The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-05/26/2017 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL: El pecado de la adicción al trabajo by Octavio J. Esqueda Date: May 26, 2017 - Friday NOTA DEL EDITOR: La columna First-Person (De primera mano) es parte de la edición de hoy de BP en español. Para ver historias adicionales, vaya a http://www.bpnews.net/espanol. LA MIRADA, Calif. (BP) -- Cada vez estoy más convencido que ser un "trabajador obsesivo" es la adicción más común entre las personas que están en el ministerio cristiano. Evidentemente esta condición se presenta entre todas las personas sin importar su ocupación o religiosidad. De hecho en inglés el término "workaholic" ya forma parte del vocabulario común ya que representa una realidad cada vez más presente en nuestras sociedades. Pero es fácil convertirse en un trabajador obsesivo y disfrazar esta situación con piedad y buenas intenciones. De la misma manera es muy atractivo sumergirse en el trabajo y echarle la culpa a Dios o a la obra de Dios como excusa por esta situación. El trabajo es bueno y el poder trabajar es una de las grandes bendiciones de la vida. Muchos tenemos el enorme privilegio de hacer lo que nos gusta y además recibir un salario por ello. De hecho, la palabra "vocación" se refiere a un llamado o misión en la vida. De esta manera, cuando uno puede unir su labor con su vocación se da un importante sentimiento de valor y significado que es difícil encontrar en otras áreas de la vida. También es importante reconocer que hay muchísimas personas que por diferentes circunstancias no gozan del privilegio de unir su vocación con su trabajo. Muchos tienen que trabajar en lo que pueden no necesariamente en lo que les gustaría hacer. También hay muchos que por necesidad trabajan más horas de lo que quisieran o tienen que tener varios trabajos para poder subsistir. En estos casos, hablar de adicción al trabajo sería absurdo e incluso hasta ofensivo. Sin embargo, para muchos otros el trabajo es un refugio muy atractivo. Estas personas viven para trabajar y su valor se centra principalmente en su ocupación. Los adictos al trabajo no tienen tiempo para pasatiempos, descanso y los demás. Es fácil auto justificarse con estar ocupado en el trabajo y de esta manera hacer a un lado a nuestros seres queridos. Incluso hay algunos que se enfocan totalmente en su labor para evitar enfrentar lidiar con otros problemas o personas. Yo vivo rodeado de trabajadores obsesivos. De hecho, tristemente he visto que la mayoría de profesores, pastores y otras que están en el ministerio tienden a ser adictos al trabajo. Irónicamente muchos están tan ocupados en la "obra de Dios" que no tienen tiempo para "el Dios de la obra" y para sus semejantes. Por tratar de vivir sirviendo a Dios se alejan de la vida abundante que Dios ofrece a través de Jesús. Recientemente me encontré una frase del británico Reginald Somerset Ward (1881-1962) que me hizo pensar sobre lo trágico de la adicción al trabajo y me motivó a escribir este artículo: "Quisiera advertirles sobre el pecado del trabajo excesivo. Muchos de ustedes parecen pensar que es correcto abusar de la fuerza que Dios les da. El resultado de este abuso es que un día colapsan y hacen un gran daño a la obra de Dios, desperdiciando los talentos que el Señor les ha confiado. El exceso de trabajo entre las almas conscientes es un pecado mucho más real y frecuente que la pereza y deberíamos estar más preparados de lo que los estamos para sospechar y protegernos de esta situación. Ustedes necesitan ocho horas de sueño y un día a la semana para poder servir a Dios de la mejor manera. ¿Están descansando lo suficiente? Si no lo están haciendo, deberían seriamente examinar su conciencia sobre este asunto". (Morgan, Edmund R. "Reginald Somerset Ward: His Life and Letters." London: A. R. Mowbray & Co., Ltd, 1963, pp. 81-82.) La adicción al trabajo es una práctica tan sutil y tan aceptada que pareciera una virtud y no un pecado. Si usted no está durmiendo lo suficiente, si se siente culpable cuando está descansando, si nunca está satisfecho con lo que ha logrado, si tiende a desesperarse o estar irritable cuando está con sus seres queridos, entonces, es muy posible que ya esté atrapado por esta terrible adicción. Si es así, lo animo a que reflexione profundamente sobre esto y haga los ajustes necesarios para sobreponerse a esta situación. Verdaderamente el trabajo es un buen siervo pero un terrible amo. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Veteran uses war experience to minister to airmen by Jane Rodgers/Southern Baptist TEXAN Date: May 26, 2017 - Friday EDITOR'S NOTE: May 29 is Memorial Day. SAN ANTONIO (BP) -- As an Air Force pararescueman in Vietnam, Doug Brinson often faced death to save downed pilots, including a treacherous three-week stretch of missions in 1972 that shaped his life in ways he will never forget. "I probably aged a few years in those three weeks," Brinson said. Brinson's parents urged him to follow his brother by enlisting in the Air Force, thinking it the safest branch of the military. The southern Louisiana native found himself drawn to the allure of dangerous USAF pararescue. Brinson's training as a pararescueman, or PJ, was rigorous, involving Navy scuba school, Army jump school, Army Ranger mountain school, Army medical training and other survival schools. "A PJ is supposed to be able to rescue a pilot down anywhere," Brinson said, adding that even today, most "wash out" of the tough training. His class consisted of 12 men, 10 of whom deployed to Vietnam. Brinson arrived in Southeast Asia in the "last really hot year of the war," when the ground war was winding down in favor of air power. The North Vietnamese seized the offensive, threatening South Vietnam. PJs stayed busy rescuing downed pilots, treacherous work accomplished with helicopters because of dense jungles. In late March 1972, two of Brinson's roommates, ages 19 and 20, were shot down in Cambodia on a rescue mission. Brinson's chopper was first on the scene to discover the wreckage. There were no survivors. A week later, on April 6, Brinson boarded the third of four helicopters sent to retrieve navigator and intelligence officer Iceal Hambleton, call sign "Bat 21," shot down in North Vietnam and surrounded by 30,000 enemy troops. "The brass did not want him captured," Brinson said. Hambleton knew too much to fall into enemy hands. Brinson's chopper neared Hambleton to find the first rescue helicopter down with no survivors. Two more of Brinson's buddies were dead. The rescue of Hambleton, or Bat 21, became the subject of books and a 1988 movie. The North Vietnamese eavesdropped on radio communications between headquarters and Hambleton, spoiling rescue efforts until an ingenious plan was hatched. Headquarters started relaying instructions to Hambleton, an avid golfer, by suggesting familiar golf holes. Bat 21 covered terrain as if he were playing "Hole 9, Clark AFB in the Philippines," then awaited coded instructions for the next destination as handlers gave him another golf hole to "play." Eventually Hambleton reached a river and was rescued by U.S. Navy SEAL and South Vietnamese special operations personnel disguised as fishermen. Eleven men -- among them, Brinson's friends -- died in the operation to save Bat 21. A week later came Brinson's chance to effect a harrowing rescue of a Marine pilot, call sign "Bengal 505," downed in Laos, a mission chronicled in print and in an hour-long History Channel program. Efforts to reach Bengal 505 were hampered by anti-aircraft artillery fire. "The fourth day we dropped a whole bunch of bombs around him to get the enemy to duck," Brinson said. "Then we scooted in there with the chopper to get the guy." Brinson's crew lowered the harness directly atop the pilot, for whom covering even 10 feet of jungle could take 10 minutes. As Brinson's helicopter hovered over Bengal 505, a gun battle raged. Brinson, the door gunner, was wounded early in the fight. An audio recording of the mission exists, one of the few surviving the war. Brinson said he often hears his mission replayed as an audio backdrop to video clips on Vietnam. "I'm hit, but no sweat," Brinson informed the pilot. Five seconds of silence ensued as the pilot decided whether or not to abort the mission. "Can you still shoot?" the pilot asked Brinson. "I can still shoot. He just got me in the knee," Brinson replied. The Marine was hoisted into the chopper where he buckled in, thinking himself safe only to glance at the wounded Brinson returning fire and to wonder if he might still die, Brinson said. The two were hospitalized together. The mission earned Brinson a Purple Heart, one of his dozen medals including a Silver Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and eight air medals. His pararescue unit garnered four Silver Stars, 27 Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Purple Hearts and 67 air medals. "Our number got called a lot," Brinson told the TEXAN, tearing up. "It was a one-year blip in my life, but it is so significant," he added. "A whole bunch of negative excitement occurred." The war experience changed his priorities. "You can't get upset over a close basketball game after that. I lived through it, and I came out with both arms and legs. Some guys didn't." Brinson said he has suffered from depression two or three times since the war, the result of PTSD according to VA doctors. "You get over there and see bullets flying, the reality washes over you. I was just a nice kid from Louisiana. Violence to me was a hard tackle in football." "I've probably cried 10,000 times, then I'm all right," Brinson said, explaining that killing, although unavoidable in war, was among the "hardest" things he did. Ironically, it was not his war experience but a stroke suffered in his early 30s that drew Brinson to Christ. "The stroke was like a light bulb. I realized I needed to get stuff settled." Raised in a Baptist home, he watched other kids make professions of faith. "It was a different ball game when I realized I was 10 minutes away from standing before God rather than 50 years. The Gospel is for everybody, but you've got to mean it when you receive it. I came to the realization that I didn't." Brinson said he became conscious of the reality of hell and committed his life to Christ as an adult. Eventually he sold his business and entered full-time ministry, serving churches in Mississippi and San Antonio. He currently serves as associate pastor of missions and care at Village Parkway Baptist Church in San Antonio. Today he calls upon his military and health experiences to share his faith with young servicemen and women in a special program at an area military base. Once they realize