By Jesse Ray Porras
The Asia Pacific Baptist Youth Fellowship (APBYF) is a loose organization of Baptist youth in various churches and groups under the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation. Once every four or five years, we come together for a gathering called the APBY Conference. Our aim is to promote fellowship, be inspired and instructed on issues relevant to us, and be challenged to respond to the various needs of young people in our region.
This coming December 27-30, 2009, we will again converge for the 15th APBY Conference. The Baptist Convention of Hong Kong has accepted the challenge to be our host and the theme we have chosen is “Soar Higher!” based on Isa. 40:30-31. Many of us in the executive committee feel that this conference will help us gain new inspiration and strength to face the various challenges that we encounter in our region.The Asia Pacific Region includes more than sixty-five percent, or two thirds, of the world’s population. Thus, our cultures are as varied as the geographical features of the Himalayas, the sand dunes of Mongolia, the reefs and atolls of the South Pacific isles, and the deserts of Australia. In addition to the global economic crisis and fluctuating currency exchange rates, we are also concerned about issues closer to home such as: alcohol and substance abuse, child labor, HIV, trafficking of women and children, civilian conflict, extreme poverty and hunger due to recurring natural calamities (earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis), and coup d' tats and other forms of social unrest.
Just how do Christian young people and youth ministers live in the midst these situations? Due to the vastness of our needs and the limits of our resources, we do best when we start with the needs in our immediate community, while at the same time praying for our fellow young people to “catch the vision” and do something in their own situation. As the saying goes, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” By tending to street children or orphans in our own neighborhoods, we can make our region and the world a better place in which to live in… feeding one hungry mouth, setting one captive free, healing one ailing body, one simple life at a time.
This is going to be a long and tiring journey. The only way we can cope is by holding on to God’s promises in Isaiah 40:30-31. Together, may we “Soar Higher” in serving Him!
**Jesse Ray Porras is the Vice President of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation Youth Department.
January 28, 2009
Emerging Leader Profile – Euticauls Nzengu
Euticauls Nzengu is a Baptist pastor from Kenya who currently oversees the 70 Baptist congregations in Nairobi. Euticauls has been a member of the Emerging Leaders Network since 2007.
Q: What is your current ministry and what does it entail?
Euticauls: I am currently a pastor of a young and a growing church in Kenya called Baptist Chapel. I also direct a ministry in the slum areas of Korogocho where we minister to destitute children by providing them with formal education, vocational training, food, and by sharing the gospel of Christ with them. Korogocho Slum has an area of about 2 square miles with a population of 500,000 who live in shanties. My responsibility primarily involves counseling. This church ministry does not have a donor and so part of my job is to share with people about the ministry and to encourage them to support our ministry in the slum area.
I am also the overseer of more than 70 Baptist churches in the city of Nairobi. My role with the executive office is to share our vision with the churches, encourage them to be involved in evangelism and church planting, and help coordinate and oversee these endeavors. As a pastor, our church is involved in church planting and since 2005 we have already planted three mission churches and expect to plant a fourth this coming year.
Q: What are some of the unique challenges and/or opportunities that you face in your convention or context?
Euticauls: The challenges are many and include the lack of funds to support the ministry in the slums, people coming to you for answers and solutions, many needs that overwhelm, and insecurity. Within the Baptist association that I lead challenges include a shallow vision among some individuals, no passion for the lost, churches that are not stable and not growing, lack of commitment, and issues of autonomy. For the church, there is a lack of employment for many of my members, youth drop out from school due to lack of fees, church members sometimes conform more to the world than to Christ, low commitment level, a failure of some to see the Kingdom of God at work, and the acknowledgment that only a few are able to see beyond our church and see the world from Jesus’ perspective. In addition, our Baptist family is hurting as our local convention had some issues and broke into two.
Q: What does being an emerging Baptist mean to you?
