MAY 2021
In this edition:
  • Dr. Mac's Minute: What Will You Do?
  • Youth Camp in Crystal Springs
  • Joann Liddell to begin as ministry assistant
  • Memorial service for Wilbert Robertson
  • Cascade Road honors Harold Heiney
  • How does the Cooperative Program work?
  • Timing proves critical to sharing gospel with refugees
Dr. Mac's Minute
Youth Camp returns to Crystal Springs in June; online registration open

Campfires, stars, memorable songs. It's summer camp! Mark your calendars for June 7-11 because it’s that time again!Camp will return once again to Crystal Springs, North Dakota, after a one-year virtual hiatus. Last year’s camp was held via Zoom. 

This year’s theme is, “Let Go.” The camp will look at the idea of letting go of the past and what that means through God’s eyes. We have always been told not to burn our bridges behind us, but when it comes to leaving our sin, we can't light them up fast enough! Campers will be challenged to let go of their past and their sins and look ahead to Jesus.

Camp pastor this year will be Chris Wallace, pastor at Hope City Church in Bismarck. Todd Fuehrer, pastor at The Gathering Place in Bismarck/Mandan will lead worship.

Rumor has it that camp will kick off with some kind of race that has been labeled "Amazing!" Other activities will include the high ropes course, water activities, roller skating, and other great camp fun.

Camp registration is open for students and leaders at the DBC website,  https://dakotabaptist.com/event/youth-camp-2021/.
Early bird registration is $195 and runs through May 13. After that registration returns to the regular pricing of $210.
DBC welcomes Joann Liddell as new ministry assistant this month

Joann Liddell will join the Dakota Baptist staff on May 10 as the new ministry assistant. Joann has served for the last four years as clearinghouse coordinator for Love, Inc. in Howell, MI and the previous eleven years as the office administrator for First Baptist Church in Flushing, MI.

Joann and her husband Gary are moving to Rapid City, where Gary will be a pastoral intern at Redeeming Grace Church. The Liddells have been married for 34 years and have three grown children. Joann said she enjoys reading, hiking, kayaking, and biking.

Stop by the DBC office sometime when you are in the area and welcome Joann to the DBC family.

Memorial Service for Wilbert Robertson
Wilbert Robertson will be remembered in a memorial service at Dakota Baptist Church in Fort Totten, ND, on Monday, May 3. The service will be at 10:30 (CT). Robertson, one of the most respected voices in the First Nations Association and the DBC, gave his life to the Lord while stationed with the Air Force in Thailand. His first pastorate began in 1972 at the Standing Rock Bible Church in McLaughlin. In the years to follow, he and Judy planted First Baptist Church in Sisseton, Dakota Baptist Church in Fort Totten, and Bethany Baptist Church in Lake Traverse. Wilbert was also active in his community, serving as a tribal judge and district chairman for the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribe. He was born in Fort Totten in 1934 and went home to be with Jesus on November 25 of last year.
Cascade Road Honors Harold Heiney
Cascade Road Baptist Church in Hot Springs celebrated the 88th birthday of Harold Heiney on Sunday, April 25. Harold retired to Buffalo Gap and eventually Hot Springs several years ago after serving from 1951-1994 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for more than four decades. The special celebration was held on Cooperative Program Sunday and Harold took the opportunity to express appreciation to the church. He told the congregation that while they were giving to CP,
“you were supporting Delores and me for 43 years.”
HOW DOES THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM WORK?

NoteReprinted from the Southern Baptist Executive Committee website. For more information and resources go to their website, www.sbc.net

What is the Cooperative Program?
 The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists’ unified plan of giving through which cooperating Southern Baptist churches give a percentage of their undesignated receipts in support of their respective state convention and the Southern Baptist Convention missions and ministries.

How Does The Cooperative Program Work? 
It begins with you… You give yourself first to God (II Cor. 8:5). Next, out of gratitude and obedience to God for what He has done for you, you commit to give back to Him, through your church, a portion of what He provides. This is commonly called a tithe and represents ten percent of your income (Lev. 27:30Mal. 3:10).
Your Church… decides the next step. Every year your church prayerfully decides how much of its undesignated gifts will be committed to reaching people in your state and around the world through The Cooperative Program. This amount is then forwarded to your State Baptist Convention.
Messengers at the State Convention Annual Meetings… from your church and other churches across the state decide what percentage of Cooperative Program gifts contributed by local congregations stay in your state to support local missions and ministries. The percentage to be forwarded to the SBC for North American and international missions and ministries is also determined at this time.
Messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting… from across the country decide how the gifts received from the states will be distributed among SBC entities. These gifts are used by SBC entities to send and support missionaries, train pastors, and other ministry leaders; provide relief for retired ministers and widows; and address social, moral, and ethical concerns relating to our faith and families.
The bottom line – people around the world hear the gospel and receive Christ!
Why Southern Baptists embrace the Cooperative Program
1) It presents a unified and comprehensive budget, throwing a funding blanket over statewide, national and international missions and ministries.
2) It provides a long‐term sustainability for our entities. When a church makes their missions giving as a percentage of their church budgets, it provide consistency and stability.
3) It adheres to our long term Baptist principle that “we can do more together than alone.”
4) The Cooperative Program mitigates competition between entities thereby allowing a balanced Acts 1:8 Strategy.
5) It levels the playing field and makes a place at the table for small and ethnic churches. Every church can stand hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, on level ground, as partners in the gospel (large churches, small churches, new churches, growing churches, graying churches, and ethnic churches).

The History of the Cooperative Program
Since its inception in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has always had one mission —the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). To fulfill its assigned part of this divine mandate, each SBC entity made special offering appeals to the churches. This method was referred to as the “societal” approach to missions and resulted in severe financial deficits, competition among entities, overlapping pledge campaigns, and frequent emergency appeals which greatly hampered the expanding ministry opportunities God was giving Southern Baptist. Some entities took out loans to cover operating costs until pledges or special offerings were received.
In 1919, the leaders of the SBC proposed the 75 Million Campaign, a five‐year pledge campaign that, for the first time, included everything – the missions and ministries of all the state conventions as well as that of the Southern Baptist Convention. Though falling short of its goals, a God‐given partnership of missions support was conceived – The Cooperative Program. Since its launch in 1925, the effectiveness of the Cooperative Program has been dependent upon individuals, churches, state conventions, and SBC entities cooperating, working toward a common goal of sharing the gospel with every person on the planet.
Timing proves critical to sharing Gospel with refugees

ATHENS (BP) - Time is never a guarantee when Christians meet a refugee in Greece. They may have years, months, weeks or just hours to share the hope that is found in Jesus. This is why International Mission Board missionaries and ministry...

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