Baptist Press Stories for Apr. 25 2012 --------------------------------------- Brief kidnapping prompts teen's attentiveness to hurting people http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37687 Bombings in Nigeria continue against Christians http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37690 Calvinism conf. with SBC leaders coming to Ky. http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37691 WMU introduces new trademark & tagline http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37692 Jazz drummer trains musical 'chameleons' http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37686 FROM THE COLLEGES: Union, N. Greenville, Louisiana College http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37689 FIRST-PERSON: Remembering Chuck Colson, the church member http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37688 --------------------------------------- Brief kidnapping prompts teen's attentiveness to hurting people By Jennifer Waldrep Apr. 25 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37687 GUATEMALA CITY (BP) -- Bethani Thomas opened the gate so her mom could pull their car into the guesthouse driveway. Suddenly, she realized that a gun was pointed at her head. Her mom, International Mission Board missionary Karen Thomas, screamed from the driver's seat as she scuffled with another assailant trying to steal the car. Bethani, then 13, bolted toward the vehicle to try to help. [IMG=32493@right@250]"Mom, it's gonna be OK. God is with us," Bethani said as she scrambled into the vehicle with the gunman in pursuit. As Karen tried to fight off the carjacker, he shoved her out the door. With Bethani inside, the thugs peeled away as Karen crumpled onto the concrete. "They've got my daughter!" Karen screamed. As the car sped away into the Guatemala City night, two Bible lessons popped into Bethani's head. "Paul and Job. They had nothing and, yet, they were praising God," Bethani recalled. "Those [stories] were real comforts. I started praying and singing." Bethani listened closely to the carjackers' conversation. They were cousins. The driver was nervous. The other cousin had been roped into the crime while visiting from New York. He wanted to keep things from escalating. Struggling to stay calm, Bethani insisted the New Yorker stop cussing, even lecturing him about his involvement in the carjacking. Meanwhile, Karen and her husband Jeff remembered the phone in Karen's purse in the car. Jeff called the number; the driver answered. Jeff asked to speak with Bethani. The carjacker refused but briefly held the phone toward her face. "Dad, I love you!" Bethani called out. The realization gripped Jeff: "These might be the last words I hear from her." Jeff eventually convinced the driver to release Bethani. Within the hour, the cousins dropped her off, unharmed, on the side of a busy thoroughfare. She crossed several lanes of traffic and walked toward a fast food restaurant. But her nightmare wasn't over. "They just took my car! I was kidnapped!" she told a guard at the restaurant entrance. The guard didn't believe her and refused to let her use the phone to call her parents. Diners inside the restaurant looked askance at her. "Does anyone even care?" she thought. "Does anyone see what's going on -- this huge thing that's happened in my life?" Bethani noticed a man nearby talking on the phone. He ended his call with "God bless you." The man saw her and asked if she was all right. Bethani told him what happened. "What can I do?" he asked. The man, a pastor, helped Bethani call her dad. "Dad, this is a good man," Bethani began by saying. Later when she was reunited with her family, "the first thing I saw was my dad trying to run to me," which was especially poignant since her father has muscular dystrophy and has difficulty walking -- let alone running. Bethani was touched, too, when she arrived back at the guesthouse where her family was staying while visiting Guatemala City. Almost all the IMB missionaries in the city had gathered there. That night "the mission family became my family," Bethani said. Bethani didn't suffer nightmares or become fearful following the ordeal. Instead, she began to worry about the safety of strangers. The trauma of being held hostage in public with no one "seeing" her sparked a hyper-vigilance for people she passed on the street. At intersections, Bethani looked inside other cars, trying to discern passengers' safety. "Is she in trouble? ... Can I help her?" she wondered. Over time, that vigilance blossomed into a gift. Today, Bethani has a remarkable capacity to "see" other people and then intervene in their lives, according to her family and friends. For example, after Bethani read a story about sex trafficking, she studied the problem while doing a school paper. She discovered a brothel in the Guatemalan town where her family lives and ministers to a Mayan people group, the Pokomchi, in the nearby highlands. Wanting to reach out to the prostitutes, Bethani convinced a friend and her friend's mother to help. They took care packages to the girls and were able to talk with them when their supervisors were away. They even invited the girls to lunch. Bethani carefully observed the prostitutes and discovered, "They were almost like peers. They were just girls. We're the same; we just lead different lives." Bethani doesn't call the outreach a ministry. "We've got prostitute friends," she says simply. It's been six years since the kidnapping, and Bethani remains keenly aware of what God has taught her through that trial. A freshman at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss., she continues to use the Bible lessons her parents instilled in her since early childhood. Rather than settling into a clique, she looks for lonely people to befriend, especially international students on campus. "I'm a very observant person. It's something from God," Bethani says. She constantly asks herself, "Is there someone around here who needs help in some way?" --30-- Jennifer Waldrep is an International Mission Board missionary in Peru. