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Keith Stewart

Stewart brings passion for Sunday school, experience to Grady County churches

CAIRO, Ga. — Keith Stewart has been called to serve as Grady County Baptist Association’s Associational Missionary Strategist. His first day was April 1, 2025. 
Georgia Baptists gather for a fellowship event at the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis. (Photo/GBMB, File)
Georgia Baptists to gather for fellowship and encouragement at SBC annual meeting
Georgia Baptists attending the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting this June are invited to a special evening of fellowship, celebration, and encouragement at the 2025 Georgia Baptist Fellowship.
Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers work during a recent deployment to assist flood victims in Kentucky. (Photo/GBDR)
Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief mobilizing again for Kentucky — this time after deadly tornadoes
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Just weeks after returning from a month-long flood recovery deployment in Kentucky, Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief (GBDR) teams are once again preparing to serve the Bluegrass State — this time in response to a deadly tornado outbreak that claimed at least 27 lives and left widespread destruction across southeastern Kentucky.
Steve Foster, evangelism catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, teaches during a breakout session at the mission board’s Evangelism Conference in Warner Robins in February 2025. (Index/Henry Durand)
Foster named evangelism catalyst as Georgia Baptists intensify gospel focus
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — With evangelism gaining renewed momentum across Georgia, the Georgia Baptist Mission Board has named Steve Foster as its new evangelism catalyst, a strategic role that had remained vacant since JJ Washington’s transition to the North American Mission Board.
A home destroyed by a severe storm on Saturday, May 17, 2025, in London, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Severe weather leaves at least 27 dead, including 18 in Kentucky
LONDON, Ky. (AP) — At least 27 people have been killed by storm systems that swept across part of the U.S. Midwest and South, with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announcing Saturday that 18 of the deaths came in his state and 10 others were hospitalized in critical condition.
Shorter University President Don Dowless awards a student his diploma at Shorter University’s 2025 Spring Commencement. (Photo/Shorter University)
Georgia Baptist schools celebrate graduates called to ministry
Commencement season at three Georgia Baptist-affiliated institutions — Truett McConnell University, Shorter University, and Brewton-Parker College — provided a vivid reminder that academic achievement and gospel-centered calling can go hand in hand. As students walked across the stage to receive their degrees, they also stepped into roles of service and leadership.
Baptist Life

Georgia Baptist Scholarship Committee awards scholarships to 15 students

Combination photograph of students receiving Georgia Baptist Education Commission scholarships. (Individual photos provided by the students)
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Fifteen students from Georgia Baptist churches have been recognized this year for their academic excellence and commitment to the mission of Christ. Each recipient was selected for outstanding achievement in both the classroom and their spiritual leadership.
When Peter and Tina Kim arrived in São Paulo, Brazil, they felt right at home. The new International Mission Board missionaries expected a lot of culture shock with their move from Rockville, Maryland, to South America. Instead, the biggest city in the southern hemisphere felt like moving to an urban area in the United States.
Over the past five years, the religious makeup of the United States has remained remarkably stable, according to Gallup.
LONDON, Ky. (KT) — A path of downed trees in rural Laurel County signaled where a deadly tornado likely began a path of destruction last Friday night. 
Kay Arthur, a Christian author and co-founder of Precept Ministries International, passed away on May 19, 2025, at the age of 91. Her death marks the end of an era for the countless individuals she influenced through her teachings and writings.
Georgia
Rebecca Miller

Georgia Right to Life announces winner of student oratory contest

ATLANTA — Georgia Right to Life announced earlier this month that the 2025 True to Life Oratory Contest winner is Rebecca Miller.  This year’s Oratory Contest, held recently in Atlanta, strives to promote the ability of high school juniors and seniors to share their pro-life views by researching, developing, and delivering a speech about abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, assisted suicide, stem cell research, or emerging technology.

Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms running for governor

ATLANTA – Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms entered the 2026 race for governor Tuesday. Bottoms, a lawyer, served two terms on the Atlanta City Council before being elected mayor in 2017. After deciding not to seek reelection four years later, she joined the Biden administration as a senior advisor and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Georgia Power offers to freeze customer rates, but that doesn't include hurricane recovery costs

ATLANTA – Georgia Power will not seek to raise base rates for the next three years under a proposed agreement the Atlanta-based utility announced Monday. The agreement between the company and the state Public Service Commission’s (PSC) Advocacy Staff – if approved by the five-member PSC – would cancel the rate case Georgia Power was planning to submit to the commission by July 1.

Company decides not to rebuild chlorine plant with history of fires, explosions and toxic clouds

CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — The company that operated a Georgia chlorine plant with a history of explosions, chemical fires, and toxic clouds that have drifted over neighborhoods outside Atlanta has decided not to rebuild the main manufacturing facility in Conyers.
Nation
A destroyed home in one of the hard-hit neighborhoods in Laurel County. Residents are evacuating with more bad weather approaching. (Kentucky Today/Keith Taylor)

Tornado that hit southeastern Kentucky ruled EF-4 by National Weather Service

The tornado that hit Pulaski, Laurel, and Russell counties in Kentucky late Friday was an EF-4, with winds of 170 miles per hour, the National Weather Service said Tuesday.

Trump selects concept for $175 billion 'Golden Dome' missile defense system

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has announced the concept he wants for a future Golden Dome missile defense program — a multilayered, $175 billion system that for the first time will put U.S. weapons in space.

Arrested New Orleans jail worker says he helped inmates to escape after stabbing threat

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans jail maintenance worker has been arrested after admitting he turned water off to a toilet covering a hole in a cell wall, allowing 10 men to squeeze through the gap and escape the facility.

