The Lord Will Provide

In the book of Genesis, God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering.  So, in obedience, Abraham binds Isaac and places him on the altar.  At that time, God provided a ram to sacrifice in place of Isaac and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh, meaning the Lord will provide, or the Lord will see to it.   

A little over a year ago, God told Kevin Cornette, pastor of Mays Lick Baptist Church, that they should start a feeding ministry to address the hunger needs of those living in the area. Believing that God would provide, Kevin led the church to begin Jehovah Jireh’s House, a food ministry that now serves over 500 homes in 4 counties. What began with a couple of chest freezers and a few boxes of food has grown to many pallets of food that require 14 chest freezers, a large walk-in freezer, a box truck, flat-bed trailer, and a forklift. And the Lord provided it all!  The ministry has grown to the point that Jehovah Jireh’s House has become a cooperative effort of multiple churches requiring an average of 100 volunteers on each distribution day.

Poverty in Mason and surrounding counties is higher than the state’s average of 17%.  One-third of those coming through Jehovah Jireh’s House live in neighboring Lewis County, which has a 26% poverty rate. Kevin shared that 58% of those coming through Jehovah Jireh’s House were grandparents raising their grandchildren. 

The church sees Jehovah Jireh’s House as a reservoir. The Lord provides the food, they distribute all that they have and the Lord fills it back up again.  Pastor Kevin shared that “we serve everyone, no matter where they live, because the Lord has brought them to us for a reason.  One of the primary reasons is because people are spiritually hungry too!”  The church has baptized six people as a result of the ministry and one family reached through Jehovah Jireh’s House now volunteers on distribution days.   

I visited Mays Lick on one of the recent distribution days and was amazed to see how smoothly the entire operation went.  Hundreds of people registered and heard the gospel clearly presented before walking through the distribution “store” to fill up their grocery carts with food, personal hygiene items, fresh vegetables and paper products.  Each person walking through Jehovah Jireh’s House is accompanied by a church member who shepherds them through the process, talking with them and helping them to load their cart.  

Then, additional volunteers help each family to load their vehicle with the items in their grocery cart.  While the value of the items in the grocery cart are approximately $125, the cost to the ministry is only pennies on the dollar because again, the Lord provides.  They procure the items distributed from two major sources and many individuals and churches. 

God was faithful to provide what Abraham needed and He has been faithful to Mays Lick to provide everything they need as well. But before God provided for Abraham, he had to hear God and respond obediently.  The same was true for Mays Lick and is true for us. If we want to witness God’s provision, we must first hear from Him and respond obediently to what He says.   

Join Kentucky’s “Adopt-a-Missionary” Program

Do you want an exciting and meaningful boost for your church?  Do you want your church or small group to be more involved in missions?  Do you want to “get to know” a missionary?  Then join Kentucky’s “Adopt-a-Missionary” program.

No, missionaries are not orphans, but adoption is a beautiful word that helps describe the strong relationship between missionaries and the churches and friends who pray and encourage them in their ministries. The church at Antioch, in a sense, adopted Paul and Barnabas as special messengers of the gospel to Asia and Europe (Acts 13:1-3).

The North American Mission Board and Kentucky Baptist Convention have assigned missionaries to specific ministries across our state.  These KY-MSC missionaries are adults, called by God and connected to a Kentucky Baptist Convention church, who commit to serve from nine months to two years (renewable), and are self-funded. The positions engage in or directly support missions, church planting, collegiate ministry or evangelism, in cooperative partnership with a Kentucky Baptist Convention church, association, or organization.

These missionaries are making a difference in the Kingdom, one individual at a time and, this past year alone, reported 4,442 professions as a direct result of their ministry and/or their personal witnessing.    

God calls some to go.  Others He calls to support those who go.  Support may be financial as we normally think, but there are many other ways to support our Kentucky Mission Service Corps missionaries.  We would like to connect churches, Sunday School classes, WMU groups, or small groups to one of our 106 KY-MSC missionaries. 

