The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-07/07/2020 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- IMB urges caution while encouraging sustained commitment to missions by Leslie Peacock Caldwell Date: July 07, 2020 - Tuesday RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- International Mission Board senior leaders are urging Southern Baptists to use extreme caution if they are considering overseas missions travel for the remainder of 2020. As many countries continue to require quarantines or have not yet opened their borders, travelers could face unexpected circumstances, including quarantines upon re-entering the U.S. The future threat and spread of COVID-19 also remains an unknown factor. IMB personnel on the field are continually monitoring their local situations and governments' restrictions. Many missionaries will not be able to host groups for the foreseeable future due to government-imposed travel bans and other factors related to the pandemic. Churches with long-standing partnerships and plans to travel soon should remain in close contact with their field contact for guidance. They should also continue to check travel restrictions and U.S. reentry guidelines, which could change day to day. "The work of Southern Baptists' missionaries has and will continue. Not a day has passed in the midst of this pandemic, or over the course of the past 175 years, that Southern Baptists have been without a witness among the nations," IMB President Paul Chitwood said. "In making decisions about hosting volunteer teams during this unusual season, however, we must consider the well-being of locals in the host countries, our field workers and our faithful volunteers." While also deeply affected by COVID-19 and government regulations, missionaries have had new Gospel opportunities, and Southern Baptist relief work related to the coronavirus has been significant. Send Relief reports more than 300 projects in progress or completed in 78 countries. These efforts are projected to help more than 900,000 people worldwide and have provided food packages, personal protection equipment (PPE), handwashing stations, sanitation supplies and education materials. IMB staff and missionaries encourage churches to support relief work and to seek other ways to stay engaged in missions, even when travel is not advised. -- Some affinities, like South Asia, are offering virtual mission trips for participants to connect with missionaries, learn about people groups and join in prayer. The IMB student team has also announced online opportunities through the Stateside Summer Initiative. -- Missionaries rely daily on the prayers of supporters. Churches can find daily prayer requests at imb.org/pray and can still join the 175 Days of Prayer for the nations. -- Consider connecting your church or small group with missionaries on temporary assignments in the U.S. -- Stay in close contact with field personnel you know and spend time encouraging them and worshiping with them, whether they are currently overseas or back in the U.S. -- Ask missionary partners how you can find and minister to representatives of their people groups in the U.S. or on the internet. These doors to sharing the Gospel remain open. -- IMB cannot continue our work without the support of prayers and gifts. Consider a mid-year financial gift to the Cooperative Program or the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Chitwood remains thankful and conveys the thanks of missionaries for the support they have received. As Southern Baptists pray for IMB missionaries, IMB missionaries continue to pray for Southern Baptists and for Southern Baptist churches across the U.S. -------------------------------------------------------------------- IMB missionaries use trauma care resources to help refugees, start churches by Tobin Perry/Southern Baptist TEXAN Date: July 07, 2020 - Tuesday BOGOTÁ, Colombia (BP) -- It's tough to overstate the trauma the Venezuelan people have experienced over the last decade. The price of oil, the country's chief export, cratered. Hyperinflation at one point hit 10 million percent. The country's power grid failed, leading to massive power shortages. An unpopular dictator defied an election. More than 4.6 million people fled the country from 2016 to 2019. Then came COVID-19. For the nearly 2 million Venezuelans, like Omer and Vanessa Fuentes and their three children, who left for nearby Colombia, life didn't improve this year in their new country. COVID-19 hammered Colombia, completely shuttering the area where many Venezuelan refugees worked. Despite the hardships they had just left, some returned to their Venezuelan homeland. International Mission Board missionaries in Colombia are helping the Fuentes family, among others, deal with the trauma of the last few years -- and helping them start churches in their neighborhoods. Before leaving Venezuela, Omer and Vanessa had a growing ministry, and Omer had a good job as a computer programmer. As a youth minister, he had seen 23 youth baptized and had 100 youth attending the church in just three years. Yet nationwide blackouts cost Omer his technology clients, making it impossible for him to feed his family. "It was getting tougher and tougher in Venezuela," Omer said. "We had only rice to eat. It came to a point that we had to make the decision to go or we wouldn't have enough money to leave." In early 2019, Omer, Vanessa and their three children left for Colombia. Last summer, they met IMB missionary Matthew Fisher, who helped the family deal with the traumatic events that forced them to leave Venezuela and partnered with them to start a church in their home. Fisher used American Bible Society's Trauma Healing Institute (THI) curriculum to help Venezuelans like the Fuentes family deal with trauma in their lives. The curriculum teaches "basic biblical and mental health