COOK SPRINGS, Ala. (BP) – More than 50 children of missionaries (missionary kids) preparing to enter college in the U.S. this fall gained insights and encouragement for “reentering” well during the annual MK Re-Entry Retreat held at Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union’s WorldSong Missions Place.

GLADEWATER, Texas (BP) – When God called Teddy Sorrells to plant a church in 2020, he expected to be sent to San Francisco or Denver, one of the popular church planting cities. Instead, a quick demographics study led him to plant in the small East Texas town he’d been trying all his life to leave.

DULUTH, Ga. – As a police chaplain and pastor, Terry Rainwater can’t help but be troubled by human trafficking statistics in Georgia. For example, the average age a child forced into prostitution in the state is between 12 and 14. And between 200 to 375 girls are sold or exploited in any given month in the state, primarily in the Atlanta area. Rainwater, pastor of Highlands Baptist Church in Hogansville and chaplain for the Hogansville Police Department, said the statistics shared at a recent training event hosted by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s Mission Georgia initiative are overwhelming and the stories behind the statistics are heartbreaking.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Russians and Ukrainians may be at war in Europe, but here in Georgia they're forging strong friendships. At the Russian-speaking Lighthouse Church, people who immigrated years ago from the former USSR were waiting with open arms to welcome Ukrainians who have fled the war zone over the past six months.

DULUTH, Ga. – The Georgia Baptist Mission Board has created a series of videos for churches to use in promoting this year’s Mission Georgia offering, proceeds from which are used to share the gospel in some of the hardest to reach places in the state.

As the school year kicks off at colleges and universities around Georgia, students are greeted by friendly faces and helping hands courtesy of Georgia Baptist Collegiate Ministries. Whether it’s through help moving into a new dorm room at Gordon State, a muffin snack at Valdosta State or a slice of pizza at Georgia Highlands, BCM students are eager to share the love of Christ with fellow students.

POUND, Va. – Eddie Johnson had stopped at Robo’s Drive-In restaurant in rural southwest Virginia for a burger and fries, but he got far more than that. An unexpected encounter with a team of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief workers at the roadside restaurant would lead to Johnson rededicating his life to Christ and four others accepting Jesus as their Savior.

KABUL, Afghanistan (BP) – Christians in Afghanistan are forced into greater secrecy and largely cut off from humanitarian aid, International Christian Concern  said in its report on the first anniversary of U.S. withdrawal from the Muslim country.

COMMERCE, Ga. – If Pastor Chuck Cook had to put his finger on just one factor that has led to the revitalization of Beaverdam Baptist Church, he would point to a palpable feeling of love that visitors experience when they walk through the doors. “Everyone who visits, they feel that love,” Cook said. “The congregation has such a welcoming nature about them. A high percentage of our first-time visitors come back. They get plugged in. And they invite their friends to come. The excitement is contagious.”

ALONG THE JORDAN RIVER — For the thousands of Georgians who take pilgrimages to the Holy Land each year, one of the highlights is visiting the Jordan River. They may not realize that water usage is up and the water level is down. The environmental group EcoPeace Middle East is sounding the alarm that decades of water diversions for agriculture and domestic use are taking a toll on the river.

NASHVILLE – The U.S. Department of Justice has begun an investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention in the wake of an internal probe that found the Executive Committee had mishandled sex abuse allegations over a period of years. Executive Committee lawyers told The Associated Press that federal investigators have already issued a subpoena. They didn’t specify whether that subpoena was civil or criminal. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is neither confirming nor denying that it is investigating, saying “grand jury matters are secret.”

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Two pastors who have seen massive growth in their churches in Florida and Georgia will be featured speakers at the SPARK total church conference’s regional training events on Saturday. Jimmy Scroggins, lead pastor at Family Church in South Florida, will be at First Baptist Church in Alpharetta, and Ken Adams, pastor at Crossroads Church in Newnan, will be at Byne Memorial Baptist in Albany.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Under the leadership of pastor Frank Cox, North Metro First Baptist Church will move to a new location for the second time. Most pastors would not have the grit or grace to even contemplate such a monumental endeavor, but Cox has been the pastor for 42 years and has rightfully won the favor and support of his congregation.