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -- End of story -- Bombings in Nigeria continue against Christians By Staff/Compass Direct News Apr. 25 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37690 JOS, Nigeria (BP) -- Suspected Islamic extremists attacked a TV viewing center in Jos, Nigeria, April 24, in a Christian area of the city where a crowd had gathered to watch a soccer match. [IMG=32495@right@240]At about 10:15 p.m. at the viewing center, one of many such establishments popular for watching soccer in Nigeria, attackers drove past the site and threw an explosive device at hundreds of Christians watching soccer, eyewitnesses told Compass Direct News. Some 10 minutes after the bombing, security agents evacuated the injured to a nearby hospital. Medical personnel at the hospital were treating at least four people under strict supervision of police and other security agents. Soldiers and police under Nigeria's Joint Military Task Force charged with keeping peace in the country's embattled Plateau state cordoned off the area around the establishment. Authorities have not commented on whether the Islamic sect Boko Haram is responsible for the attack. The bombing marks the second time in two weeks that the Christian area, Tudun Wada, has been attacked. Boko Haram, which seeks to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law) throughout Nigeria, was suspected of a detonating a bomb a few yards from the center during Easter celebrations, injuring five Christians. Various churches in Tudun Wada commonly use the site as a base for evangelistic campaigns. With Christians and Muslims living in close but separate quarters of the Tudun Wada area, the attacks have heightened tensions between the two communities. Eight churches are located in the area -- Christ Way Baptist Church, Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Bishara 2, Angwan Yashi, ECWA Good News Church, Assemblies of God Church, Redeemed Peoples Mission, Solid Rock Church and Deeper Life Bible Church. Last year, suspected Islamic extremists bombed three TV viewing centers in Christian areas near Jos on Dec. 10. A few minutes into a soccer match televised at a viewing center in the village of Ukadum, a bomb went off, killing a 31-year-old man. During the same game, bombs exploded at viewing centers in two other predominantly Christian areas of Jos, injuring at least 10 others, including several who were left critically injured or in a coma. Nigeria's Plateau state has become especially volatile as it lies between the country's predominantly Muslim north and Christian south. Nigeria's population of more than 158.2 million is divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World. The attacks were waged on the heels of a suicide bomber's Easter killing of at least 38 people in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna. Security personnel at a church had blocked the bomber, believed to belong to the Boko Haram sect. The bomber then drove away, detonating his explosives in the street at a nearby motorcycle taxi center, sources told Compass Direct. In addition to those killed, dozens of people were injured. The bombs damaged the buildings of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Good News and All Nations Christian Assembly, besides blasting off roofs from nearby homes and hotels and destroying vehicles. Law enforcement agents believe the ECWA Good News church was the bomber's primary target, a source told Compass. "He tried forcing his way past [the church's security blockade], but the security man stood in between him and the blockade," the source recounted. "He even pushed him a ways before some policemen manning the gate of the church rushed down to the scene. … [T]he police, fully armed, told him to move away. He drove away in a reckless manner. As we were regretting not searching his car, in about four to five minutes, we heard an earth-shaking explosion. The car that exploded was the same car that wanted to enter here." Suspected Boko Haram attacks in the Jos area in February left three worshippers dead at a Church of Christ in Nigeria service and three people dead at a Mass at St. Finbar's Catholic Church, one of the largest Catholic parishes in the city of some 10 million people. Boko Haram (literally "Forbidden Book," translated as "Western education is forbidden") has targeted not only Christians but state offices, law enforcement sites and some moderate mosques in its effort to destabilize the government and impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law) on all of Nigeria. Suspected Islamic extremists also detonated a bomb outside a church building in the city of Suleja in Nigeria's Niger state, in February, two months after a Boko Haram bombing killed 44 Christians and blinded seven on Christmas Day at a church in nearby Madalla. --30-- Adapted from reports by Compass Direct News (www.compassdirect.org), a news service based in Santa Ana, Calif., focusing on Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Used by permission. -- End of story -- Calvinism conf. with SBC leaders coming to Ky. By Michael Foust