Wednesday, April 16, 2003

• Nixon's selfless act of heroism remembered in military funeral

  by Erin Curry, posted Wednesday, April 16, 2003 (21 years ago)

  GALLATIN, Tenn. (BP)--Marine Cpl. Patrick Nixon was honored for his heroism during a military funeral service April 15 in Gallatin, Tenn. Nixon, 21, died when his unit was ambushed March 23 while trying to secure a bridge near Nasiriyah.

       Referencing John 15:13, which says, "Greater love has no man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends," Michael Blankenship, pastor of First Church of the Nazarene in Gallatin, recounted Nixon's heroic last stand.

       "On a battlefield in Iraq, near a bridge, Patrick was there with his unit, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. He was there on the front line with a friend named Manny," Blankenship said. "Manny had been shot and was wounded on the battlefield, and Patrick came to his aid and took over his position. Read More

• Former Reorganized Latter-Day Saint returns as a Baptist campus minister

  by Richard Nations, posted Wednesday, April 16, 2003 (21 years ago)

  Back with new birth Woodie Ladnier visits with an international student from Mozambique enrolled at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. Ladnier, a former Graceland student, has returned to the Reorganized Latter-Day Saints campus to launch a Baptist collegiate ministry. Photo by Richard Nations

  LAMONI, Iowa (BP)--Twenty years ago a young man played football and studied for exams at Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa. He was a devout member of the Reorganized Latter-Day Saints church (RLDS), now called the Community of Christ. He was doing what every good RLDS son was supposed to do -- stay in the church and propagate the RLDS version of the Joseph Smith story.

       Today, Woodie Ladnier, 41, son of an RLDS elder, has returned to Lamoni as a Baptist collegiate minister. Serving as a part of First Baptist Church's staff, the focus of his ministry is Graceland University (formerly Graceland College). Read More

• A friendship ruptured by drugs finds forgiveness, restoration

  by Dana Williamson, posted Wednesday, April 16, 2003 (21 years ago)

  A new friendship Emilio Castillo, center, and Lonnie Vaughn, right, found renewed friendship and a ministry partnership after years of separation caused by their former lives as drug dealers. At left is William Hester, pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Tulsa, the sponsoring congregation of a new church led by Castillo and Vaughn. Photo courtesy of the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger

  TULSA, Okla. (BP)--Emilio Castillo and Lonnie Vaughn put the phrase "together again" in a whole new light.

       The two men went to school together, worked together and were best friends.

       However, it was the working together that eventually separated them and then brought them together once again. And the work then and now are eons apart.

       Castillo was born in Texas and moved to Oklahoma in 1966 as a migrant worker. He found success in the landscaping business, married, had a family and was a respected businessman in Bixby. Read More

• Former SBC president to launch Atlanta-area church May 4

  by Joe Westbury, posted Wednesday, April 16, 2003 (21 years ago)

  SNELLVILLE, Ga. (BP)--The Atlanta-area First Baptist Church in Snellville will multiply its ministry to the heart of fast-growing Gwinnett County with the launch of a new church. Read More

• Harrowing night of ministry follows day of music & drama

  by Alicia Morris, posted Wednesday, April 16, 2003 (21 years ago)

  MOBILE, Ala. (BP)--They left the University of Mobile at 11:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning dressed in matching polos and jeans. They arrived back at the campus at 6 a.m. Monday morning, exhausted, covered in diesel fuel, and sobered by a brush with death. One group member described it as "a day I'll never forget." Read More

• Call to consecration draws 775 for Southwestern's Youth Lab

  by Gabriel Verrone, posted Wednesday, April 16, 2003 (21 years ago)

  FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--The sounding of a shofar called youth ministers, volunteer youth workers and young people to worship at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's annual Youth Ministry Lab April 4-5. A shofar is a ram's horn similar to the type used in Solomon's temple. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: In war, service transcends race

  by Terriel Byrd, posted Wednesday, April 16, 2003 (21 years ago)

  WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (BP)--In the United States, there is no want of loyal servants when, in any capacity, they are needed. The United States Armed Forces is the spectacular cross-section of Americans who are willing to serve their country, and to the nth degree if necessary. Read More