The sanctity of human life is a core principle for me as a follower of Jesus Christ.  I believe that humans are created by God and in His image (Genesis 1:27). That means that every person, from conception to death, possesses dignity and worth – including unborn children, elderly individuals and those with special needs. As Christ followers, we are called to defend, protect and value all human life. 

On January 13, 1984, President Ronald Reagan issued a presidential proclamation designating Sunday, January 22, 1984 as National Sanctity of Human Life Day, noting that it was the 11th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. President Reagan was a strong pro-life advocate who said that in Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court “struck down our laws protecting the lives of unborn children”.

Reagan issued the proclamation annually thereafter, designating Sanctity of Human Life Day to be the closest Sunday to the original January 22 date.  Many, but not all of our presidents since then, have continued the annual proclamation of Sanctity of Life Day. Sunday, January 20 of 2019 will be this year’s observance of Sanctity of Life.  

Human life is defended, protected and valued everyday throughout Kentucky in pregnancy care centers that are there to support and encourage mothers through the birth process by helping them to choose life for their unborn children.

With Sanctity of Life Sunday only a few weeks away, let me encourage you to be an advocate for human life by offering your assistance to one of the many pregnancy care centers in Kentucky.  Why not visit your local pregnancy resource center to discover ways that you can help. Learn how you can pray for and/or with center directors and volunteers.

Pray that God will:

• Protect center personnel (board of directors, staff, volunteers, families) from any type of physical abuse or harm and from discouragement or doubt from the enemy.
• Meet the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of center staff.
• Lead clients to the center so they may hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Give counselors special wisdom and boldness in sharing the Gospel with clients, challenging them to live a life of obedience and purity.
• Change the minds and hearts of mothers who are considering abortion and give them the courage to choose life and consider adoption, when appropriate, for their unborn children.
• Bring healing and a renewed relationship with Christ to women and families inside and outside the church who have chosen abortion in the past.
• Meet the financial needs of each resource center.

Consider helping your local pregnancy resource center in the following ways:

• Donate baby clothing, furniture, car seats, and/or formula.
• Provide food, clothing, and a safe place for expectant mothers.
• Serve as a mentor for expectant mothers.
• Sponsor a baby shower for the center with gifts of clothing, furniture, diapers, and formula.
• Partner with a pregnancy resource center to teach young women good parenting skills.
• Plan a mission trip to a center to do maintenance, painting, and redecorating, if needed (call the center director first before visiting to determine an appropriate time to arrive).

The Kentucky Baptist Convention recognizes and appreciates the life-giving ministry of faith-based pregnancy care centers in Kentucky. We encourage your support of the pro-life pregnancy care centers with which KBC churches and associations partner. Click on this link for a current list of those centers: http://www.kybaptist.org/pregnancycare/

The holiday season is over, 2018 is now past and we are into the year 2019.  Many churches are beginning to plan for spring and summer and looking ahead to opportunities to serve.  Have you planned your 2019 mission experience?  Kentucky is full of opportunities.

Why do missions in Kentucky?

Many times, when we think of missions, we think of somewhere “across the seas,” but the Great Commission tells us to go to our “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  With an 18.5% poverty rate, and an average of only 12.1% of the Kentucky population in church on a given Sunday, Kentucky is a state with lots of physical and spiritual needs and is certainly a mission field.

The number of single parent homes, grandparents raising grandchildren, few jobs in some areas or loss of jobs, low literacy and education rates, job skills, and the drugs are just some of the issues that cause poverty to be so high in Kentucky. Many children do not have the food, clothing, health care, and essentials they need as a result.  Many of them are not taught the stories of the Bible, have not heard that Christ loves them, and are not encouraged to attend church where they would learn these things.

Mission teams and self-funded missionaries serve in Kentucky to help alleviate these physical and spiritual needs.  Thousands come each year to assist local churches and missionaries in reaching out to the physical needs, opening doors to share about the spiritual.  They may serve on a short-term mission trip, partner with a church or ministry and make multiple trips, or commit to long-term service in an area.  In-state mission opportunities are numerous.

