By Wayne Stapleton, NAB VP of Cross-Cultural Engagement and Emerging Leader Engagement; & Michael Benson, NAB communications director
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4–7 NASB)
When Paul wrote this, his body was in chains, but his soul was free: free to rejoice, free to declare the nearness of the Lord, free to trust in God despite persecution. Freedom is valuable, precious, and extensive. Often when we as believers talk about the freedom found in Christ, we tend to focus on the spiritual side, the freedom found in Christ alone. Yet that is only part of the whole picture.
In contrast, when we talk about freedom as Westerners, something our culture holds dearly, we are talking about specific rights we hold: free speech, freedom of religion, free assembly, etc. As believers, we know nothing aside from Jesus can actually save our souls and allow us to experience the fullness of life God always intended for us. Yet, as people called to neighbor-love, the freedom of others should be as dear to us as our own freedom.
In loving our neighbors, we must remember not all the political freedoms we currently enjoy were always available to everyone. Freedom, righteousness, and justice are valuable concepts, embraced by those of us in the West; yet, in actuality, the history of these ideas has been a rocky and uneven road, stronger on paper than when lived out in the hearts and actions of fallen people. The power of the Gospel reminds us that we don’t need to shy away from recognizing sin, even the sin of our own ancestors. On the contrary, we undermine the power of what God needed to do in Christ if we fail to admit when real oppression and real sin have taken place. Historically, certain American citizens’ experiences of freedom have been downright nonexistent, if not severely hindered. . . .
Tomorrow is the deadline to apply for the Year of Equipping: Year 2!
For the past year, a group of twenty- and thirty-something leaders from across the NAB have been gathering monthly as part of the inaugural Year of Equipping cohort. (You can read their reflections from the Vancouver, Detroit, and Chicago in-person gatherings.) The time has come for us to begin putting together the Year 2 cohort of emerging leaders within the NAB, those individuals in their twenties and thirties who hold some position of ministry leadership in the church, or even in a parachurch organization.
The Year of Equipping consists of three, three-month modules, each reflecting the three modules in Blue Ocean. Each module will have multiple components: a book pertaining to the subject matter, Zoom discussions, and one in-person meeting. The goal of this experience is to develop and enrich the relationships of our emerging leaders, to provide instruction and conversation about the movement of God in the world and how we participate, and to deepen the preparation of our emerging leaders for the future of the NAB.
If you are or know a twenty-something leader in your church, we welcome you to apply for the Year 2 cohort using the link below. The deadline to apply is June 20.
Apply for Year of Equipping: Year 2
Shortly after Dr. Shane Prewitt took on his role as senior pastor of Cross of Hope Church in Parma Heights, Ohio, the world shut down from the COVID-19 pandemic. While this was certainly a rough patch for Cross of Hope, as it was for many churches, this time allowed them to reexamine the things that needed to be reexamined.
“We really want to think of ministry in a different way,” said Pastor Shane. “Instead of looking at our church property as the place where God works, how do we train our people here to go out into the harvest fields and do ministry where they’re at?” This struggle is what missiologists have long defined as the end of Christendom, and Cross of Hope’s response is on the frontlines of where God is working in the North American church to recapture a fervor for the Gospel.
The kind of missional imagination Pastor Shane and the people of Cross of Hope share is at the heart of the NAB. Because God is a missionary God at work in the world, our joy-filled task is to discern that work and receive his invitation to join with him. When you give to the Ministry Resource Fund, you are, in part, creating space for NAB leaders and churches to expand their own missional imaginations through trainings like Blue Ocean, Year of Equipping, Discovery Project, and Bonfire. In essence, each gift plays a small part in training churches and their leaders to bring the hope found only in Jesus to the world around us.
When you give to the NAB 2025 Summer Offering, you will greatly assist us in supporting local NAB churches as they share the hope found only in Jesus Christ. See the links below to give online, or you can text your gift amount, followed by “SUMMER”, to (204) 400-2238 for Canadian giving or to (916) 249-0534 for US giving.
Canadians can also give via e-transfer using givecanada@nabconf.org with “Summer” in the note field.
Give to the Summer Offering (CND)
Give to the Summer Offering (USD)
For more than 100 years, White Cross has been providing necessary medical supplies to those in need. Through White Cross, churches and individuals across the NAB, in the United States and Canada, are able to partner with medical staff and NAB missionaries in Cameroon. Due to the logistics, White Cross has two separate facilities to collect and ship supplies; in Canada, White Cross is operated by the Alberta Baptist Association, and in the US it is run by Century Baptist Church in Bismarck, North Dakota.
The most recent newsletter from White Cross Canada arrived last week, and it is full of pictures of the loading day that took place May 26. You can check them out for yourself at the link below!