Humbled by Compassion of Baptist
Brothers & Sisters
by Jim Hill, Executive Director
In July, I had the privilege of joining three others, Forestal Lawton, our president, Doyle Sager, and Brian Kaylor, representing Churchnet at the Annual Gathering of the Baptist World Alliance in Vancouver, Canada. I serve on the General Council and on a couple of committees. The Baptist World Alliance consists of the 228 conventions and unions from 121 countries and territories that come together to worship, plan, and learn together. It is a wonderful collaboration which comprises 42 million members in 177,000 churches in six regional fellowships. These regional fellowships include: All Africa Baptist Fellowship, Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, Caribbean Baptist Fellowship, European Baptist Federation, North American Baptist Fellowship, and Union of Baptists in Latin America.
I completed four years serving as president of the North American Baptist Fellowship at this Annual Gathering. Rev. Samuel Tolbert, President of the National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc., was elected as our new president, and Elijah Brown was elected as our new General Secretary replacing George Bullard.
In addition to my other responsibilities with the BWA, I also serve on the Racial and Gender Justice Commission. Each of the BWA commissions meet for several sessions during the Annual Gathering. This year my commission was focused on the global refugee crisis, which represents almost 65 million refugees. We heard presentation regarding several refugee situations on multiple continents. Each of the presentations and discussions were powerful, but a report by the European Baptist Federation on the Syrian refugee crisis was incredibly moving.
Baptists in multiple countries across Europe have been living out the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger in powerful ways. We heard representatives share how the churches have viewed the crisis as an opportunity to minister to human needs and share the gospel. We heard how sometimes Muslim refugees have come to churches saying, “We have been helped all along our journey by Christians, and we want to know more about your faith.” One pastor shared how his congregation discussed the possible dangers involved in welcoming the refugees including the possibility of a terrorist coming into their country, but they ultimately decided they were not going to allow their fears to keep them
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