Euticauls: It means being a Baptist who is prepared to serve the Lord and others in any part of the globe. It also means that while I have already been recognized in my own association and convention, there is a need for further training and equipping to continue the ministry more effectively.
Pictures from Euticauls' ministry in the Korogocho Slums have been posted on the BWA Emerging Leaders Facebook page. Use the link on the right to visit and join our new facebook group.
Q: What is your current ministry and what does it entail?
Euticauls: I am currently a pastor of a young and a growing church in Kenya called Baptist Chapel. I also direct a ministry in the slum areas of Korogocho where we minister to destitute children by providing them with formal education, vocational training, food, and by sharing the gospel of Christ with them. Korogocho Slum has an area of about 2 square miles with a population of 500,000 who live in shanties. My responsibility primarily involves counseling. This church ministry does not have a donor and so part of my job is to share with people about the ministry and to encourage them to support our ministry in the slum area.
I am also the overseer of more than 70 Baptist churches in the city of Nairobi. My role with the executive office is to share our vision with the churches, encourage them to be involved in evangelism and church planting, and help coordinate and oversee these endeavors. As a pastor, our church is involved in church planting and since 2005 we have already planted three mission churches and expect to plant a fourth this coming year.
Q: What are some of the unique challenges and/or opportunities that you face in your convention or context?
Euticauls: The challenges are many and include the lack of funds to support the ministry in the slums, people coming to you for answers and solutions, many needs that overwhelm, and insecurity. Within the Baptist association that I lead challenges include a shallow vision among some individuals, no passion for the lost, churches that are not stable and not growing, lack of commitment, and issues of autonomy. For the church, there is a lack of employment for many of my members, youth drop out from school due to lack of fees, church members sometimes conform more to the world than to Christ, low commitment level, a failure of some to see the Kingdom of God at work, and the acknowledgment that only a few are able to see beyond our church and see the world from Jesus’ perspective. In addition, our Baptist family is hurting as our local convention had some issues and broke into two.
Q: What does being an emerging Baptist mean to you?
Euticauls: It means being a Baptist who is prepared to serve the Lord and others in any part of the globe. It also means that while I have already been recognized in my own association and convention, there is a need for further training and equipping to continue the ministry more effectively.
Pictures from Euticauls' ministry in the Korogocho Slums have been posted on the BWA Emerging Leaders Facebook page. Use the link on the right to visit and join our new facebook group.
January 27, 2009
New Facebook Group
The Emerging Leaders Blog has launched a new Group on Facebook. Connect with us under group name "BWA Emerging Leaders Network or at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=48560577422
The BWA ELN Facebook Group is a great place for you to post pictures or videos from your church or convention, share about your ministry and context, ask for prayer support, and connect with other emerging Baptists from around the world.
Our vision: to help spark a movement among Baptists in their 20s, 30s and 40s that will have a global impact as we connect, share, and minister together in a radical discipleship of Jesus Christ that pursues love, church growth and justice in our societies.
Our goal: to get at least 100 members of this global emerging Baptist movement connected to each other in the next 3 weeks.
Will you help spread the movement?
The BWA ELN Facebook Group is a great place for you to post pictures or videos from your church or convention, share about your ministry and context, ask for prayer support, and connect with other emerging Baptists from around the world.
Our vision: to help spark a movement among Baptists in their 20s, 30s and 40s that will have a global impact as we connect, share, and minister together in a radical discipleship of Jesus Christ that pursues love, church growth and justice in our societies.
Our goal: to get at least 100 members of this global emerging Baptist movement connected to each other in the next 3 weeks.
Will you help spread the movement?
Emerging Leaders Reach New Milestone
This week the Emerging Leaders Blog surpasses a new milestone: visits from more than 55 countries.
Countries include: 16 from Africa, 9 from Asia-Pacific, 1 from the Caribbean, 3 from the Middle East, 19 from Europe, 3 from North America, and 6 from South America.