By adopting a missionary, you commit to:

  • Pray for the missionary.
  • Communicate and encourage the missionary by telephone, letter, email or card.
  • Send a birthday or holiday care package to let them know you are remembering them.
  • Visit the missionary’s ministry and assist with the work.
  • Invite the missionary to share in your church or small group.
  • Meet a need the missionary may have.

In turn, the adopting church or group will experience:

  • A personal relationship with an active missionary.
  • A strengthened commitment to missions.
  • A heightened awareness of missions opportunities.
  • A fresh, outwardly focused ministry perspective.
  • Group building and bonding through service to others.
  • An opportunity to see God at work and an invitation to join Him in it.

Since relationships do not generally happen overnight, and because it takes time for a church or group to organize and plan a strategy, a two-year adoption period is encouraged. At the end of the two years, the church or group can extend the length of the existing adoption relationship or request another missionary to adopt.

Can the missionaries count on you?  Would you commit to care for and support a Kentucky Mission Service Corps (KY-MSC) missionary?

Contact [email protected] to get connected with “your” adoptive missionary.

Four Steps to Embrace Your Community

During the process of reaching the diverse community around us, we must each move from thinking like a missionary to engaging like one. While it can be intimidating to make the transition from theory and strategy to entering and embracing the lives of people, it is well worth it. To make this transition, there are four characteristics we must embrace.

Local Church.Global Vision

1. Be a person of prayer
Simply getting to know a person or plugging into a community is crucial, but it’s not the only goal. We must engage with people and communities in such a way that our hearts become connected — we must pour ourselves out before the Lord in prayer on their behalf. To do so, we need to plead with the Lord to draw our hearts to them in love.

2. Be a learner
A key aspect of thinking like a missionary is humility. We must be aware that we have much to learn about the beautifully diverse cultures and communities that God has created. If we are not careful, we can subconsciously impose our desires, ideas, preferences and systems onto the people we are hoping to engage. As humble learners, we can look for opportunities to meaningfully and lovingly serve the people or communities we are seeking to engage. Here is a helpful list of categories for potential pathways of engagement:

  • Seasonal – Are there certain times of the year that present unique opportunities for engagement in contextually appropriate ways?
  • Social – Are there opportunities to provide or enhance experiences to build meaningful relationships and community?
  • Sports – Are there sports or athletic opportunities that resonate meaningfully that could be offered or enhanced?
  • Study – Do you have the skillset to provide support or share a desired knowledge to the person or community? Be careful not to assume that the desire to learn is there.
  • Spiritual – Are there cultural expressions of worship that could foster discussion where you can learn as well as provide a reason for the hope that you have in Jesus?
  • Service – Are there needs that you have the capacity and skills to meet?
  • Situational – Are there certain needs based on a crisis or situational occurrence that you can step into?

Answering these questions thoughtfully and humbly will provide countless ideas for us as missionaries to die to ourselves for the sake of the gospel. After all, this is how they will know what love is (John 3:16).

3. Be a seeker
One of the key purposes of intentional engagement should be to identify a “person(s) of peace.” This was a vital component to Jesus’ missional strategy in Luke 10. A person of peace in a community is a gift from God and an open channel for living water to saturate a community. This person can offer credibility within the community, as well as offer insight into how the community operates.

4. Be a friend
One of the most profound ways to reach those in your community is to be a true and courteous friend. When we speak to people, we should ask their names and pronounce them correctly. We should do whatever is necessary to remember them. Ask meaningful questions and listen intently to the answers. Allow people to share their stories as they are willing.

Inhabit these characteristics and embrace those in your community with boldness and humility knowing that the risen Jesus is with you always. For more tools, techniques, or training on how to understand and impact you community for Christ, please email [email protected]. We are here to serve you.

KBC: Helping Churches

Our mission as a convention is simple: created by churches, for churches, to help churches reach Kentucky and the world for Christ.  The KBC staff aims to live out this mission of helping churches fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus.  But what exactly does this mission statement mean for the KBC? 

Created by churches

We exist as the Kentucky Baptist Convention because Baptist churches throughout Kentucky in 1837 desired to cooperate for the furthering of the gospel.  The KBC owes its existence to Baptist churches. 

