The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-05/16/2017 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Children's home, birth mother deepen her adoption by Kayla Rinker Date: May 16, 2017 - Tuesday RICHMOND, Mo. (BP) -- It's strange for Cara Peoples to consider what her life would have been like if she hadn't been adopted through the Missouri Baptist Children's Home back in 1965. "I wouldn't have grown up in Richmond, Missouri; I would not have met my husband Claude and had our two girls and grandsons; and I would not be able to give back [to MBCH] as a board member," said Peoples, a member of First Baptist Church in Richmond. Adopted when she was just 10 days old by David and Ramona Leathers, she grew up on a farm in Richmond with an older brother and younger sister, both of whom also were adopted through the Missouri Baptist Children's Home (MBCH). Peoples said she has always felt blessed to have the parents God gave her. "We had everything we needed and most of what we wanted," she said. "I knew I was adopted all along and I remember being teased some, and I just said, 'Hey, my parents picked me and yours are stuck with you.' I was proud of it." Though many MBCH board members are adoptive parents, Peoples is the first to have been adopted through the children's home. "My pastor recommended me for the board because he thought I would bring a different viewpoint to the table," she said. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it at first, but we had a missionary come to our church and it felt like he was talking right to me. He said God gives you experiences that can be used for His glory and, though you may not know exactly how things will work out, that will only cause you to lean more on Him." She's since served 10 years and currently chairs the board of trustees for the LIGHT House, an MBCH-affiliated full-service adoption agency and maternity home. The LIGHT House ministry is very special to Peoples because her birth mother stayed in a similar Kansas City maternity home while she was pregnant with her. "I have learned so much about MBCH's many programs," Peoples said. "Back in '65 when my scared teenage biological mother found out she was pregnant she went to the Florence Crittenton Home for Unwed Mothers in Kansas City but said she was staying with a friend in Lincoln, Neb., as an alibi. "Her choices were limited. Now we have maternity care, fostering programs and therapeutic foster homes, transitional living programs for young adults who are phasing out of foster care, and human trafficking rescue programs. For those who need the extra help, we show them how to get a job, how to meal plan and how to be a parent." Peoples' adoptive father passed away in 1989; her adoptive mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1996 and lived until her death in 2006. Meanwhile in November 1999, Peoples received a phone call that would give her a whole new group of people to cherish. "When the lady called me she asked my name and birthdate," Peoples recounted. "I asked, 'Why?' She said she respected my birth mother and wanted to know if I was interested in talking to her." At Christmas that year Peoples met her biological mother, her grandmother and many other new relatives at her birth mother's home in Jacksonville, Fla. She started talking to her birth father a few months later and met him for the first time at his home in Phoenix, Ariz., in the fall of 2000. "My birth mother and I have known each other for 17 years now and we've become really good friends," Peoples said. "I'm blessed to have been adopted into a great family and I'm blessed to connect and learn about my biological family. "The truth is, in each story we hear about we really only see a portion of the impact that the MBCH has on children and families across Missouri. One thing I do know is that we need to continue to work together to meet this vital need." -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: More than good deeds by Diana Davis Date: May 16, 2017 - Tuesday PENSACOLA, Fla. (BP) -- Have you noticed? "Doing good" is in style. It may be called "paying it forward" or community service. Clubs do it to help their community. Universities or businesses may encourage students or employees to do it. Fundraisers, marathons and events support worthy causes. Corporations often donate chunks of cash to charities. Volunteering may even enhance college entry or job resumes. People like those who "give back." "Good deeds" may be trending, but doing good in Jesus' name is ongoing. For Christians, there's nothing "random" about acts of kindness. Christians are called to do good with a purpose: to point others to Jesus and ultimately to share Him with those who don't know Him. The goal of our community project, ministry group or mission trip is not to enhance our own reputation; it's much bigger and more eternal than that. So you give food to the hungry or help neighbors during disaster in Jesus' name. You intentionally share Jesus with someone at the gym while you lift weights. You help plant a church so more people can know Him. You personally represent Jesus through your community involvement. Instead of observing what a great person you are, people notice what a great God you serve. The church is the only organization in the world with a specific charge to be evangelistic in everything we do. "[W]e are Christ's ambassadors," Scripture tells us. "God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!'" (2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT). Summertime is a great time for your church or small group to get missional with the intention of sharing Jesus. Try some of these fresh ideas: -- Add monthly, quarterly or ongoing mission projects to your small group or Sunday School class. Our class "adopted" a low-income nursing home to send pen pal notes and do occasional hands-on projects. -- Add