With 280 unique visitors accessing the site in the past six weeks, the base of the Emerging Leaders Movement remains small but growing. The aim of this site is to help emerging Baptists connect with each other, discuss relevant issues, collaborate in ministry and work together to shape a Baptist movement of global impact, radical discipleship and transformative love.
Would you become a stake holder in the movement? Join as a member of the movement (top right column). Post a comment. Sign-up for RSS feeds. Share the site with friends and colleagues. Would you help us reach a goal of 500 unique visitors by the end of February?
We are well on the way, but it can only happen if we work together to build an emerging global network.
Countries include: 16 from Africa, 9 from Asia-Pacific, 1 from the Caribbean, 3 from the Middle East, 19 from Europe, 3 from North America, and 6 from South America.
With 280 unique visitors accessing the site in the past six weeks, the base of the Emerging Leaders Movement remains small but growing. The aim of this site is to help emerging Baptists connect with each other, discuss relevant issues, collaborate in ministry and work together to shape a Baptist movement of global impact, radical discipleship and transformative love.
Would you become a stake holder in the movement? Join as a member of the movement (top right column). Post a comment. Sign-up for RSS feeds. Share the site with friends and colleagues. Would you help us reach a goal of 500 unique visitors by the end of February?
We are well on the way, but it can only happen if we work together to build an emerging global network.
January 26, 2009
[in-teg-ri-ty]
By Elijah Brown
Integrity is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “1. Firm adherence to a code especially moral or artistic values; 2. An unimpaired condition; 3. The quality or state of being complete or undivided.” Integrity is: Incorruptible. Unimpaired. Undivided.
Leadership expert John Maxwell defines integrity as the most important ingredient of leadership and writes, “A person with integrity does not have divided loyalties (that’s duplicity), nor is he or she merely pretending (that’s hypocrisy). People with integrity are ‘whole’ people; they can be identified by their single-mindedness. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are open books.”
In a world full of shifting morality, shaky business standards of short-term gain and overheated claims of hype, do you feel the contamination of standards of this world? I need to personally confess; far too often I utilize these standards as the judge of success and validation. I am not all that I appear to be. Image is not everything.
My heart cries out for a radical discipleship of radical honesty – pure, complete and unwavering. My heart cries out for a return of integrity in our government interaction, our business practices, and our churches and denominations. Integrity that is honest enough to admit our own limitations, bold enough to recognize our need for each other, strong enough to accept diversity, loving enough to brace each other, and courageous enough to forge Godly character in the fire of everyday otherwise unobserved decisions.
Psalms tells us that God choose and favored David because whether as a shepherd in the field or as a ruler in the head office, “David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” (Ps. 78:72)
Whatever our role, whatever our ministry, whatever our organization, it will all rise and fall on the basis of our integrity. And the good news is that integrity can be built. It takes time. It takes consistency. It means being faithful in the small choices. But if as emerging leaders we invest in integrity in our individual lives and in our corporate structures, we will reap a harvest of global impact.
True leadership and influence rises in direct proportion to integrity. Grow your integrity and God will grow your influence. Integrity builds individuals of great character who cast a great shadow. Integrity is corporate communities that build authenticity and global impact. Integrity is the key to leadership. To end with one more quote from Maxwell:
“Though you cannot go back
and make a brand new start, my friend.
Anyone can start from now
and make a brand new end.”
** Maxwell quotes come from John C. Maxwell, “The Most Important Ingredient of Leadership: Integrity,” in Developing the Leader Within You, 35-47. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993.
Integrity is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “1. Firm adherence to a code especially moral or artistic values; 2. An unimpaired condition; 3. The quality or state of being complete or undivided.” Integrity is: Incorruptible. Unimpaired. Undivided.
Leadership expert John Maxwell defines integrity as the most important ingredient of leadership and writes, “A person with integrity does not have divided loyalties (that’s duplicity), nor is he or she merely pretending (that’s hypocrisy). People with integrity are ‘whole’ people; they can be identified by their single-mindedness. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are open books.”