Here in Georgia, we are unchanging in our resolve to keep the gospel as our main focus. Resourcing and equipping churches to reach the 8 million lost people in our state is the mission we act upon every single day. That's what's on your heart, and that's what's on our heart, because that's what's on God's heart. This mission is why Georgia Baptists acted quickly to address critical issues over the past few years.

The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated a probe of the Southern Baptist Convention that includes multiple national entities, denominational leaders said. “Individually and collectively each SBC entity is resolved to fully and completely cooperate with the investigation,” SBC leaders said in a joint statement released late Friday.

JONESBORO, Ga. – A 10-year-old American Indian boy who came to faith in Christ last week in Montana has inspired a mission team from Jonesboro’s First Baptist Church with his enthusiasm for reaching others with the gospel. The boy they knew as Billy was one of 33 people who the Jonesboro mission team led to Christ last week at the Fort Belknap reservation. Delaney Gosart dabbed tears during a church gathering Wednesday as she talked about Billy’s contagious enthusiasm for serving “Creator Sets Free,” his tribe’s translation for Jesus.

TIFTON, Ga. – TJ Mauldin is one of those rare individuals who can sing like he belongs on a record label and preach so vividly that Bible passages come to life. That’s how people describe the 37-year-old who has been called as the new lead pastor at First Baptist Church in Tifton. Mauldin arrived at the southern Georgia church 11 years ago as a 26-year-old, part-time contemporary worship leader strumming an acoustic guitar, but Pastor Wayne Roe and others quickly recognized that he was an incredibly gifted preacher, too.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – This year’s Georgia Baptist Convention annual meeting is being moved from Augusta’s Marriott Convention Center to nearby Warren Baptist Church, a move that will provide significant cost savings. “We’re grateful for the hospitality of the people at Warren Baptist,” said Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director W. Thomas Hammond Jr. “They have everything we’re looking for in an annual meeting venue – a spacious sanctuary, plenty of meeting rooms and ample parking.”

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. – In the aftermath of flash flooding that killed 37 people in the Kentucky mountains, residents here are turning to Christ. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Director Dwain Carter said it’s not unusual for people to seek God amid tragic circumstances. That why, he said, teams of Disaster Relief volunteers realize their role isn’t simply to help with the clean up, but to offer spiritual guidance to survivors.

DOUGLAS, Ga. – For retired Associational Missionary Ray Coleman, attending church has always been central in his life, but, since having a debilitating stroke two years ago, he had been unable to go. Until now. Churches in the Smyrna Baptist Association, where he served for two decades, joined together to purchase Coleman a wheelchair-accessible van that has allowed him to be on the road again.

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. – It was a neighbor’s phone call that alerted Thelma Hall to the flash flood ravaging Fleming-Neon, a tiny community near the Kentucky-Virginia border. Cars were bobbing in the street just outside her front door in floodwater that killed at least 37 people throughout eastern Kentucky.

JENKINS, Ky. – Yards in this tiniest of Kentucky towns are piled high with soggy mattresses, sofas and other furnishings ruined by last week’s deadly flashfloods. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief crews are in Jenkins and nearby Fleming-Neon helping victims with cleanup in the aftermath of the flooding that killed at least 37 people.

DULUTH, Ga. – Bart Millard, lead singer of MercyMe, will welcome thousands of participants to the digital premiere of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s SPARK conference. The popular contemporary Christian band will also perform three songs during the conference, which is billed as “a total church conference,” meaning it provides training on all aspects of ministry.

Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief crews have been assigned to an area of eastern Kentucky hit hard by last week’s flash flooding that killed at least 30 people and left hundreds unaccounted for.

HAZARD, Ky. (BP) – Tim Reynolds, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Hazard, said the flood waters barely lapped up onto his parking lot. “It didn’t get in here,” he …