Maggie Lee legacy lives on. The second annual “Maggie Lee for Good” day is scheduled Oct. 29—an emphasis on enlisting people to do at least one act of kindness on what would have marked Maggie Lee Henson’s 14th birthday. She died following traumatic brain injuries caused when a church bus from First Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., flipped on the way to youth camp in July 2009. Last October, more than 18,000 people pledged to do a good deed to honor her memory. For examples of last year’s activities, visit www.maggieleeforgood.org or on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ home.php?#!/group.php?gid=125146363170.
No decision yet on IMB president. The International Mission Board still is searching for “God’s man” to fill the board’s presidency, said Chairman Jimmy Pritchard, pastor of First Baptist Church in Forney, during the trustee board’s Sept. 14-15 meeting in Tampa, Fla.
Baptist AIDS workers released in Zimbabwe. Four American Baptist mission volunteers were released Sept. 13 on $200 bond after spending three nights in jail on suspicion of dispensing AIDS medication without a license in Zimbabwe. The health workers—a doctor, two nurses and a community volunteer—are part of an AIDS ministry sponsored by Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, Calif. The volunteers, who were working with two licensed Zimbabwean doctors who also were arrested, deny doing anything wrong. They say it is the first time they have gotten in trouble in 10 years of work in Zimbabwe. Team members face fines and deportations if convicted. Members were ordered to surrender their passports and appear in court Sept. 27, but lawyers hoped to get the hearing moved up so they could return to the United States sooner.
Pen pals wanted. The Universal Pen Pal Project is seeking Christian young people in grades 7 to 12 who will become pen pals of foreign students who want to practice their English skills during the 2010-2011 school year. The project also is seeking to build its database of foreign students who want an American pen pal. The program — formerly known as Christian Corresponders—is in its 18th year. For more information, contact Kellie Ziesemer at (513) 732-2111 or [email protected].
Churches participate in Scripture-listening initiative. More than 500 churches affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship have participated in the “You’ve Got the Time” Bible-listening program this year and contributed more than $185,000 to support the translation and distribution of Scripture around the world. As part of an ongoing partnership with the Faith Comes By Hearing audio-Bible ministry, members of participating congregations committed to listen to recordings of the New Testament each day for 40 days. Churches also were encouraged to collect an offering to support ongoing efforts to translate the New Testament into languages such as Kambaata in Ethiopia; Chin Tiddim and Karen Pwo Eastern and Western in Myanmar; and Arabic Saudi for Saudi Arabia. Faith Comes By Hearing offers 528 audio Scripture recordings in 473 languages.