Apr. 25 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37691 CRESTWOOD, Ky. (BP) -- The Kentucky Baptist Convention will sponsor a conference on Calvinism in August featuring four well-known panelists from divergent viewpoints, and despite its regional sponsorship, the conference likely will get widespread attention throughout the Southern Baptist Convention. [IMG=32498@right@90]The one-day conference, advertised as providing an "objective look at today's most discussed theological issue," will take place Saturday, Aug. 4, at Crestwood Baptist Church in Crestwood, Ky., and will be recorded and posted on the Kentucky Baptist Convention website for usage by those not in attendance. The conference has been titled "Calvinism: Concerned? Curious? Confused?" Speakers are: -- David Dockery, president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn. [IMG=32499@right@90]-- Steve Lemke, provost at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and director of its Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry. -- Frank Page, president of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. -- Hershael York, associate dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. [IMG=32502@right@90]Paul Chitwood, executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, said he hopes the conference will have an impact beyond Kentucky. "My primary goal is to be helpful to our pastors and churches in Kentucky, but my desire would be that the tone we are hoping to set here and the way we're hoping to affect the conversation would spill over and spread beyond Kentucky," he told Baptist Press. [IMG=32501@right@90]In a statement that accompanied an email release, Chitwood said Calvinism "is arguably one of the most-discussed theological issues among Kentucky Baptists and Southern Baptists." "We wanted to provide a forum for an objective exploration of Reformed theology from a panel of speakers with diverse opinions on the topic," he said in the statement. ... Our goal for the event is a discussion that promotes clarity, charity and unity." Chitwood told Baptist Press he has had a desire to launch such a conference since he became executive director last year. "We wanted to do something that will take us from talking at each other to talking with each other," Chitwood said. "I have talked to each one [of the speakers] individually. The desire of each presenter and participant is to be helpful -- to try to build bridges with regard to this issue." Only one of the speakers, York, identifies as a five-point Calvinist, Chitwood said. The conference webpage said other goals of the conference are to: -- "Learn how others have arrived at their perspectives in good faith. -- "Be better prepared to answer questions from church members. -- "Explore ways Southern Baptists can move forward cooperatively despite theological differences." For more information about the conference, visit [URL=http://www.kybaptist.org/calvinism]www.kybaptist.org/calvinism[/URL]. The registration fee is $45, which includes lunch. It will begin at 9 a.m. local time and conclude at 3:30 p.m. Organizers hope to stream it live on the Internet. --30-- Michael Foust is associate editor of Baptist Press. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -- End of story -- WMU introduces new trademark & tagline By Staff Apr. 25 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37692 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- WMU has introduced an updated trademark and a new tagline as key elements for the missions organization's branding. WMU's trademark since 2006 has incorporated the letters WMU with a larger "M" to place emphasis on "missions." The new trademark is an updated version of the original one adopted by WMU in 1913. The original graphic contained a number of elements, including the outline of a fish, an early Christian symbol; a flame or light representing the light of Christ in Christians to lead others to Him and to follow His light into the world; an open Bible representing knowledge of Scripture and teaching missions-related passages; and a globe expressing the idea of an outward focus on the peoples of the world. WMU's new trademark incorporates two elements from the original version: the fish and a stylized circle or world. "The colors of blue and green are fresh and appealing to both genders and, used in a stylized circle, they express the idea of sharing Christ in our world," said Julie Walters, national WMU's communications specialist. "We believe this new graphic celebrates our heritage while embracing today's opportunities by better reflecting the active, friendly, reliable and invested mindset of those involved in global missions through WMU." And missions -- the singular focus of WMU -- is emphasized in the Southern Baptist auxiliary's new tagline, "Missions for Life." "Missions for Life sums up the purpose of WMU in a number of ways," Walters said. "First, it communicates that WMU promotes a lifestyle focused on the mission of God. In addition, the word 'life' is holistic like WMU in that we offer resources for all life stages from preschool to adults that help develop confident missions disciples. Missions is also the pathway for many to hear and learn about Jesus, the giver of eternal life." WMU's tagline since 2005 had been "Change a Life. Change the World." Also known as Woman's Missionary Union, WMU is based in Birmingham, Ala., is on the Web at www.wmu.com. WMU seeks to educate and involve preschoolers, children, youth and adults in the cause of Christian missions. WMU promotes a missional lifestyle through age-level