he is a veteran pararescueman, they listen. Brinson also uses his background to relate to church members in a city full of veterans and active duty personnel and surrounded by military institutions. At his PJ unit's reunion a decade ago in Denver one of his buddies around the table asked, "Hey Doug, this religious stuff you do. What do y'all believe anyway?" Given an opportunity he had prayed for, Brinson shared the Gospel with the 10 other men. "They were listening," he said. Doug's life "is a good story of a war hero who turned that into being a great minister," said Steve Branson, pastor of Village Parkway Baptist Church. Daughter Hillory called him a "hero" on Facebook. "I feel so blessed to have served a country that calls itself 'one nation under God,'" Brinson said. "I was proud to be a part of pararescue, whose motto is 'This We Do That Others May Live.' And I'm even prouder to be a part of the Lord's church whose unwritten motto is, 'This we do so that others may live forever.'" -------------------------------------------------------------------- MEMORIAL DAY: Those who became soldiers by Jake McCandless Date: May 26, 2017 - Friday MOUNT VERNON, Ark. (BP) -- Attendance numbers, professions of faith, baptisms and sexual purity commitment cards showed I was leading a successful student ministry years ago, yet I'm not sure I prepared my students for what was ahead. In the process of planning a family outing over Memorial Day weekend last year, my mind went to the true purpose of Memorial Day -- remembering those soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. I thought back to the prior Veterans Day when my daughter had come home from school with a packet of song lyrics for a Veterans Day program. Excitedly, she informed me what the word veteran meant -- "someone who fought to keep us free." I was proud to hear this being taught. But I had just watched the movie "Hacksaw Ridge," so simply referring to a veteran as one who had fought and served in the military didn't seem strong enough. These were men and women who left the life they knew as a teenager, were thrust into grueling training, and then faced one of the most challenging situations humans ever encounter. At a young age, our military men and women have witnessed life-altering scenes. They have had to push their bodies and minds in ways the rest of us have been able to avoid. My daughter snapped me out of my thoughts by asking about some veterans I knew. I began with my grandpa and uncles. Then I rattled off a list of senior adults in our church, picturing those who had stood when I had recognized them in the worship service prior to Veterans Day. I then listed a few younger people in our church who had served. Finally, I added personal friends I knew who had gone into the military. I was about to stop when it dawned on me that a number of students from my time as a youth pastor were serving or had served. All of them had spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan. The kids I once chased with Laser Tag guns and encouraged to stuff their mouths full of pickles during game times had faced the same unimaginable situations our senior adult war veterans had faced, with stories that are sadly similar. My first youth pastor position began in 2000 and went well. The youth group grew in attendance and depth in the Lord. Several were saved. A few made commitments to missions and ministry. We even made an impact on their high school. I poured my life into those students. But my efforts focused on the "then and there." We decorated the youth room in a cool way and spent a lot of time discussing dating and waiting until marriage. Most of the youth night talks encouraged them to live out their faith at school, reach their friends and be unified. Yet none of these helped those students go into the deserts of the Middle East. I needed to have armed them with truth and biblical principles such as: God is still God when your friend gets blown away by an IED; God cares about your struggle with PTSD; and it is worthwhile to stay true to your convictions even when it seems like there is nothing to live for. I had no idea that the war on terror was ahead of us, but that is no excuse because we are warned in Scripture that there will always be challenges to our faith. I'm so thankful, despite my shortsightedness, God has worked in and through those brave men and women. They have gone against the odds and returned to Him. But statistics tell us that many students who grow up in our churches soon leave the church, at least for a season. The reasons vary. For some, it's the partying at college, the difficulty of making a living, an atheist professor or the challenges of serving our country. Whatever causes the youth of our churches to depart from the faith, I wish I had looked beyond the youth room, ski trip and high school. I wish I hadn't focused only on the temporal moment but, rather, had better prepared them with the tools to remain faithful to God amid the rigors of life that loomed ahead. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Phoenix church planters turning back darkness by Michael Smith Date: May 26, 2017 - Friday PHOENIX (BP) -- As the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) prepares to hold its annual meeting in Phoenix on June 13-14, three church planters -- all Arizona natives -- are helping to push back darkness in the Valley of the Sun. Phoenix, one of the North American Mission Board's 32 Send Cities, has a great need for the Gospel, with only 12.6 percent of the city's residents affiliated with evangelical churches, according to NAMB research. Jeremiah Semmler, CityView Church Semmler, 38, who was born and raised in the Deer Valley area of Phoenix, planted CityView Church at a movie theater in the area in September 2015. "CityView's mission is simple: Love God, love people and love our city," Semmler said. "We believe the love of Jesus can't be confined to the walls of a building." The church looks for ways to connect with its community, including serving dinners to teachers at a local elementary school and delivering 500 "survival kits" to employees at 20 department stores on Black Friday. Starting with a core team of 15, the church now has about 300 people attending two Sunday services. CityView has a vibrant children's ministry called CityKids, that ministers to more than 100 children each Sunday. The church also invites its members to build relationships with each other by attending CityGroups that meet in homes around the city throughout the week. CityView has celebrated more than 30 baptisms since its launch, with 10 more scheduled for the first Sunday in June. Before planting CityView, Semmler served as the youth pastor at the nondenominational Calvary Community Church in Phoenix for more than 16 years. He didn't know much about the SBC or NAMB before being connected with NAMB Send City Phoenix missionary Monty Patton. Calvary Community is now affiliated with the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention. Semmler says he appreciates the network and collaboration NAMB provides church planters. He is looking forward to attending his first SBC annual meeting this year. Andrew Bailey, Palm Vista Phoenix Palm Vista Baptist Church, which also has a campus in Surprise, Ariz., launched its campus in Phoenix in March 2016. Bailey, 26, says that Palm Vista Phoenix is located in a transitioning community, evidenced by the fact that his church is the sixth to meet in that location in the past five years. He says the community has many needs, which Palm Vista is trying to meet through an on-campus food pantry and by holding events in two nearby elementary schools. Bailey and his wife Sarah recently became foster parents, and he says it is encouraging to see their passion for helping orphaned children spread to the Palm Vista congregation. The church averages 60 people in worship each Sunday and has celebrated seven baptisms since the campus' launch. Another goal of Palm Vista Phoenix is to "do life with our community," Bailey said. To that end, the church is planning to launch midweek Bible study groups meeting in homes in the fall. "We are blessed to be part of God's plan in Phoenix to reach out to a very broken and hurting community and show them that we care for and love them," Bailey said. Trey Van Camp, Heart Cry Gathering Van Camp, 25, a fourth-generation Southern Baptist pastor, launched Heart Cry Gathering on Jan. 10, 2016, at a movie theater in Queen Creek in the East Valley. "Our vision is simple: We exist to reach and teach everyone for Christ," Van Camp said. He has identified three God-sized dreams for Heart Cry Gathering, which is a multigenerational congregation that averages 70-80 people in its Sunday service. First, the church is seeking to baptize 200 people within three years of its launch. Through May 21 of this year, they had baptized 27 people, including 14 from a Mormon background. Second, Heart Cry Gathering is seeking to mobilize the students at nearby Arizona State University Polytechnic "to use their marketable skill sets all around the world for the kingdom of God." The church holds a Thursday night Bible study on campus and it plans to expand its efforts in the fall. Third, "God has given us the dream to create a safe and loving environment for [Mormons] and atheists to come and dialogue about Jesus," Van Camp said. All three church planters say that a challenge that comes with being a Phoenix native is making connections with churches outside of their area. They are hopeful they will be able to build relationships with out-of-state pastors during the upcoming SBC annual meeting. Patton, NAMB's city missionary for Phoenix, is looking forward to showing off his city and sharing about the Gospel work being done there during a "Catch The Vision" (CTV) tour June 9-11. During the NAMB-sponsored tour, SBC pastors and church leaders will explore the city to gain a greater understanding of what it means to plant churches in an urban context. To learn more about Send North America: Phoenix and the CTV tour, visit namb.net/send-cities/phoenix. -------------------------------------------------------------------- At 107, she's still a missions advocate by Tobin Perry Date: May 26, 2017 - Friday LAURENS, S.C. (BP) -- Allie Candler can still clearly remember those two weeks in 1932. She had committed her life to Jesus during a revival at First Baptist Church of Lockhart, S.C., two years earlier. But she still had matters to settle in her spiritual life. She remembers sitting in a revival meeting and listening to a preacher share about the "Stewardship of Life." He then asked a question that would change her life forever. "You've been saved, but have you dedicated