principles that help people respond to emotional trauma," according to the program website. THI teaches these principles using Bible stories, such as creation, the fall and Jesus' death and resurrection. In describing the impact of the THI program, Vanessa pointed to the chapter on bringing their pain to the cross. "Bringing our pain to the cross was very beautiful," Vanessa said. "It gave us peace with ourselves, to be OK with why we came here." During this lesson, the couple wrote down their hurts and then burned them to symbolize that they had taken those hurts to the cross. The Fuentes family's traumatic move to Colombia had caused family upheaval, and the THI workshop helped them overcome several painful family events. For Fisher, THI provided an avenue to use his background in counseling to start churches in the Bogotá area. He has an undergraduate degree in psychology, a master of divinity degree and a master's degree in pastoral counseling. As a church planting catalyst, Fisher often struggled to gather groups in the city. "It was the hardest thing to get people into groups because everyone was super busy," said Fisher, who is from Houston. "Everyone is trying to survive in the city. It was hard to find something interesting enough for them to come." But in THI, Fisher finally found a ministry that garnered enough interest to be a gathering opportunity. Since Venezuelan refugees had been through significant trauma in recent years -- even the move itself traumatized many -- they were open to a THI workshop. Plus, the workshops helped people process personal traumatic events like the death of family members, childhood abuse and other violent acts committed against them. "I love it because I am able to see their hurts being healed as they bring them to the cross, understanding that God isn't causing the situation," Fisher said. "It's really the will of man and Satan. Everyone blames God, but He isn't the one to blame. People come into the workshops blaming God, but they leave feeling relief because they see the Bible verses that show the biblical truth about dealing with sin." Fisher held 16 workshops throughout Colombia. At the end of the workshops, he asked participants if they wanted to continue meeting. Four of them, including Omer's group, decided to do so. Fisher led two of the groups himself. Thanks to provision by Send Relief, Fisher was able to give the Omer and Vanessa 100 bags of rice, along with other dietary staples, as dramatic COVID-19 lockdowns kept many of their neighbors out of work. The food helped the family support their neighbors and share Christ in the process. In total, the Fuentes family engaged 50 other families (giving each a bag of rice per week for two weeks). Fifteen people became followers of Jesus through the effort. Fisher notes that many of the people they gave the food to were Colombians who had not treated the Venezuelan refugees well at first. With the gift of food, their hearts were softened toward the Fuentes family, their church and ultimately the Gospel. "The people who were able to donate the money so we, as missionaries, were able to go out and buy the food and be able to provide it for the church that we helped plant -- this was such a blessing," Fisher said. "I see this totally as a God thing, because the Colombians had been so closed off and hard-hearted. Some were even racists [toward the Venezuelans], and they were able to receive food, because they were suffering as well, from this church. They are opening up to the Gospel." Frida Robles, an IMB missionary who leads the missions department at Baptist International Theological Seminary in Cali, Colombia, has been training leaders throughout the country to use THI in their ministry contexts. She also helped train volunteers, both believers and non-believers, throughout the country who are engaging Venezuelan refugees. "There were a lot of people who were psychologists, who were professionals in the government here in Cali, but they were not believers," said Robles, who is a master trainer for THI. "But when they received a little bit of the trauma training, they really liked it. They said, 'This is what we need. We're doing the psychology part, but we're not touching the spiritual. We didn't even have it.' After that opportunity, we were having psychologists interested in spiritual matters, because they were dealing with psychology, but it wasn't answering all the needs of the people." Robles believes that tools like THI help missionaries and other ministry leaders to start new groups and reach non-believers without people feeling like they're being trapped in a religious group. "This is a very strong tool for us, as believers, because this is a tool to open new work for people who are suffering," Robles said. "Even people who know God deal with trauma, but they have God on their side. But the people who don't know the Lord, it's worse for them because they don't have the holy presence of God to strengthen them and to give them the peace that only God can give. Also, it allows us to open up a new Bible study or a new group in a community without people feeling trapped in something religious." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Christian mother of four in India persecuted before her death by Morning Star News staff Date: July 07, 2020 - Tuesday NEW DELHI (BP) -- Tribal Hindus persecuted a widowed, Christian mother of four before her body was found severely mutilated in the wilderness near her village in Chhattisgarh, India, sources said. The body of 40-year-old Bajjo Bai Mandavi was initially unrecognizable and appeared to have been eaten by wild animals when it was found two miles into the wilderness near her native Kumud village, Kuye Mari, May 29. She was last seen going into the wilderness to collect firewood May 25. She had suffered death threats, deprivation of water and shunning at the hands of villagers who were upset that she left their blend of Hindu and traditional tribal rituals. This led family members and area Christian leaders to believe she was raped and killed before animals fed on her body. "There was no way to find out who the people were who raped my sister-in-law and then murdered her, so police and the authorities thought best to call it an attack by a wild animal," her brother-in-law, Bhajnath Mandavi, said through tears. Bhajnath Mandavi is the younger brother of Bajjo Bai Mandavi's husband Bhola Mandavi, who died of an illness four years ago, leaving Bajjo Bai Mandavi with children who are now 6, 8, 12 and 17. Villagers had met four times to discuss action against her, area pastor Rupesh Kumar Salam told Morning Star News. "She was threatened and asked to leave her faith and re-convert, but she boldly took a stand for her faith," said Pastor Salam, who leads a church of about 120 people in nearby Kue Mari. Bajjo Bai Mandavi had attended Sunday services there regularly with her children. In Kumud village, hers was one of just two Christian families among 21 other families. The tribal Hindu families prohibited her from fetching water from the common village tap, forcing her to walk miles for it, Pastor Salam said. "She bravely fought all the odds and refused to deny her faith even after she started to receive death threats from the Hindu extremist villagers," Pastor Salam said. "Bajjo Bai became a Christian a little more than three years ago, and since then had faced severe opposition from the villagers." She regularly talked about the threats and shunning she and her children faced from the tribal Hindu villagers, he said. "I always told her that we are praying for her and that everything will be fine -- we could never imagine that she would face such brutality," Pastor Salam said. "She was raped and then murdered by religious extremists for her Christian faith." Brother-in-law Mandavi said her own brother, who lives in her village, would not speak to her after she became a Christian. "Nobody except one Christian family would speak to Bajjo Bai and her children," he said. An influential, tribal Hindu family in the village likely had a hand in the alleged rape and killing, said a source close to her family who requested anonymity. "The villagers and all of us know who they are, but no action would be taken against them," the source said. "They have a lot of money to enable them to keep themselves out of any trouble." If indeed a homicide, the woman's death would be the third religiously motivated killing of a Christian in India within a few weeks. In Bari village, Jharkhand state, followers of tribal religion abducted and killed Kande Munda June 7. And on June 4 in Odisha state, followers of tribal religion abducted 16-year-old Sambaru Madkami before stabbing and stoning him to death for his faith. In Uttar Pradesh state on May 28, villagers tried to kill Pastor Dinesh Kumar in an ambush that left him unconscious. Foul play dismissed The remains of the semi-naked body were found in the wilderness by the driver of a tractor loaded with road construction material, Pastor Salam said. The driver notified police, and Christians arrived at the site of the body with officers, he said. Gurcharan Bhandari, leader of Kumud and other nearby villages, denied any foul play. "She was probably killed by a wild animal," Bhandari told Morning Star News. Though he had not seen the police report, he said that it states that she was killed by a wild animal. Family members and church leaders also have not received a copy of the police report. The village chief said an autopsy took place at the site where the body was discovered. Though neither he, victim family members or church leaders have received a copy of the autopsy report, Bhandari said it also indicated that she was mauled to death by a wild animal. The village chief said it was common for wild animals to attack humans in the wilderness but admitted that no such attack had ever taken place in the area where she was collecting firewood. He said the last attack took place three years ago in a far different part of the wilderness. Bhandari said he suspects a bear might have killed her but could not explain why only her legs appeared to have been eaten. Search for Justice Bhajnath Mandavi said he is caring for the deceased's two younger children. The 12-year-old has been living with another relative 30 miles away for the past year, he said. "I am still in shock. I do not know what the future of her four children will be," said Mandavi, who was unable to attend his sister-in-law's funeral due to coronavirus travel restrictions. The oldest son, a contract laborer in Tamil Nadu state, also was forced to miss the funeral due to travel restrictions, he said. "The eldest son could not come home even at his mother's death," Mandavi said. Bajjo Bai Mandavi had supported her family as a daily-wage laborer. A senior pastor and Christian leader in the area said converts to Christianity in India's rural areas increasingly face the threats and shunning she suffered. "Social boycott is very real," Pastor Son Singh told Morning Star News. "It is practiced even against high-ranking government officials when they accept Christ, so what can we say about this woman who was just a poor person and also a widow?" The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on April 28 urged the U.S. State Department to add India as a "Country of Particular Concern" to its list of nations with poor records of protecting religious freedom. India is ranked 10th on Christian support organization Open Doors' 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Pastors need prayers, patience amid pandemic by Milton A. Hollifield Jr. Date: July 07, 2020 - Tuesday EDITOR'S NOTE: Milton Hollifield is the executive director of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. CARY, N.C. (BP) -- Two