October 8, 2024
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‘Do you know Jesus?’: Disaster relief volunteer asks crucial question

A Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief chaplain prays for a woman in Alma, Ga. (Index/Henry Durand)
SUWANEE, Ga. — Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief continues to meet the physical and spiritual needs of people impacted by Hurricane Helene’s destructive path across Georgia. As of Friday morning, GBDR director Dwain Carter reported that more than 134,000 meals had been prepared by volunteers, including those from other states supporting the response.
Trending stories
The Nathan Deal Judicial Center, home of Georgia's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)
Georgia Supreme Court reinstates near-ban on abortions while state appeals
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday halted a ruling striking down the state's near-ban on abortions while it considers the state's appeal.
The Sullens family
Georgia WMU President Lauren Sullens carries on her late husband's mission
“Sometimes it’s easier to submit to God’s will while praying than to live with the result of His will when the answer is no.” Lauren Sullens, president of Georgia WMU, spoke candidly about the mystery of prayer after her 43-year-old husband, Pastor Clint Sullens, died suddenly in April 2024.
Bryant Wright, president of Send Relief, speaks with Disaster Relief volunteers from Kentucky manning a mobile kitchen in Valdosta, Ga., Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Index/Henry Durand)
Valdosta pastor moved by Helene response: ‘This is the power of Southern Baptists working together’
PERRY, Fla. – When Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, it was the third storm to hit in 13 months, following 2023’s Hurricane Idalia and Hurricane Debby earlier this year. “As the storm track tightened and it became clear that landfall would be in our area for the third time,” said Steven Ruff, pastor of First Baptist Church, Perry, “I remember thinking, ‘Are we ready to do this again?’”
Vehicles roll along on a washed up road in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Pensacola, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
As search for Helene's victims drags into second week, sheriff says rescuers 'will not rest'
PENSACOLA, N.C. (AP) — The search for victims of Hurricane Helene dragged into its second week on Friday, as exhausted rescue crews and volunteers continued to work long days — navigating past washed-out roads, downed power lines and mudslides — to reach the isolated and the missing.
Dominick Gucciardo walks to his home in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Pensacola, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The search for the missing hits snags at every corner as Helene's death toll tops 200
PENSACOLA, N.C. (AP) — Rescue crews and volunteers facing obstacles at every turn in North Carolina’s remote mountains paddled canoes across swollen rivers and steered horses past mudslides in the rush to reach those stranded or missing by Hurricane Helene’s rampage that killed more than 200 throughout the Southeast.
Baptist Life

Russian-speaking Baptists are reaching immigrants and refugees from Eastern Europe

A portion of the congregation at Living Stone Russian Church in Cumming . (Index/J. Gerald Harris)
CUMMING, Ga. — The United States has a long history of immigration. It is a country built on the backs of immigrants. The Statue of Liberty standing in the New York City harbor bears a quote from Emma Lazarus’ sonnet, “New Colossus,” that says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

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Andrea Lennon
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Lifeway Christian Resources welcomed Andrea Lennon as director of women’s ministry last month. Lennon previously served for 10 years as the women’s ministry specialist for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. Lennon is known as a committed Bible teacher whose life calling is to “teach women to know the truth, live the truth and share the truth.”
Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, speaks with attendees at a Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief training session on the campus of East Tennessee State University on Oct. 3. (Photo/ETSU BCM via Baptist and Reflector)
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — A simple phone conversation between Jonathan Chapman, collegiate ministry specialist at East Tennessee State University, and Troy Rust, director of missions for Holston Baptist Association, led to one of the largest-ever disaster relief training events in Tennessee.
In preparation for drive-thru distribution to more than 600 community residents in need, Hopeful Baptist Church members form an assembly line to unload water from the One More Child truck. (Photo/Florida Baptist Convention)
LAKE CITY, Fla. — Although Lake City, located about 60 miles west of Jacksonville, may have been spared the brunt of Hurricane Helene’s record-setting storm surge and fierce winds, the storm still forced many in the community to search for basic needs.
Lifeway President and CEO Ben Mandrell presents Mike Cowles, director of major gifts for Nashville Rescue Mission, with a check for $70,000 from donations by employees. (Lifeway/Kate Neelly)
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — When Lifeway Christian Resources employees met for their biannual One Lifeway gathering on Tuesday, Sept. 24, the company presented a $70,000 check to the Nashville Rescue Mission.
Georgia
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger participates during an election forum, Sept. 19, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, file)

Georgia elections chief doesn't expect Helene damage to have big effect on voting in the state

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's top elections official said Monday that he doesn't expect damage from Hurricane Helene to cause major disruptions in next month's general election in the state.

