GRAPEVINE, Texas (ABP) — Global poverty is “the moral issue of our day,” and how Christians respond is “the acid test of our faith,” Daniel Vestal told members of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship July 1.
“Statistics do not tell all the truth, but we simply can't ignore the fact that 1 billion people in this world live on less than $1 a day,” Vestal said during the closing session of the Fellowship's general assembly in Grapevine, Texas. “We can't close our eyes to the fact that 8 million people around the world die each year simply because they are too poor to stay alive. That's 20,000 a day.”
“Entering into that suffering,” Vestal said, and making personal and governmental changes to solve it, are part of what it means to be “the presence of Christ in all the world” — the title of Vestal's sermon and the theme for the two-day annual meeting, which drew 2,823 registered participants and about 400 others.
Vestal said doing nothing in the face of global poverty is unconscionable for Christians.
“What is clear to me is that prosperity is on the rise for many. But what is equally clear is that there is a growing disparity between the 'haves' and the 'have nots.' There is a growing gulf between the rich and the poor and between the rich nations and the poor nations.
“I don't care what your politics are, or what economic theory you believe in. As followers of Christ, we must enter into this suffering,” Vestal said during his passionate sermon.
To do that, he continued, Christians and governments must be willing to make real changes.
“Our government must make changes in policy that give a greater priority to poor people,” he said. “Our churches must make changes in practice and programs so that more of our money and time is going to the poor, and less to ourselves. Our families must make some changes in spending habits, in what we do with leisure and holidays and possessions. And, most important of all, each of us as individuals must make changes in our lifestyle, in our giving and in our attitudes.”
Vestal mentioned a recent meeting of 25 religious leaders at the White House, where he told President Bush's representatives he knows Bush to be a man of “sincere and authentic” faith. “'I want to appeal to him as a man of faith to use his leadership — his moral leadership, his political leadership — to lead this country to address what I believe to be the moral issue of our day, and that is poverty,'” Vestal said he told the leaders. “'Please convey to him that we are praying for him and for all in leadership, and please know that we as a faith community want to do our part in collaboration in engaging poor people and advocating for poor people.”
Vestal urged Fellowship members to make specific changes to incarnate the presence of Christ — open their homes to strangers, learn a new language, use vacation time for a “missions immersion” experience, retire early to take on “a radical new ministry,” or invest in a microenterprise,
In addition to embracing suffering, Vestal said during his sermon, “being the presence of Christ” means developing a life of prayer, nurturing community, performing acts of compassion as “signs of the kingdom,” and proclaiming salvation in Jesus, Vestal said during his sermon.
Vestal told of recently returning from a trip to Turkey and worshiping in a small Baptist church, where the congregation sang a hymn about the name of Jesus.
“And I started crying,” he recalled. “I realized that I hadn't heard the name of Jesus [during the trip]. I had heard a lot of talk about God, religion, faith, dialogue, love, mercy, justice, but I hadn't heard that name. And I realized again how much I loved that name, and how much I loved the person who bears that name.”
Also during the closing session, 19 new CBF missionaries were commissioned for service. The group included five career field personnel, six serving through CBF Global Service Corps assignments, and eight with CBF's new category of missions service called, AsYouGo.
The 19 new personnel bring the total of CBF missionaries to 162.
Jack Snell, interim CBF global missions coordinator, urged the missionaries, as well as CBF participants: “We must die to our materialistic way of life. We must die to our selfish desires. We must die to our comfortable lifestyles. We must die to our selfish ambitions. We must be willing to take the gospel to those who have never heard, no matter where it may lead or how high the cost.”
New career personnel include Aaron and Stephanie Glenn, who will work with internationals in the Los Angeles area; Diann and Philip, who will serve as English education coordinators in Asia; and one other who cannot be identified due to security reasons.
Commissioned to Global Service Corps assignments were Christy and Jason Edwards, who will work with internationals in Bussy, France; Caroline and Joshua Smith, who will serve in partnership development in South Africa; and Jason, who will serve through a Global Service Corps assignment in Southeast Asia, helping educate the children of field personnel and one other who cannot be identified due to security reasons.
Those commissioned as affiliates through AsYouGo were Larry and Sarah Ballew, who will work as partnership advocates with Cantonese-speaking people in Macau, China; Fran and Mike Graham, who will coordinate the work for Slavic ministries in Asheville, N.C.; Nancy and Steve James, who will serve as affiliates in Haiti working in holistic health ministry; and Ann and Nick Skipper, who will serve in Texas assisting the work of Partners in Hope, the Fellowship's rural poverty initiative.
AsYouGo allows individuals being sent to do missions work to affiliate with CBF global missions even if they are funded by churches, have full-time employment that takes them abroad or some combination of both.
During the general assembly, participants gave $45,000 to a new annual offering for religious liberty and human rights. The offering is named for Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, who are CBF supporters. In a video message played for participants June 30, the former president praised the Fellowship “for the manner in which you continue to follow Christ's example of walking alongside the oppressed and hurting.”
“My concept of human rights has grown to include not only the right to live in peace, but also the right to adequate health care, shelter, food and economic opportunity,” Carter said. “Your involvement will be vital to transforming systems, policies and practices that prevent religious liberty among some of the most neglected people of the world. We cannot forget the faces of those whose lives will be changed forever.”
“As you know, religious liberty and human-rights issues are at the center of our hearts and work,” said Rosalynn Carter. “We continue to advocate for those who do not have the right to vote, who cannot worship as they please, or who dare not act as their conscience leads.”
Two thirds of the money raised will be designated for the Fellowship's religious-liberty and human-rights ministries and one third will go to the Baptist World Alliance for similar work.
— This story includes material from Sue Poss.