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Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists — October 7, 2026

This giving season, the Arizona Mission Network is partnering with Send Relief for Clean Water, Clear Hope, a project that will help provide safe water and open doors for the gospel to people in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

Around the world, many families lack reliable safe water, which can cause health issues, school absences, income loss and many other challenges.

For just $25, families in your church can help provide a ceramic water filter for a family who needs it. Each gift also creates an opportunity for local churches and missionaries to tell that family about the Living Water — Jesus Christ.

Each family that gives will also receive a mini bucket (while supplies last) that represents the 5-gallon buckets used with the filters. Each mini bucket also includes access to a five-day family devotional that will engage kids with the mission.

Together, we hope to distribute 5,000 mini buckets across our state, with each bucket representing $25 given toward clean water.

Pastors, you can request your church's mini buckets and learn more about how to participate at azmn.org/CleanWater.

In 2024, Arizona missionaries Chris and Amy saw how a simple water filter could impact a whole family.

While serving as missionaries in Sub-Saharan Africa, they partnered with a school in northern Tanzania on a clean water project.

They provided water filters to households with children who regularly missed school because of gastrointestinal issues often related to unsanitary water.

When they checked with the school four months later, they learned children living in households that had received a water filter now had no school absences.

Clean water matters.

Fast forward to 2025 and the largest offering on record at Zona Camp. Chris and Amy brought a filter to demonstrate how it worked, and students collected more than $11,900 to purchase about 500 water filters.

That overwhelming response got AZMN Executive Director Monty Patton thinking about the even greater impact Arizona churches could have partnering together, alongside Send Relief and the International Mission Board.

"This is a pilot for IMB for the nation,” Patton said of the project.

4 church growth takeaways from the What Next? Conference

On Thursday, Sept. 24, about 60 pastors and church leaders from around Arizona gathered to discuss practical next steps to overcome barriers and lead their churches into the next stage of growth.

Three Arizona pastors facilitated the conversation. Chad Garrison, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Lake Havasu City; Mark Martin, pastor of CalvaryPHX in Phoenix; and Billy VanCamp, pastor of Heart Cry Church in Queen Creek, set the stage for table discussions by sharing their own journeys.

Here are four practical takeaways for church leaders from that conference.

1. Growth requires honest conversations.

Church leaders need places where they can openly discuss challenges without pretending they have everything figured out. As Garrison noted, “It’s important for pastors not to chase numbers.” The conversational format created space for pastors to learn from both successes and struggles by speaking openly and honestly with each other.

2. The next step is often more practical than it is complicated.

Rather than searching for a single program or strategy to solve every problem, leaders were encouraged to identify practical actions that can move their churches forward. As Martin noted, it’s important for each pastor to keep his eyes on his own race and not focus on the success that other pastors are experiencing, because every pastor, calling and church is different.

3. Other pastors can be a valuable source of wisdom.

One of the strengths of the conference was the opportunity to learn from peers. Pastors facing similar challenges can often provide perspective, encouragement and ideas that cannot be found in a textbook or seminar. VanCamp encouraged pastors to visualize the task to which they are called, vocalize that vision to others and verify what the Lord is doing in their ministry.

4. Every church needs to ask, “What next?”

Church growth is not simply about getting bigger. It is about faithfully leading people toward greater spiritual maturity and missional engagement, which requires church leaders to continually evaluate where they are and prayerfully consider the next faithful step. As Garrison noted, the typical church is structured for where it is now. If it desires growth, it needs to want to grow, and it needs to expand its capacity to grow.

Read the full story

A sold-out Arise AZ encourages 850 women to live unafraid

About 850 women from across Arizona and several other states attended the seventh annual Arise AZ conference held in Sedona.

At Arise this year, at least eight women trusted in Christ for salvation and many others received prayer and encouragement and experienced a renewal of faith.The conference also raised more than $7,250 for the foster care ministry at Arizona Baptist Children’s Services.

“This year, God moved in a way that He hasn’t in years past,” said Shannon Jennings, the chair of the Arise planning team, in an email. “It seems like ladies felt the need and freedom to lay their burdens at the foot of the cross and offer opportunity for other ladies to walk beside them in their heartbreak and sin. This conference is not just about numbers … it is about life change and how the gospel goes in 850 different directions when Arise ends.”

Read the full story

Women's Ministry Essentials

Phoenix, Oct. 8

This free, one-day event hosted by Lifeway Women's training team is for women's ministry leaders. Leaders will be equipped to develop a ministry vision, assess their current ministry plan and understand what a healthy women's ministry looks like.

Register here

Workshop on Biblical Exposition

Paradise Valley, Oct. 14-16

This three-day training will encourage and equip pastors in the skills needed to read, understand and proclaim the Word of God. This year's workshop will focus on Preaching Wisdom Literature.

Register here

Send Network One Day

Queen Creek, Nov. 11

To help answer the Four Questions — Who’s Your One?, Who’s Your Next?, Where’s Your Next? and How Can You Help? — we are partnering with Send Network for a Send Network One Day event the Wednesday before our annual convention. Send Network One Day is a local, one-day event designed to inspire and equip believers to take the next step in God’s mission.

Register here

ASBC Annual Meeting

Queen Creek, Nov. 12

Join the Arizona Mission Network family for the annual meeting. The ministry fair and business session will be the morning of Thursday, Nov. 12. The Connect Conference will take place in the afternoon and will feature a message from Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board.

Get more details here

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Learn More and Share

These prayer profiles are excerpted from the 2026 Missions Prayer Guide, which features Arizonans whose ministries in our state and overseas are supported by your church's gifts through the Cooperative Program. Read more about the individuals and share with your church by downloading bulletin inserts and presentation slides here. Download the 2026 Missions Prayer Guide or request printed copies for you or your church here.