Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists — September 23, 2026 | | Let's celebrate baptisms together | | |
Eddy Pearson, AZMN evangelism and discipleship director, and Ashley Evans, AZMN missional engagement director, share about a statewide opportunity to celebrate baptisms together during an upcoming Baptism Sunday.
We'd also love to see your 2026 baptism photos and videos! Share your photos and/or videos at azmn.link/BaptismPhotos, and we’ll compile them to showcase how God is changing lives in churches all over Arizona. We’ll share these photos and videos at our annual meeting, online and in a variety of ways, so please make sure you have the permission of the people featured before you submit any media, including parent or guardian permission for photos and videos of minors. Please submit all media by November 2.
| | There's still time to participate in the Arizona Mission Offering! | | |
For the last two months, our network has rallied to receive the Arizona Mission Offering — and there's still time to participate!
Together, we aim to raise $225,000 to support seven ministries that make a big impact in our state. They are:
- Disaster Relief
- Planting Churches
- Zona Youth Camp
- Christian Challenge
- Hispanic Ministries
- Ministers in Crisis
- Associational Collaborations
We have lots of resources you can utilize as you promote the offering at your church. You can find a social media kit, a promotional video, bulletin inserts, posters and more at azmn.org/amo-resources.
Give through your church or online at azmn.org/amo.
Thanks for supporting these impactful ministries!
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From cooking to communications, this Disaster Relief volunteer makes Jesus known
God called Marie Godfrey to Arizona Disaster Relief while she was standing in the lobby of a church after a moving sermon. Her prayer was simple: “Here I am. Lord, send me.”
“That’s when He put DR in front of me,” she said.
Since 2017, Godfrey and her husband Jim have faithfully served Arizona Disaster Relief.
She coordinates callout notifications and makes sure volunteers have up-to-date medical information and liability release forms and that team leaders have their team’s information before they head out. She is also one of the lead cooks for the feeding teams and assists the Command Center.
“It fills my heart to be able to come alongside somebody who’s gone through a disaster, being able to just love on them and help them to at least see the light," she said. "We need to be representing Jesus. We need to be like Him; we are His hands and feet.”
Read the full story
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Arizona Mission Offering funds renovate church building for Set Free ministry
James Romero was called to start Set Free Church of Vicksburg, located between Quartzsite and Wickenburg, to help people who want a life change.
The River Valley Baptist Association (RVBA) had previously been given a church building in Vicksburg — perfect for a new church. But the building needed several improvements before it could be used for services and programs.
And since Set Free houses people in transition, the building needed to be habitable.
Thanks to the financial and physical generosity of the River Valley Baptist Association and Arizona churches through the Arizona Mission Offering, God was faithful to meet this need.
“Without the AMO grant, getting the building ready for ministry would have been impossible,” said Bruce Cannon, the associational mission strategist for the association. “The RVBA didn’t have enough funds to get the place ready. Work couldn’t have even started without the AMO."
Read the full story
| | Redeemed: Unity reminds students their stories aren’t finished | | |
For two days, students from Hispanic churches across Arizona filled Tierra Fértil in Yuma with worship, laughter, honest questions and one word: Redeemed.
The theme of Unity Conference 2026, held Aug. 28-29 through Hispanic Ministries of the Arizona Mission Network, followed students from the main sessions to workshops on identity, worship, Christian relationships and calling. But rather than treating redemption as something that happens once, speakers challenged students to consider what happens when Jesus begins restoring every part of a person’s life.
For guest speaker John Pope, pastor of Mosaic Church in Mesa, that included the complicated question of identity.
Pope spoke directly to young people who regularly navigate different worlds — grandparents or parents who grew up in another country, friends and school in the United States, one kind of music at church and another in the car.
“You’re not less Latino, you’re just more Christian,” Pope told students.
Teaching from Isaiah 61, Pope described Jesus as the Anointed One who takes what has been broken and restores it. Using the passage’s image of “oaks of righteousness,” he reminded students that restoration isn’t always instant.
“Oaks don’t grow fast,” Pope said.
In a world accustomed to Tik Tok, Instagram and Amazon-speed results, he encouraged students to pursue a faith that grows consistently and becomes strong enough to help others flourish.
Read the full story
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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
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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
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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
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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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Brian Hawkins
September 13-19
The Hawkins family — Brian, Kati, Madalyn and Winston — sold everything and left their comfortable life behind to go where the Lord was leading. Eventually, it became clear that His call for them was to reach the West with Christ. God invited the Hawkinses to join Him in Cottonwood, Arizona. Today they are planting Valley Life Church, Cottonwood. Valley Life’s mission is to give God glory by making disciples and planting churches. “Through intentional ministry, Valley Life intends to make so many disciples that the entire Verde Valley becomes more undeniably Christian,” shares Pastor Brian. “We are excited about the work God is doing in the Verde Valley and know that it will be much more than we could ever ask or imagine.”
How to Pray
- For the Lord’s will to be done in the Verde Valley and for more to join the work in Cottonwood.
- That God would raise up more men to lead, plant and replant churches in northern Arizona.
- Please pray Colossians 1:9-14 for the Hawkins family.
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Skip and Kathy Ford*
September 20-26
Skip and Kathy serve as Church Planting Catalysts in the U.K. (London) reaching the Chinese Diaspora. Their ministry involves evangelistic outreach, discipleship, equipping, mobilizing and church planting. Skip is from Phoenix and Kathy, born in Taipei, Taiwan, was adopted by an American military family and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. They have two teenage daughters who have grown up in Asia (where Skip and Kathy served as IMB missionaries for 25 years) and the U.K. (where they have now served for the past five years).
How to Pray
- For Skip and Kathy’s daughters to excel in their major exams and finish high school well, and then for the girls’ transition and adjustment to life in the US — may they have an ever-growing dependence on Him and experience a smooth adjustment.
- For the Father to raise up more Chinese, U.K. and U.S. partners to join the Fords for outreach, discipleship and equipping.
- For the deepening of Skip and Kathy’s relationships with all of their local partners and for opportunities to collaborate in ministry together.
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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.
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| Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists | azmn.org | | | | |
