ATLANTA — It had been two years, and Beth and Joe Weedo still slept on air mattresses on the floor of their Pensacola, Fla., home. Hurricane Ivan had ripped through their community and dropped a tree on the Weedo house…
SECOND OPINION: The ball keeps growing
The ball keeps growing. It's like an avalanche provoked by imprudent and irresponsible people, who don't calculate the transcendence of their acts. No, it's not a snow ball. It is a giant ball of racism and social intolerance. It's a…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
Fork Union exceeds goal. Fork Union Military Academy completed its largest fundraiser in history 18 months earlier than expected and has exceeded its $29 million goal by more than $2.3 million. A surprise challenge by an anonymous donor helped push…
MID-ATLANTIC BRIEFS
Chowan names associate campus ministers. Chowan University in Murfreesboro, N.C., has named Craig and Jennifer Janney as associate ministers to the university. The Janneys They will assist Mari Wiles, minister to the university, and also teach, serve as chaplains to…
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: Why celebrate it?
RICHMOND — Virginia Baptist pastor Victor Visotsky knows about religious persecution. Visotsky, now pastor of New Life Russian Baptist Church in Falls Church, grew up in Soviet Estonia. He remembers how members of his Baptist church were arrested and imprisoned…
Office supply savings means more for ministry
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — File folders, printer paper, writing pens, staplers — as necessary as these items are for running a church office, these can seem like superfluous expenses in light of funds needed for evangelistic and discipleship purposes. In an…
Race: The final frontier
When Anglos, Hispanics, African-Americans and Nigerians gather in the same place on Sunday morning, planning worship presents challenges. “Its a lot more than just a question of hymns or choruses,” said Charlie Brown, pastor of The Crossing Baptist Church in…
Peruvians find unity in quakes aftermath
PISCO, Peru (BP) — The tremor lasts only a moment, but Amparo Guerra can't mistake the familiar feel of the earth moving in waves beneath her feet. Her forehead wrinkles in panic as she screams, “Get away from the building!”…
Opportunities, challenges confront increasingly multi-ethnic congregation
DALLAS—Soon after Pastor Bruce Troy arrived at Gaston Oaks Baptist Church in Dallas, he challenged a group in the congregation to answer one question: “What would you do if God put 100 people on your doorstep?” Three years later, Troy…
Pastor faces possible five years in prison
KHALKABAD, Uzbekistan — Four years after being harassed by authorities, the small Baptist congregation in Khalkabad near Pap in the eastern Namangan Region of Uzbekistan is again facing harassment for meeting without compulsory registration. Local Baptists told Forum 18 News…
Aging minister recalls price paid for recognizing God’s image in all people
HILLICOTHE, Mo.—When Norman Shands made a vow to God 65 years ago, he couldn't have imagined that it would thrust him into the center of the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta. The vow—that he would view and treat every person…
Azeri pastor sentenced to two years in prison
WASHINGTON (BWA) — Zaur Balaev, a 44-year old pastor in Aliabad, Azerbaijan, was sentenced to two years in prison Aug. 8 on charges that he beat up five policemen and damaged a police car door, according to Forum 18. Arrested…