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by Trennis Henderson SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI – Launching an innovative ministry center in metro Detroit has been quite a rollercoaster ride for Sue Hodnett and her volunteer ministry team. Initially opened in January in a small, tidy storefront in Shelby Township, the center is designed “to make a difference in the lives of women,” explained Hodnett, executive director of Michigan Woman’s Missionary Union. She said ministry priorities include group Bible studies, one-on-one counseling and mentoring sessions, a “Mission Friends with Mom” pilot project and a food bank partnership. Unfortunately, as the coronavirus crisis struck, the ministry center closed its doors just six weeks after starting up. While the ministry efforts coordinated by Michigan WMU continue, much of the center’s work shifted to online video conferences. Hodnett, who also leads Michigan Baptists’ women’s ministry emphasis, said she anticipates reopening the ministry center sometime this summer as sheltering restrictions gradually are lifted. Although “I don’t know what God’s plan is for the ministry,” she said her primary goal is “to follow through on the doors that He’s opened so far.” “Our passion is to come alongside women and help them, meet them where they’re at, help them find Christ if they don’t already know Him, just be there to encourage them,” Hodnett emphasized. “We know that if we touch the life of a woman, most of the time we’re touching the life of a whole family.” SHARING HOPE, HELP AND HUGS The idea for the ministry center unfolded last year as the Baptist State Convention of Michigan relocated to smaller facilities. With the option of working remotely, Hodnett proposed the ministry center as an alternative to working from a home office. Her vision was to operate a site that would meet community needs in the area while also serving as a ministry model for local churches and missions groups. “My hopes and dreams are so much smaller than God’s hopes and dreams,” Hodnett said. “Last year, when I started this, I’m thinking, ‘Why am I doing this? Why don’t I just do a small office at home?’ But I felt God saying, ‘I want you to do this. There’s a reason for it.’ “Then when it got closed down and we had to shut the doors, it’s like, ‘Okay, maybe this isn’t what we were supposed to do,’” she reflected. “But as we go through the social distancing, it’s become so much clearer why we need that center, why we need to be there one-on-one to be able to hug our sister when she’s hurting, to just have our door open so that they can come in whenever they need that help.” Mobilizing a team of 50 trained volunteers throughout the state, “we have regional leaders and then we have specialty leaders like our encouragement team leader or our Christian Women’s Job Corps leader,” Hodnett said. Working in close partnership, Michigan WMU and women’s ministry team members offer counseling and coaching in such strategic areas as addiction care, abortion care, adoption and foster care, marriage enrichment, veteran ministry care and divorce care. As she began praying about launching the ministry center, “I didn’t know what it would look like,” Hodnett recounted. “I just knew that I had a passion to want to help women.” She said pressing questions that immediately surfaced included: “How do we get to the soul? How do we help these ladies?” LESSONS FROM THE SHUTDOWN Amid the pandemic-induced shutdown, “there are several things that we’ve learned through this situation,” Hodnett noted. “One thing is women have a real love and craving for the Word. When we started offering Bible studies at times that they could attend from their homes, we have seen a large increase in the number of women that wanted to be in life groups in studying the Bible. That was enlightening and encouraging.” She said by incorporating something as practical as scheduling evening video calls after younger children’s typical bedtimes, they quickly found that “we were able to get more people involved in the call.” “When they have time to study their Bible, it changes them spiritually,” she added. “You start to hear their passion. You start to hear their heart. It’s given them time with the Lord that they didn’t normally have because their lives were so busy. “Another thing that we found is our women’s ministry leaders get depressed too,” Hodnett candidly shared. “Many have gotten tired. Many have gotten anxious. But as we talk through that, we’re able to help each other. We are learning that we need to encourage the encouragers, to fill the ones who are filling others.” Among the ministries temporarily sidelined is the Mission Friends with Mom program designed to give parents hands-on resources to teach their preschoolers about missions and ministry both in a group setting and at home. A trial run last fall at Memorial Baptist Child Care Center in nearby Sterling Heights proved educational, entertaining and engaging for the kids involved, but COVID-19 has put those plans on hold until at least September. Additionally, depending on when schools reopen in metro Detroit, the center’s afterschool homework program may transition to an education support program staffed by retired teachers and other volunteers. The focus could shift to assisting students with school assignments while helping equip parents to teach at home. TOUCHING AND CHANGING LIVES Even with the recent challenges and setbacks, Herb Harbaugh, longtime pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, said he is excited about the opportunity to partner with Michigan WMU through the ministry center. “One of the great things of being part of Southern Baptist life is partnerships,” he affirmed. “It’s exciting to have this ministry presence here so close to our church and our community.” As the ministry center reopens and expands its ministry impact, he added, “We’ll be able to not only partner together, praying for them, working with them, but out of this, lives are going to be touched and changed.” Seeking to move beyond the upheaval of recent months, “one of my favorite ministries is the prayer ministry,” Hodnett shared. “When you go out and you’re praying, you start to see people the way that Jesus sees them and you start to see what the needs are. God begins to tell you what you can do to meet those needs.” And there’s no question that Hodnett is anxious to meet those needs in person once again. “I can’t wait,” she declared. “That passion doesn’t go away. I need to be about what God has placed on my heart.” ABOUT THE AUTHOR Trennis Henderson is a freelance national correspondent for the Woman's Missionary Union. #JUNE20