For churches

Baptist churches created the KBC for churches.  In other words, the KBC was created not to be served by the churches, but to serve the churches.

To help churches

Thus, the KBC exists to help churches do what God has called the church to do—the Great Commission.  Because the KBC was created by churches, for churches, the convention exists to help churches.  Helping mobilize churches for the Great Commission is the mission of the KBC. 

Reach Kentucky and the world for Christ

God did not give the Great Commission to denominations or mission boards; He gave it to the church.  Denominations and mission boards are helpful insomuch as they help churches reach those across the street and across the sea with the gospel.

If your church needs help with carrying out the Great Commission of Jesus, please call on us.  If your church desires training or resources or ideas for Great Commission work, we are happy to help.  After all, we were created by churches, for churches, to help churches reach KY and the world for Christ.  Contact [email protected] to begin the discussion on how we can best help you.    

Storm Chasers

I have served almost twelve years as Disaster Relief Director for the Kentucky Baptist Convention and have been involved in countless disaster responses across our globe – from hurricanes on the Gulf Coast to tornadoes in the Midwest to famines in Africa. As I reflect on these events, there is no question in my mind that God is good and His heart breaks as He watches the suffering caused by these catastrophic events. For those reeling in the aftermath of these life-changing events, the loss can be overwhelming.

So what should our response be as the church to those suffering in the aftermath of these crushing incidents?

The Bible again and again calls us to reach to those wounded by life with compassion.

Jesus taught us in Matthew 7:12, ” Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them—this is the Law and the Prophets.”

The apostle Paul commands us in Galatians 6:2, “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. “

This is at the heart of Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief. Disaster Relief volunteers respond time and time again to bring practical help, a healing touch, and the hope of Christ to those struggling in the aftermath of disasters. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams are often the first on the ground and the last to leave these broken places. God’s light shines through the darkness as these responders offer the compassion and hope of Christ.

God often uses nature to both bless and to challenge us, to bring us food and to teach us the lessons of the struggle. The Bible challenges the church to fight against the devastation, disease, and brokenness of our world. He calls His followers to enter the battle and to be His hands and feet of compassion in a broken world. We are to leave the sidelines and enter the fray. As John reminds us,” This is how we have come to know love: Christ laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16).

Historically, the church has always responded to tragedies with sacrifice and courage. During the third century it was the church that remained to minister to its neighbors when most others fled the plague. When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief provided millions of meals and rebuilt scores of homes. And last year, Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief provided over 116,000 meals to survivors of Hurricane Florence and assisted hundreds of families with chainsaw cleanup and recovery after Hurricane Michael.

As the followers of Christ, we choose to be “storm-chasers”. But we do not chase the storm to gather data, we chase the storm to bring help, healing, and hope.

If you would like to learn how you could become a Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer, go to www.kybaptist.org/dr or call us at (502) 489-3527.

Meridzo Ministries Celebrates 20-Year Anniversary

Last week I was privileged to attend the 20-Year Anniversary Banquet of Meridzo Ministries in Harlan County, KY.  I too am celebrating 20-years with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and Lonnie & Belinda Riley were two of the first people I met when I came on board.  It has been amazing to see Meridzo Ministries develop over the years.  Every time I make a visit, new and exciting things have happened at the ministry.

Dr. Larry Martin, retired Missions Team Leader with the Kentucky Baptist Convention, has also connected with Meridzo from the beginning, and shares about the evening as a guest writer to this blog:

Meridzo Center Ministries, Lynch, KY celebrated 20 years of ministry in the heart of Appalachia on September 6-7. More than 200 people from at least 10 states gathered for a banquet on Friday evening at the Benham Schoolhouse Inn and a cookout on Saturday at Shekinah Village and The Stables at Creekside Glen. At the banquet, 22 current staff members of Meridzo were recognized. Meridzo is a faith-based ministry; no staff member receives a salary. 