hands-on ministry to your women's group meetings. We added an hour to the weekday classes and mission groups for ministry teams to serve our community. Attendance mushroomed. -- Plan a summer outreach project. For example, Olive Baptist in Pensacola, Fla., has a plan to knock on every door within a few blocks of the church to personally invite neighbors to worship. The Florida Baptist Convention challenged churches to have beach baptisms. Hundreds were baptized publicly, and many onlookers were pointed to Jesus. So our "pay it forward" becomes "pay it upward" and our "random acts of kindness" are never random. They're purposeful. A lost world outside our church doors needs to see and hear God's plan for their lives. We must continually keep Christ as our goal in missions -- for all people to know Him and call Him Lord. "And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father" (Colossians 3:17 NLT). -------------------------------------------------------------------- France rejects a third gender category by Kiley Crossland/WORLD News Service Date: May 16, 2017 - Tuesday PARIS (BP) -- France's highest court has rejected the notion of a "neutral" gender. The ruling upheld a lower court's decision denying a French citizen with a sex development disorder the right to use "neutral" as an official gender. The Cour de Cassation, France's supreme court, ruled that the distinction between male and female was "necessary to the social and legal organization, of which it is a cornerstone," and that the recognition of a neutral gender would have "profound repercussions on rules of French law" and necessitate legislative changes, according to Agence France-Presse. The plaintiff, a 65-year-old psychotherapist from eastern France known by the pseudonym Gaetan Schmitt, was assigned male at birth despite having intersex genitalia. Schmitt is married to a woman and has an adopted child but claims to be neither male nor female. In 2015, a family affairs judge in Tours ruled in Schmitt's favor, but an appeals court overturned the ruling last year. Schmitt's attorney, Bertrand Périer, called the high court ruling a "missed opportunity," in an interview with The New York Times. "I don't see why France's social or legal organization would necessitate gender binarism." Périer said Schmitt was raised as a boy because his mother wanted a son. "Gaetan is neither a man nor a woman. They do not feel like a man or woman. They cannot become a man or woman. And they do not want to become a man or woman," Périer said, referring to Schmitt with a plural pronoun. Only a few countries, including Australia, Nepal, India and New Zealand, have a legal third gender. Other countries allow parents to delay declaring a gender for babies born with a sex development disorder, but only for a limited time. Schmitt plans to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. But even if that court reversed last week's ruling and affirmed the family affairs judge's declaration that Schmitt should have a right to use a "neutral" gender because of a sex development disorder, the ruling would still link gender to biology. Some activists say that is unacceptable and are pushing for laws like New Zealand's, which allow transgender and cross-dressing people, in addition to those with intersex genitalia, to also use a third category -- "gender diverse" -- as their legal gender. But gender is inherently biological, according to a scientific study released earlier this year that found more than 1,500 sex-specific genes throughout the body. The study by Moran Gershoni and Shmuel Pietrokovski at the Weizmann Institute of Science was looking for an explanation for the prevalence of certain diseases in men and women. They found many genes are expressed -- or copied out to make proteins -- differently in men and women in many more ways than previously imagined. "Overall, sex-specific genes are mainly expressed in the reproductive system, emphasizing the notable physiological distinction between men and women," the report, published in BMC Biology, said. "However, scores of genes that are not known to directly associate with reproduction were also found to have sex-specific expression (e.g., the men-specific skin genes)." In addition to 1,559 sex-specific genes, Gershoni and Pietrokovski found more than 6,500 genes with significant sex-differential expression. These sex-linked genes were found not only in reproductive organs and the mammary (milk-producing) tissue, but also the skin, skeleton, heart, brain, lungs, and stomach, among other areas. For example, they found genes that were highly expressed in the skin of men related to the growth of body hair and genes highly expressed in women related to fat storage. They also found a gene mainly expressed in the brain of women that scientists think might protect the female neurons from Parkinson's, a disease with a higher prevalence and earlier onset in men, and a gene expressed in the liver of women regulating drug metabolism, providing molecular evidence for the known fact that men and women process drugs differently. The study said more research is needed to understand how the differences between men and women cause disease and change the way each sex responds to treatment. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 100 years: Social gospel pioneer's legacy discussed by David Roach Date: May 16, 2017 - Tuesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Theologians of all ideological stripes agree Walter Rauschenbusch was a key figure in 20th-century Baptist history and that his 1917 book "A Theology for the Social Gospel" marked an important juncture in the social gospel tradition. But students of theology are divided 100 years later on whether Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) should be remembered as a friend or foe of evangelism and sound doctrine. "Walter Rauschenbusch was born into a long line of pastors," said Lloyd Harsch, professor of church history and Baptist studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. "His father was the first to become a Baptist. While in his late 20s and early 30s, Walter served for more than a decade as pastor of Second German Baptist Church which was located in the destitute, crime-ridden area of Hell's Kitchen in New York City. "It was in this context that Walter came to the conclusion that his evangelistic efforts needed to include concern for the social issues affecting the neighborhood," Harsch told Baptist Press in written comments. "Eventually, the social concern came to dominate his ministry. Rauschenbusch reminds us that even worthy issues pursued with the best of intentions can eventually distract us, drawing us away from the important task of sharing the Gospel with those around us." Published amid the early 20th century's social gospel movement -- which sought to apply Christian principles to social problems like poverty, alcoholism and racial tensions -- "A Theology for the Social Gospel" argued the "old message of salvation" must be "enlarged and intensified" to address social ills. "The individualistic gospel," Rauschenbusch wrote, "has taught us to see the sinfulness of every human heart and has inspired us with faith in the willingness and power of God to save every soul that comes to him. But it has not given us an adequate understanding of the sinfulness of the social order and its share in the sins of all individuals within it. " ... The social gospel seeks to bring men under repentance for their collective sins and to create a more sensible and more modern conscience," wrote Rauschenbusch, who left the pastorate in 1897 to teach at Rochester Theological Seminary in upstate New York. In developing a theology to support the social gospel movement, Rauschenbusch critiqued historic formulations of some Christian doctrines. He argued, for example, that the doctrine of biblical inspiration should acknowledge "the human frailty and liability to error" of the biblical authors. The idea Jesus' death was a "substitution" and that He bore God's wrath toward sinful humans, Rauschenbusch wrote, was among a collection of "post-biblical ideas" that were "alien to the spirit of the Gospel." Still, his emphasis on the need for Christianity to address social problems led Rauschenbusch to "a national acclaim rarely accorded seminary professors," wrote Rauschenbusch biographer Paul Minus. Neoorthodox theologian H. Richard Niebuhr wrote in "The Kingdom of God in America" that Rauschenbusch "continued to speak the language of the prophets and St. Paul." Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in 1960 that Rauschenbusch "left an indelible imprint on my thinking." Among Southern Baptists, former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ethics professor Henlee Barnette classified Rauschenbusch in a 1968 sermon as among the "three great prophets" America had produced. The other two, Barnette said, were King and Abraham Lincoln. Yet Rauschenbusch also drew criticism. In the mid-20th century, neoorthodox theologians like Niebuhr "declared his optimism excessive and certain doctrines deficient," Minus wrote. King was among those who agreed with that critique. Southern Baptists who admired Rauschenbusch knew mentioning him in some settings could alienate theologically conservative believers. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary ethics professor T.B. Maston, a noted civil rights advocate who was influenced by Rauschenbusch, said in his 1973 oral memoirs that he counseled seminary students to avoid referencing the social gospel in Southern Baptist churches. Using the word "social," Maston said, "arouses some opposition on the part of some people to what you're trying to do." Barnette similarly wrote in his 2004 memoir "My Story" that "Southern Baptists had a phobia about the term" social gospel and about Rauschenbusch -- "the father of the social gospel." That reticence about the social gospel tradition manifested itself when the Baptist General Convention of Texas established a commission in 1950 to address social issues. Convention leaders called the new commission the Christian Life Commission rather than follow the Southern Baptist Convention's lead, which had named its commission charged with cultural engagement the Social Service Commission. Texas Baptists felt a reference to the "social" gospel tradition of Rauschenbusch could undermine support for the new commission, former Texas CLC executive secretary A.C. Miller said in his 1972 oral memoir. In 1953, the SBC's Social Service Commission followed Texas Baptists' lead and changed its name to the Christian Life Commission. Four decades later, the CLC became the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Despite the varying assessments of Rauschenbusch, church historians at SBC seminaries agree a century later that he rightly urged Christians to apply Scripture to social issues and that his work should be remembered. Keith Harper, senior professor of Baptist studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, told BP Rauschenbusch "engaged the social, cultural and economic issues of his day." -------------------------------------------------------------------- ANALYSIS: Workplace evangelism abroad begins here by Sebastian Traeger Date: May 16, 2017 - Tuesday RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- I've had the privilege lately of seeing an increasing number of people at all stages of life express interest in joining the global mission of God through the International Mission Board. Many wonder how they can be preparing to go. On one level, it's very simple: current faithfulness in your assignments is the greatest predictor of future fruitfulness. So, faithfully serve where you are. One critical arena