In a world full of shifting morality, shaky business standards of short-term gain and overheated claims of hype, do you feel the contamination of standards of this world? I need to personally confess; far too often I utilize these standards as the judge of success and validation. I am not all that I appear to be. Image is not everything.
My heart cries out for a radical discipleship of radical honesty – pure, complete and unwavering. My heart cries out for a return of integrity in our government interaction, our business practices, and our churches and denominations. Integrity that is honest enough to admit our own limitations, bold enough to recognize our need for each other, strong enough to accept diversity, loving enough to brace each other, and courageous enough to forge Godly character in the fire of everyday otherwise unobserved decisions.
Psalms tells us that God choose and favored David because whether as a shepherd in the field or as a ruler in the head office, “David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” (Ps. 78:72)
Whatever our role, whatever our ministry, whatever our organization, it will all rise and fall on the basis of our integrity. And the good news is that integrity can be built. It takes time. It takes consistency. It means being faithful in the small choices. But if as emerging leaders we invest in integrity in our individual lives and in our corporate structures, we will reap a harvest of global impact.
True leadership and influence rises in direct proportion to integrity. Grow your integrity and God will grow your influence. Integrity builds individuals of great character who cast a great shadow. Integrity is corporate communities that build authenticity and global impact. Integrity is the key to leadership. To end with one more quote from Maxwell:
“Though you cannot go back
and make a brand new start, my friend.
Anyone can start from now
and make a brand new end.”
** Maxwell quotes come from John C. Maxwell, “The Most Important Ingredient of Leadership: Integrity,” in Developing the Leader Within You, 35-47. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993.
January 23, 2009
Emerging Leader Profile - Nick Lear
By Nick Lear
Being part of the global Baptist family, the BWA, has expanded my vision of what it means to be a Christian believer. I am currently the senior pastor of a local Baptist church, having previously worked in the Mission Department in the national office of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. I know how easily I slip into a solely local focus in my ministry, theology and mission outlook because so much of my time and energy is focused on the local church.
Being part of the BWA family means that there is always a reminder that I am part of something bigger. I have experienced that not everyone worships God the same way that I do and I hope that awareness reflects in a more diverse worship style. I know that my interpretation of Scripture is done through my own cultural lenses, and to be true to God’s Word I need to reflect more on how that Word applies to other cultures.
I often reflect that when our church gathers to worship, Baptist churches in time zones to the East will already have met and those to our West are yet to meet – God’s praises are sung all around his world in diverse ways that can only broaden our experience of him. May God continue to enlarge my vision!
**Nick Lear is the Senior Minister of Colchester Baptist Church in Colchester, UK and until recently, was the BWA Youth Department European Baptist Fellowship Vice President. This post is the first in a new series that seeks to highlight the ministry and leadership of those who embody what it means to be an emerging Baptist leader. Profiles will come from around the world so feel free to nominate someone whom you feel represents what it means to be an emerging Baptist leader.
Being part of the global Baptist family, the BWA, has expanded my vision of what it means to be a Christian believer. I am currently the senior pastor of a local Baptist church, having previously worked in the Mission Department in the national office of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. I know how easily I slip into a solely local focus in my ministry, theology and mission outlook because so much of my time and energy is focused on the local church.
Being part of the BWA family means that there is always a reminder that I am part of something bigger. I have experienced that not everyone worships God the same way that I do and I hope that awareness reflects in a more diverse worship style. I know that my interpretation of Scripture is done through my own cultural lenses, and to be true to God’s Word I need to reflect more on how that Word applies to other cultures.
I often reflect that when our church gathers to worship, Baptist churches in time zones to the East will already have met and those to our West are yet to meet – God’s praises are sung all around his world in diverse ways that can only broaden our experience of him. May God continue to enlarge my vision!
