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From the General Secretary
The church is blessed to have a fair number of truly outstanding New Testament scholars and Craig Keener is one of them. I first met Craig nine years ago when he was a professor at Palmer Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. He amazed me with the gift of a number of his books, to which I have returned again and again since 2007.
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Member Bodies in Action
Nepal Baptist Church Council (NBCC), established in April 1992, an umbrella organization of Baptist churches in Nepal, is working on five goals and objectives for the upcoming five years. The first goal is to mobilize local churches to establish new congregations.
This will be accomplished primarily through pre-feasibility surveys for church planting, a church planting and discipleship training program, the sending of missionaries, spiritual and mission conferences and seminars, scholarships to train ministers and by ordaining additional pastors and ministers. There will be emphasis on evangelistic activities, increasing the number of baptisms and advocating for improved religious freedom in Nepal.
The second goal is to develop capable Christian leaders for mission in all areas of society by building degree granting academic training centers, offering scholarships, organizing capacity development training and developing support for church administration and management.
A third goal is to place humanitarian and social work as a part of integral mission through community development and social service programs such as cooperatives, infrastructure building, agriculture, animal husbandry, health education, etc. There will be income generation projects for church and community, engagement in climate action training and projects, conflict management support and disaster and humanitarian assistance.
A focus on organizational development is the fourth goal. NBBC will develop new policy documents, update its organizational structures and management systems, acquire lands to build churches, a college and new offices for the NBBC and procure new vehicles and other relevant assets.
NBBC intends to widen and deepen its partnerships in order to attain these goals, ensuring that local churches and NBBC departments cooperate with each other and network with national and international partners.
For 2016 and 2017, plans are to ordain a total of 37 persons; prepare and send four missionaries; plant 69 churches; conduct 32 spiritual and mission conferences, seminars and capacity development training sessions; as well as conduct three religious freedom campaigns.
It is hoped that a drinking water project will benefit 3,500 people, community health and sanitation training will reach 12,500 persons and income generating training will positively affect 3,800 individuals.
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Church Spotlight
"The Missions Ministry is a vital part of First Baptist Church." This is the declaration of
First Baptist Church in (FBC) Columbus, Georgia, in the United States.
Its aim is "loving none more than Christ, loving others as ourselves; we strive to reflect God's love to all." FBC says "we believe mission involvement emerges from the natural outflow of worship and is the natural result of discipleship."
FBC "spends a great deal of time ministering to the people in the Columbus area" and partners "with many established service and assistance organizations to care for people with a variety of needs from clothing and food, to language and networking for sustainability."
Community initiatives include its multi-housing ministries, a series of Sunday school, worship services and Bible studies at various points, including Columbus State University. Through Obadiah's Hands, minor maintenance and repairs are done at persons' homes, and it partners with Habitat for Humanity to build homes. Along with twelve other churches in the Columbus area, FBC provides housing and meals for homeless families and offers classes in English as a Second Language.
Internationally, the Baptist World Alliance Global Impact Church extends assistance to the Children's Malnutrition Center in San Juan, Guatemala; with Ricks Institute in Monrovia, Liberia; and the Rainbow Church in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
They describe their partnerships as relational where there is "mutual exchange of prayer concerns and encouragement."
"Everything our church family does is filtered through hearts committed to faith in Christ," says Senior Pastor Jimmy Elder. "We are constantly, prayerfully looking for what God would have us do next. This may lead us all the way to the other side of the world or right across the street."
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In Memoriam
Indranie Ellawala Premawardhana, a vice president of the Baptist World Alliance from 2005-2010, died on November 2, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at 89 years old.
In addition to being BWA vice president, Premawardhana was a former member of the General Council, the Executive Committee, the Officers Search Committee, the Congress Committee and the Christian Education Workgroup.
She held an especially honored place among women in the Sri Lanka Baptist Union, whom she led as president for three years, the Asian Baptist Women's Union for whom she was vice president from 1993-1998 and president from 1998-2004 and the BWA Women's Department, where she was a vice president between 1998 and 2004.
She was credited with initiating the Asian Baptist Young Women's Leadership Conference and was editor of
Asian Echoes from 1993-1998.
A former Buddhist, Premawardhana was influenced by her Christian stepmother and the two Christian missionary schools she attended. The aspiring schoolteacher made the step of faith upon the declaration of her Christian fiancé, Felix, whom she met while at the state teachers' college of education, that his faith in Christ was paramount and that he had doubts about marrying a Buddhist.
"The Baptist World Alliance is saddened at the passing of our former vice president, Indranie Ellawala Premawardhana," said BWA General Secretary Neville Callam. "We laud the kindness, grace and commitment that our sister displayed in her life, ministry and witness in the name of our Lord and on the behalf of the church. We are assured that she has found rest and peace and the legacy she left behind will be long remembered and honored."
Funeral service was at Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church on November 6 and burial at the General Cemetery, Kanatte, in Colombo.
She was predeceased by her husband, Felix, in 2006. She leaves son,
Kuvera; and daughter, Kuveni.