by Wayne Parker We praise the Lord for His faithfulness during this pandemic in Detroit. God has continued to work to reach people with the gospel as church planters innovate and continue to find contextual ways to do ministry in their churches and communities. Read on to hear some stories of different ways that churches are ministering to their communities during these challenging times! Creative COVID Ministry among Missionaries! Most Send Detroit church plants have adapted very quickly to online ministry and are doing a phenomenal job broadcasting to church and community over the internet. Pastor Roland Caldwell of The House Church, Detroit is one of those church planters that we thank God for! Pastor Bob Morrissey started drive up worship services on Sundays for the Church at Clawson. Pastor Ken Nether of Crossover Church, Southfield has been able to connect with people following services via a live Q&A time with participants to dialogue about the message, the church or getting to know Pastor Ken and Crossover Church. Life-Giver Church, Windsor, ON has been hosting outdoor drive up services lately. As a result, Pastor Alin Patularu says that more people are taking notice of the message from God's word! Sameer Kabul* continues to minister to the Bangladeshi community of Hamtramck. He has been helping to feed the community with regular food distributions by partnering with others in the community. Sameer and his family have an international ministry that is changing lives for Christ in Detroit, Canada and Bangladesh. (* name changed) Night of worship with Kevin & Lynette Ezell Send Detroit church planters and wives enjoyed a special evening with NAMB President Kevin & Lynette Ezell. 40 minutes of fun and encouragement including praise and worship, time in the a Word, an observance of the Lord's Supper and quarantine BINGO! We are grateful for the support of our missionaries and personal encouragement that they receive! Growing Families Church planter families in Send Detroit are welcoming new babies. Celebrate these new lives with them! Jacob Jonathan Hackett, born 7:39am on May 6, 2020 Proud parents Jon & Chelsea Hackett Church planting family of Missio Dei Church, Ann Arbor, MI. Grace Elizabeth Patularu, born 9:02am on May 27, 2020 Proud parents Alin & Shelly Patularu Church planting family of Life-Giver Church, Windsor, ON. Welcome New Church Planters! Welcome to Maki Umakoshi, his wife and Sunny Son and daughter Reika! This church planting family came to Detroit all the way from Seoul Korea in February to help start a Japanese church in the Novi area! Maki is working together with Mile City Church, Plymouth, as a church planting apprentice. Welcome also to Joshua & Emily Bowers! Joshua is the Lead Pastor of Cross & Anchor Church, in Detroit. Just this Spring their church joined the Send Network of church planters. Josh and his wife Emily came to Detroit and led in starting this new church in early 2019. Please continue to pray for support and provide for these church planting missionaries of the Send Network.  Please reach out to me at wparker@namb.net if I can help you connect! Wayne Parker Send Detroit Missionary #JUNE20

by Nancy Spears ROSCOMMON, MI – Bambi Lake Retreat and Conference Center is currently closed. We don’t know yet when it will open or what the rest of the summer looks like. It seems that we have said those words a million times. Staff meetings have been interesting here, as we try to plan and speculate what is ahead. Meetings end with these words “We Don’t Know!” So we proceed doing what we do know. The bathhouse is open and the campground has been inspected. When will we be able to open? We don’t know. The fallen tree by Pinegrove has been cut up and stacked for summer fires at Pinegrove. Will we be able to rent that space or use it for retreats? We don’t know. Currently the building is winterized and ready for a long winter’s nap in spite of the 90 degree temperature on camp today. The bathrooms in Cabin 2 have a fresh coat of paint. Just a few more details are needed to finish the renovation that we began early this year. The on-demand water heater is going to be a money saver for that facility and met with guest approval in January. We will be ready for the influx of youth at summer camps if we are able to open. But for now …. You guessed it …. We don’t know. Staff housing has been rearranged, freeing up previously occupied spaces for rental. The beach house has a kitchen and room for lots of guests. Currently winterized, there is just one thing to tweak there. Should we be ready? Can we rent it this summer? We don’t know. The water is getting warmer. We are preparing to work on the docks. Yes, the fish are biting. A swan is social distancing on the lake. Can you come here? At this point, day trips for family groups would be acceptable. All of our buildings are closed, but the bathhouse is open. Please let us know if you want to do a day trip so that we can discuss details and put it on our schedule. No overnight stays, at least until June 12 if the current executive order is rescinded. Currently, vacation rentals are not allowed, (Executive Order 2020-96, 13) nor is traveling to vacation spots for short term stays (Executive Order 2020-96, 8c). So, what about camps this summer? We don’t know. Currently, the order is 10 or fewer for a group that can gather. For some of us, that is just our family group. And that is what is being advised … only household gatherings. We all know that a camp of only 10 is not possible. We currently are waiting to see what the gathering numbers will be for the summer and will adjust as we can. Although many camps have already cancelled for the summer, we are still hanging on to a thread of hope. This has been a difficult season for the Bambi staff. No doubt, there has been plenty to do with facility and property maintenance. But we had to cancel reservations for Memorial Day Weekend, a long standing tradition for many families. Girl’s camp, youth camps and church camps, for those who have come year after year, are camps that people plan their summer schedule around. Are these going to be cancelled for the first time in 60 years? We don’t know. What do we know? God is still God, even with all of our questions. We will continue to follow the authority of the government, which is mandated in scripture … It does not keep us from loving God and loving others. And we know who holds tomorrow and no one can snatch us out of His hand. Truly, what else matters? UPDATE: So excited!! Executive order 2020-96 has been rescinded. Social distancing is still in effect for non-related family, but the outdoor gathering number has been increased to 100. We will open the campground on Monday, June 8th. Hopeful for August events! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nancy has been a Christian since 1978 and served in various positions in church and WMU. She began working at BSCM in 2013. Four years later, God placed a desire, then a call to serve at Bambi Lake where she is blessed to work with an excellent director and staff. God gives her opportunity at Bambi to use the hobbies she enjoys – to bake, sew and decorate for the camp, as well as some down time to knit, crochet and quilt. Nancy is married to Daniel, a wonderful and understanding man who encourages her to serve where God calls. She has 5 children, 13 grandchildren and one great grandchild. They all love spending time at Bambi Lake. #JUNE20