At the banquet four speakers shared about the impact of Meridzo:  Dr. Larry Martin, retired KY Baptist Convention missions team leader; Dr. Bruce Ayers, president emeritus of Southeast KY Community College; Claude King, co-author with Henry Blackaby of the Experiencing God study; and George Otis, Jr., producer of Transformation Videos from communities around the world which are experiencing unusual movements of God. Martin has often described the movement of God in Lynch as “the greatest movement of God in one location I have experienced in more than 50 years of ministry.” Otis referred to the movement in Lynch as the greatest example of transformation he has encountered in North America. 

Lynch Mayor John S. Adams emphasized the positive impact of Meridzo Center during the past 20 years. In honor of that impact on Lynch and the surrounding area, he announced that the street on which the Meridzo Center office is located will be renamed “Solomon’s Way.” 

Lonnie and Belinda Riley, the founders of Meridzo Center Ministries, served for more than 20 years through the Ohio Southern Baptist Convention and in local churches in Ohio and Mississippi, before returning in March 1999 to their home area of Southeastern KY. Belinda was reared in Lynch; Lonnie was reared in Hazard and attended college in Lynch. There he met Belinda, became a believer, and felt a call to ministry. Unexpectedly, in late 1998 both sensed God leading them to “return home and help hurting people,” as they put it. Over the past 20 years God has displayed His power in amazing ways.

On Friday evening Lonnie announced a transition in leadership. Lonnie will remain the President and Chairman of the Board for Meridzo Center as well as continuing to do speaking engagements and representing the ministry. Drew Baldwin will succeed Lonnie as the CEO. Drew and his wife Leah have been Meridzo staff members for the past 10 years, and Drew has served as COO since 2014.

More information concerning Meridzo is available in the book “Miracle in the Mountains” and the DVD documentary “It’s Only Cookie Dough.” Website for Meridzo is:     meridzo.org

Seven Ways to Embrace the Displaced

Imagine being a refugee landing in the United States for the first time. You’ve been waiting for years for the opportunity to start your life again. You haven’t had a home to call your own, your children have only sporadically attended school, and your spouse suffers from insomnia and nightmares about the violence that drove you from your country. You don’t speak English, and you have no idea how to get started in a new country.

Refugees have an array of hopes and fears as they acclimate to a new culture and a new way of life. As followers of Jesus, we need to stand ready to embrace those who arrive in our cities and neighborhoods. We have a ready opportunity to impact their hearts and lives for the gospel as they resettle in our midst. Here are seven powerful and practical ways to welcome them into your community.

1. Greet Newly Arrived Refugees

Greet and transport a newly arrived refugee family from the airport to their new home. Meet them with a welcome basket filled with information about their new community, including emergency contact information, maps, invitations to your church worship services, tutoring sessions, and ESL classes, as well as a note telling them how happy you are to have them in your community.

2. Be a Friend

If you’ve ever moved to a new neighborhood, you understand that you don’t truly feel settled until you’ve been welcomed by new friends and neighbors. Unfortunately, most refugees are accustomed to being ignored, and loneliness is one of their greatest challenges.

For help getting to know a family and becoming a part of their lives as they adapt to a new country and culture, connect with the local resettlement agency that sponsors new refugees in your community, and learn about their volunteer opportunities.

3. Visit Refugees in Their Homes

As with any friendship, you must make time for your new friends. Visit them frequently in their homes and bring along a basket of fruit or a freshly baked cake. Allow time to stay and chat. Ask them questions about their family’s stories and how they came to arrive in your community. Learn about their favorite foods and customs. They’ll likely be happy to share.

In return, you can share more about your family and some of your favorite traditions. If you’re invited to a meal, try everything. They’ll be happy to share their very best with you, even when they have a limited amount to give.

4. Help Refugees Adapt to Their New Communities

Take your refugee friends shopping and explain the different types of stores in your community. Help set up phone service and doctor’s appointments. You can also assist them in registering their children for school and showing them how to use public transportation.

5. Share Your Home and Life

Open your home and welcome a refugee family into your everyday life. Share important milestones by inviting them to birthday parties. Invite them to participate in routine family activities throughout the year. Teach them how to build a snowman and serve hot chocolate or make homemade cookies. Take them for their very first roller coaster ride at a local amusement park. Invite them to your children’s baseball or soccer games or to be your guests at a professional sporting event. Host them for their very first American picnic or cookout.

