The Kentucky Baptist Convention emphasis on connecting people to Jesus Christ has taken on new meaning for me personally this last year as I have thought about how the connections between Kentucky Baptists and Clear Creek Baptist Bible College have impacted and empowered Kingdom work between the two.

We are connected through denominational affiliation. Clear Creek has been a recognized agency of the Kentucky Baptist Convention since 1946. It shares in the money allocated to Christian education by the KBC. The convention nominates and elects the college’s 32 trustees. The school operates cooperatively within the policies, plans and programs of Kentucky Baptists and has fellowship with the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention. The ministry of Clear Creek serves the needs and interests of the denomination.

We remain focused on that connection through our four core values that drive everything we do:

Centrality of Christ. We are a community of Christians brought together by faith in Christ as Savior and Lord and by surrender to His call to service. We are committed to seek His will; to deepen His lifestyle through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; and patiently work for His unity among us.

Trustworthiness of Scripture. We are a community of learners who affirm the total trustworthiness of God’s revealed Word as the guide for our lives and the foundation for our equipping ministry.

Evangelism and missions. We are a community of individuals redeemed from sin by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. We affirm He died for the whole world and commissions each believer to take the gospel into the world. We commit ourselves to the priority of personal evangelism and world missions.

Servant of churches. We are a community that exists to train individuals sent to us by the churches. We commit ourselves to serve the needs of the churches.

As a convention, your connections with us through prayer and financial support enable us to connect our students to Kingdom work. Cooperative Program funds allocated to Clear Creek through our KBC churches account for nearly one-fifth of our total operating budget. These funds are a major part of why we are able to operate debt free as a college.

Your connecting with Clear Creek enables us to connect our students to a very affordable and quality theological education. Clear Creek holds duel accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Association for Biblical Higher Education. Your support allows us to keep tuition at the lowest level of all SBC-accredited colleges.

Your connecting with us enables us to connect our students to practical ministry opportunities. This past year we were able to partner with local school systems where our students served as mentors to kids in after-school programs. We opened up our Family Life Center to the community for weekly basketball games with student-led devotions during each game. Two young men accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior during those devotions. Our students also served in a local homeless shelter in the community where three people accepted Christ.

Throughout this year, our students were involved in preaching 5,327 gospel messages; taught 2,134 Bible classes; made 3,995 visits; and had the opportunity to be involved in 23,519 evangelistic contacts. These opportunities resulted in our students being involved with 864 professions of faith.

Your connecting with us enables us to connect our students to full-time ministry. This past May, we had 38 graduates who received their ministry degrees. Some of those graduates now move on to seminary or to serve with the Southern Baptist North American and International Mission Boards, while the majority will go right in to the local church field.

There are a lot of connections that take place between the Kentucky Baptist Convention and Clear Creek Baptist Bible College. Thank you for connecting with us, enabling us to connect our students to Kingdom work.

Donnie Fox is president of Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in Pineville