by Torion Bridges REDFORD, MI – For many of us we’re living in the new normal of being scattered, not gathered, and we’re watching the very fabric of our lives being ripped apart. For some, a gathering isn’t just about hearing the word, it’s about the chance to be among folks who offer support, wisdom and love. For me, the concept of community was one I learned early. I was blessed to have an array of aunts and uncles, godparents, grandparents and friends’ parents who looked out for me. Way before it was a catch phrase or a book title, my life was one that took root in the African proverb of “it takes a village to raise a child”. It wasn’t just my life that seemed to be like this, my friends by virtue of this rearing became extended family. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word ‘community’ as: a unified body of individuals: such as; a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society. Yet to be honest, I never thought of it like that. I thought of a community simply as this: a place where love is. For more than two months, we’ve been without our Christian community, simply put, we miss our church homes. See Burt Bacharach argued way before I was born that what the world needed now was love. But I’d like to argue that what the world misses and needs now is community. See COVID-19 isn’t just a horrible virus for medical reasons, it’s horrible because it’s robbed us of our community and celebrations associated with it. We’ve missed our prayer meetings and church services. We’ve missed celebration services recognizing milestones in our families from birthdays to graduations. Yet the oddest part is seemingly this, we’re not even able to mourn the loss of our loved ones. On March 30th, our church lost a member, but I lost one of the members of my community when one of my best friends, Thomas Fields became one of the first COVID-19 fatalities here in Southeast Michigan. Thomas, an only child, a Navy Veteran who served his country honorably, a world class chef, father to Ethan, teacher at his old elementary/middle school, early supporter, consistent believer in and tactician in ensuring other people reached their dreams is now gone. Honestly, as his pastor, I know he’s gone as I eulogized him. I planned the service. I picked the suit out for him to wear. But as a friend I somehow have hope that he’s just gone on another tour of duty protecting this country abroad. A longstanding member of my community is gone, and it seems as if it happened before it was supposed to, after all he was only 32. I had no idea when we became friends that his funeral would be the first funeral I’d ever preside over. I had no idea that my closest friends, family and church would be stunned by his death. I had no idea I’d have the strength to do any of the things I did during this time. Yet what I do know is this, GOD knew, and for such a time as this I’d have a new community to lean on, The Baptist State Convention of Michigan (BSCM), North American Mission Board (NAMB), and my brothers in the Send Network. When word got out about Thomas’s passing they went into action. Calls from all over the state and country came out of nowhere, and they weren’t empty sympathy calls. My family and I felt loved. My big brothers in the faith, Shea Prisk, Tony Lynn, and Ken Nether as well as my entire cohort of planters in the Send Network Training came around me and covered me. I drew strength from their love, their brotherhood, our community. Due to the effects of COVID-19, we’re missing the sense of community we seemingly took for granted. We took for granted the ability to gather, to love on, to care for one another. We took for granted our villages, and truthfully, we miss them. When I answered my call to church planting, my family and I auditioned or interviewed several networks and the Send Network and NAMB stuck out because they talked about two things: Brotherhood and Community. I knew I didn’t want to walk this alone, and I didn’t want my wife to feel alone either. Little did I know it would be in the midst of a global pandemic that my new community would step up for us. As for Thomas’s memory and legacy, we’ve taken on a greater role by supporting his son, and we’re pushing forward with a program to provide hot meals for 150 families a week. Thomas envisioned Commonwealth Church to be a place where people would not only be fed spiritually, but physically, too. Through our kitchen we will provide hot meals, no questions asked, to 150 families in our community. We’re thankful the project has the support of the BSCM, and Merriman Road Baptist Church. Our aim through this program is to fill a physical need for the 16 weeks of Summer while schools are closed and not able to provide families with additional food. It’s in times like this that we should love our neighbors harder, and I’m thankful it’s in times like this that my Michigan Baptist family hugged me tighter. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Torion Bridges is the Lead Pastor of The Commonwealth of Faith Church in Redford. He and his wife Jasmine are the proud parents of Hunter (age 2) and Hannah (7 months). Torion is a bi-vocational church planter serving who loves using the art of storytelling to WIN souls for the Kingdom. If you are interested in partnering with the Commonwealth of Faith Church, please contact : info@commonwealthoffaith.org #JUNE20

