Monthly Archives: January 2013

interSEED for our Kentucky Missionaries

One hundred plus missionaries serve in various roles across Kentucky. When asked what you can do for them you most always get the same answer, “Pray for us.” Reminds me of the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:25 as he ends his letter with, “Brothers and sisters, pray for us.” All through this epistle we find Paul encouraging the Thessalonians, and reminding them to encourage and pray for one another.

I, like Paul, want to ask you to join me in this new year to encourage and pray for the men and women who serve throughout our state. They are out on the front lines meeting people from all walks of life, right where they are, and leading them to Jesus. They are our missionaries, representing all of us, and certainly desire and deserve our support and prayers.

Pray specifically. Make an effort to get to know a Kentucky missionary and pray for specific needs he or she may have.

Pray for their mental, physical, and emotional state. Pray for their safety. Yes, many of those serving in Kentucky are in areas of danger.

Pray for their marriages, their families, and those to whom they minister.

Most of all, I ask you to pray for them spiritually. Pray that our Kentucky missionaries are where they need to be with the Lord; that they have a personal, intimate relationship with the Father and that their lives are a shining witness and example for Him.

You might also want send a little note, an email, or give them a call to let them know you appreciate and remember the work they are doing for our Lord.

Resolve now to pray for your Kentucky missionaries in 2013. A good way to do this is by using the interSEED prayer calendar. Download the calendar each month at www.kybaptist.org/interseed and pray on their birthdays.

Not only will they appreciate your prayers but you will be blessed as well.

I’m Not Trained, But I Did Stay at a Holiday Inn Express Last Night

Believers often ask in Disaster Relief, “Why do I have to go through training to serve as a disaster relief volunteer?  Why can’t I just go help people?”

Preparation is important in any area of ministry as it enables usto be more effective as we seek to be used by God to reach or minister to others.  The wisdom writer in Ecclesiastes 10:10 declared, “If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength, but wisdom brings success.”  Preparing the edge by sharpening the blade will enable the tool to be more effective, just as training helps believers to serve more effectively in response to the survivors of disasters.  Through your gifts to the Cooperative Program, the Kentucky Baptist Convention is able to provide training in disaster relief that prepares Kentucky Baptists to be ready to serve in positive and effective ways during times of disaster.

Top Ten Reasons to Be Trained:

  1. Training prepares us in our understanding of disasters and the needs that arise in times of disaster.
  2. Training enables us  to respond in appropriate and effective ways in times of disaster.
  3. Training prepares us to understand our role as part of a disaster team.
  4. Training enables us to sharpen our abilities to be most effective as we serve, in order to be an asset not a hindrance in the response.
  5. Training helps us to understand hazards and safety concerns in disaster areas.
  6. Training prepares us to understand in a deeper way some of the trauma of disaster victims that we might be able to offer appropriate compassion.
  7. Training prepares the heart for ministry by increasing awareness of the need and different opportunities to minister.
  8. Training prepares the hands to be ready to serve effectively.
  9. Training prepares the head by giving knowledge to increase effectiveness.
  10. But the greatest reason to train is that God deserves our very best in all that we do and to achieve the best requires discipline, effort, and knowledge. Trainings are an opportunity to grow as Believers so that when God calls we are ready.

Several years ago, there was a popular commercial that showed a man preparing to do surgery when all begin to realize that perhaps he is not up to the task.  The man’s response to their concern was “I may not be a doctor, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.”  I cannot answer for you, but I really do not want that man doing surgery on me.  And yet, sometimes we are that way when it comes to ministry.  Hey, I am not really prepared to minister to you, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.”

Disasters will come.  So let me encourage, be prepared to serve by being trained.  Victims deserve that.  Other disaster workers deserve that.  But most of all, our God deserves that!

 For more information about training opportunities go to:

 http://www.kybaptist.org/dr

Start a New Ministry in the New Year

The New Year’s Eve celebrations have ended and before us is a new year of new opportunities, new beginnings and new direction. This is the time of year that we find ourselves evaluating the past year and making new plans and resolutions for the coming year. Usually the new plans have something to do with our physical health, financial portfolios or our relationships.  We resolve to quit eating so much, to start exercising, to save more money, to spend more time with our children and so on.  We are lucky if these resolutions that we make to ourselves last 6 months.                                                

As important as those things are, this year I challenge you to consider making a resolution this year that will really make a difference in your life and that of others – begin a new outreach focused ministry.   Not necessarily by yourself, although God may lead you to do so, but through your church.  I’ve seen it over and over again – new ministries reach new people. There are unreached people all over the world who need to know the love of Jesus Christ.  Some of those unreached people are right outside the doors of our churches.  The possibilities for how to reach them is limited only by your imagination and creativity.  The Gospel of Christ has been effectively shared through medical clinics for the un-insured, mobile home rehabbing, after-school tutoring for at-risk children, money management courses for families living in poverty, English as a Second Language classes for internationals, job skill training, accountability groups for recovering addicts, etc. 

Before you or your church jumps blindly into a new ministry, let me encourage you to:

  • pray seeking God’s leadership
  • share the vision and involve others
  • gather information and assess community needs
  • determine giftedness and available resources
  • plan the ministry
  • equip participants to intentionally share their faith through the ministry
  • set the plan in motion and see new people come to Christ through the new ministry

I’m excited about the New Year ahead of us and trust you will see the possibilities that exist for sharing Christ through new ministries.  Please let us know of ministries you’ve been involved in or heard about.  Your comments on this blog may encourage others to try other new ministries in an effort to reach new people. Also let us know if there are ways we can assist you in the development of new ministries in your community.