6. Share Special Holiday Traditions

Invite your refugee friends to take part in your special holiday traditions at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and any other festivities that may be new to them. Share the American tradition of thankfulness with a traditional turkey dinner. Plan your favorite Christmas recipes, sing carols, and give each family member a special gift. In the spring, invite them to the Easter service with your church. Special occasions like these can make your new friends feel honored and provide wonderful inroads to explain your hope in Jesus and the difference he makes in your daily life.

7. Strategic Church and Associational Involvement

Churches and associational networks also have strategic opportunities to be a blessing to refugees in their area. Not only can they provide cross-cultural evangelism training to their members who will be building relational bridges, but they can also provide venues for larger community outreach. Consider the following ministry possibilities:

  • ESL (English as a Second Language) classes for adults and tutoring sessions for children
  • Health screenings and basic health care
  • Classes on citizenship, budget planning, banking, and driver’s education
  • A furniture bank where families can obtain essential household goods
  • Job boards to post hiring opportunities
  • Baby showers for new mothers

Ask the Lord to give you his heart for the refugees in your community. Perhaps Jesus has placed specific families in your area so that you could be the one to demonstrate the gospel to them. Showing and sharing his love and compassion to refugees in your community can be one of the most strategic and rewarding global missions experience you will ever have. Contact John Barnett, KBC Mission Strategist, to get you and your church connected today. [email protected]

They Went because They Were Sent

In response to Scripture (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15 and Acts 1:8), churches should be intentionally sending their members. Sending them on mission trips, church planting efforts, ministry projects and disaster relief responses. The church can reach our world with the gospel by putting the focus on how many we send rather than how many attend. 

What does it mean to send? Sending isthe act of enlisting, equipping and mobilizing believers to engage the world with the gospel through local community ministry, short-term mission experiences, church planting efforts, disaster relief work, vocational ministry, and long-term missionary service.

A sending church equips its members go, challenges them to live on mission every day, and provides many opportunities for them to demonstrate the gospel using their gifts, talents, and life experiences. 

First Baptist Church, Inez, Kentucky is one example of a sending church.  FBC Inez has experienced tremendous missions participation growth during the last two years  because pastor Casey Carver has made sending a priority. 

Pastor Casey preached a month-long series of sermons on the importance of missions, challenging the church to not only pray and give, but to send and go.  He used “One Call” to send a missions themed daily devotional by phone to the entire church during that month-long emphasis.

The church had not taken a mission trip in many years, so pastor Casey planned a 3-day mission trip to an eastern Kentucky ministry that was only 3 hours from their church.  They sent 25% of the church’s Sunday morning attendance on that initial mission trip.

Pastor Casey also encouraged the church to engage in ministry to the local community and many have done so.  Members are doing mission work through local ministries like Appalachian Reach Out, Haven of Rest, Heavenly Treasures Thrift Store, and God’s Food Pantry. Additionally, a group of ladies meets regularly to knit items that are given to residents of the local nursing home. 

The church recognized the need of children in the foster care system who arrive at local homes with nothing to call their own.  Therefore, the church began a ministry in which they provide host families with backpacks filled with items needed by foster children.

The sending of members on mission continues, as does the vision for how that will happen.  Pastor Casey has taken steps toward a new ministry called, God’s Connection, that will serve as a residential drug recovery ministry.  That vision includes a coffee shop and thrift store that will provide revenue for the ministry and a place of employment for those in the program. They have received permission to use an old motel for the ministry are seeking donations to help with renovation as plans for God’s Connection and the micro-ministries are developed. 

Sending people on mission out from the church won’t happen by accident.  There must be intentionality by church leadership, specifically, the pastor.  Pastors, will you challenge your members to go?  Churches, will you send your members out on mission as commanded by Christ?  We serve a sending God who expects nothing less from us, than to go, because we’ve been sent. 

Cooperative Missions Matters in Cincinnati

The muddy and winding Ohio River flows through or borders six states, two of which are KY and OH.  Along the Ohio River’s path sits America’s original Boomtown—Cincinnati, also called the Queen City.  Cincinnati is most notably known as the home of Reds baseball where the Great American Ballpark rests on the bank of the river. 