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In Memoriam
Andrew MacRae, a former general secretary and superintendent of the Baptist Union of Scotland (BUS) and principal of Acadia Divinity College in Canada, died on October 30 in Kentville, Canada. He was 83 years old.
Multitalented and multifaceted, MacRae, in addition to being a congregational pastor and leader of the BUS, which he led for 14 years from 1966-1980, was a broadcaster and religious advisor, first to BBC Scotland and then for 12 years on Scottish Television. From 1973-80 he was chair of the Committee on Mission, Development and Unity of the Scottish Churches Council.
A past president of the European Baptist Federation, MacRae left Scotland for Canada in 1980, where he accepted an invitation to establish the first chair of Evangelism and Mission in Canada at Acadia Divinity College. He became principal of the college and dean of theology for Acadia University from 1985 until his retirement in 1998.
After retiring, he was professor emeritus of Evangelism and Mission at Acadia; directed the Doctor of Ministry program at the school, which he introduced in the 1980s; and pastored Grace Chapel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from 1999-2003.
Serving the Baptist World Alliance in various capacities, he was a member of the General Council and the Executive Committee from the 1970s into the 1990s, played a pivotal role in the process to create the Division on Evangelism and Education and was a member of its Coordinating Committee.
MacRae became co-chair of the BWA National Evangelism Workgroup and was a member of the Theological Assistance Workgroup, the Division on Study and Research Executive Committee and the Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Interchurch Cooperation.
The former street evangelist in Edinburgh, Scotland, earned degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the Baptist Theological College of Scotland and St. Andrews University. He received honorary doctoral degrees from Campbellsville University in Kentucky in the United States, and from Acadia.
Funeral service was held November 7 at the Wolfville Baptist Church in Nova Scotia.
He is survived by Jean, his wife of 59 years; son, Findlay; and daughter, Fiona.
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In Memoriam
Roger Fredrikson, president of American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) from 1970 to 1971, died June 16 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the United States, after a short time in hospice care. He was 95.
Prior to being ABCUSA president, he was vice president from 1960-61; president of the National Baptist Youth Fellowship from 1944-46; president and chair for the Board of Managers, Board of Education and Publication; and chair of the Committee of Seventeen, which studied and made recommendations for theological education in ABCUSA.
He served the Baptist World Alliance in several capacities, including on its Executive Committee, the Youth Committee, the Long Range Planning Committee, the Memorial Committee, the Promotion and Development Committee, the Church Health and Effectiveness Workgroup, the Mission and Evangelism Workgroup and the Commission on Baptist Worship and Spirituality.
In the early years of the World Council of Churches, he was a member of its Youth Committee. In 1948, he was the youth representative of ABCUSA to the foundational meeting of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Fredrikson was an advocate for the church renewal movement nationally and was influential in Renovare, a national renewal organization.
He headed the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Ottawa University in Kansas, in the United States, from 1949-54, before becoming pastor at First Baptist Church in Ottawa. He served as pastor of First Baptist Church in Sioux Falls, in South Dakota, in the US, beginning in 1959 until 1975, and became pastor of First Baptist Church in Wichita, Kansas, where he remained until he retired in 1988.
Fredrikson was deeply concerned about social justice issues such as juvenile justice reform. During 1966-67, he chaired the Minnehaha County Citizens' Committee on Problems of Youth, during which time the county voted to build a Juvenile Court Center, and was active in working at the Minnehaha County Juvenile Detention Center.
He helped to found Glory House, a halfway house initiative for men leaving prison, and was active in serving mental health and alcohol treatment centers in the area including the Carroll Institute for chemically dependent persons.
Canadian by birth, Fredrikson earned degrees and diplomas from Ottawa University, Andover-Newton Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Sioux Falls, Ottawa University in the state of Kansas, and Judson College in Illinois, in the US.
In 1989, Fredrikson received the Luke Mowbray Ecumenical Award from ABCUSA.
He was predeceased by wife, Ruth, in 2003.
A memorial service was held June 24 at First Baptist Church, Sioux Falls.
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Congratulations
To Brian Kaylor, vice chair of the BWA Communications Advisory Committee, a member of the Awards Committee and the Commission on Christian Ethics; on being named editor and president,
Word & Way, the newspaper for Baptists in the state of Missouri, in the United States
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BWA NEWS
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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Downloads
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*New BWA Publications*
Engaging the Jubilee
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Jesus Christ, the Door: The Official Report of the Twenty-first Baptist World Congress
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BWAID
The following are disbursements by Baptist World Aid during the month of November. Unless otherwise stated, amounts are in United States currency.
Africa
Sierra Leone
Community based skills training - 6,000.00
Europe
Turkey
Refugee Relief Project - 20,000.00
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About the Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance, founded in 1905, is a fellowship of 235 conventions and unions in 122 countries and territories comprising 40 million members in 177,000 churches. Its priorities are nurturing the passion for mission and evangelism; promoting worship, fellowship and unity; responding to people in need; defending human rights and justice; and advancing relevant theological reflection.
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