Sent — to Durham, North Carolina and the Ends of the Earth
As we turn the page to a new year, I find this an energetic time in our church’s life. I see many churches hibernate a bit in the winter months, which is understandable after the heightened pace of the Christmas season. Not so with Yates. I remain inspired by the vigor with which we embrace the new year.
One area where this is especially apparent is in missions. Not only does the church maintain its long-standing volunteer and financial commitments to local ministries like ESL, GriefShare, SonShine, Families Moving Forward, Open Table, and others, but it also sends teams out to support mission partners around the world. This year, a team will be traveling to India in February and another will head to Haiti in March. In addition, a relief group will be traveling to Windsor in late February and early March to support the NC Baptist Men with relief work after Hurricane Matthew, rescheduled after the winter storms earlier this month. We have all circled May 6 on our calendars for our annual Operation Inasmuch day. What a privilege to be part of such a mission-engaged congregation!
I am grateful to be traveling with the India team. Yates is unique among Baptist churches in our area in that God has opened two pathways into that remarkable country through our partnerships with Serve Trust and India Vision. The reasons for maintaining and growing these relationships are readily apparent: India is currently the second most populous nation on the planet. The UN projects that India’s population will surpass China’s by 2028 and reach 1.5 billion people by 2030 — and 1.7 billion by 2050. The 2011 Indian census revealed that 2.3% of Indians are Christians. Can you do the math? I believe God is glorified when we partner with Indian Christians to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed and invite more and more to follow him as disciples: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
For the first half of the trip, our team will participate in the ministries of Serve Trust (www.servetrust.org). We will support the Serve Trust computer school with ESL classes, offer a medical clinic, and take part in numerous village ministries. We will also worship with several of the village churches. Our particular focus will be the Muppalla Colony church, whose pastor is supported by the Roland Miller Bible Study. That class and others in the church raised sufficient funds to build a durable sanctuary to replace the deteriorating grass hut that had served as the church house. A special dimension of this trip will be representing Yates as we dedicate that new building for its sacred purpose with the Muppalla congregation.
For the second half of the trip, after the rest of our team returns home, I will fly southwest to spend another week with India Vision at the India Baptist Theological Seminary in Kerala (www.indiabaptist.edu.in). Now under the interim leadership of Yates’ own Biju Chacko, following the retirement of his father Kunjumon Chacko, India Vision provides orphan care through its Precious Children ministry (www.preciouschildren.org), serving 336 families in 2016 alone. India Vision also provides high-quality, fully accredited theological education for pastors from India and surrounding nations. The week I arrive at the seminary is graduation week. I have been invited to offer the baccalaureate sermon and to speak at the seminary’s annual missions conference in the days leading up to graduation. I look forward to spending time with these ministry students — and I am certain I will learn more than I teach. I can’t wait to share what I learn with all of you.
What a privilege it is to share in these robust, diverse ministries together. Thanks be to God for giving us such good work to do. No wonder the energy is so high these days!
Grace and Peace,