of faithfulness is your evangelistic witness. Being a faithful evangelist in the workplace doesn't mean having Bible verses at your desk or preaching in the break room. Some Christians seem to think they're not being a faithful witness at work unless they're sharing the Gospel all the time. But that's not true. Being faithful starts with performing your job to the best of your ability to the glory of God. That said, work can open doors to sharing the Gospel, and we should be ready for opportunities when they happen. Evangelism can be really hard. But it's helpful to remember that we're not the first generation to encounter challenges with it. When has it ever been easy to tell people about a guy named Jesus ... who really was fully God and fully man ... who really did live a perfect life ... who really was crucified ... and who really did rise from the grave and ascend into heaven? It may be difficult, but it's important for every Christian to participate in God's plan for making disciples. God has placed each of us in the location where we are and He has given us the relationships we have for a specific reason. We need to consider how to be good stewards of these gifts. Our jobs represent assignments given by the King. In these assignments, we are Christ's ambassadors, entrusted with the good news of the Gospel. Here are four ways to provoke Gospel conversations with people at work: 1. How we speak The easiest way to identify yourself as a Christian is with your words. The people you work with should know you are a Christian, that your faith is central to you, and that you attend church gatherings regularly. Don't operate in stealth mode. When someone asks how your weekend was, go beyond the standard response of "Good, how about you?" Tell them about church or how you shared life with church friends. It is increasingly rare to meet Christians in the workplace. Letting others know you're a Christian makes you available to weaker believers and sets an example to non-believers. We should also use words to encourage and build up. Go out of your way to compliment people on the work they're doing. Let them know you appreciate them. Be specific and thoughtful. Conversely, we must be conscious of the temptation to join in grumbling and gossiping. These patterns of speech are often normal in the workplace. As Christians, we are not normal -- our citizenship is with another world. You may feel the magnetic pull daily to unload all of your cynical thoughts, but don't give in. Finally, use questions well. Questions are a great way to condition yourself not to be self-focused and self-absorbed. They draw people out, and they tend to cause people to ask you questions back. Something as simple as, "What are you reading?" can give great insight into a coworker's life and worldview. 2. How we work Work with excellence. When you make your faith known, you're effectively volunteering to hold a giant microscope up over your head. Expect to be quietly scrutinized. Our work should be done in a way that reflects the creativity, purpose and goodness of God. We should take pride in our work as image bearers and representatives of our King. But we need to expand the definition of doing good beyond just the notion of job performance and skill to include words like faithful, honest and servant-hearted. The content of our lives at work should reinforce, not undermine, the content of the Gospel message we share. 3. How we relate Although we don't want our coworkers to be "projects," we do want to be proactive and strategic about the relationships we build with coworkers in order to break through the professional boundaries that can form. You can do this by using meals -- particularly lunch -- strategically. Getting away from the office and the usual office banter is very helpful. Along the same lines, consider having a colleague and his or her family over to your home for a meal. In helpful ways, people are different outside the office and often more open to sharing their backgrounds, history, and life story. In addition, it's a powerful gesture of friendship that provides a window into another aspect of your life. In Thom Rainer's book, "The Unchurched Next Door," he shares the following statistic: 82 percent of the unchurched are at least "somewhat likely" to attend church if they are invited. In other words, more than eight out of ten of the unchurched said they would come to church if they were invited. When was the last time you invited a colleague to church? 4. How we live Our life patterns can commend the Gospel by: -- Being someone who speaks in ways that honor your spouse and your family. -- Being a faithful, conscientious parent. -- Being the one to take the lead to serve a colleague in need and perhaps organizing others to do the same. -- Visiting a colleague in the hospital. -- Learning the names of a colleague's spouse and children and asking about them. These kinds of actions should be the pattern of our lives. They can powerfully provoke others to ask questions and open doors for us to share the good news of Christ. Evangelism equals proclamation of the Gospel While these four suggestions may provoke gospel interactions, we must ultimately proclaim the Gospel if we are to go from being a Christian to an evangelist. A faithful witness commends the Gospel, and God's Word saves. Ultimately, it's not you or your ability to answer questions in the most dazzling, persuasive way that will bring about new life in Christ. It's the Gospel and the Holy Spirit breathing new life into your coworker who hears its message. Clearly speak the Gospel and leave it to God to do the work. Make it clear the Gospel requires a response, and Christ is the only way to salvation. Developing these patterns of faithfulness will grow your love for the lost. This is the heart of the missionary -- to meet them at their point of need with the hope of the Gospel. For more information and articles go to imb.