by Tom Strode WASHINGTON, D.C. (BP) – Southern Baptist leaders commended to churches the new federal guidelines for restoring in-person worship gatherings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, even as efforts to resolve conflicts between state governments and faith communities continue. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued interim guidelines May 22 that reminded state and local officials to take the First Amendment right of religious liberty into account when they institute reopening policies. No church or other religious group should be called on to enact "mitigation strategies" stricter than those requested of "similarly situated entities or activities," the CDC said. Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), said the guidance "seems reasonable and helpful." "The tone is, appropriately, not a directive to churches but counsel based on the medical data," Moore said in a news release. "The CDC guidance is not a blueprint, but it is a prompt to help leaders as they think through what questions to ask."" Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, said the government should "trust the churches" as it does businesses and other entities, but urged pastors to carefully consider the CDC guidance in determining how to safely reopen their churches. "Just as the government is trusting others to reopen businesses, sports and entertainment experiences, the government also needs to trust the churches who have been providing care and love for their communities during this crisis," Floyd said in written comments. "Pastors and churches should understand the CDC guidelines, work within their local contexts and take necessary actions to reopen their facilities in a safe and responsible manner. "Also in this regathering process, each community of faith will need to operate weekly in a very agile manner to make any needed adjustments." In developments after the CDC guidelines were released: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order May 23 permitting worship services to resume May 27 at 25 percent capacity if religious groups abide by social distancing and other public health instructions. Walz's order came after some church groups said their congregations would begin meeting without his permission. A Southern California church has asked the U.S. Supreme Court, in an emergency appeal, for relief from Gov. Gavin Newsom's order so that it can resume corporate worship. The CDC released its guidelines the same afternoon President Trump identified religious bodies as "essential" and called on governors "to allow our churches and places of worship to open right now," according to The Washington Post. Trump threatened to "override" them if they did not do so, according to the newspaper. The CDC guidance offers various safety recommendations but stops short of across-the-board mandates. It encourages churches and other faith groups to promote social distancing, to urge the use of cloth face coverings, to increase cleaning and disinfection of objects and facilities, and to reduce the sharing of worship materials such as hymnals. Moore commended the guidelines, which are available at the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/faith-based.html. "Such counsel is hard to make specific since practices differ so much from congregation to congregation, even within the same religion or denomination," he said. "Every church I know is working through a staging plan, telling their members what benchmarks they are looking for to know when to re-gather, how they will then phase that re-gathering in, and what steps they will take to ensure safety when they do. "People want to be confident that when their church reopens every reasonable precaution is taken, and that's exactly what I see church leaders doing. The CDC guidance will come as a reassurance to many churches that their hard work in planning out the path back to worship is, in most cases, in line with the recommendations of health officials." In Minnesota, Walz's previous executive order allowed 50 percent capacity in retail stores but limited worship services to no more than 10 people. In a May 20 letter, the Minnesota Catholic Conference and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in Minnesota wrote Walz to say that despite the order, their churches would resume worship services May 26 at 33 percent capacity with social distancing and strict hygiene rules. In issuing the new executive order May 23, Walz said it was issued after consultation with faith leaders. "As the CDC allows for places of worship to reopen, I have partnered with faith leaders to ensure there are clear public health guidelines to do so as safely as possible," he said. Catholic and Lutheran leaders welcomed Walz's new order. Eric Rassbach -- vice president and senior counsel at Becket, a religious liberty advocacy organization representing both groups -- commended Walz "for seeing the light." "Minnesota is setting an example by recognizing the importance of giving equal treatment to churches and other houses of worship, and that worship services can be conducted safely, cooperatively and responsibly," Rassbach said. Leo Endel, executive director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, said after a May 22 conference call with Walz's office: "The general sense among the evangelical denominational executives is that we want to be careful, but we want a road map, clear guidance and churches being treated on an equal basis. Everyone plans to take precaution with social distancing, masks, sanitizing, etc." In California, Newsom's executive order allows retail stores and restaurants to open with social distancing in Phase 2 of reopening but postpones worship services until Phase 3. South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista and its pastor, Arthur Hodges, asked the Supreme Court May 24 to grant an injunction that would enable it to hold worship services, Politico reported. The church's request of the high court came after a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused to provide relief in a 2-1 decision May 22. In a May 19 letter, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband told Newsom: "Religious gatherings may not be singled out for unequal treatment compared to other nonreligious gatherings that have the same effect on the government's public health interest, absent the most compelling reasons." Church United, a coalition that represents more than 2,500 pastors in California, has announced worship services will resume with their congregations May 31 regardless of the governor's order. Bill Agee, executive director of the California Southern Baptist Convention, encouraged Newsom in a May 15 letter to move churches to Phase 2 of his reopening plan, according to a spokesman for the convention. As of 12:30 p.m. EDT May 26, more than 98,400 deaths from COVID-19 and 1.67 million confirmed cases have been reported in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University. The overwhelming majority of churches and other religious bodies have abided by government policies during the pandemic. This has resulted in such alternatives as online and drive-in services instead of in-person, corporate worship. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tom Strode is Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press. #JUNE20

