By Jeff Brumley After a mission trip to Ethiopia in 2007, a group of Baptist pastors from East Texas launched a multi-church mission effort dedicated to everything from digging wells and latrines to working in schools and churches to train…
Anyone for a little ‘tarof’?
I confess that I miss the back fence neighbors we had in South Carolina. On each side of us, all you had to do was walk out the door and there was someone ready to offer a smile, a chat,…
Going to hell in a hand basket?
Just over a week remains for the month of Ramadan. I have had several opportunities to join with friends at area mosques to share in the iftar, i.e. breaking of the fast. I have had the joy of bringing along…
Do we really care about senior adults?
First, a disclaimer: I’ve never experienced life as an “old” person. Like many of my fellow young Americans, I do not ponder what life will be like at 80. Though firsthand experience of old age escapes me, startling statistics around…
Churches aid learning with food
By Bob Allen Before long, youngsters toting backpacks back and forth to school will be a common sight, but for about 40 students at Peck Elementary School in Greensboro, N.C., they will carry something more vital than just notebooks and…
Great answers to tough questions
Helms and I recently had an occasion to speak to a congregation for a Wednesday evening church gathering. This occasion was different than our normal speaking opportunities in that we had several of the young people from our neighborhood youth…
Meeting God in Jerusalem
I write this from Jerusalem where I have had the privilege for some 10 days to participate in the first stage of the Christian Leadership Initiative, an intensive 13-month educational program on Judaism sponsored by the American Jewish Committee (AJC)…
I stand convicted by shoes, bread, and hands.
Recently I attended an Anatolian ceramic art exhibit sponsored by the Turkish Consulate. Three works captivated my attention….a pair of ceramic shoes, pieces of ceramic bread, and a group of ceramic hands. I was drawn to the red ceramic shoes…
Project Ruth celebrates 2 decades
By Jeff Brumley Project Ruth’s Mihai Ciopasiu is all too glad to talk about the success the organization has enjoyed the past two decades serving the poorest and most shunned children in Romania. The nonprofit began as a day center…