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gallup poll records 'humbling' moral decline by David Roach Date: May 16, 2017 - Tuesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- A Gallup poll indicating Americans are more "left-leaning" than ever on 10 of 19 moral issues has been called "humbling" and "chastening" by a Southern Baptist Convention seminary president. A Fordham University ethicist critiqued the poll as "deeply misleading" for suggesting moral permissiveness is limited to liberals. In its annual Values and Beliefs survey, the Gallup polling organization found that record percentages of U.S. adults believe it is morally acceptable to use birth control (91%), get divorced (73%), engage in opposite-sex sexual acts outside marriage (69%), engage in same-sex sexual acts (63%), have a baby outside of marriage (62%), commit physician-assisted suicide (57%), view pornography (36%) and practice polygamy (17%). The only two practices to register record low moral approval were capital punishment (58%) and medical testing on animals (51%). Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. called it a "humbling, indeed chastening reality that on none of these moral issues has there been long-term change in a more conservative direction ever since the dawn of the 21st century." That reality "is also very clarifying in terms of understanding what we're now up against" in the secularized culture, Mohler said May 16 in his podcast The Briefing. Since the inception of the Values and Beliefs poll in 2001, according to a May 11 Gallup news release, researchers have noted "meaningful change in a liberal direction" on 13 of the 19 issues from this year's survey. Gallup added that "no issues show meaningful change toward more traditionally conservative positions." Approval of same-sex sexual acts has seen the greatest jump in approval, increasing 23 percentage points over the years to its current approval rating. The second greatest approval increase has occurred for having a baby outside marriage -- a 17 percentage point jump. Sex between an unmarried man and woman has seen a 16 percentage point increase in approval and divorce a 14 percentage point increase. The 43 percent approval of abortion is virtually unchanged since 2001, as are 9 percent approval of extramarital affairs and 65 percent approval of gambling. Mohler said the data evidences "the loss of the binding authority of biblical Christianity where it had once bound the consciences not only of individuals but of the general society, especially on issues such as the definition of marriage and the understanding of gender and, of course, the regulation of sexual practices." Seven of the eight practices to register record-tying or record-setting approval this year are condemned in the Baptist Faith and Message, either directly or by implication. Birth control is the only one not mentioned, though the BF&M calls children "a blessing and heritage from the Lord." A May 15 op-ed by Fordham ethicist Charles Camosy published by the Catholic news agency Crux critiqued Gallup's release for "radically simplify[ing] a complex nexus of beliefs and values." Gallup's "slapping moral positions with [the label] liberal or conservative is problematic," he wrote. Some liberal feminists, Camosy claimed, oppose pornography while research suggests conservatives may consume more porn than liberals. Similarly, some traditionally liberal states like Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland "have rejected" physician-assisted suicide while some conservative libertarian states in the west have legalized it, he wrote. On a positive note, Camosy said it is "remarkable" that a majority of Americans opposes abortion and "extraordinary" that a majority opposes pornography despite cultural pressure to affirm both. Rod Dreher, senior editor of The American Conservative and author of "The Benedict Option," wrote in a May 12 blog post that the cultural trends noted by Gallup are "not going to turn around anytime soon." In response, believers must educate themselves in the fundamentals of Christian doctrine "to know what ... [the] love [of Christ] entails -- and what it excludes." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Blasphemy spotlighted as Christian jailed in Indonesia by Diana Chandler Date: May 16, 2017 - Tuesday JAKARTA, Indonesia (BP) -- The blasphemy conviction of Jakarta's ousted Christian governor has rallied international support for the leader and pleas for Indonesia to repeal its laws against blasphemy, a punishable crime in more than 50 countries. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), European Union representatives, Amnesty International, International Christian Concern (ICC), Human Rights Watch (HRW), and representatives of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) are among those advocating on behalf of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as "Ahok." Purnama is serving a two-year prison sentence at Cipinang prison in East Jakarta after his May 9th conviction for statements he made during his 2016 reelection campaign for governor (mayor), although prosecutors recommended two years of probation. The case against Purnama was based on statements he made in September 2016 refuting political opponents who told Muslims that voting for Purnama, a Christian, would violate teachings in the Quran. While international human rights groups recognize Indonesia's purported commitment to religious tolerance and pluralism, some say the country's blasphemy laws are used for intimidation and should be repealed. "USCIRF remains very concerned with countries such as Indonesia that have blasphemy laws. These laws are used to intimidate and harass individuals, including religious dissenters and minorities and violate their freedom of religion and