organizations in churches and hands-on mission experiences. --30-- Reported by the communications staff of WMU. -- End of story -- Jazz drummer trains musical 'chameleons' By Benjamin Hawkins Apr. 25 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37686 FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jazz musician Stockton Helbing drums like a chameleon, changing the shades of his style and rhythm for any musical setting. "Every weekend, I'm playing contemporary Christian rock at my church," says Helbing, an artist in residence in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's school of church music. "I may have a recording session earlier in the week where I play country music. I might have a gig where I play big band jazz. I might have a gig with a Brazilian pianist playing traditional Brazilian jazz with brushes. And all of that is a typical week for me." A successful jazz player must have the "chameleonesque ability to blend in with each musical situation," said the 30-something musician whose wide-ranging career has included a February-March tour with Doc Severinsen, former band leader for Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show," and three of his own albums. The most recent, "Battlestations & Escape Plans," is based on a short story Helbing wrote, inspired by one of his ancestors who served as a chaplain and drummer during the Civil War. Yet Helbing also makes time for invitations from colleges and high schools to teach throughout the year. During college, Helbing played big band jazz with the One O'clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas. Upon graduation, jazz legend Maynard Ferguson invited Helbing to go on tour with him and, in time, made him the band's music director -- a rare opportunity for a young drummer. "This was my musical hero," says Helbing, who first became enthralled with jazz when his middle school band director played the song "La Fiesta" from Ferguson's album, "Chameleon." As Ferguson's music director, Helbing not only prepared the band for each performance but he also produced and played in Ferguson's Grammy-nominated album, "The One and Only," which was recorded just a few weeks before the jazz legend's unexpected death in 2006. "It just blows my mind how the Lord gives us unexpected opportunities," Helbing says, who not only started his career by playing with his musical hero but who also met his wife Denise through his work with Ferguson. Through these experiences, Helbing has learned that musical success comes through service. A successful jazz musician, he says, must play his own instrument with excellence but he must also have the ability to complement others to make them sound better. "Often it is not how much we play. It is how little we play, how appropriate what we play is," Helbing says. "If you want to play in an excellent fashion and make the music excellent, and not just yourself, you are willing to do the small things," he says, "which I think is clearly what we learn in our Christian lives. "We need to be humble. We need to be servants to others." As music director at Grace Fellowship Church in Paradise, Texas, Helbing applies the principles of successful jazz to contemporary worship music, and at Southwestern Seminary he teaches students to do the same. He also serves during the seminary's spring Youth Ministry Lab, helping young musicians enhance their musical abilities for God's glory. While Helbing has always sought to be a witness for the Gospel in the secular jazz world, he is excited to help students understand "how to be successful in playing music that helps others come closer to God through praise and worship." As in jazz, he says, contemporary worship music requires "a great deal of on-the-fly interpretation" and "split-second decision-making" as well as the ability to adapt to any musical setting in order to improve the music. Southwestern students who study jazz, Helbing says, gain the ability to "musically minister in any environment," whether they serve at mega-churches with full bands and vast resources or at churches of 20 people with only two musicians. Like musical chameleons, they learn to blend with any worship setting. "I do feel confident that we are seeing growth in these students," Helbing says, "and seeing them excited and energized, armed with an education that will prepare them for any musical eventuality they are going to encounter in the ministry." --30-- Benjamin Hawkins is senior news writer for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas (www.swbts.edu/campusnews). -- End of story -- FROM THE COLLEGES: Union, N. Greenville, Louisiana College By Staff Apr. 25 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37689 EDITOR'S NOTE: "From the Colleges" includes news releases of interest as written and edited from Southern Baptist-affiliated universities and colleges or state Baptist newsjournals. Today's From the Colleges includes: Union University North Greenville University Louisiana College (from the Louisiana Baptist Message) God and the Cosmos' by Union's Poe, Davis released By Whitney Jones JACKSON, Tenn. (Union University)--Professors Hal Poe and Jimmy Davis of Union University have published their fourth book together -- "God and the Cosmos: Divine Activity in Space, Time and History" -- further explaining the connection between faith and science. Davis, vice president for Union's regional campus at Germantown, Tenn., and university professor of chemistry, said the book, which was released in February, deals with issues brought up by new atheists and explains how God is involved in