**Nick Lear is the Senior Minister of Colchester Baptist Church in Colchester, UK and until recently, was the BWA Youth Department European Baptist Fellowship Vice President. This post is the first in a new series that seeks to highlight the ministry and leadership of those who embody what it means to be an emerging Baptist leader. Profiles will come from around the world so feel free to nominate someone whom you feel represents what it means to be an emerging Baptist leader.
January 22, 2009
Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.
The third Monday of January, each year since 1986, has marked in the United States a special day of commemoration on behalf of the work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is one of only three federal holidays in the United States that honors an individual person. Dr. King is worthy of such recognition.
Born into a context of racism and extreme marginalization Dr. King helped pioneer a movement for justice and equality that sought freedom from historical, cultural, political and legal frameworks of sin that ensnared both the oppressed and the oppressor alike. Based on principles of non-violence and civil disobedience, Dr. King helped inspire a nation to be better than it was and mobilized a movement that refused to accept defeat. Almost 41 years since the day he was assassinated, in the United States there could be perhaps no greater tribute than this week to also celebrate the election of President Barak Obama.
In a world still all too steeped in the legacies of racism and the politics of ethnic division, both in the United States and in the greater world at large, the vision and challenge of Dr. King should continue to weigh heavy upon us. To quote Rev. William Shaw of the National Baptist Convention, from a sermon he delivered in January 2008 at the Celebration of a Baptist New Covenant, ‘Jesus’ ministry was not the work of relief but reversal.’
Our world does not need any more relief; what it needs is reversal. Reversal from the cycles of violence that grip us, reversal of the ethnic legacies of racism that divide us, reversal from the sin of bigotry that blinds us, and reversal of the politics of discrimination that surround us. To take it one step further: what this world truly needs is not just reversal, but release. The kind of release that can only come when we begin to prioritize the laying down of our lives for others, the daily gift of costly obedience, and living out the transformative love of Jesus Christ.
Justice, equality and reconciliation between brothers and sisters continues on the long march to freedom. Each one of us has a role to play. As emerging Baptists who are especially indebted to this particular Baptist heritage, let us not grow weary in this long struggle, and may we find the courage to shake the very foundations of this world and advance this great cause. Only one question remains: does your life honor the King?
Born into a context of racism and extreme marginalization Dr. King helped pioneer a movement for justice and equality that sought freedom from historical, cultural, political and legal frameworks of sin that ensnared both the oppressed and the oppressor alike. Based on principles of non-violence and civil disobedience, Dr. King helped inspire a nation to be better than it was and mobilized a movement that refused to accept defeat. Almost 41 years since the day he was assassinated, in the United States there could be perhaps no greater tribute than this week to also celebrate the election of President Barak Obama.
In a world still all too steeped in the legacies of racism and the politics of ethnic division, both in the United States and in the greater world at large, the vision and challenge of Dr. King should continue to weigh heavy upon us. To quote Rev. William Shaw of the National Baptist Convention, from a sermon he delivered in January 2008 at the Celebration of a Baptist New Covenant, ‘Jesus’ ministry was not the work of relief but reversal.’
Our world does not need any more relief; what it needs is reversal. Reversal from the cycles of violence that grip us, reversal of the ethnic legacies of racism that divide us, reversal from the sin of bigotry that blinds us, and reversal of the politics of discrimination that surround us. To take it one step further: what this world truly needs is not just reversal, but release. The kind of release that can only come when we begin to prioritize the laying down of our lives for others, the daily gift of costly obedience, and living out the transformative love of Jesus Christ.
Justice, equality and reconciliation between brothers and sisters continues on the long march to freedom. Each one of us has a role to play. As emerging Baptists who are especially indebted to this particular Baptist heritage, let us not grow weary in this long struggle, and may we find the courage to shake the very foundations of this world and advance this great cause. Only one question remains: does your life honor the King?
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