belief," USCIRF chair Thomas J. Reese said after Purnama's conviction. "We call on the Indonesian government at the central, provincial, and local levels to comply with the Indonesian constitution and international human rights standards." Indonesia's 1945 constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but only officially recognizes Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Hinduism, according to a May 13th analysis in the Sidney Morning Herald. Purnama was convicted under Article 156(a) of the Indonesian Penal Code. According to a January 2017 report by the Library of Congress, the law "provides for a person to be subject to up to five years of imprisonment if he or she 'deliberately in public gives expression to feelings or commits an act ... which principally have the character of being at enmity with, abusing or staining a religion, adhered to in Indonesia; or ... with the intention to prevent a person to adhere to any religion based on the belief of the almighty God.'" USCIRF Vice Chairman Daniel Mark, who traveled to Indonesia in 2015 to assess religious freedom conditions, said the country should repeal article 156(a) of the Penal Code and unconditionally release anyone sentenced for "deviancy," "denigrating religion," or "blasphemy." USCIRF has since 2004 listed Indonesia in its annual report as a Tier 2 nation where religious violations carried out or tolerated by the government are systematic, ongoing and/or egregious. Indonesia rarely enforced its blasphemy law before the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. But at least 106 people were convicted of blasphemy during his term between 2005 and 2014, according to Amnesty International statistics. Champa Patel, Amnesty's director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said Purnama's case demonstrates the injustice of Indonesia's blasphemy laws, upheld in court as recently as 2010. The laws allow the imprisonment of individuals for exercising freedoms protected under international human rights laws, including freedom of thought, expression, conscience or religion, according to Amnesty. "This verdict demonstrates the inherent injustice of Indonesia's blasphemy law, which should be repealed immediately," Patel said. "Despite protests of his (Purnama's) innocence and evidence that his words were manipulated for political purposes, he has been sentenced to two years in jail. The verdict will tarnish Indonesia's reputation as a tolerant nation." Purnama is appealing the verdict. In March, Indonesia jailed three ex-leaders of the Islamic group Gafatar for offending Islamic values, noting that the group does not consider prayers obligatory, the Sidney Morning Times reported. Islamic clerics describe Gafatar as a deviant sect. Internationally, blasphemy laws are enforced in a quarter of the world's countries and territories, the Pew Research Center said in statistics released in 2016, based on 2014 studies. Blasphemy laws are most prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa, where 18 of the 20 countries, or 90 percent, enforce such measures. Blasphemy laws are enforced in all regions of the globe, including 24 percent of Asia-Pacific countries (12 of 50), Pew said. Blasphemy laws are less common in sub-Saharan Africa, where only four of the 48 countries enforce them; and in Europe, where blasphemy is criminalized in seven of 45 countries, Pew said. In the Americas, 10 of 35 countries criminalize blasphemy, including the Bahamas, where the publication or sale of blasphemous material is punishable by up to two years in prison, Pew said. While blasphemy is not criminalized in the U.S., a few states, including Massachusetts and Michigan, have blasphemy laws on the books that are not enforced, Pew said. In Pennsylvania, a blasphemy law was enacted in 1977 to prevent blasphemy in corporate names, but was struck down by a district court in 2010, the Jewish Social Policy Action Network (JSPAN) reported. Pennsylvania's law prohibited corporate names from containing "words that constitute blasphemy, profane cursing or swearing or that profane the Lord's name," JSPAN reported when the law was overturned. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE STATES: Ala., Calif. and N.C. evangelism/missions news; 'They became the people of my heart' by Staff Date: May 16, 2017 - Tuesday Today's From the States features items from: The Alabama Baptist; California Southern Baptist; Biblical Recorder (North Carolina) ********** Ala. church members bring hope of Christ to Amazon River basin By Grace Thornton BOAZ, Ala. (The Alabama Baptist) -- When Alabama Baptist Ty Harris went on a missions trip to the Amazon River Basin several years ago, one thing quickly became clear to him. People there were hungry for Jesus. And the more people who could go share with them, the more people who could hear. "When I went the first time to the Amazon River, I just fell in love with the people of Brazil," said Harris, a member of Sardis Baptist Church, Boaz. "I just wanted to keep going back." But the cost of a trip like Harris' was high and he knew he wouldn't be able to go as often as he wanted with a price tag like that. He figured there might be others in the same boat. "So God put it on my heart to start an organization," Harris said. His solution? To get everybody in a different boat. "We bought our own boat so that way we wouldn't have to rent one every time," he said. "That's really kept our costs down." And as a nonprofit organization -- Amazon Hope -- Harris and others have employed a group of Brazilian men to serve as boat captains, river guides, cooks and missionaries. Follow up "During the year they travel and scout out the people along the river and then in the summer we go back and follow up with those people and take teams to evangelize them," Harris said. "We don't just go in and leave -- it's a long-term