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.

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. (AP) — Barely a week after floodwaters swept downtown and left a foot of mud and twisted, gutted buildings along Main Street, an incongruous sight appeared: A flashing sign declaring JR’s Barber Shop “OPEN.” As National Guard troops patrolled outside and volunteers on backhoes mounded up debris, J.R. Collins stood behind his barber chair, giving a touchup to one of his regulars. Like most in Fleming-Neon, Collins comes from a family built on mining — both his grandfathers worked in coal — and he has stayed in the close-knit town even as the industry shrank and others fled. Those who remain are determined to prove their community is about more than coal.

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.

PRESTONBURG, Ky. (AP) — Some residents of Appalachia returned to flood-ravaged homes and communities on Saturday to shovel mud and debris and to salvage what they could. Meanwhile, Kentucky's governor said search and rescue operations were ongoing in the region swamped by torrential rains days earlier that led to flash flooding that killed at least 25 people, including four children.

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 …

DULUTH, Ga. – Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief crews are awaiting the nod to head to the Kentucky mountains to assist residents with what’s being described as some of the worst flooding the region has ever experienced. Heavy rains triggered flash flooding that inundated homes, sweeping some from the foundations, as first responders rescued people stranded on rooftops.

DULUTH, Ga. – Former Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter Jr. will be one of the featured speakers at this year’s SPARK church strengthening conference. The fiery pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, Luter was the first African American elected SBC president and, a decade later, remains a sought-after preacher at church conferences across the nation.

NASHVILLE — In 28 years with the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, Lynn Richmond has had several job titles, but she has never changed positions.  During those 28 years, Richmond worked behind the scenes in planning and making sure the SBC annual meetings took place without a hitch.

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – Folks in Shane Dixon’s life group at First Baptist Church in Peachtree City knew something was wrong because he and his wife, Jenny, weren’t showing up for their weekly get-togethers. Turned out their nearly 20-year-old car had broken down again, and his government disability check just wasn’t enough to purchase a new one.