the universe and modern science. "The nature that has been discovered by modern science reveals a universe that is open to activity and open to God," Davis said. "It is not a closed system as some new atheists propose, and that activity is reflected in the findings of science." Poe, Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture at Union's main campus in Jackson, Tenn., said the fact that people are able to manipulate science, whether it is transplanting a human heart or flying through the air, shows the universe is open to human involvement. He added that if people are able to intervene, then God is as well. "The more we do the more we realize the universe has every sign of being designed specifically to allow intelligent beings to monkey with it, and we're simply saying that God is able to do at least as much as we can and more," he said. "If we are free to carry out science, which is interference, intervention in the laws of nature… then there's no logical reason why God cannot be involved in the universe." Davis said the biggest obstacle in writing "God and the Cosmos" with Poe was articulating the ideas in a scholarly way in the time period they were given. The two professors spent four years writing and researching, and during that time both dealt with significant illnesses, which Davis said made working on the book a long process. Robert C. Fay, professor emeritus of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University, called the book a "wide-ranging, engaging and insightful study." "[Poe and Davis] argue that fine-tuning in cosmology, quantum phenomena and chaotic systems in physics, epigenetics in biology and the imaginative capabilities of the human person point to an open universe that invites interaction with cognitive agents, including God," Fay said. "Their valuable study is rooted in a healthy respect for mainstream science and a solid knowledge of the biblical text." Poe said he and Davis wrote the book because they wanted to find and explain clues that showed God's involvement and how modern science actually points to that intervention. "What we were doing was showing that at every level of the universe there is -- from the sub-atomic to molecules to cells to human life to human history -- that at every level of organization, the universe is open to involvement," Poe said. Other books co-written by Poe and Davis have discussed the role of faith and science in the origin of the universe, the source of humanity and the evidence of a universe designed by God. Published by IVP Academic, "God and the Cosmos" is available for purchase at LifeWay Christian Stores or at online retailers such as Amazon.com. (Whitney Jones is a senior journalism major at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.) ********** North Greenville biology mission trip to India plants life-giving seeds By Rae Toadvine TIGERVILLE, S.C. (North Greenville University)--While most North Greenville University students were at home spending time with family and friends, a group of students and professors from the NGU biology department were in India in December, working to help change the lives of thousands. The 17-day trip was the biology department's first mission trip, but according to lead researcher Christina Eddy, associate professor of biology, the trip had been in the works for years. "I've worked here seven years, and I was praying about combining missions and research since before I accepted the job," Eddy said. Eddy found a way to combine two important aspects of her life three years ago when a missionary came and spoke at her church, sharing the news of what is known as the "miracle tree." Eddy was intrigued by the "miracle tree" and immediately began her own research. The Moringa tree is an easily grown, drought-resistant plant native to India. It is valued for its leaves, which are nutritious. In comparisons based on weight, the leaves contain two times the protein of yogurt, three times the potassium of bananas, four times the vitamin A of carrots, four times the calcium of milk, and seven times the vitamin C of oranges. The missionary who shared about the plant at Eddy's church was in the process of taking the tree to Africa to battle malnutrition. But once Eddy began researching the tree, she found another use. "What I found that's even more amazing is that the seeds of the Moringa have water-purifying capabilities," she said. For the past three years, Eddy and NGU students have been developing faster and easier methods to purify water using the Moringa seed. "We started to work on it, and I continued to pray about it," said Eddy. The trip began to fall into place when Eddy's pastor and India native Suyash Raiborde and his family got U.S. identity cards, which licensed them to take mission groups back to India. Along with Eddy, Raiborde and his wife organized the trip as an opportunity for students and professors to research the Moringa — while also sharing the love of Christ. Eddy's dream, years in the making, came to fruition on Dec. 7, when the group of 15 headed to India. Of the 15 team members, seven were NGU research students. The team spent the 17-day trip studying the seed and demonstrating its water-purifying capabilities to a local Hindu village. "I wanted to use [the Moringa seed] in an area where there was no sort of clean water, not even running water," Eddy explained. The team's main objective was to show the villagers how to purify water and, in so doing, show them Christ. When the team arrived, the villagers were living on river water much dirtier than what most Americans can begin to imagine. Though not ignorant of the benefits of clean water, the villagers were unconcerned about the state of their water. One even remarked, "These people came all the way from the United States just to show us how to clean water?" The group learned three Christian songs that they could perform for locals in the Hindu language. Once the people realized that they were being sung Christian songs, the mood changed completely. "They were just about as interested in Christianity as they were in clean water," Eddy said. When the team departed, they left the villagers with the ability to purify water and with the good news of Christ. Research student and mission member Jessica Frasure, a junior biology major from Fort Mill, reflected on the impact of the trip. "I look at it now as more of a life-changing effect," Frasure said, "seeing how [the seed] can change the lives of the people and seeing how it can affect them personally. There's a Moringa tree in the heart of the village, and I think as they see it, they'll think about what we showed them." Eddy hopes that with time, the villagers will accept the need for clean water -- and for Christ. "I hope that eventually they use the clean water and realize that the people who showed it to them were Christians." Eddy has plans for another project in the near future. The Moringa seed can also desalinate water. Since well water in India is too salty to drink or cook with, Eddy is planning to develop the third use of the Moringa. The protocol for desalinization with the Moringa seed is different than the protocol for purifying, which means that the biology department already has another mission project in the works. (Rae Toadvine is a senior broadcast major at North Greenville University.) ********** Louisiana College, Korean official explore exchange agreement By Karen L. Willougby PINEVILLE, La. (Louisiana Baptist Message)--Soccer players David Kam and Youngsup "Ron" Soh until recently were the only South Korean students at Louisiana College. But in early February they were joined by 18 high school students and three teachers from South Korea, on campus for three weeks to practice their English and experience an American college. On Feb. 13, they were joined by Man Chai Chang, governor of education in southwest South Korea. "It was in God's plan for these students to be here at the same time as the South Korean education governor," said Justin McCain, Louisiana College's director of international students. "It brought about a great opportunity for these [Korean] students to meet and talk with Dr. Chang. They had never met him before." It also showed the education governor that LC is serious in its interest in South Korea, McCain said. Chang met with LC President Joe Aguillard and other campus and community leaders to discuss the possibility of an exchange agreement: South Korean students to LC to work on their master's degrees, and LC students to South Korea to teach English. The South Korean government already has allocated money to send students to LC, Chang said, adding that he hoped for two LC students to be sent to his nation for one year. Aguillard said he would make the need known, but that to begin with, it might be one student, and for just one semester. "If I were a young teacher and I had the opportunity to go to Korea, I would jump at it," Aguillard said by way of endorsing the concept. "Like all things that are new, it may start small and then grow, but the main thing is to get started." Getting started was how the 18 South Korean students got to be on campus. Their teacher, Joon Kil Ahn, met Jo Yong Seung, a pastor in New Orleans, last summer in South Korea. Seung suggested Ahn bring students to Louisiana for immersion in the American culture. Ahn's plan to take the students to a Natchitoches high school fell through. He read about Louisiana College on the internet, and when he called to see of the possibility for a campus visit, he was very impressed with what the college offered, he said. "The students could stay in a dorm on campus, take their meals on campus and enroll in a three-week ESL program that Education Professor Anna Ngyuen teaches," McCain said. "We took them on excursions to Houston, Galveston, Baton Rouge and NASA. We were able to incorporate their ESL learning with their American cultural experiences." LC had provided a similar experience last summer for 20 college students from China. Local -- Central Louisiana -- excursions included Kent House, Fort Randolph, Fort Buhlow, Alexandria Zoo, Alexandria Mall and a worship service at Kingsville Ball. "The time with their education governor, that was just a God-thing," McCain said. Chang had the students' rapt attention as he spoke to them in a LC student center conference room. "Many students come to the United States," Chang told the Korean students, later translating his own words for the Baptist Message. "Why? Military power? No. Money? No. Knowledge? Purpose of education is to open eyes to see world. To be leader you have to have a good and right mind." Chang said he was impressed with the LC campus. "It is very nice," the South Korean education governor said. "Calm and peaceful is my feeling." As to the concept of South Korean students getting their master's degrees in teaching at LC, and LC students teaching English in South Korea, LC has similar exchange agreements with China, Tanzania and Uganda. (Karen Willoughby is managing editor of the Baptist Message, newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.) -- End of story -- FIRST-PERSON: Remembering Chuck Colson, the church member By Hayes Wicker