recent articles related to the comfort levels of people returning to in-person worship highlight the ongoing challenges that pastors and churches continue to wrestle with amid the COVID-19 pandemic. One survey conducted by the American Enterprise Institute reported that nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of Americans were "somewhat" or "very" uncomfortable attending indoor worship services due to ongoing concerns over the coronavirus. The survey polled more than 3,000 Americans from late May to early June, and the results were reported by Baptist Press and other media outlets. While acknowledging that COVID-19 continues to be a very legitimate concern, some pastors are fearful that the practice of worshiping online or via television may tempt members to be slow in returning to church attendance in a new normal. In an article published on Thom Rainer's "Church Answers" website titled "What is keeping people away?" leadership consultant and former Southern Baptist pastor Ron Edmondson writes, "People have fallen into a nice routine of online and in-home worship." Based on personal conversations and anecdotes I've heard from pastors across our state, I believe that they have done a good job trying to weigh the health and safety of their members against the desire to gather together again for corporate worship even as they have attempted to keep everyone happy. Some churches, after resuming indoor worship, have felt compelled to go back to meeting outdoors or only online because some attendees were testing positive for COVID-19 after participating in indoor worship. Some long-tenured pastors feel this current situation has led to some of their most difficult days in ministry. Pastors need your prayers and your understanding as they try to make the best decisions for the church family. Even if they don't express it, many pastors feel they will be criticized no matter what -- if they begin to hold in-person services or if they don't, if they require face coverings in worship or if they don't. They find themselves in a "no-win" situation. Difficult decisions, dwindling attendance and other issues can weigh on a pastor and make their calling even more challenging. Now is the time to show them patience and grace as we lift them up in prayer. Now would be a good time for you to express your personal appreciation to your pastor and let him know you are investing more time in intercessory prayer for him as he ministers during these daily challenges. A short text or an email to him can offer more encouragement than you realize. Just a few words to let him know you realize his load is heavy and that you appreciate and respect him will be a special and welcomed blessing. Invite others to join you. Live like who you really are -- a child of the God who is love! "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others" (Philippians 4:2). "Do all things without murmurings and disputing" (Philippians 4:14). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Kentucky Baptist pastor concerned about treatment of churches by Brandon Porter/Kentucky Today Date: July 07, 2020 - Tuesday FRANKFORT, Ky. (BP) -- A Kentucky Baptist pastor is speaking out about ways he believes churches have been singled out during the coronavirus pandemic. Hershael York, the pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., believes churches have been "unfairly singled out for both negative examples and also for enforcement of rules that were not being applied to other institutions." York doesn't understand why churches are being held to different standards than the retailers around them. "We've not been belligerent in any way," York said. "But when we were allowed to go back, for instance, we were told we could only have one person in a bathroom at a time and then the bathroom had to be cleaned after each use. Well, my question was, why wasn't Walmart told that?" York and Richard Nelson, executive director of the Commonwealth Policy Center, were invited to testify before the Kentucky House Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee last week in Frankfort. Todd Gray, Kentucky Baptist Convention executive director-treasurer, said, "I am grateful for Dr. York and his being invited to speak to our elected officials regarding the treatment of churches during the recent restrictions on in-person worship services brought about by the COVID pandemic." The Kentucky Baptist Convention comprises 2,360 churches with an approximate membership of 650,000 people. "It just seemed that between the Catholic Conference and the Kentucky Baptist Convention you could get a lot of consensus," York said. "I did not see signs that the governor's office was actively reaching out toward these large church groups and saying, 'Hey, let's come up with a plan together so that we can take ownership of this and be partners in this thing.'" York says Buck Run is working to comply with Phase 2 guidelines by holding three weekend services to accommodate seating capacity restrictions and cleaning and sanitizing between each service. "I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the health and safety of the people," he said. "The people I serve are my neighbors, but I would like for churches to be a part of the conversation and to not be asked to carry an onerous burden that is unreasonable and certainly more than anyone else is being asked to carry." Gray agreed, saying: "Kentucky Baptists are not looking for preferential treatment from the government, but we do expect fair treatment and we expect our elected officials to defend our rights." York said his church is prepared for the duration of the pandemic. "We know it's not ending in the next week or two," he said. "We don't know how long this stage will last. We're very hopeful it won't get worse, but we're trying to do the right thing and the best thing."