In this issue of the Herald, we have tried to accurately report what took place at the Baptist World Congress in Honolulu, July 27 to August 1. And, with the exceptional help of other New Voice* partners, our managing editor, Robert Dilday, has done that very well. Robert has also provided a good analysis of the issues and challenges the BWA faces at this point in its history.
What I am attempting to do here is provide some indication of the visceral impact the World Congress had on me, believing that my reactions were commonly felt.
Jim White
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I must admit that when I heard the meetings were to be held in Hawaii, I had my doubts. Honestly, my head still says that was a mistake. A place where only those who live on Oahu can arrive via ground transportation; a place characterized as a glamour vacation destination; a place known to separate visitors from their money with world class efficiency; a place in a country that has become almost paranoid about letting in visitors even if they want to enter to worship — this was the site of the Baptist World Alliance World Congress in 2010? “Big mistake,” my head said.
But by the end of the meetings, my heart was telling my head to stop talking. Not only does this chain-of-islands state live up to its tropical paradise reputation, but there really is something about the “Aloha spirit” they kept talking about. Hawaiians might not have known much about Baptists, but they sure welcomed us warmly and sincerely.
My head and heart agree: it is good that in five years the congress will be held in Africa (for the first time ever). But looking back, Hawaii was a great setting for everyone fortunate enough to attend. Except in the press room, a kind of tranquility, due in part to the setting, settled over the congress.
But as significant as it might have been, the place was only a small part of the overall experience. Going, I had expected the elections of John Upton as president and Daniel Carro as first vice president to be the high points for me. They were, indeed, peaks. But, in truth, every component part of the congress rose beyond my expectation to form a veritable range of mountaintop experiences.
Certainly, as a Virginia Baptist, I was excited to see John and Daniel honored by their elections. Both men are deserving and highly capable and will be able advocates for Baptists around the world. That John was elected and installed on his 57th birthday was icing on the cake, so to speak.
But if the congress was for me a celebration, it was for others a lifeline. It is easy to forget that in most of the world, Baptists serve the Lord in small clusters of believers often in obscure villages in a hostile social environment. They long for like-minded spiritual contact with other Baptists, and they find it in the BWA. For them, it is not a social event; not a celebration, but a way to become spiritually encouraged, enlightened and energized.
Often against incredible resistance, these Baptists seek to live out the message of hope in Christ among people who wish to harm them. For example, on January 18, police in Uzbekistan arrested Tohar Haydarov (27), a recent Baptist convert, and took him to a local police station. According to Baptists there, police pressured him to renounce his faith. When he refused, they reportedly planted drugs in his pocket. Authorities then searched his home where, not surprisingly, they reportedly “found” more drugs and took him to jail.
The day following his March 4 trial, during which fellow Baptists were not allowed to testify, the man’s father (who lived with him) was found dead in their home. According to the official report, he died of accidental electrocution. On March 9, Haydarov was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Reports such as this were sobering reminders that the World Congress is not just a gigantic rally. It is a means of focusing the world’s attention (and the prayers of fellow Baptists) on the plights of the persecuted.
From celebration to the sobering injustices of persecution and human trafficking and back again; if participants were listening at all they could not help but hear the Spirit through the studies, focus groups and worship experiences of the congress.
During the worship experiences, I was both led and drawn into communion with the Lord. I don’t know how else to say it. The hard work in discovering and coordinating the musical groups that sang and played was largely the result of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board’s Jerry Jones who did an amazing job. But it soon became apparent that an even more capable hand than Jerry’s had orchestrated the worship services.
A violin virtuoso from Latvia was not content merely to play on stage during a moving performance, but, sensing the Spirit’s urging, he accompanied the hymns from his seat in the congregation. I felt awed by his desire to use such incredible talent in such a humble way.
And the speakers! I felt quickened by God’s grace washing over me. Perhaps it is a sign of my own dissipation, but the Spirit used every message to convict me and challenge me to greater faithfulness. And, having heard the Spirit, I responded in confession and obedience. My sense is we all did. Every Baptist there.
I have been to scores of large meetings and conventions, but this one exceeded them all. We conducted almost no business of our own, but we got down to the Lord’s business of seeing the world, and ourselves, through his eyes. And we heard the Spirit’s words from the mouths of the preachers.
After Lance Watson masterfully delivered the concluding message, I found myself searching for appropriate words to express what I felt. The words of Mary came to me. “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” As I left the hall, I repeated them to myself. It was the only fitting thing I could think of to say.
For me, the Baptist World Congress was not so much about learning new things — although there was plenty of that. It was about Baptists around the world coming together to bind up the wounds of some and to sand off the pride of others and then dispersing to magnify the Lord. May we Baptists of the BWA continue to hear the Spirit!
* Our New Voice Media Group partners are Associated Baptist Press, the Texas’ Baptist Standard and Missouri’s Word&Way.