effort and we partner with Brazilian pastors who go back in and do discipleship after we're gone." Four million people live in as many as 33,000 unreached villages along the Amazon River and its tributaries. A number of those villages are indigenous people totally isolated from outside contact, nestled deep in the jungle. But others are reachable by several days on the boat and open their arms to welcome teams from Amazon Hope. The boat can sleep 30 people in cabins and an additional 20 people in hammocks. Groups sail down the Amazon on six- to nine-day trips, stopping along the way and investing in villages, doing door-to-door evangelism and showing the "JESUS" film. "So many times when people come on trips, they want to come back and bring more people with them," Harris said. "It's so contagious on the river." That's what happened to Harris--— and what happened to Zac Goforth, who led Harris on that first trip several years ago. 'People of my heart' "It just kind of caught my heart," said Goforth, associate pastor of students and family life at Sardis Baptist. "I'd been on trips before but this one was just different." Harris agreed. "They became the people of my heart." The villages are right along the river and they live "very poor subsistence lifestyles," Goforth said. But, he said, they're wealthy by their standards -- they have food and they have a roof over their heads. Harris agreed. "They think they are the richest people in the world," he said. "The only thing they hunger for is the Gospel." Churches interested in bringing teams on a trip with Amazon Hope can book the entire boat with 15 or more people or they can combine smaller groups with other churches. "Individuals are welcome too," Harris said. "You don't have to have a church group to come on a trip." In addition to door-to-door evangelism, opportunities for ministry on the trips range from peacock bass fishing to medical work to construction. "It's a huge blessing every time," Harris said. "God pours into us so much on each and every trip." For more information, call Harris at 256-458-4427 or visit www.amazonhope.org. --30-- This article appeared in The Alabama Baptist (thealabamabaptist.org), newsjournal of the Alabama Baptist Convention. Grace Thornton is a correspondent for The Alabama Baptist. ********** Calif. Baptist association reaches to Philippines By Karen L. Willoughby LANCASTER, Calif. (California Southern Baptist) -- Not content to be the largest association geographically in California, High Desert Baptist Association has stretched its boundaries to include the Philippines. Director of Missions Don Parker, who visits High Desert churches every week, happened to be at Lancaster's First Filipino Baptist Church the Sunday pastor Abner Abanes told the congregation the latest news of their church plant in Bataan, west of Manila on the Bataan peninsula of the Philippine Islands. Abanes' plea was for financial help to assist in building a facility to house the growing work and disciple new believers. "I heard him, and I was compelled to follow up on his request," Parker told the California Southern Baptist. "To do the work they're doing requires sister churches to help." But the Philippines? More than 7,500 miles away? "It doesn't matter where it is," Parker declared. "That's the heart of churches in our association." Under the leadership of now-retired pastor Wayne Stockstill and current pastor Richard Spring, First Baptist Church in Hesperia has planted several churches near Tarma, Peru. First Baptist Church in California City sent six people in April to assist a church in Glenrothes, Scotland. Randy Howard, senior pastor of The Gate Church in Victorville and his executive pastor, Charles Speelman, "are all over the world, helping to train pastors and to plant churches," Parker said. The church also has built orphanages in India and Kenya, as well as helping sponsor new work in High Desert Association. But this is the first time the association itself has partnered to plant a church in a different nation. "In Southern Baptist life, churches start churches," Parker said. "In this case, it is the association's churches working cooperatively, as Southern Baptists do." "'You have not because you ask not,'" Parker explained when asked why the Philippines rather than any other nation on earth. "And as I look back it clearly was the Spirit of God directing us." Abanes has proven to have the skills and commitment to start a church, Parker noted. Under Abanes' leadership over the last 18 years, First Filipino has doubled in size, from 50 to 100 in Sunday morning worship. Over the last 10 years, some 60 people have been baptized. Finances have not kept pace with growth and ministries, however, and starting a church plant in the Philippines has further taxed the congregation's available resources. "He's led the church to become a strong work," Parker said of Abanes. "He has a great missions heart." Abanes also has a heart for his homeland and his hometown. When he saw there was no evangelical witness in Bataan, he felt led to start a church, with himself leading it until God-called men come to the Lord and are discipled and trained as pastors. He goes "at great personal sacrifice," Parker noted, for three- to four-month stints in Bataan, leaving his wife Lolit and six daughters in Lancaster. He leaves First Filipino in the hands of a pastor he imports temporarily from the Philippines. The Bataan church often has 90 or more in Sunday morning worship, and about 60 in Sunday School. Ninety gather at three locations for midweek prayer services, and each afternoon during the week Abanes hosts a discipleship training seminar attended by 25 men and women. "He does an extensive amount of equipping people and discipling people, so the foundation he's laying for that church plant is a secure situation," Parker said. "It's a tremendous opportunity