Apr. 25 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37688 NAPLES, Fla. (BP) -- While multitudes mourn the death of Charles Colson, probably the best-known and most influential American Christian other than Billy Graham, I experience a profound sadness as his pastor of 20 years. I first met Chuck while in view of a call. I presented an audacious covenant to the First Baptist Church of Naples which was attached to the secret ballot, challenging the church: "You cannot separate a man from his message and his methods; a vote to call me is a vote to confirm this covenant." While not a member yet, Chuck came to me and affirmed this action and asked permission to put my covenant in his next book, "The Body." When Chuck joined our church, I urged him to teach a class for non-members, titled "Why Believe?" It became the basis of his book "How Now Shall We Live?" and gave credibility to our new ministry. His autistic grandson, Max, was visiting one day, saw baptism and wanted to profess Christ himself. I authorized Chuck to baptize him in his pool. Chuck was an unashamed Baptist in doctrine and mission, and a faithful steward. Chuck had an incredible ability to affirm others. I treasure his compliments about my preaching and leadership, often shared in public settings. He never missed an opportunity to speak a positive word about his church. Though he might fly in early Sunday morning from ministering to prisoners or meeting with presidents, he was in his usual seat with Patty in worship. I received untold blessings from how his "iron sharpened" my balsam wood. I learned to move from intimidation of his towering intellect to accountability, knowing that I had an incredible responsibility to teach this godly man the Word and help him to be a better servant. He showed his prayer support while on his fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico by pulling out a worn prayer card, which he carried in his pocket; there was my name and those of my family. When he received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, I was with him in Chicago. His response then was the same as when he received the Presidential Citizens Medal: "Hayes, imagine the grace of God to an ex-con like me." I learned much about how to be a Christian gentleman, how to be gracious with every person, whether a prisoner or an executive, and to give attention to details. His love for the needy not only inspired Prison Fellowship, but also convicted me of my own self-centeredness. In 1992, I made one of my lamest statements ever when I asked him why someone with his intelligence, education, and political connections would give his life for criminals. His quiet rebuke reminded me that Jesus came "to set the captives free" and died between two murderers. Christ transformed the drivenness of his "hatchet man" days in the White House to single-minded devotion to the Kingdom. In his 70s he urged me to keep on serving for as long as possible: "Why should anyone retire when there is so much to do?" Chuck saw fulfilling "the Cultural Commission" by being salt and shining light. He deplored compartmentalization and saw Jesus as Lord of all of life. On more than one occasion, he told me of his last visit with Francis Schaeffer just before Schaeffer's death when he said, "Chuck, the only issue -- truth -- true truth!" My ministry was forever impacted by learning from Chuck that we must courageously allow our salt to sting and our light to expose, whether in living or in preaching truth, which is not obsolete but absolute. My most vivid memory of how the Spirit worked through Chuck occurred in the original "smoke-filled room" in the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. A hardened female skeptic was conducting a filmed PBS interview. She asked how he knew that Jesus was real. Chuck related how while he was in prison, Al Quie, distinguished congressman and later Minnesota governor, pleaded with the president that he might take Chuck's place in prison because of Colson family issues. Chuck related, "That was a turning point in my life; for the first time I really understood what it meant for a man to lay down his life for his friends." Tears flowed down the hardened face of the interviewer. "Cut!" She went to the restroom, fixed her makeup and returned. The cameras rolled as she asked another question, and Chuck declared what it meant to be "born again." Again tears streamed down her face. I have never sensed the power of God to be so real in a room! She told Chuck later that she wanted to come back to God. I looked at the cameraman who had moistened eyes, and I was emboldened to witness to him. When I learned that Chuck's medical condition had worsened from a brain hemorrhage last week, I flew to D.C. and was privileged to be with him and the family as Chuck "finished the course." What a blessing to sing his favorite song, "Amazing Grace," at his bedside. He called it "the prisoners' national anthem." However, I felt like Elisha at the rapture of his mentor, Elijah: "My father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel" (2 Kings 2:12). Like Elisha, I prayed that "the Spirit" of Chuck's God would "rest upon" me in a fresh way. When Chuck met his Savior in Heaven and his hero, William Wilberforce, I believe that the old Marine heard, "Well done, Semper Fi." --30-- Hayes Wicker is senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Naples. -- End of story -- Copyright (c) 2013 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press 901 Commerce Street Nashville, TN 37203 Tel: 615.244.2355 Fax: 615.782.8736 email: bpress@sbc.net