Staff members of New Beginnings in Christ, from left, are Gerald Denton, Wayne Hutto, Pastor Mike Ogden, Joe Maaseen, Mark Rowland, Chris Reeves, Joanna Atkinson, Wendell Brown, Anna Cowart, Cameron Ray, and Jeff Raines.Not pictured: Meredith Clements. (Photo/Millen News)

New Beginnings in Christ recovery home offers addicts “new beginnings”

GARFIELD, Ga. — The New Beginnings in Christ residential recovery home in Garfield offers a 4-month or longer Christian recovery program for men suffering from alcohol and chemical dependency.
Thousands of new cars are seen in the port of Brunswick beside the vehicle carrier Morning Claire on June 7, 2024. (Index/Henry Durand, File)

Georgia ports back in business after strike settlement

ATLANTA – The ports of Savannah and Brunswick reopened Friday after the union representing striking dockworkers along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Maritime Alliance.
This undated photo combo shows from left, Kobe Williams, and her twin sons Khazmir Williams and Khyzier Williams who were killed in their home in Thomson, Ga., by a falling tree during Hurricane Helene on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Obie Lee Williams via AP)

Twin babies who died alongside their mother in Georgia are youngest-known Hurricane Helene victims

Obie Williams could hear babies crying and branches battering the windows when he answered his daughter’s daily phone call last week as Hurricane Helene tore through her rural Georgia town. Kobe Williams, 27, and her newborn twin boys were hunkering down at their trailer home in Thomson, Georgia, and starting to fear for their safety.

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Nation
Cars wait in line to buy gas at Costco, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Altamonte Springs, Fla., as residents prepare for the impact of approaching Hurricane Milton. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

Florida orders evacuations as Milton strengthens into a Category 5 hurricane

BELLEAIR BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Milton rapidly strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday to become a Category 5 hurricane on a path toward Florida, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay, leading to evacuation orders and lending more urgency to the cleanup from Hurricane Helene, which swamped the same stretch of coastline less than two weeks ago.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying a European spacecraft to an asteroid. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A spacecraft is on its way to a harmless asteroid slammed by NASA in a previous save-the-Earth test

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A spacecraft blasted off Monday to investigate the scene of a cosmic crash. The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft rocketed away on a two-year journey to the small, harmless asteroid rammed by NASA two years ago in a dress rehearsal for the day a killer space rock threatens Earth. It's the second part of a planetary defense test that could one day help save the planet.
Debris left in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene is cleared Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Del Rio, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Death toll from Hurricane Helene rises to 227 as grim task of recovering bodies continues

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The death toll from Hurricane Helene inched up to 227 on Saturday as the grim task of recovering bodies continued more than a week after the monster storm ravaged the Southeast and killed people in six states.
Daniel Delgado, top, is comforted by his 16-year-old son Angel Delgado, right, as he mourns the loss of his wife and Angel's mother, Monica Hernandez, who died at Impact Plastics during flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in Erwin, Tenn., on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Mexican immigrant families plagued by grief, questions after plant workers swept away by Helene

ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) — With shaking hands, Daniel Delgado kissed a photo of his wife, Monica Hernandez, before lighting a candle in a supermarket parking lot. Family members hugged pictures printed on poster board, some collapsing into them in tears as search helicopters flew overhead in the direction of the hills.

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World
People hug at the house of Maayan and Yuval Bar, killed a year ago in a terror attack by Hamas, at the Kibbutz Be'eri, an Israeli communal farm on the Gaza border, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

War rages on multiple fronts as Israel marks a year since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack

RE'IM, Israel (AP) — Israelis held somber ceremonies Monday to mark a year since the deadliest attack in the country’s history, a Hamas-led raid that shattered its sense of security and has since spiraled into wars on two fronts.

Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine against Russia stands in a glass cage during a court session in the Moscow City court Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Moscow City Court Press Service via AP)

Russian court sentences a 72-year-old American to nearly 7 years in prison for fighting in Ukraine

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old American in a closed trial to nearly seven years in prison for allegedly fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. Prosecutors said Stephen Hubbard signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and he fought alongside them until being captured two months later.
American molecular biologist Gary Ruvkun, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in medicine, speaks with a reporter Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, at his home in Newton, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Nobel Prize in medicine honors 2 scientists for their discovery of microRNA

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for their discovery of microRNA, tiny bits of genetic material that offer a way for scientists to control what’s happening in our cells and that could lead to new ways of detecting and treating diseases including cancer.
People attend a demonstration in support of Israel to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israel, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Pro-Israeli crowds rally across the world on the eve of Oct. 7 anniversary

PARIS (AP) — Crowds were participating in pro-Israeli protests and memorial events across Europe on Sunday on the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israel.

