Pastor Dennis Atwood concluded a sermon series focused on gratitude last fall by challenging his congregation at First Baptist Church of Mount Olive to seek systemic solutions to systemic poverty and food insecurity in their rural corner of eastern North…
Together for Hope inspires communities to see what they’ve got more than what they’re lacking
The mayor of Sidon, Miss., said courage surged through her town when it encountered Together for Hope, a national coalition that uses holistic approaches to fight poverty in the most economically ravaged American communities. Like most cities and towns in…
Coker named to elite futurism cohort, benefiting Together for Hope
Jason Coker is setting the bar pretty high these days at Together for Hope, the rural poverty initiative launched by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to serve impoverished Americans in 301 of the poorest counties in the nation. In fact, the…
Three-state merger hailed as transformative by CBF leaders
The planned merger of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship state groups in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi will benefit poverty, food insecurity and anti-racism ministries well beyond that region, CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley said. “The oldest Together for Hope sites are in…
Churches urged to get ready to welcome Afghan refugees
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel across the U.S. are preparing partner networks and local congregations for the expected arrival of Afghan refugees attempting to flee as the withdrawal of American forces continues. “We expect a huge influx all over the…
If you want to help the poor, first understand their humanity
Humanizing the poor and hungry is a vital first step for individuals and churches called to combat poverty and hunger, a group of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ministers and lay leaders learned during a recent webinar hosted by CBF Heartland. “It’s…
Together for Hope partnership steps up the drive for hunger relief in Mississippi
Together for Hope is venturing full force into the realm of proposing legislation and lobbying to finance an expansive anti-hunger initiative in Mississippi. “I’ve never participated in a grassroots campaign quite like this,” said Jason Coker, national director of Together…
From Missouri to South Dakota, friendships form together for hope
For two decades, members of Second Baptist Church in Liberty, Mo., have found transformational relationships 700 miles away with friends of the Lakota people who live on the Upper Cheyenne Reservation in South Dakota. “To be able to call someone…
More Americans are hungry, but ‘it doesn’t have to be that way’
It’s a fact that food insecurity is getting steadily worse in the United States in part because of the coronavirus, a Baptist mission expert reports. But it’s a myth that hunger and poverty are conditions Americans simply have to accept,…