Plugged in to a World of Need

Baptists can pray for only those things about which they know. Baptists can participate in only those things about which they know. And Baptists will support only those things about which they know.

That is why regular reading of The Alabama Baptist is essential for any Baptist concerned about sharing the love of God with a lost and hurting world.

The Alabama Baptist State Convention has entrusted the state Baptist paper with the task of informing readers about what God is doing in and through Baptists in the state and nation and around the world.

In other words, the paper keeps readers plugged in to a world of need.

Sometimes the stories are dramatic. I remember the first story I ever wrote about the impact of an article in The Alabama Baptist. God’s spirit used a relatively small article about a situation in southern Mexico to prick the heart of a building contractor. The contractor took one of his trucks, loaded it with special equipment and, together with four other men, drove to that remote town and worked for two weeks helping the local Baptist church with a building project.

That was only the first of hundreds of stories that have been shared across the years about how God used articles in the state Baptist paper as catalysts in readers’ lives to get them involved in specific ways of sharing His love. Those articles highlighted opportunities like collecting medical and dental equipment for Baptist outreach efforts in different parts of the world, volunteering for evangelistic campaigns as part of partnership missions efforts, leading short-term programs for children of international missionaries, building projects, sports camps and missions trips of all kinds.

In each case, it was an article in The Alabama Baptist that God used to plug the reader’s passion in to a world in need of His mercy and grace.  

Occasionally the situation is reversed, and God uses the information in the paper to help one in desperate need. A family in one church I served as interim pastor told me about a wayward daughter who had a history of drug abuse. The daughter had come home to say goodbye before taking her own life. The night she had planned to kill herself, she got up in the middle of the night and was sitting in her parent’s living room. On the coffee table was a copy of The Alabama Baptist with a front-page article about a nearby drug rehab program.

Instead of taking her own life, she decided to try one more time. Today she is drug free and active in her church.

Even though staff members pray over every article and issue, there is no way of knowing how God will use an article or issue of the state Baptist paper to make a difference in the world. But He always does.

During the past year, God used articles in the paper to help galvanize opposition to electronic bingo gambling in Alabama. Some readers used information from The Alabama Baptist’s emphasis on hunger to become more involved in helping hungry people in the state and around the world. Still others used the in-depth coverage of the House of God movement in Selma to help draw distinctions between Baptists and this cultlike group. The articles even helped some members come out of the movement.

Each week, the state Baptist paper plugs readers in to missions efforts across the state and around the world. Articles may feature innovative ministry ideas that can be duplicated in a reader’s community. The articles may report how God is blessing a ministry somewhere in the world.

Even the act of reading about how God is using Baptists to share the gospel helps plug readers in to a world in need of the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Reading the paper is missions education in action, and it often results in missions action on the part of the readers.

Perhaps that is why The Alabama Baptist often is called a missions publication. Some missions organizations even use it as a resource. It is the only publication offering information about missions in the state, nation and world all in one place.

A growing number of readers use the state Baptist paper to help them plug in to a world of need through prayer. The paper has become a weekly prayer guide. Readers pray for personalities and ministries featured in various articles. They pray for issues facing Baptists in our state and nation. They pray for needs of which they have become aware, including the needs of persecuted Christians around the world.

Again it is The Alabama Baptist that keeps them plugged in to a world of need for which they can pray day after day after day.

This Sunday, Baptists across Alabama will highlight the ways the state Baptist paper keeps them plugged in to a world of need as they observe Read The Alabama Baptist Sunday on the convention calendar. Nearly three out of four Alabama Baptist churches provide the paper for members because they recognize how important it is that members stay plugged in to a world of need. The cost is only 25 cents a week plus taxes.

Individual subscriptions are also available at a slightly higher cost. And while The Alabama Baptist’s award-winning website, www.thealabamabaptist.org, archives information from each issue, an official online version of the paper is not available.

Thank you for allowing the state Baptist paper to help you stay plugged in to a world of need. Share the paper with a friend who does not receive it, and urge him or her to subscribe. And make sure that every active family in your church is plugged in to a world of need through regular reading of The Alabama Baptist.