SUMMERVILLE, Ga. – Residents of flood-ravaged northwest Georgia won’t have to worry about food or water in the aftermath of last weekend’s severe storms. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers have set up a mobile kitchen with the capacity to serve 3,000 meals a day and they're distributing truckloads of bottled water.

VALDOSTA, Ga. – People who know Jeanette Coody describe her as a charming and self-assured lady with an unflinching commitment when it comes to matters of faith. The Georgia woman who turns 100 on September 19 hasn’t missed Sunday school since she first started attending a class she organized at age 17. “I said, ‘God, if you will allow me to start this program, I will be faithful to it,’” she said. “And I have been.”

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian chief predicts at least a billion dollars will be needed urgently to avert famine in Somalia. The Horn of Africa has seen four straight failed rainy seasons for the first time in over half a century, endangering an estimated 20 million people in one of the world’s most impoverished and turbulent regions.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency has rushed in more desperately needed aid to flood-stricken Pakistan as the nation’s prime minister traveled to the south where rising waters of Lake Manchar pose a new threat. Two UNHCR planes touched down on Monday in the southern port city of Karachi and two more were expected later in the day. A third plane, with aid from Turkmenistan also landed in Karachi.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The United Nations says “famine is at the door” in Somalia with “concrete indications” famine will occur later this year in the southern Bay region. This falls just short of a formal famine declaration in Somalia as thousands are dying in a historic drought made worse by the effects of the war in Ukraine.

SUMMERVILLE, Ga. — Georgia Baptists were dispatching trucks loaded with bottled water on Sunday after heavy rain caused flash flooding in the state's northwestern region, and Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief crews stood ready to deploy if requested by local authorities. Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Sunday afternoon in Chattooga and Floyd Counties, a necessary first step to funneling state resources to help communities recover.

DULUTH, Ga. – The Georgia Baptist Mission Board will be offering training on Sept. 17 for people who want to get involved with the state’s Disaster Relief ministry. “This is a ministry that allows Georgia Baptists to truly bring help, hope and healing to the hurting,” said Dwain Carter, the state Mission Board’s Disaster Relief director. “It deploys teams of volunteers into disaster zones after tornados, hurricanes, floods, famines, or any other kind of calamity that negatively impacts lives.”

GRAND BLANC, Mich. (BP) – Rick and Cindy Truesdail’s retirements a few years ago came with plans. They took their camper and drove to Florida, setting up close to the beach. The couple …

DULUTH, Ga. – With the pandemic subsiding and worship attendance on the rise, churches are poised to potentially top the $1.25 million given last year through the Mission Georgia offering. Congregations are gearing up to receive special offerings for Mission Georgia during September, the month designated by the Georgia Baptist Convention for that purpose.

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.