your life to Him?" Candler, who was then sitting with the choir, came down to the altar and prayed, "I'm ready to be used if You can use me." At a Sunday service two weeks later, God specifically directed her toward missions. On the way home, she says Satan tried to dissuade her from telling anyone about her call. "Devil," she said, "I didn't have anything to do with it. The Lord called me." That time may seem like just yesterday to Allie Candler, but in reality, it was more than 31,000 days ago. As America reeled from the Great Depression and Franklin Delano Roosevelt campaigned for the first time to be the nation's president in 1932, God called a 22-year-old Candler into a lifetime of missions service. Candler served as a Southern Baptist home missionary in Virginia. Although she officially retired in 1974, she continued to serve the people of Appalachia even after her retirement. She also served with the Foreign Mission Board (now the International Mission Board) in Kobe, Japan. Today, 85 years later, that call has stood firm. Even from her retirement community in Laurens, S.C., a 107-year-old Candler maintains her vigorous advocacy for North American missions. A regular supporter of the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions (AAEO), she believes the cause of Southern Baptist missions is as critical today as ever. "God called me," Candler said. "When God calls someone, it's best to listen." The North American Mission Board's Vice President of Development Kim Robinson recently introduced Candler to the mission board's staff and interviewed her during a staff meeting focused on AAEO. In that same meeting, NAMB president Kevin Ezell shared the story of another woman whose commitment to North American missions has long inspired Southern Baptists: Annie Armstrong. "We're indebted to her because of her tenacity," Ezell told NAMB staff. "If you remember one thing I hope you remember that she was very passionate, and she was tenacious." Armstrong, Ezell said, lived out NAMB's core values. "If anyone ever lived by 'Whatever it Takes,' it was Miss Annie Armstrong. If there is anyone who lived by 'Do more with less,' it was Annie Armstrong. If anyone respected partners, it was Annie Armstrong. And if anyone loved missionaries, it was Annie Armstrong." The AAEO is an annual offering from which 100 percent of funds go directly to support and equip North American missionaries. Annie Armstrong, the offering's namesake, organized the Woman's Missionary Union and served as its first corresponding secretary. As Candler looks back at her life, she believes God equipped her for two specific ministries -- advocating for and equipping people for missions involvement and helping young people discover the Lord's will for their lives. She fondly remembers playing a role in God calling multiple people into full-time Christian service, including pastors and missionaries. Candler's commitment to giving to North American missions goes back to her family roots. She grew up in a Christian family. Two of her brothers became Baptist preachers, and her youngest sister married a minister. "I had a mother and daddy who gave," Candler said. "We grew up like that." Candler's recipe for a God-honoring, long life rests in telling people about Jesus. "I witnessed every chance I had," Candler said. "I think you grow by that, too. You grow as a Christian when you do that. People would come to me before they'd come to a preacher. So I'd try to talk to them, pray with them and help them all I could." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Royce, former ERLC leader, joins Trump admin. by David Roach Date: May 26, 2017 - Friday WASHINGTON (BP) -- Shannon Royce, a former leader at the Family Research Council and Southern Baptists' Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has been appointed as the Trump administration's director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Partnerships. Part of the Department of Health and Human Services, the center seeks to forge government partnerships with faith-based and community organizations to address community needs. During Royce's tenure, the center's focus will include combatting opioid addiction, childhood obesity and mental illness as well as fostering health reform, she told Baptist Press. "I am eager to work with our faith and community partners in their service and stewardship to bring help and healing in their communities," Royce said in written comments. "In doing so, I believe our work can help HHS fulfill its mission to enhance and protect the health and wellbeing of all Americans. The faith-based and neighborhood partners are instrumental in addressing community needs and concerns in the work they do every day, serving their members and neighbors and meeting the needs of our most vulnerable citizens." Royce, who began her work at the center this month, served as FRC chief of staff and chief operating officer from 2015-17 and as ERLC director of government relations and legislative counsel from 1999-2003. In her work at the ERLC, she directed the commission's Washington office. Additionally, Royce has served as counsel to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and as executive director of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. The mother of a child with special needs, Royce has worked to raise awareness of mental health