Short-term opportunities

Looking for ways to put your faith into action?  Missions is year-round in Kentucky and there are lots of ways to get involved.  The KBC Missions Mobilization Team can help connect you with dozens of one day to one- or two-week opportunities to demonstrate the love of Jesus through acts of service.  Mission opportunities are available across the state and include pretty much anything for which an individual or team might be gifted.  Check out the many short-term listings at www.kybaptist.org/go.  You can search by type of project, location and length of assignment.

Mid-term opportunities

Opportunities are also available to serve from a few weeks to 6 or 9 months.  With many of the 2,400 Kentucky churches being small in number, some can use help with a music program, children’s ministry, food & clothing ministry, or all types of outreach.

Ministry centers across the state can use summer interns to serve alongside them.  These mid-term opportunities too, can be found at www.kybaptist.org/go.  Click on the “6 months or more” tab to view.

Long-term opportunities

Perhaps God is calling you to serve long-term as a self-funded Kentucky Mission Service Corps Missionary.  A Kentucky Mission Service Corps missionary (KY-MSC) is an adult (18 years of age or older), called by God and connected to a Kentucky Baptist Convention church, who commits to serve from nine months to two years (renewable). 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.

John & Shaughanessy Morris, from Hazard, sensed God’s call on their lives as missionaries.  They felt certain they would serve “over-seas” in another country, but God called them to their own people of eastern Kentucky.  John & Shaughanessy now direct God’s Appalachian Partnership in McDowell (Floyd County), Kentucky, a ministry that meets the spiritual and physical needs of people in Appalachia.

The KBC can assist with the application process and placement in a ministry.  Go to www.kybaptist.org/msc/ for more information.

The world today is much different than it was 10 or 20 years ago.  While global traveling is much easier, it is also more difficult.  Preparing our teams for traveling and serving in strange places (whether in the US or abroad) is essential.

For the protection of the team, missionaries and national partners, here are some security guidelines that will benefit the short-term team.

1. Never identify people overseas by name. Sharing personal information of partners overseas while you are overseas can jeopardize the work.  Do not share personal information in conversation or through social media.
2. Avoid using Christian and mission terminology. Instead of using terms like “pray, missions, Bible, church, evangelism,” etc., one can say “talk with Dad, the family, the book, the work,” etc.
3. Never identify yourself with a church, denomination or the IMB. Avoid clothing and hats that connect you with any of these groups.
4. Do not leave written or printed information in your room that could identify local church or mission leaders. Places you go like hotels, restaurants, and airplanes have “ears.”  Workers in these places may share information they overhear or see with government officials.
5. Consider that all communication is being heard or read by others. Speak by phone as if you are not in a private conversation.  Letters, emails, texts, etc. are very public.  If names are used, only use first names and never first and last names.
6. Never give the impression of being critical of local governments or religions. As an American, you will likely be viewed with suspicion in many of the places you travel to, so do not say anything negative about governments or religions that will hinder your witness.
7. Avoid visiting with other Christians or missionaries while on your trip. Unless requested by the IMB staff or local partners, contact with other believers in security-sensitive areas should be guarded.
8. Refuse to be photographed or interviewed by news media. Common sense must be used in these cases.  You have no control how videos and pictures will be used by others to potentially harm the work of Christ.
9. Always follow the leading of your host missionary and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. As a new person in a new place that is security-sensitive, listen and follow the directions of your host.  Their directions for the team are not meant to hinder ministry, but to enhance long-term ministry.  Further, as the Holy Spirit opens opportunities for gospel conversations, but sensitive to your situation and surrounding and tell others about the good news of Jesus. 

Being security sensitive is not for the purpose of stifling gospel work, but to ensure that it continues long after your short-term team is gone.  The goal in short-term missions is coming alongside long-term partners in order to advance the gospel intentionally and/or exponentially that would not occur otherwise.

On April 17, 2009 Tom Grugel’s life changed forever.  Having lived his entire life in a very dysfunctional lifestyle, and searching for something he couldn’t put into words, Tom found a church and began to attend.  He was encouraged to go on an Emmaus Walk and during that weekend, at 10:00 AM on April 17, Tom surrendered his life to Christ.  “He had been calling for years and I had ignored Him up to that moment,” said Tom.  “He saved me and put a fire in me that has never gone away.  He created in me a desire to share the Gospel with others.”