by Diana Chandler MIDLAND, MI (BP) – Historic flooding in middle Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges for Baptist State Convention of Michigan (BSCM) disaster relief. As the BSCM mobilizes flood response teams, feeding units, damage assessors and chaplains, BSCM state disaster relief director Bob Kiger says some volunteers might find the work too risky. Most volunteers are retirees in the age group most vulnerable to the coronavirus. "That's liable to affect the amount of people we have, because we don't have a lot of young volunteers," Kiger told Baptist Press. He's mobilizing aid to an estimated 10,000 people displaced from their homes when the Edenville and Sanford dams were breached after heavy rainfall. Flooding from the Tittabawassee River covered rooftops in Edenville, Midland and Sanford, small towns about 150 miles northwest of Detroit. Residents hadn't suffered such flooding since heavy rains in 1986, which had been described as a 100-year or 500-year event. The BSCM is also challenged because many flood evacuees are refusing to enter shelters where disaster relief volunteers can most easily respond to their needs and concerns. Instead, some are sleeping near shelters in their cars. "There are some shelters that are open, but people are hesitant to go into the shelters because of COVID-19, which is extremely bad up here," Kiger said. "A lot of people stayed in their cars outside the shelter. ... We don't want somebody sitting outside of the shelter and starve to death because they're afraid to go inside. "What the church is going to be able to do is make sure these people have food," Kiger said, "and possibly guarantee them that they will at least be socially distanced from everybody else" inside shelters. The death toll from the coronavirus has surpassed 5,000 in Michigan, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Steve Saxton, a 65-year-old disaster relief volunteer at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Midland, was forced out of his home as the dams failed. Saxton said he is thankful the Tittabawassee River crested at about three feet below the forecast 38 feet, which kept flood waters about nine feet at his home. While his basement was flooded completely, the first floor of his home sustained about six inches of water. "When the two dams failed, they predicted a crest of 38 feet, which is five feet higher than we had in 1986," Saxton said. "Yesterday afternoon, it crested at 35.08 feet, and it crested three hours early. ... If it had come up another three feet, that would have done another two and a half feet through my house, on the main living structure floor." Saxton and his wife Joyce, both trained disaster relief volunteers, are sheltered at Emmanuel Baptist with about 30 residents and counselors who had to evacuate The Open Door of Midland rescue mission. The church has a dormitory-style area designed to house disaster relief volunteers and others, but Saxton is thankful he and Joyce grabbed two cots from their home basement as they fled the flood. "We're in the same storm, but we're all in different boats," Saxton said. "But God's totally in charge of all the boats. Some people might be closer to shore and not be as troubled. Some may be out in the deep water with the bigger waves." Emmanuel is one of 11 churches in the Bay Area Baptist Association, which serves 11 counties. Associational Missionary David Roberts said none of the church buildings was flooded, but many members' homes were damaged. "Members in those churches have definitely been affected," Roberts said. "We're small in number, but we're large in territory." No deaths had been reported, but mud-out work is stalled until the flood waters recede. Kiger is coordinating Michigan Southern Baptists' response with state police, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other volunteer groups. Alabama and Missouri Southern Baptist disaster relief units have already volunteered to help, Kiger said, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has offered protective gear for volunteers. Kiger appreciates prayer. "You never think it's going to happen to you, I guess, especially these people in Midland," he said. "Because they had in '86 the once in a 500-year flood, and we went up and cleaned out homes in 2017 because they had a flood then. ... And here it is again." ABOUT THE AUTHOR Diana Chandler is Baptist Press' general assignment writer/editor. BP reports on missions, ministry and witness advanced through the Cooperative Program and on news related to Southern Baptists' concerns nationally and globally. #JUNE20

by Tim Patterson PLYMOUTH, MI – I am not writing about the pandemic. We all are in information and disinformation overload. I am not denying the severity of the situation, but sometimes we just need a break. Virus fatigue has set in and some are beginning to feel and see the effects of stress and anger leaking out. This situation has made for some very tough times. If you are like me, you are probably experiencing a day or days when it seems as though all the goodie has been scraped out of your Oreo. A day when everything that could go wrong has gone wrong? If you are like me, you not only have those kinds of days, but those kinds of weeks, months and even years! One morning you wake up to the startling realization that someone in the night has stolen the sweet child that you gave life to and replaced it with an alien. That alien has taken on the form of a hormone-crazed teenager and he or she may look like your child, but you are positive that this creature that has been transformed into an obnoxious, self-absorbed, rude, smelly, sleeping and eating machine that did not come from your loins! Or could it be that one day the bank called and said that it is customary to have money in the bank if you want to write checks, and that the last ones you wrote were most likely printed on rubber. Many have received that phone call, letter, email or speech that says, “I don’t love you anymore and I am leaving,” or that really stupid one that says, “I love you but I’m just not in love with you.” Puuuuleeeees!!!! Or could it be that you have slipped into a time warp called the COVID-19 PANDEMIC where time and all life has been put on hold. Everything is upside down and reality has become one big blur? These are the kinds of events in life that can make you feel like the bird in this story. One day, the woman was cleaning the bottom of Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner when the telephone rang. She reached for the telephone without removing the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner from the cage, which was a mistake. The vacuum cleaner nozzle got pointed in the direction of poor little Chippie, and he was suddenly sucked up into the machine. When the woman looked back at the cage and realized what had happened, she was horrified. She dropped the telephone, turned off the vacuum cleaner and ripped open the dust bag to get to her little bird. Chippie was a real mess, but he was still alive. She raced to the kitchen sink and turned the water on full force on Chippie. The more she tried to wash him, the worse he looked, so she took him to the bathroom and started trying to dry Chippie with her hair dryer—full force and high heat. Finally, she got the bird dry and put him back in his cage. Several days later, a friend called and asked how Chippie was doing. “He’s alive,” she said, “but he just sits in his cage and stares out into space. And,” she added thoughtfully, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore.” Just one question, do you sing much anymore? Have the enormous vacuums of life sucked all the joy and song from your heart? The best hope and answer I can give to you is the one that God gives to all his children. Keep your eyes on Him and off of your circumstances. They will pass away, but He will not. Psalm 30:5 – "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning." ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tim Patterson is Executive Director/Treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Elected unanimously in May of 2015, Patterson formerly served for 9 years as pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla. He also served as trustee chair and national mobilizer for the North American Mission Board. #JUNE20

by Tony Lynn PLYMOUTH, MI – Mom gently pulled pieces of gravel out of the skin of my bleeding knees and my swollen red palms. She worked one knee then another and then moved onto the palms in a circuit. She could tell by my silent trembling when I had reached my limit enduring the pick, pick, pick. After nearly twenty-minutes of cleaning my wounds the knees were numb, but the palms still burned. I recall my mother pouring peroxide then mercurochrome over the tender spots. Peroxide bubbled, but didn’t hurt. The mercurochrome was red and had a pungent odor; it stung so badly the only cure was to furiously wave my hands in the air or blow continually on the wound until the sting subsided. My childhood memories come from Flint, Michigan. I passed my earliest rites of passage there. Back then during 1960-something, children roamed the neighborhood freely from yard to yard. We dropped in on friends unannounced. We yelled through the screen doors into the house, “Mrs. White, can Jeff, Bruce and Philip come out to play?” The mother would reply from somewhere in the house without approaching the doorway, “Tony, as soon as the boys get their chores done I will send them down to your house.” A commotion would start-up in the house as the three brothers raced to finish everything on the chore list. As summer days lingered lazily onward toward nightfall, the parents throughout the neighborhood would instruct their children to return home with the same universal signal. “When you see the porch lights come-on, you hurry your tails back home. Nothing good comes at night.” After returning home, each of the families would gather on their front porch recounting the day’s events to one another. Dad told a story about a mishap at the factory. Mom brought us up-to-date on news from talking with her twin sister over the phone. On one of those evenings, there was enough daylight left that it was time for me to learn to ride a bike, which required the gravel be removed from my knees and hands. I’m not certain as to the origin of the 1960-something girl’s blue bicycle. It may have belonged to my older cousin who lived a block away from our house. She was older and at times seemed more like an aunt than a cousin to me. I guess that she had outgrown it and passed it down to our family. The street in front of my childhood house was called Donaldson Boulevard. It sounds impressive, but it wasn’t. It was a simple roadway with gravel, potholes and a gradual downhill slope. It was a perfect practice site for someone learning to ride a bike. My father and mother took turns coaching me from the front porch as to how to roll the bicycle to the top of the street, then position the bike to face the downhill slope. Having a girl’s bike allowed me to locate the pedals so that I could push off when I started my ride. With the lower center bar of a girl’s bicycle, I could easily move my leg across the frame and place both feet on the pedals. By the way, did I mention that when I learned there was no such thing as training wheels? After almost running into ditches, mailbox posts, and tumbling onto the rough surface I still recall the exhilaration I felt when I conquered balancing the bike without falling. Braking without putting my feet down. Pushing the pedals back to get the bike to stop. Coming to a complete stop without having to jump off the bicycle. In between falls there were moments of success! I was happy and felt like I grew-up a little more that day. My final ride that night was a careful turn onto the front lawn where I laid down the girl’s blue bicycle as the cool of the evening made the grass feel chilly and wet. To be totally honest, as a boy I felt like the cowboy in the western movie who had tamed a wild stallion. My confidence grew tremendously that night. As the blue sky faded to black, the moon started to shine and the stars started to gleam. I joined my sister and parents on the cement porch in front of our square 30’x30’ house. The porch was still warm from the long summer day’s sunshine. Mom had already laid out a quilt for my sister and me to snuggle on, and wrapped us up like a giant taco. Taking a few seconds, my mother entered then returned from the bathroom medicine cabinet with the peroxide and mercurochrome. Before stepping back onto the porch, Mom turned off the front porch light since everyone was safe at home. When she did the obscure sky turned into a canopy of thousands of tiny white lights above our heads. It was stunning. It was calming. This month, as all of us in our workplaces, families, churches and communities start to consider re-entering back into what we once called normal life, I hope we can find healthy ways to help our children replace their anxiety with calm and their fear with faith. I love Psalm 78 (New Living Translation) because it reminds us to build confidence in our children when it comes to God. Verse 4 says, “We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.” Verses 5-7 amplify that message with, “He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them – even the children not yet born – and they in turn will teach their own children. So, each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.” In the new days ahead of us we may be able to build up the confidence of our children in the Lord through four simple ways: Let’s speak prayers of assurance of God’s care over us as we start the day. The Lord is with us when the bike ride goes well and even when we fall braking ourselves with knees and palms. Let’s read Scripture and biblical accounts of God’s people faced their tough times trusting God: Joseph of the Old Testament, David and his brothers or Psalms. Let’s listen to and sing songs of praise at home, in the car and in the yard as we play outside in God’s creation. Replacing the news with praise will build up our kids. Let’s allow older adults to share with little ones appropriate stories of moments when confidence in God helped overcome a personal crisis or obstacle. Like my parents when I learned to ride a bike, the Lord is near us even during our trials. Children sometimes need to be reminded of God’s continual presence and power during frightful moments. My parents coached me from the front porch. They offered guidance and encouragement. They knew I would carry some scars from learning to ride the bicycle. They had a first-aid kit prepared to clean my wounds. The Lord will do even more for today’s generations if we will remember to “tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders,” (Psalm 78:4, NLT). ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tony Lynn is the State Director of Missions for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Before coming on staff at the BSCM, Tony served as lead pastor for more than six years at Crosspoint Church in Monroe, Michigan. He and his wife, Jamie, also served with the International Mission Board in Africa and in Europe. #JUNE20

by Mike Durbin PLYMOUTH, MI – It’s unbelievable - church buildings all over Michigan have been closed for weeks. These places where we gather to love God, each other, and the community around us, have been empty of the worship, prayer, community, and service we express to God when we’re together. It’s been hard for us as believers not to be in person with our church families. We have deep and abiding friendships in our church family, and we miss each other. It’s been a surreal time and we are longing to be the church gathered once again. And yet, closed buildings did not stop Michigan Baptist churches! You worshiped, served, connected, gave, and shared the Gospel during all this. You are the church of the living God. When the stories of what happened during this pandemic are written, they will tell of how you made difficult decisions and embraced new strategies to advance God’s Kingdom. They will tell of how: You expressed love by making the gut-wrenching decision to stop corporate worship gatherings. It was an agonizing decision for pastors and churches to make. Little was known about COVID-19 in the early days. It was declared a worldwide pandemic and action had to be taken to “flatten the curve.” For churches, that meant stopping the gatherings that define who we are as the called-out people of God. Closing buildings radically demonstrated your love for each other and your community. You embraced radical change for the sake of the mission. It’s incredibly impressive how quickly Michigan Baptist Churches pivoted from worship services in buildings to worship services online during this pandemic. Change is hard. Radical change is even harder. It only took days for churches to embrace a new way of doing things. We adopted the changes necessary to stay relevant and connected. Change—radical change—is possible for the sake of the Gospel. You reached out to help sister churches. Churches all over our state are streaming services—many that had never done so before. You helped each other learn what needed to be done. Pastors helped pastors. Churches helped churches. You shared everything from equipment to best practices as you continued being the church. These online services will never replace the church gathered, but they did allow the church to stay connected. They have been a powerful resource for this time and moving forward. You focused outwardly like never before. Often, what happens in our buildings becomes the focus of what we are doing as churches. Leading a church takes incredible time, energy, and resources. If we are not careful, churches become inwardly focused. It becomes about what happens when we are together. As important as church gatherings are and what happens as we gather, so too is the mission of the church to make disciples of all people. God designed the church to be inwardly strong, outwardly focused. COVID-19 has dramatically caused us to get the Gospel beyond the walls of our buildings and the result has been amazing. Churches all over Michigan are reporting that more people are engaging in online services than they had in attendance at their worship services. Some are reporting surprising increases. Stories are being shared of people from across Michigan, the United States, and other countries participating online with Michigan Baptist churches. That’s incredible! More people are hearing the Gospel and that’s a good thing! People are placing their faith in Christ. Even though the use of our buildings has temporarily not been viable during this pandemic, it did not stop Michigan Baptists. Well done and to God be the glory! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mike Durbin is the State Evangelism Director for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Before joining the state convention staff, Mike served as Church Planting Catalyst and Director of Missions in Metro Detroit since 2007. He also has served as a pastor and bi-vocational pastor in Michigan, as well as International Missionary to Brazil. #JUNE20

by Trennis Henderson RICHMOND, IN – It wasn’t quite the celebration that Dan and Chris Conrades had in mind as Crosspoint Church marked its 4th anniversary as a vibrant, growing church replant in Richmond, Indiana. But they still were determined to make the best of a challenging situation as church members sheltered at home and gathered online to mark the congregation’s ministry milestone. “I cannot believe that today is Crosspoint Church’s 4th birthday!!!” Chris posted on her Facebook page May 1. “Four years ago today we officially opened our doors and began our ministry here in Richmond. “Today, I wish we were gathering at the church for a big party or cookout,” wrote Chris, Crosspoint’s praise team leader. “I miss my church family. But I am celebrating all that I am seeing God doing even during this quarantine to grow our church's faith and to give them a deeper love for each other.” Declaring that “I can only imagine what God is going to do in this upcoming year,” she added, “I will warn you now that there WILL be a party as soon as this is all over.” In the meantime, the Conrades posted a video on Facebook highlighting church activities and achievements over the past year. They also secretly installed yard signs on church members’ front lawns with the message, “We are praying for you! – Crosspoint Church.” Several families responded on social media with notes such as: "I absolutely love my church! I mean, what other pastoral families would sneak into