Kentucky firefighter may have died protecting wife from tornado

LONDON, Ky. (KT) – A Kentucky firefighter is being hailed as a hero after he lost his life during a devastating tornado, potentially while protecting his wife from the storm’s fury. The tornado tore through southeastern Kentucky on Friday night, leaving 19 people dead in its wake.
World
A lion sits in a cage waiting to be transported to Mazatlan at the Ostok Sanctuary, on the outskirts of Culiacan, Mexico, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Tigers, jaguars and elephants are the latest to flee cartel violence in Mexico's Sinaloa

CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) — A pack of veterinarians clambered over hefty metal crates on Tuesday morning, loading them one by one onto a fleet of semi-trucks. Among the cargo: tigers, monkeys, jaguars, elephants, and lions – all fleeing the latest wave of cartel violence eclipsing the northern Mexican city of Culiacan.

A suicide car bomber strikes a school bus in southwestern Pakistan, killing 5 people

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide car bomber struck a school bus in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing five people — including at least three children — and wounding 38 others, officials said, the latest attack in tense Balochistan province.

Putin visited Russia's Kursk region for first time since Moscow said it drove out Ukrainian forces

President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's Kursk region for the first time since Moscow claimed that it drove Ukrainian forces out of the area last month, the Kremlin said Wednesday. Putin visited the region bordering Ukraine the previous day, according to the Kremlin.

Syria's driest winter in nearly 7 decades triggers a severe water crisis in Damascus

BARADA VALLEY, Syria (AP) — Inside a mountain above the Syrian capital, Hassan Bashi walked through tunnels that used to be filled with water from a spring famous for its pure waters. The spring rises inside the ruins of a Roman temple in the Barada Valley and flows toward Damascus, supplying the city with drinking water for thousands of years. Normally, during the winter flood season, water fills all the tunnels and washes over much of the temple.
Perspectives
I participated in two Cooperative Program celebrations in the past two weeks. One in Murray, Ky., at First Baptist Church recognizing the origins of the Cooperative Program and the other in Memphis, Tenn., commemorating its adoption by Southern Baptists nationally as our primary Great Commission funding tool.  
When I started my third year of teaching history at Poynor Junior High in Florence, South Carolina, following graduation from Furman University in 1962, I could not have imagined that I would start the 1965 school year at Newton Memorial School in Osogbo, Nigeria. Newton existed as a boarding school for Southern Baptist missionary kids in grades 5 to 10.  
“The House of David” has been a surprise hit this season on Amazon Prime. With a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 91%, this series focuses on the life and times of Israel's beloved earthly king. 
We now live in a world and society of skepticism. Most people no longer believe the Bible is true or that it is God’s Word. Things Christians hold sacred are now considered myth.
One of the joys of pastoring is celebrating the milestone achievements of the people you serve and love. Over the previous few weeks, I have had the distinct joy of attending numerous graduations, from kindergarten to college, marking the significance of a completed goal.
Business
A shopper looks at plants at a Home Depot store in Hiram, Ga., July 15, 2022. (Index/Henry Durand, File)

Home Depot says it doesn't expect to boost prices because of tariffs

Home Depot doesn't expect to raise prices because of tariffs, saying it has spent years diversifying the sources for the goods on its shelves. Billy Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising, said during a conference call on Tuesday that Home Depot's suppliers have shifted sourcing across several countries and that the company doesn't expect any single country outside of the U.S. will represent more than 10% of its purchases 12 months from now.

First US utility seeks permit for a small nuclear reactor

For the first time in the United States, a utility is asking federal regulators for a permit to build a small nuclear reactor. The nation's largest public power company, the Tennessee Valley Authority, announced Tuesday it submitted a construction permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a small, modular nuclear reactor.

US egg prices fall for the first time in months but remain near record highs

U.S. retail egg prices fell in April from the record-high prices they hit earlier this year, according to government data released Tuesday.

China's exports to US sink, offset by trade with other economies, as US tariffs hit global trade

China’s exports to the United States tumbled in April while its trade with other economies surged, suggesting that President Donald Trump's tariffs offensive is hastening a shakeup in global supply chains.

Top US officials will meet with Chinese delegation in Switzerland in first major talks since new tariffs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top U.S. officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland in the first major talks between the two nations since President Donald Trump announced stiff tariffs on imports.
Sports
Washington Nationals' Dylan Crews hits a solo home run off Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider during the second inning in Washington, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

Rookie Dylan Crews hits tiebreaking HR before leaving game as Nationals top Braves 5-3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rookie Dylan Crews hit a tiebreaking home run in the second inning before leaving the game in the sixth as the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 on Tuesday night. Crews, the second overall pick in the 2023 MLB amateur draft, hit a solo shot with two out in the second inning off Atlanta ace Spencer Strider that snapped a 3-all tie.

Marcell Ozuna homers for second straight day, and Braves beat Red Sox 10-4 for series win

BOSTON (AP) — Marcell Ozuna homered for the second straight day, former Boston outfielder Alex Verdugo had three hits, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Red Sox 10-4 on Sunday to win the three-game series.

Devers homers in 9th to give Red Sox 7-6 win over Braves

BOSTON (AP) — Rafael Devers homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning against Pierce Johnson, giving the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 comeback win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night that snapped their four-game losing streak.

Chris Sale strikes out 8 and leads the Braves to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox

BOSTON (AP) — Chris Sale struck out eight and pitched seven innings of one-run ball Friday night, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.