to reach people with the Gospel." As of early March, 15 people were scheduled to be baptized on April 1. That number grew to 20 by late March. With similar evidence of God at work, High Desert's missions committee led the association as of January to support the Bataan church plant with prayer and with a $300 check each month for up to three years. "It's helping Abner lay the foundation for purchasing property and building a building," Parker explained. "The dream is to send people as well as financial support." While its pastor is in Bataan and a substitute pastor is in Lancaster, First Filipino continues local ministry efforts including plans to start a church approximately 65 miles away in the Victor Valley area. --30-- This article appeared in the California Southern Baptist (csbc.com/csb), newsjournal of the California Southern Baptist Convention. Karen Willoughby is a freelance writer in Mapleton, Utah. ********** N.C. Baptist association to purchase safe house for trafficking victims By Liz Tablazon HIGH POINT, N.C. (Biblical Recorder) -- North Carolina was among the top 10 states with the highest number of human trafficking cases reported in the United States, according to a 2016 report by the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Female victims made up 83 percent of reported cases of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation in the state; 31 percent involved minors; and 29 percent involved foreign nationals who were not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. These victims need "a place to restructure their lives and find true freedom in Christ," said Sandra Johnson, founder of Triad Ladder of Hope in High Point. So, the nonprofit organization is taking steps toward offering a new resource for women rescued from sex trafficking: a safe house where they can begin the process of healing and restoration. For 12 years Ladder of Hope has raised awareness locally about human trafficking. The organization educates surrounding communities on how to recognize victims. The team also works directly with several human trafficking agencies, the National Human Trafficking Hotline, local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help rescue victims and meet immediate and long-term needs. Johnson, a mission service corps missionary with the North American Mission Board, said in an interview with the Biblical Recorder that Ladder of Hope has raised enough funds to purchase a house. They are actively searching for property and a location that will meet their needs and provide safety and protection for rescued victims. "We want a place that will help promote quiet for healing, as well as a place that allows the development of a family relationship with each other and us," said Johnson. The safe house will provide resources such as medical care, trauma counseling, job skills training and, if necessary, legal aid. Before Ladder of Hope can open the safe house to victims, they will need furniture and other household items, as well as supplies and a security system. Johnson said monthly utility bills should resemble a typical household, including electricity, water, internet and food. "If you need it at your house, we will need it too," she said. Recognizing victims When Ladder of Hope gives educational presentations at churches or organizations, staff members teach groups how to identify victims of trafficking. Common signs and red flags include lack of personal documentation, passport or visa; evidence of physical or psychological abuse; odd or long working hours; lack of knowledge of local community; and fear of law enforcement or local authority. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, traffickers often isolate victims from their families and ethnic and religious communities; threaten violence toward them and their families; and deceive them to believe they will be imprisoned or deported if they contact authorities. Such tactics instill fear especially in victims who do not speak English and are from countries that fear corrupt law enforcement. Ladder of Hope encourages people to call the Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline at (888) 373-7888 if they think they have encountered a victim. Johnson and her team often receive referrals and victims' information from the hotline. Johnson said, in addition to financial support, the Ladder of Hope staff needs prayer to continue to do their job effectively. "Unless we are healing from our own personal trauma and growing in the Lord, we have no hope of having an effective part of the girls' healing," she said. For more resources and information about human trafficking, or to make a donation, visit triadladderofhope.org. Donations or pledges may be specified for safe house maintenance and can be mailed to P.O. Box 3051, Salisbury, NC 28145 or P.O. Box 470, High Point, NC 27261. --30-- This article appeared in the Biblical Recorder (brnow.org), newsjournal of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Liz Tablazon is a staff writer for the Biblical Recorder ********** EDITOR'S NOTE: From the States, published each Tuesday by Baptist Press, relays news and feature stories from state Baptist papers and other publications on initiatives by Baptist churches, associations and state conventions in evangelism, church planting and Great Commission outreach, including partnership missions. Reports about churches, associations and state conventions responding to the International Mission Board's call to embrace the world's unengaged, unreached people groups also are included in From the States, along with reports about church, associational and state convention initiatives in conjunction with the North American Mission Board's call to Southern Baptist churches to broaden their efforts in starting new churches and satellite campuses. The items appear in Baptist Press as originally published.