webcast the International Mission Board (IMB) produced from Bethlehem on Dec. 5.
“God’s miracle of technology enabled our (First, Montgomery) family to take a live, virtual tour of the spiritual condition of Bethlehem during our Sunday morning worship service,” Senior Pastor Jay Wolf said.
The fact that the video was live got excitement going in the church, said Minister of Missions Brian Gay.
“We were encouraged and challenged to give, pray and go, and we’d love to be part of something like this again next year,” he said.
During the IMB’s LIVE Bethlehem event, eight Southern Baptist churches watched a six-minute personalized webcast as part of their Sunday morning schedule. The pilot program was a test run for a conventionwide webcast in December 2011 to promote giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.
“People only think of Bethlehem in terms of the Christmas story; they don’t think of what is going on there today,” said C.S. Stanley, IMB media team leader for the project. “We wanted to broadcast from the city because it is a microcosm of spiritual needs globally. Just like we don’t want people to overlook the unfinished task in Jesus’ birthplace, we also don’t want them to forget the unfinished global mission task.”
Participating churches saw a live shot of the Bethlehem skyline with the Church of the Nativity, which marks Jesus’ believed birthplace, and the large mosque next to it prominently featured.
As IMB worker Dale Thorne explained what life is like for Palestinians living in Bethlehem, churches viewed photos and video clips from the area.
The webcast spurred New Century Church, Roanoke, Va., to want to partner with IMB work in Bethlehem in 2011, said church member Bob Francis.
“The webcast with Dale … was glorious. It was great to see the IMB using technology to reach congregations in such a dynamic and real-time way from the mission field,” Francis said.
He added that the church is planning its 2011 trip and would love to do a service project or some activity with the IMB team in the Bethlehem area.
“We see this as a way to really bind the pray, support and go call to action with our team,” Francis said.
A Southern Baptist worker in the area said he was thrilled with the opportunity for churches to become better acquainted with the people in his area, as well as their needs.
“The whole project focused the attention of Baptist churches on Palestinian people and encouraged them to pray,” the worker said. “It was also an encouragement to local Palestinian believers that they were not forgotten by their evangelical brothers and sisters outside.”
Other churches that participated in the webcast were
4Wallace Memorial Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tenn.;
4First Baptist Church, Bloomfield, N.M.;
4Highview Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky.;
4West Franklin Baptist Church in Tennessee;
4Oakhurst Baptist Church, Clarksdale, Miss.; and
4an adult Sunday School class at First Baptist Church, Dallas.
Video stories and blogs about life and faith in Bethlehem also were posted as accompanying media on mReport.org in the week leading up to the webcast. An informal follow-up webcast Dec. 6 offered an hour of extra video footage, live interviews and photos for church members interested in seeing more.
To view a replay of any of these webcasts, visit livebethlehem.com. For more information, stories and photos from the project, visit mReport.org. For information about how your church can be involved in next year’s broadcast, e-mail info@livebethlehem.com. (Chris Mills contributed)
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