Metro Cincinnati boasts of 2.1 million people, which is nearly half of the population of the whole state of KY.  Sadly, only 13.7 percent of Cincinnati’s metro residents are affiliated with any evangelical church.  Not surprisingly, in the five counties around the city, there is only 1 SBC church for every 10,298 people.

How does that compare with the whole state of KY?  There is 1 SBC church for every 1,724 people in the state.  This is why the KBC is partnering with NAMB and Send Cincinnati to connect our churches with church planters that are investing their lives in the Queen City for maximum gospel impact.

Just this week, KBC partnered with Send Cincinnati to lead a vision tour in order that KBC church leaders might meet church planters, see the city, and hear the vision for multiplying disciples there. 

As one planter noted, “KBC churches have made it possible for us to do more through their partnerships with us than we could on our own.”

Cooperative mission is what we are about as Southern Baptists.  We really believe we can do more together than we can by ourselves.  The 31 active church planters in Cincinnati believe that as well.  In step with a baseball town, our planters need gospel partners in order to move the runner around the bases.  We need KBC churches stepping up to the plate to advance these planters and their work for the gospel.  

Your church can assist in praying for, providing for, and/or participating in the work of the gospel being accomplished in Cincinnati.  For more information about Cincinnati or our other KBC partnerships, email us at [email protected] or visit www.kybaptist.org/vision.        

What is Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief?

Our world continues to experience devastation and destruction annually.  Man-made events as well as natural disasters continue to challenge our minds with “why.”  Why has this happened?  Why me?  Why my community?  As Believers, we cannot answer the “why,” but we can respond with love and compassion as we help those affected know that they are not forgotten by God.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief is one of the three largest disaster response entities in the United States. Trained volunteers stand ready to respond when disasters hit across our globe.  Disaster Relief ministry provides an opportunity for believers to be the hands and feet of Christ to hurting people.

Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief began ministry in 1984 and is part of the larger Southern Baptist Send Relief network of 42 state conventions, the North American Mission Board, and Baptist Global Response.  Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief is supported by gifts of Kentucky Baptists through the Cooperative Program and the Eliza Broadus Offering for State Missions.  This ministry offers opportunities for believers to be on mission for Christ during times of crisis.

The Apostle John instructed us:

“Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

In times of crisis, people need more than empty words.  They need someone to come alongside them with genuine help and real hope.  Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief brings practical help, the healing grace of Christ, and the hope of the Gospel to those devastated by disaster.  More than 4500 Kentucky Baptists are trained as disaster relief volunteers.  Volunteers can staff mobile kitchens designed to provide thousands of hot meals, move in with a chainsaw after a tornado, assist homeowners in cleaning up a flooded home, offer spiritual care as a chaplain, and provide many other disaster services.

Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are trained in:

  • Bulk Supply Distribution
  • Chainsaw Ministry
  • Chaplain Care
  • Emergency Childcare
  • Damage Assessment
  • Flood and Wildfire Clean up
  • Mass Feeding
  • Roof Tarping
  • Radio Operations
  • Shower and Laundry Ministry
  • Water Purification and Well Repair

Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief has a host of resources that can be mobilized during times of disaster.  Resources that can be deployed are:

  • 4 Mobile Kitchens with the capacity to prepare 68,000 meals a day for disaster survivors
  • 27 Chainsaw/Flood/Fire Recovery Trailers
  • 2 Mobile Communication and Command Units
  • 7 Mobile Shower trailers
  • 1 Mobile Laundry Trailer
  • 2 Mobile Childcare Trailers
  • 3 Mobile Water Purification Units
  • 1 Mobile Roof Tarping Trailer
  • 1 Kuboda Skid-Steer
  • 1 Mobile Lift
  • 2 Fork-lifts

To learn how you or your church can get involved in this Kingdom ministry go to http://www.kybaptist.org/dr, or call (502) 489-3527. Our next Disaster Relief training is at Lifepoint Church in Franklin, Kentucky on September 14. You can register for this training at
http://www.kybaptist.org/drtraining/