my yard late at night to leave an encouraging little gift for my family to wake up to?” As church replanters, being flexible isn’t anything new for Dan and Chris. They quickly discovered, however, that the coronavirus crisis created a slew of new ministry challenges and opportunities. “March 15 was the last day we were all together,” explained Dan, who serves as Crosspoint’s lead pastor. “That same week was when Indiana started shutting everything down. We’ve had to figure out creative ways to keep our people engaged." Since mid-March, they have turned to Facebook, Zoom and YouTube to stay connected with church members and the community. A typical week includes live streaming Dan’s Sunday morning sermon on YouTube, Chris leading a women’s video conference call and their 16-year-old daughter Ellie leading a Monday Zoom call for Crosspoint’s children and youth. Chris, who also teaches preschool Sunday School, even hosted a Zoom call with her 3- and 4-year-old “little people,” an entertaining online experience she described as “a little bit crazy.” Intergenerational missions focus The Conrades also are coordinating a churchwide Family Missions night via Zoom each Wednesday evening. It has become the online version of an innovative missions program they launched last year to merge Crosspoint’s missions discipleship efforts into one intergenerational gathering. Before social distancing kicked in, the basic premise was that “everyone is together in one room and we are using our Woman’s Missionary Union curriculum to pray together, do crafts and Bible studies,” Chris noted. She said a key attraction of the study is the congregation learning about missionaries and missions discipleship as an interactive group ranging from preschoolers to adults. “One of the greatest impacts that I’ve seen is that people are just assuming that we are going to be doing missions,” she pointed out. “It’s not a question in their mind. It’s a given that that’s just a part of who we are.” As sheltering restrictions gradually are lifted, the Conrades are committed to continuing some version of Crosspoint’s Family Missions emphasis, including Zoom gatherings and a Parking Lot Prayer Night. Their Family Missions focus “is a resource that helps our people learn how valuable missions is,” Dan said. “One of my heartbeats as a pastor is to get our people on mission.” A strong heart for missions The Conrades’ mission journey to Crosspoint started several years ago when they began sensing God’s call to serve as church planters. As natives of Baltimore who were serving at a church in southern Indiana, they anticipated that God might call them to the Northeast with the bonus of moving back near extended family. Instead, He led them just a few hours across the state to a small, struggling congregation in east central Indiana. It had dwindled over the years from 200-plus members to a remnant of only 12 active members and was on the verge of closing its doors. When they met with the small group of core members, “we just fell in love with them and the fact that they were ready for God to do something in this building because they believed God was not done with this place,” Dan said. The Conrades became church replanters in partnership with the North American Mission Board and moved with their four children to Richmond, a county seat town with a population of 35,000. They helped Central Baptist Church officially conclude its ministry and then reconstituted in the same facility as Crosspoint Church. Linda Leas, one of the few remaining members at Central Baptist, recounted that “we were coming to the point where we were putting our church on the altar and offering it to God and He has returned it to us with more than we could have asked for.” “Our vision was to really build a healthy church that was focused on getting the gospel out to people but also was very focused on discipleship,” Dan said. He and Chris also share a strong heart for missions, nurtured in part by Chris’ strong background in Woman’s Missionary Union organizations from Mission Friends, Girls in Action and Acteens to WMU involvement on the associational, state and national levels. “Even though I grew up in Baltimore where there’s not a lot of Southern Baptist churches, I always was a part of a church that had a very strong WMU presence,” Chris explained. As an Acteen, she attended the National Acteens Convention in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1994 “and that is where God called me to vocational ministry.” “WMU has always just been exciting for me,” she shared. “I know if it were not for WMU, I would not be who I am today.” Even as a young church replant, Crosspoint has established an international missions partnership with a small congregation in Colina, Chile. “Our church has just seen the value of missions and they’re seeing what God is doing in a context that’s outside of Richmond, Indiana,” Dan said. “They’re seeing that God is the God of the nations.” “God designed us for fellowship” After two months of worshipping together online, Crosspoint is preparing to move back to in-person church services and activities as social distancing guidelines allow. But there still are lots of questions about what gatherings will look like in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. As churches navigate life and ministry amid the pandemic’s ongoing impact, “I think one of the things a lot of pastors are worried about through this whole thing is people will get comfortable in their homes,” Dan acknowledged. “It’s easy to wake up on Sunday, stay in your pajamas, watch the livestream.” By contrast, he said he hopes people will view sheltering in place and social distancing as “a reminder that God designed us for fellowship, for unity. We see that in the Trinity between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that perfect unity. “Zoom calls are fun but they don’t take the place of being together in person, they just don’t,” he emphasized. “We need one another. We need to speak into one another’s lives.” “This humungous unknown that has just been thrown at us has caused so many people to stop and think, ‘Do I really trust God? Do I believe what I’ve said I believed about Him?’” Chris reflected. “My prayer is that our people will come to the right conclusion that God is trustworthy, that He is exactly who He has always said He is and we don’t have to be afraid. We can walk in confidence. “God is just whispering to our hearts that you can trust Me no matter what the outcome is,” she concluded. “No matter what the story gets written like, you can trust Him.” ABOUT THE AUTHOR Trennis Henderson is a freelance national correspondent for the Woman's Missionary Union. #JUNE20

by Tess Schoonhoven ATLANTA, GA (BP) – As the state of Georgia continues on a path to reopening, