The reflection below was written by Rev. Don Ng, ABCUSA vice president and nominee to serve as president for the term running from January 1, 2014-December 31, 2015.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are the times when I was growing up at the First Baptist Church of Boston. At Christmas, I remember the tree in the fellowship hall that was taller than any tree I have ever seen, especially inside a room. And in our living room at home, church ladies would teach us how to play parlor games like “who stole the penny.”

I grew up American Baptist because the FBC helped my father sponsor my mother to come to America after World War II. My father was drafted into the US Army and completed an honorable service as a corporal. Now having been granted citizenship, under the Displaced Persons Act, he unified our family with the help of FBC. It was only after my mother came to Boston that I was born. And the rest is history!

I have no idea why FBC started reaching out to the Chinese in Boston, and how my father first started attending that church. But for a church that was largely all white for the many years since its founding in 1665, it had a heart for welcoming the stranger. When immigrants and refugees come to a new land, they have often left behind all their life tools to survive and become successful. What was once familiar and normal is now very foreign and disorienting. The stress of navigating daily living can take a heavy toll on mental health and family life. On many occasions, professional qualifications are often unrecognized in one’s new country, sending people to work in unskilled jobs and devastating confidence and self-esteem. Even after serving in the US Army, my father became a Chinese laundryman and a Chinese restaurant waiter. My mother worked as a seamstress, making pennies on every garment she sewed together. While this may have been hard work for my parents and other immigrants and refugees coming to our shores, I am personally grateful for the commitment that American Baptists and FBC of Boston have to immigration and refugee resettlement.

When we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the prisoner, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). I understand that in comparison to other religious groups, American Baptists are the leaders in immigrant and refugee resettlements! Based on my experience, they are!

One of the main agendas facing our country today is passing new immigration legislation. Progress may be made because of political and economical strategies. But as Christians, we have another mandate for a new immigration policy because we are all members of God’s family. I am proud to be an American Baptist because we have welcomed the stranger and in doing so, we are continuing to welcome Jesus Christ in our lives and in the world.

The Reverends Steve and Mary Hammond, co-pastors of Peace Community Church, Oberlin, Ohio, will receive the Edwin T. Dahlberg Peace Award for significant efforts toward peace over a period of time. Their ministry has been instrumental in establishing Ecumenical Christians of Oberlin at Oberlin College. Through their ministry, faculty, students and community members were inspired to create a Peace and Conflict Studies concentration at the college, which earned them the Distinguished Service to the Community Award in 2009.

The Rev. James Hopkins, pastor of Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland, Calif., will receive the American Baptist Religious Freedom Award for leadership in defending God-given religious liberty for all. Throughout his ministry, Hopkins has been committed to the historic Baptist principles of “Bible Freedom, Soul Freedom, Church Freedom and Religious Freedom,” resulting in a “healing presence” and his embracing leaders from Jewish and Islamic faith groups.

The Rev. Debbie Bennett Reynolds, associate pastor of Lake Avenue Baptist Church, Rochester, N.Y., will receive the Richard Hoiland Local Christian Education Award for educational programs in local church or wider community. She leads an after-school group for neighborhood girls; oversees leadership training for youth and adults; offers education for mission and service; provides educational resources for a continuing education program that has grown to include 175 individuals under age 20; developed a program to help young people and parents navigate the local school systems; and started classes for immigrants from Burma.

The Rev. John Buscher, chaplain of William Jewell College, Liberty, Mo., will receive the Newton C. Fetter Higher Education and Campus Ministry Award for educational programs in local church or wider community. He is not only the college’s campus minister but also coordinator of community service. As the latter, he has demonstrated significant innovation with the Village Partners Project (VPP), which integrates community development and service learning into college mission work. Through VPP, Buscher leads semi-annual mission trips to Honduras. Such trips have drawn up to 220 students, along with several faculty members and alumnae, working to provide homes with sanitary latrines as well as ecological stoves and electricity; document health data; and set up a village store/micro-enterprise in the rural village of Embarcadero. On campus, he prepares students for mission by teaching a seven-week course, leading student ministry teams and conducting a campus-wide service day each semester.

Dr. Kevin Eichner, president of Ottawa (Kan.) University, will receive the Luther Wesley Smith Education Award for educational programs in college or seminary. He launched the Frederickson Center for Faith and Church Vitality; served as facilitator of a series of programs to enrich servant leadership in the local community; developed a pastoral training program, offered at no cost to American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) pastors throughout the Midwest; and formed a Cadre of Champions, a group of past, present and future educators who share best practices for education in the current challenging age.

The Rev. H. Mark Tuttle, pastor of the Burke-Lucas Baptist Parish in South Dakota,   will receive the Rosa O. Hall Rural and Small Town Award for a pastor in rural or small town ministry. Under Tuttle’s leadership, the multi-generational church has grown in stewardship, mission and ministry to young people as well as in community service.  The congregation has engaged in ministries on the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation and provided micro-loans to mission partners in India. Known as a pillar in the community, Tuttle is a founder of the Burke Community Foundation, which promotes the social and economic well-being of the Burke community.   

The Rev. Ashlee Wiest-Laird, pastor of First Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain, Mass., will receive the Edward H. Rhoades Urban Ministry Award for a pastor in urban ministry. Helping to rebuild the church after a fire, she has transformed a 20-person Anglo congregation into a vibrant 80-person multicultural one whose mission statement is “Many Cultures, One Faith.” She works with the Jamaica Plain Business and Professionals Association, campus ministries at Andover-Newton Theological School as well as on ABCUSA’s associational, regional, national and international levels. She shepherds two student pastors yearly; leads candlelight vigils to protest violence; blesses bicycles for riders of Boston’s busy streets; and spearheaded creation of and funding for a position to minister to neighborhood youth.

Cathie Carpenter, lay co-pastor with her husband, Jim, of West Waynesburg Jesus Distributors (WWJD) in Pennsylvania, will receive the Jitsuo Morikawa Evangelism Award for a layperson for leadership in holistic evangelism. To be close to the community they serve, the couple sold their home and moved into a modest house across from the church in a neighborhood of beer distributors and bars. Cathie has been instrumental in a variety of programs that have made a difference, including summer breakfast programs; a food-distribution program that serves more than 200 individuals; tutoring; a women’s shelter; Habitat for Humanity; recovery ministries; a clothing drive that allowed children to start the school year with new clothes; and converting a bar for use with youth programs.

Chaplain Paul N. Rumery will receive the Merit Award for Military Chaplaincy. A member of the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps, an ABC-endorsed military chaplain and an ABCUSA-endorsed institutional chaplain, Rumery is a combat veteran, having completed deployment as chaplain for the 3rd Battalion 6th Marines to Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He has also served as chaplain for the 2nd Marine Regiment. At Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, Rumery’s assignments include primary duties for the Multi-Service Ward and intensive care unit, as well as back-up responsibilities for inpatient psychiatric groups. He serves as deputy to the command chaplain and assists in the daily operation of the department, the supervision of two pastoral counselors and two enlisted personnel. He authored “The High Cost of Caring Too Much,” a research paper on compassion fatigue and burnout.

The Rev. Dr. Harry E. Simmons, institutional chaplain at Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Richmond, Va., will receive the Merit Award for Institutional Chaplaincy. Known for  interfaith leadership, Simmons not only was instrumental in recruiting and hiring the first full-time Roman Catholic chaplain at the polytrauma center since 1996 but also co-celebrated mass at the medical center with a bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond—a first for the VA. In addition to providing pastoral care and counseling at the medical center, Simmons is a professor at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University. He has served on numerous local, regional and national commissions, boards and committees. He twice held a three-year term as chair of the Racial, Ethnic and Multicultural Network, where he worked with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education for the inclusion of people of color on national leadership commissions and committees.

The Rev. Dr. Ruth Rosell, associate pastor of Care and Counseling at Prairie Baptist Church and an assistant professor of Pastoral Theology at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, will receive the Merit Award for Pastoral Counseling. As associate pastor, Rosell provides pastoral care and counseling at no cost to church members and the community at large, and led the church to join the Interfaith Hospitality Network, which provides housing, meals and transportation to county homeless. She was recently awarded the rank of Fellow by the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, a Masters of Divinity and a doctorate in Religion and Personality. A task force member for “Sabbaths of Hope”—a depression-education effort of mental health associations and the Center for Practical Bioethics—Rosell has been invited by dozens of organizations to conduct depression-related workshops. She has served ABCUSA as chaplain for Orientation to American Baptist Life and as a board member of ABC of the Central Region.

ABHMS extends warm congratulations to these award recipients, along with prayer that God will continue to bless their ministries.

The window for 2015 award nominations will open in late summer 2014. Many women and men are worthy of consideration for these honors, and American Baptists are strongly encouraged to identify and promote nominees.

For more information about the awards, contact Susan Bogle at sbogle@abhms.org or 1-800-222-3872, x2028.

ABHMS—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.

American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

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The NCC will remain in New York through “satellite offices” for three senior program staff: Dr. Joseph Crockett, associate general secretary, Education and Leadership Ministries; Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, associate general secretary, Faith & Order and Interfaith Relations; and the Rev. Ann Tiemeyer, program director, NCC Women’s Ministries.

NCC Transitional General Secretary Peg Birk will join Cassandra Carmichael, head of the NCC’s Washington Office, and Shantha Ready Alonso, director of the NCC’s poverty initiative, in the Council’s offices at 110 Maryland Avenue, an ecumenical center owned by the United Methodist Church.

Rev. A. Roy Medley, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA), was elected president elect of the National Council of Churches in 2011, and remains active with the organization. He will succeed to the presidency on January 1, 2014, and will serve as president through December 31, 2015.

The decision to consolidate operations in Washington followed a feasibility study by staff to determine “where the NCC can best achieve its work, providing the flexibility required by the new structure” Birk said.

The study followed a report last year by an NCC Governing Board Task Force on Revisioning and Restructuring the NCC. “The decision to consolidate operations in Washington provides flexibility for future possibilities concerning the location – or locations – of the Council,” said NCC President Kathryn Lohre.

“The critical NCC policy work can be coordinated from any location but to be the prophetic ‘voice of the faithful’ on the ground in the places of power, it is best served by establishing our operations in Washington,” Birk said. The long-run savings of the consolidation in Washington are projected at between $400,000 and $500,000, according to Birk.

In the 1960s, the National Council of Churches occupied three floors of The Interchurch Center in New York, in addition to its offices at 110 Maryland Avenue in Washington.

The NCC was the impetus in the planning of The Interchurch Center, which opened in 1960. The Interchurch Center was conceived as the “Protestant Vatican on the Hudson” when President Dwight D. Eisenhower laid the cornerstone in 1958.

Over the years, however, many church denominations moved their headquarters outside New York, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the United Church of Christ.

“It is important that we honor this moment with reverence and respect for the Council’s history as an iconic presence in the beloved ‘God Box,’” said Lohre.

“It is equally important that we look with hope upon this new chapter in the Council’s life,” Lohre said.

“This consolidation will free us from the infrastructure of a bygone era, enabling us to witness more boldly to our visible unity in Christ, and work for justice and peace in today’s rapidly changing ecclesial, ecumenical and inter-religious world.”

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among Christians in the United States. The NCC’s 37 member communions — from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches — include 40 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.

American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

The Reverends Steve and Mary Hammond, co-pastors of Peace Community Church, Oberlin, Ohio, will receive the Edwin T. Dahlberg Peace Award for significant efforts toward peace over a period of time. Their ministry has been instrumental in establishing Ecumenical Christians of Oberlin at Oberlin College. Through their ministry, faculty, students and community members were inspired to create a Peace and Conflict Studies concentration at the college, which earned them the Distinguished Service to the Community Award in 2009.

The Rev. James Hopkins, pastor of Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland, Calif., will receive the American Baptist Religious Freedom Award for leadership in defending God-given religious liberty for all. Throughout his ministry, Hopkins has been committed to the historic Baptist principles of “Bible Freedom, Soul Freedom, Church Freedom and Religious Freedom,” resulting in a “healing presence” and his embracing leaders from Jewish and Islamic faith groups.

The Rev. Debbie Bennett Reynolds, associate pastor of Lake Avenue Baptist Church, Rochester, N.Y., will receive the Richard Hoiland Local Christian Education Award for educational programs in local church or wider community. She leads an after-school group for neighborhood girls; oversees leadership training for youth and adults; offers education for mission and service; provides educational resources for a continuing education program that has grown to include 175 individuals under age 20; developed a program to help young people and parents navigate the local school systems; and started classes for immigrants from Burma.

Dr. Kevin Eichner, president of Ottawa (Kan.) University, will receive the Luther Wesley Smith Education Award for educational programs in college or seminary. He launched the Frederickson Center for Faith and Church Vitality; served as facilitator of a series of programs to enrich servant leadership in the local community; developed a pastoral training program, offered at no cost to American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) pastors throughout the Midwest; and formed a Cadre of Champions, a group of past, present and future educators who share best practices for education in the current challenging age.

The Rev. H. Mark Tuttle, pastor of the Burke-Lucas Baptist Parish in South Dakota,   will receive the Rosa O. Hall Rural and Small Town Award for a pastor in rural or small town ministry. Under Tuttle’s leadership, the multi-generational church has grown in stewardship, mission and ministry to young people as well as in community service.  The congregation has engaged in ministries on the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation and provided micro-loans to mission partners in India. Known as a pillar in the community, Tuttle is a founder of the Burke Community Foundation, which promotes the social and economic well-being of the Burke community.   

The Rev. Ashlee Wiest-Laird, pastor of First Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain, Mass., will receive the Edward H. Rhoades Urban Ministry Award for a pastor in urban ministry. Helping to rebuild the church after a fire, she has transformed a 20-person Anglo congregation into a vibrant 80-person multicultural one whose mission statement is “Many Cultures, One Faith.” She works with the Jamaica Plain Business and Professionals Association, campus ministries at Andover-Newton Theological School as well as on ABCUSA’s associational, regional, national and international levels. She shepherds two student pastors yearly; leads candlelight vigils to protest violence; blesses bicycles for riders of Boston’s busy streets; and spearheaded creation of and funding for a position to minister to neighborhood youth.

Cathie Carpenter, lay co-pastor with her husband, Jim, of West Waynesburg Jesus Distributors (WWJD) in Pennsylvania, will receive the Jitsuo Morikawa Evangelism Award for a layperson for leadership in holistic evangelism. To be close to the community they serve, the couple sold their home and moved into a modest house across from the church in a neighborhood of beer distributors and bars. Cathie has been instrumental in a variety of programs that have made a difference, including summer breakfast programs; a food-distribution program that serves more than 200 individuals; tutoring; a women’s shelter; Habitat for Humanity; recovery ministries; a clothing drive that allowed children to start the school year with new clothes; and converting a bar for use with youth programs.

Chaplain Paul N. Rumery will receive the Merit Award for Military Chaplaincy. A member of the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps, an ABC-endorsed military chaplain and an ABCUSA-endorsed institutional chaplain, Rumery is a combat veteran, having completed deployment as chaplain for the 3rd Battalion 6th Marines to Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He has also served as chaplain for the 2nd Marine Regiment. At Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, Rumery’s assignments include primary duties for the Multi-Service Ward and intensive care unit, as well as back-up responsibilities for inpatient psychiatric groups. He serves as deputy to the command chaplain and assists in the daily operation of the department, the supervision of two pastoral counselors and two enlisted personnel. He authored “The High Cost of Caring Too Much,” a research paper on compassion fatigue and burnout.

The Rev. Dr. E. Harry Simmons, institutional chaplain at Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Richmond, Va., will receive the Merit Award for Institutional Chaplaincy. Known for  interfaith leadership, Simmons not only was instrumental in recruiting and hiring the first full-time Roman Catholic chaplain at the polytrauma center since 1996 but also co-celebrated mass at the medical center with a bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond—a first for the VA. In addition to providing pastoral care and counseling at the medical center, Simmons is a professor at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University. He has served on numerous local, regional and national commissions, boards and committees. He twice held a three-year term as chair of the Racial, Ethnic and Multicultural Network, where he worked with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education for the inclusion of people of color on national leadership commissions and committees.

The Rev. Dr. Ruth Rosell, associate pastor of Care and Counseling at Prairie Baptist Church and an assistant professor of Pastoral Theology at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, will receive the Merit Award for Pastoral Counseling. As associate pastor, Rosell provides pastoral care and counseling at no cost to church members and the community at large, and led the church to join the Interfaith Hospitality Network, which provides housing, meals and transportation to county homeless. She was recently awarded the rank of Fellow by the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, a Masters of Divinity and a doctorate in Religion and Personality. A task force member for “Sabbaths of Hope”—a depression-education effort of mental health associations and the Center for Practical Bioethics—Rosell has been invited by dozens of organizations to conduct depression-related workshops. She has served ABCUSA as chaplain for Orientation to American Baptist Life and as a board member of ABC of the Central Region.

ABHMS extends warm congratulations to these award recipients, along with prayer that God will continue to bless their ministries.

The window for 2015 award nominations will open in late summer 2014. Many women and men are worthy of consideration for these honors, and American Baptists are strongly encouraged to identify and promote nominees.

For more information about the awards, contact Susan Bogle at sbogle@abhms.org or 1-800-222-3872, x2028.

ABHMS—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

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“The Widow’s Mite award goes to a congregation that reflects the spirit of thankfulness and generosity Jesus talks about in Luke 21.1-4,” explained Rev. Hopper.  “Gardena Valley Baptist Church embodies this spirit.  Your church’s consistent commitment to ministers and missionaries who selflessly dedicated themselves to Christ’s work is inspiring.”

“Gardena Valley is a historically Japanese multigenerational church,” explained Pastor Steven Langely. “We deeply value the bonds and ministry of all of our past and present clergy and congregation members. Gardena Valley is a place where one remains part of our family, even well past parting.”

GVBC accepts the offering every February and adopts a Valentine’s Day theme of “We Love You…”  To promote the RMMO, Pastor Langely sends out a letter and offering envelope.  He writes, “So if the Lord lays it on your heart to give—then give as the Lord leads you. We cannot designate to just those who retired from GVBC. It all goes for the common good.”

Though Pastor Langely encourages his congregation to contribute to this worthy cause, the members of his generous congregation need little convincing, as the offering is personal to each member.

“Gardena Valley’s congregation has always been supportive, especially when it comes to giving to someone in need,” said Pastor Langely. “Our members open their hearts honestly and willingly and are always ready to lend a hand or dollar.”

Each year, MMBB gives the Widow’s Mite Award to commemorate the 1981 gift of a Vietnamese refugee woman who, not knowing the full intent of the offering, but understanding the words “thank you” printed on the RMMO offering envelope, slipped off her only possession of value—her wristwatch—and placed it in the envelope.  The Widow’s Mite Award, like the act of the poor widow at the temple treasury whom Jesus commended, reflects the spirit of thankfulness and generosity.

MMBB Financial Services (The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board) offers flexible and affordable benefits packages to faith-based employers and their staff throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. MMBB carries forward the 100-year tradition of The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board—pioneers in providing employee benefits. With $2.5 billion in assets, MMBB offers clients the consultative services they need to succeed. Real planning, real solutions. That’s our calling.

Initially focused on institutions associated with the Northern Baptist Convention (later renamed the American Baptist Convention and then American Baptist Churches USA), MMBB now offers benefits to any church or faith-based organization with similar faith and practice of ABCUSA.

A non-profit Christian organization, The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB) has served churches and faith-based organizations since 1911. With a strong expertise of the ministry and its complex tax laws and other financial issues, MMBB serves more than 17,000 members across a wide range of denominations, offering “one-stop shopping” for employees including retirement, life, disability, medical and dental plans—to ensure that employers and their employees have sound peace of mind and financial security.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

During the meeting with 6 representatives from various desks related to Burma, the delegation addressed five main concerns: 

1)  the continued military offensive against the Kachin and the state of the peace talks;
2) the abuses of women and children by the military, especially the rape of women and the recruitment of child soldiers;
3) ongoing religious persecution of Christians –especially the desecration of churches;
4) the imposition of sanctions against the military; and
5) the future of the camps along the Thai-Burma border.

Florence Li, national coordinator and Asian churches strategist with the American Baptist Home Mission Societies said, “The meeting was very productive and the conversations exchanged will impact the U.S. government in their engagement process with Burma. It was well understood that the Kachin people together with other ethnic minority people groups will continue to stand for their human rights and religious freedom through their solidarity.”

The delegation met with the state department officials who were interested in the first-hand accounts members of the delegation offered.  There was a lot of give and take of information as the conversation developed.

“We are very fortunate to have Rev. Florence Li of ABHMS who compiled a workbook with a great deal of information about our concerns that was distributed to the officials present,” remarked Dr. Medley. “In addition, the first-hand accounts that our delegation was able to give were well received.   Our visits are important for the information and perspectives we offer and for the visible concern of American Baptists that we represent.

Members of the delegation included:  Aundriea Alexander (ABHMS), Raimundo Barreto (BWA), Rothangliani Chhangte (BWA), Saw Ler Htoo (Karen leader), Duh Kam (Chin leader); Zauya Lahpai (Kachin leader); Hkadin Lahtaw Lee (Kachin women); Florence Li (ABHMS), Gam San Maung (Kachin Alliance),  Naw San Dee KD (Kachin leader), Stan Murray (Inernational Ministries).

Since an influx began in 2006, ABHMS has been working vigorously with the thousands of refugees of Karen, Chin, Kachin, Karenni, Mon, Shan, Lisu and other ethnicities settled in 30 American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) regions.

Since 2007, ABHMS has taken a leading role in shaping and guiding the Burma Refugees Task Force, working alongside the Office of the General Secretary, ABCUSA; American Baptist Women’s Ministries; International Ministries; ABCUSA regions; and Burma pastoral leaders from around the nation. Recognizing the need to undergird the vision of the task force, ABHMS has assumed the costs for staff to serve as liaisons and to facilitate leadership development efforts, local church and regional ministries with refugees, and advocacy efforts around the nation. 

Today, ABHMS once again affirms the ministry’s importance with the appointment of two home missionaries to serve refugee immigrants from Burma—the Rev. Saw Ler Htoo of Laurel, Md., and Pastor Ronald Charles Nunuk of West Allis, Wis. These appointments mark the first time that Burma pastoral leaders will serve as staff at the national level.

“These historic appointments confirm the Home Mission Societies’ longstanding commitment to refugee resettlement and advocacy on behalf of immigrant peoples in general and to the peoples of Myanmar in particular,” says ABHMS Executive Director Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III. “We look forward to formally commissioning both the Rev. Saw Ler Htoo and Pastor Ronald Charles Nunuk as American Baptist Home Missionaries during the upcoming Mission Summit this summer.” 

Widely respected, Htoo has an extensive resume that includes roles as pastor of Calvary Burmese Church, Washington, D.C., since 2001 and as executive secretary of Karen Baptist Churches USA since 2009. He also serves on the Burma Refugees Task Force.

Nunuk is also a well-known, gifted leader with a broad background, including roles as founding senior pastor at Carson Chin Baptist Church, West Allis, and trustee and youth coordinator of Chin Baptist Churches of USA. He has served as a board member of American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin.

For more information, visit www.abhms.org > Ministries & Programs > Justice Ministries > Immigration and Refugee Services > Burma Refugee Ministry.

ABHMS—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.

American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

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Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 (NRSV)          

¹ You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
² will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
¹⁰ no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

¹⁴ Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
¹⁵ When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.

Romans 10:8b-13 (NRSV)

⁸ “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
⁹ because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
¹⁰ For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
¹¹ The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”
¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.
¹³ For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Prayer Requests:

–May ABC churches continue to grow as they seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
–For the gathering of American Baptists in Overland Park, KS, in June.
– For freedom and peace to live together.

Prayer:  Lord God, our refuge and fortress, we trust in you.  We journey through these days called Lent, seeking a deeper relationship with you.  We thank you for our salvation. We know when we call your name, you are there.  We are sustained by your love. Thank you.

Starting this year, Engel becomes one of IM’s regional missionaries. This means that she will serve all of Iberoamerica and the Caribbean (Haiti, Cuba, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Costa Rica). In this new role, Kristy, a fluent Spanish-speaker, will put her medical experience and training to work for medical relief associated with crises, education, medical resources, encouragement, and continuing education.

“I can’t express to you how excited I am about my new role,” wrote Kristy in a recent journal about her transition. There are exciting new places that need health care teams and ongoing projects that are expanding or changing to meet the needs of their community,” she explains. “And my role in all of this is to connect needs with resources while also being able to serve in some of the most desperate areas throughout the region.”

Engel will start by assisting three IM ministries: the House of Hope in Cochabamba, Bolivia; Deborah’s House in Tijuana, Mexico; and the Cap Haitien Eye Clinic in Haiti.

In Bolivia, she will work with IM missionary Mario Morales at the House of Hope, which provides medical services to children and their families. While she is there in February, Kristy will work with a church from Ohio, and local physicians who are volunteering their time at the House of Hope.