issues within the Southern Baptist Convention and beyond, including service on SBC Executive Committee President Frank S. Page's Mental Health Advisory Council. Page told BP he was "excited to hear of the appointment of Shannon Royce to" her new role at the Center for Faith-Based and Community Partnerships. "She will do a wonderful job," Page said in written comments. "She has served Southern Baptists in numerous ways in the past. She was the prime motivator for our mental health advisory group. Her competency and compassion will be used by God in this service to our country." When the Center for Faith-Based and Community Partnerships was founded in 2001, some evangelicals -- including the ERLC -- expressed concern that partnering with government could restrict the religious liberty of faith-based organizations. Since then, however, Southern Baptists and other evangelicals have forged successful partnerships with government in such areas as disaster-relief and responding to humanitarian crises. A key facet of those partnerships has been working with government on projects that are not exclusively faith-centered while funding evangelism and discipleship through private means. Royce said HHS Secretary Tom Price "is eager to eliminate barriers to full and active engagement by faith-based partners, and I will work with him to accomplish this goal." Royce received her law degree from George Washington University. She and her husband Bill have two adult sons. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Egypt terror attack cited as call to prayer, witness by David Roach Date: May 26, 2017 - Friday MINYA, Egypt (BP) -- A terrorist attack against Coptic Christians in Egypt that left at least 28 people dead has been characterized as a call to action for believers in America. "We cannot ignore such sacrifice [by Egyptian Christians] and such pain," said Mike Edens, a New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary professor who served with the International Mission Board and lived in Egypt for 17 years. "The Spirit of God is moving the church into these painful situations" to pray, comfort and share the Gospel with Muslims. Ten gunmen opened fire today (May 26) on two buses carrying Christian worshipers to a monastery in southern Egypt and a pickup truck carrying workmen, according to media reports. In addition to the more than two dozen dead, at least 22 others were injured. The attack left children and senior adults among the dead, The New York Times reported, with some shot at point-blank range after terrorists boarded the buses. Only three children survived the attack, according to Fox News. No group has claimed responsibility. The shooting occurred less than two months after bombings claimed by the Islamic State terrorist group targeted Coptic Christians on Palm Sunday and nearly six months after the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo was bombed, an attack also claimed by the Islamic State. In all, terror attacks against Coptic Christians since December have claimed more than 100 lives in Egypt. Coptic believers -- who trace their origins to the Gospel writer Mark in the middle of the first century -- comprise roughly 10 percent of Egypt's population. Edens, professor of theology and Islamic studies at New Orleans Seminary, told Baptist Press the latest attack likely was carried out by a group of Islamists who want to establish an Islamic republic in Egypt and create chaos for the government. "A minority in Islam is trying to polarize the situation," Edens said. "They're trying to pull dissatisfied Muslims to their side. They're trying to overthrow the government. They are trying to minimize non-jihadist Muslims' influence ... in the culture." Islamic terrorists in Egypt are "constantly dissatisfied" because the government has "compromised" by not living according to pure Sharia law and instead has adopted "modern technology and modern banking and modern commerce," Edens said. He added that such dissatisfaction helps motivate terrorism. Christians in Egypt are "soft targets" for dissatisfied terrorists, he said, because many live in remote regions -- like the site of the May 26 attack -- where it is difficult for the government to provide security. Christians around the world must respond to Islamic terrorism, Edens said, by praying for both the perpetrators and the surviving victims. Christians in Egypt, he said, need prayer for divine empowerment to witness and comfort from the Holy Spirit. An article by Edens posted on the IMB website May 22 called Christians to focus their prayers on the salvation of Muslims during the Islamic feast of Ramadan, which occurs May 26-June 24 this year. Yet "we cannot simply and only pray," Edens said. "We have to give [to missions] and we have to be involved. There are Muslims in every metropolitan area of the United States. There are Copts in most of those cities. And we can apply our prayers directly to our neighbors. "We need to reach out with love, compassion and Gospel fervor," he said. In related news, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a May 22 bombing in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people as crowds departed an arena following a pop music concert. Amid terror attacks like the ones in Egypt and England, many Muslims feel hopeless, Edens said, and need "the touch of God" more than ever.