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Perspectives
Todd Gaddis
 Once upon a time, the renowned 18th Century English preacher George Whitfield was getting the people of Edinburgh, Scotland out of bed at 5:00 am to come hear him speak. On one occasion, a man on his way to a service was surprised when he met up with David Hume, the Scottish philosopher and skeptic.
Lauren Eden
As a Georgia woman, wife, and mother, I’m incensed by Fulton County Superior Court’s ruling last week to strike down the LIFE ACT in favor of more liberal abortion regulations in our state. It is important for everyone to understand what is at stake, and what outcome may exist as a result of this ruling.
Ralph Fudge
J. Vernon McGee summarized philosophy well. He said, “All systems of philosophy lead up a blind alley.” I agree. You can spend your time and money studying this subject and find sooner or later that it is a mere waste of time.
David Chancey
​Recently, we traveled to South Carolina’s Lowcountry to keep our grandsons while their parents attended an all-day workshop. We enjoyed our outing and were heading home after lunch. As I traveled north on US 17, I switched to the inside lane, anticipating our left turn up ahead.
PJ Dunn
Church leaders, congregants, and pastors verbally acknowledge the need to reach young adults with phrases like “Young people just don’t come to church anymore,” “Growing up, we never missed a Sunday,” or maybe even “We have a lost generation, Lord come quickly.” Why are young adults so hard to find in our communities?

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Business
The 2025 model Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric SUV is seen Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, after being unveiled at an auto dealership in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum, File)

Hyundai has begun producing electric SUVs at its $7.6 billion plant in Georgia

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Hyundai has begun producing electric SUVs in Georgia less than two years after breaking ground on its sprawling, $7.6 billion manufacturing plant west of Savannah. Hyundai's factory in Georgia held an “employee-focused celebration” Thursday as its first EV for commercial sale rolled off the assembly line, Bianca Johnson, spokesperson for Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, said in a statement provided Monday to The Associated Press.

Authorities are investigating after a Frontier Airlines plane lands with fire in one engine

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal authorities said Sunday that they are investigating the emergency landing of a Frontier Airlines plane in Las Vegas.
This photo released by Easy Solar shows a large solar panels installation on a rooftop of an office building in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Tuesday Aug. 13, 2024. (Muctarr Bah Mohamed/Easy Solar via AP)

Solar power companies are growing fast in Africa, where 600 million still lack electricity

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Companies that bring solar power to some of the poorest homes in Central and West Africa are said to be among the fastest growing on a continent whose governments have long struggled to address some of the world's worst infrastructure.
Dockworkers from Port Miami display signs at a picket line Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Dockworkers' union to suspend strike until Jan. 15 to allow time to negotiate new contract

DETROIT (AP) — The union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports has reached a deal to suspend a three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract.
Dockworkers strike in front of an entrance to a container terminal near Boston Harbor, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Dockworkers go on a strike that could reignite inflation and cause shortages in the holiday season

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — From Maine to Texas, dockworkers at 36 ports across the eastern U.S. are now on strike for the first time in decades. And the work stoppage could snarl supply chains — leading to shortages and higher prices if it stretches on for more than a few weeks.

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Sports
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, center, joins players for the school song following their win over Mississippi State in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

AP Top 25: Texas returns to No. 1, Alabama drops to No. 7 after upsets force reshuffling of rankings

It was a week of upheaval in The Associated Press college football poll, with Texas returning to No. 1 on Sunday after a one-week absence following Vanderbilt's monumental upset of Alabama.

Driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates in Victory Lane after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Stenhouse snaps 65-race losing streak after late crash at Talladega scrambles playoff picture

TALLADEGA (AP) — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. snapped a 65-race losing streak by winning in overtime at Talladega Superspeedway after a late crash collected more than half the field, including eight of the 12 championship contenders.
Valdosta State linebacker Joko Willis (40) drags down Shorter University running back Charles Alia for a loss in the second quarter Saturday, Oct. 5, in Rome, Ga. (Index/Henry Durand)

Shorter no match for #3 Valdosta State, loses 59-6

ROME, Ga. — Valdosta State University, ranked third in the nation among Div. II schools, dominated Shorter University on Saturday to go to 5-0 as the Blazers won 59-6. VSU scored two touchdowns in each quarter plus a late field goal, as Shorter, which lost for the first time this season, managed only a pair of field goals in the second quarter.
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (2) celebrates the team's 40-35 win against Alabama, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Chaos hits AP Top 25 with 4 teams ranked in the top 11 losing to unranked opponents

Vanderbilt's stunning upset of No. 1 Alabama that led to crazed fans marching the goal posts through the streets of Nashville was just the appetizer. Saturday proved to be one of the wildest days in The Associated Press college football poll in years.

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