In Mexico, she will be partnering with IM missionaries Ray and Adalia Schellinger-Gutiérrez at Deborah’s House. This special ministry assists women and children who have experienced abuse and trafficking and is changing lives. Kristy is going to work with Ray and Adalia to find ways to replicate this program throughout Latin America.

And in Haiti, she will be working with IM missionary Nzunga Mabudiga as the Cap Haitien Eye Clinic expands its work to include an ear, nose and throat specialty. Kristy will be helping to find partners for construction, medical supplies, and sponsors so that they can continue to provide free medical care.

Engel’s reassignment does not change her status as an IM missionary or her fundraising needs. Her move entails a change of focus and location only. She will live in Atlanta, Georgia, where she can easily and quickly access transportation to the many ministries that are calling on her services.

To learn more about Kristy or to support her work, visit her profile for more information.

American Baptist International Ministries was organized in 1814 as the first Baptist international mission agency in America. It began its pioneer mission work in Burma and today works in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas serving more than 1,800 long-term and short-term missionaries. Its central mission is to help people come to faith in Jesus, grow in their relationship with God, and change their worlds through the power of the Spirit. It works with respected partners in over 70 countries in ministries that meet human need.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

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Michaele Birdsall, president of the ABCC and CFO/Treasurer of ABHMS, said, “Sam has provided exemplary leadership for and stewardship of the Computer Center and he will be greatly missed. I pray God will grant him many more years of health, laughter, and fruitful ministry as he enters a well-deserved retirement.”

“It has been a pleasure to serve alongside Sam Duncan in this ministry” said Dr. Aidsand F Wright-Riggins III, executive director of ABHMS. “The same servant leader I saw in Sam when I first met him many years ago when he served as an overseas American Baptist missionary, I saw even more clearly in his founding role as the director of the American Baptist Computer Center. He did a fantastic job at cross cultural global ministry and in shepherding our cultural shift from a print to digital world.”

Wright-Riggins continued, “David Cushman is the right person for such a time as this in the evolution of the American Baptist Computer Center.  David possesses a unique blend of technology and theology, research and reflection, pastoral presence and prophetic skills and commitments that made him an obvious choice as ABCC explored options for transitional leadership. I am grateful that David will only be seventy-five feet further down the hall as he begins this new journey.”      

Roy Medley, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA, said, “Under Sam’s leadership, the ABCC has continually evolved from the embryonic years of business use of computers to the current day where electronic communications are the norm. Sam has brought not only his technical expertise to bear upon our life, but also his passion for Christ and God’s reign in the world. His presence will be sorely missed.”

Duncan received a Bachelor of Science degree in Math from MIT in 1962, and a Master of Arts in Math from University of Southern California in 1969.

From 1962-68, Duncan served as a senior research engineer and programmer at General Dynamics in Pomona, California. There, he developed a prototype simulation model of air defense, and worked with varied systems and equipment, such as missiles, radar, real-time applications, and anti-submarine defense, and also taught programming to other engineers.

In 1968 Duncan left the defense industry to serve as a missionary with International Ministries (IM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo/Zaire, teaching Math and Physics. His three children were born in Africa, before the family returned to the United States in 1980.

He wanted to return to mission, and did so in 1981 to serve once again as an IM missionary at Central Philippine University, Iloilo City, Philippines, starting a computer center at the university, selecting hardware and training programmers and teachers. He developed the curricula for several programming courses, and published two books on programming. He served in the Philippines from 1981-84.

In 1984, he moved to Pennsylvania and helped incorporate the American Baptist Computer Center at the American Baptist Churches Mission Center in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. For the next 28 years, Duncan served as the director of ABCC.

Duncan was an adjunct Professor at Eastern University from 1995 through 2008, teaching courses and developing curricula in the Graduate School of Management Studies.

“The staff members at the Mission Center are the nicest and most supportive people in the world, and I am blessed to have colleagues like them,” said Duncan. “Everyone makes my job so enjoyable that I have actually looked forward to coming in each day. The Computer Center staff has been wonderful, and I will greatly miss the fun of working here.”

There will be a retirement party for Sam Duncan in the ABCUSA Mission Center side dining room on March 22, 2013 at 2:00pm. All are welcome.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

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