Tom began giving out Gospel tracts and felt God was calling him to preach.  Once a week he would go to the Taylor County Detention Center and share with the inmates.  This led to a conversation with the Boyle County Detention Center jailer about doing the same at their facility.  But God had other plans.  Tom was asked not to come just once a week, or once a month, but to be the chaplain at the Boyle County Detention Center.

“Tom has many years of experience as an inmate,” said South District Baptist Association Director of Missions Jim Clontz.  “He knows the challenges of knowing what it is like to be alone and wonder what is going to happen!  He knows what it is like to be without Christ!  In his many years as an inmate, no one ever witnessed to him.  He has a love for the inmates, the staff and the administration.  He has the support of the Jailor and Chief Deputy, and works closely with the Detention Center Administration, local churches and with our association.”  Tom is making a difference in the lives of many of the “guests” of the jail, as he likes to refer to them.  They serve 3000 persons a year in the jail and he has seen over 500 professions of faith in Christ during his years as chaplain, with 319 of them being baptized.

“He offers follow-up when inmates are released,” says Bro. Jim, and “there is a very high correlation between follow-up and whether the inmate will return.”

One day Tom’s heart was broken over children he saw that had come to visit mom and dad in jail.  Some were antsy, some were sitting in chairs staring at the walls, and others sitting on the floor.  “I had to step into another room because I had begun to cry,” he said.  Soon after the jail started a Kid’s Corner to minister to these children.  A beautiful mural was painted on the wall and a child’s table and chairs were added where the children can watch television during their visit.  Each child is given a gift bag, which includes toys and, so far, about 500 “Bags of Smiles” has been given out, all of which is funded by local churches.

Click on the following link to view a recent news story that WKYT-TV in Lexington did on the Kids’ Corner – https://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Kids-corner-at-Boyle-Co-jail-motivates-incarcerated-parents-499202421.html.

Tom shared that the Bags of Smiles in no longer just a jail ministry.  They now work with those who do advocacy with children, and with child protective services, to provide the Bags of Smiles.

“There is so much that the Lord is doing,” says Tom.  And he is always quick to give the God the credit.

Tom works closely with the churches of the South District Baptist Association and, in February 2018, became a Kentucky Mission Service Corps Missionary with the Kentucky Baptist Convention in his role as chaplain.

There is a need for new or gently used toys for the Bags of Smiles.  If you would like to partner with Tom please email him at [email protected], or contact Dr. Jim Clontz, Director of Missions at the South District Baptist Association at 859-238-7624.

They say time is of the essence.  No time like the present, others say.  Planning your short-term mission takes preparation; it takes time.  While there may be occasions when a mission effort can be pulled together quickly, most often the preparation requires many months. No rigid timeline exists for short-term missions, but there are some general steps that allow a team to prepare well in advance in order to maximize the impact of the team with the strategy of the host missionary.  Here is a suggested timeline that can be used as a guide:

1. 10 to 12 months prior—determine assignment
2. 9 months prior—determine team leader(s)
3. 9 months prior—publicize mission effort
4. 6 to 9 months prior—recruit team/receive volunteers, deposit due
5. 6 to 9 months prior—contact travel agent to begin searching ticket prices
6. 6 to 9 months prior—schedule initial info meeting, collect bi-monthly or quarterly payments
7. 6 months prior—apply for passport and check requirement for visas
8. 6 months prior—plan team meetings and meet monthly to discuss general mission prep
9. 3 to 4 months prior—purchase plane tickets
10. 3 to 4 months prior—get immunizations (shots!) if necessary
11. 3 to 4 months prior—team meetings should become more specialized according to what the team will be doing on the field
12. 2 months prior—develop prayer team
13. 4 weeks prior—plan commissioning service for team
14. 1 week prior—hold commission service
15. 1 week or month after—plan celebration time with team and/or church

Preparing well allows us to go with a plan and then once there to go with the flow.  We trust that God uses our planning, but we also go knowing that the Lord will direct our steps and guide our ways for gospel advancement.