State Baptists, KBC ministry
leader, earn NAMB recognition

By Dannah Prather Kentucky Baptist Convention Atlanta—Kentucky Baptists and a ministry leader with the Kentucky Baptist Convention were singled out by the North American Mission Board recently for gospel-sharing efforts. At NAMB’s annual Summer State Leadership Meeting in Atlanta, Kentucky Baptists received the Find It Here Participation Award in recognition for the efforts of approximately 1,700 congregations in sharing Christ with their neighbors. Eric Allen, director of KBC’s mission service and ministries department, accepted the first-ever Charles Roesel Ministry Evangelism Award.

KBC LEADER HONORED Eric Allen (second from left) director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s mission service and ministries department, accepts the first-ever Charles Roesel Ministry Evangelism Award from the North American Mission Board and Fellowship of State Ministry Evangelism Directors. Pictured with Allen (second from right) is the award’s namesake, former pastor of First Baptist Church of Leesburg, Fla. Also pictured (far left) is Thomas Hammond, NAMB’s interim vice president of evangelism; and (far right) Richard Leach, team leader for servant/ministry evangelism at NAMB. (Photo by John Swain/NAMB)

According to NAMB leaders, this award spotlights the recipient’s “commitment to expanding the kingdom of God as demonstrated by the multiplication of churches committed to meeting needs and sharing Christ.”

The Find It Here award reflects a great investment of time and energy by Kentucky Baptists in the weeks and months leading up to Easter Sunday 2010. More than 1.3 million brochures printed with the gospel message were distributed in Kentucky in March and April. That figure represents 83 percent of all Kentucky households.

Church members also prayerwalked their communities, and shared their personal testimonies of faith and offered intercessory prayer for people they met along the way.

“It was the greatest seed-sowing outreach that Kentucky’s ever seen in its history,” said Ross Bauscher, leader of the KBC’s evangelism growth team. “It was an amazing thing for me to witness what God can do through His people when they cooperate with one another for His glory.”

Approximately 41,000 volunteers from Kentucky Baptist churches participated in Find It Here. A total of 69 of Kentucky’s 71 local Baptist associations were involved.

“This is recognition of God’s work among us,” KBC Executive Director Bill Mackey said. “It is a distinct honor for Kentucky Baptists to be recognized by the North American Mission Board for outstanding service during the Find It Here emphasis.”

Through the door-to-door campaign and a media blitz, more than 2,000 Kentuckians returned response cards sharing news of a personal spiritual decision; 405 Kentuckians called NAMB’s national Evangelism Response Center for spiritual guidance; 4,000 visited the Find It Here website. Through the response cards, the KBC is aware of 595 people who made professions of faith in Christ as a result of the gospel-sharing initiative.

“We know many other people responded to the invitation to visit local Baptist churches,” noted Larry Baker, leader of the KBC’s missions growth team.

From Kentucky Baptists at large to one specific servant, the Roesel Award was presented to Allen by NAMB and the Fellowship of State Ministry Evangelism Directors.

Allen, who has served the KBC since 2000, helps churches reach their communities with the gospel through benevolence ministries, pregnancy care centers, substance abuse ministries, prayer initiatives and other efforts.

“My greatest joy is helping believers find satisfaction and fulfillment by using their gifts and talents in service with God,” Allen said. “Churches will grow when they reach beyond themselves and minister to the needs of the lost and hurting in their communities.”

To that end, Allen developed “The Church Reaching Out,” (www.KyBaptist.org/Reaching) an initiative to encourage and equip congregations to develop outreach-focused ministries.

The concept was for churches to identify groups of people within their communities that perhaps never had been reached before with the gospel. More than 1,250 KBC churches have received assistance from this initiative through resources, training, consultation or grants.

This most recent recognition is Allen’s third in 10 years. In 2008 he accepted the Missionary Mobilization Recognition for recruiting, training and coordinating efforts of more Mission Service Corps missionaries focused on evangelism and church planting than any other state Baptist convention during the previous year. In 2002 he received the Outstanding Leadership award when KBC’s missionary growth rose to more than 26 percent of NAMB’s total missionary strength.

The award’s namesake, Charles Roesel, is the former pastor of First Baptist Church of Leesburg, Fla. Under his leadership, the congregation developed an array of services to its community, including drug and alcohol counseling and job training.

The meeting of the Southern Baptist State Director of Missions Fellowship was held in conjunction with the NAMB meeting in July. Baker, former DOM for Christian County Baptist Association, was elected president of the fellowship. Members of the fellowship are directors of missions, or those with equivalent duties, from the 42 state and regional Baptist conventions.

Western Recorder issue date: August 17, 2010.