Reading stories of people in need prompts state Baptists to respond

On April 24, The Alabama Baptist published a story detailing a joint missions effort between the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) and the Baptist State Convention of Michigan.

The two groups have simultaneous revivals planned for churches in six Michigan Baptist associations this fall, and the SBOM was trying to recruit 100 ministers for the task. Before the article was published, there were about half that many committed to go.

In a week’s time, the number of volunteers more than doubled.

"We actually had so many to respond (to the story) that we started a waiting list," said Reggie Quimby, director of the SBOM office of global missions, the department coordinating the outreach.

And Quimby said that is only the most recent example of The Alabama Baptist’s 165-year impact on the state’s Baptist missions work.

Disaster relief efforts are another facet of Alabama Baptist work benefiting from the newspaper’s influence.

"When the stories show up, we start getting calls," said Tommy Puckett, director of the SBOM office of men’s ministries and disaster relief. "We have people who will call us and say, ‘I read about the (disaster) response we’re undertaking. How can I help?’ That helps us immensely."

According to Marcus Merritt, an associate in the SBOM office of evangelism, The Alabama Baptist also serves as a beacon for evangelistic innovation.

Every time the state Baptist paper does a story on any kind of unusual evangelistic event like a car show or a skateboard or golf ministry, "we get tons of calls," Merritt said. "I know that after the story last year on the motorcycle ministry, my phone rang off the hook."

He indicated that without the creative exchange facilitated by the paper, many opportunities for outreach might not be taken advantage of or even realized.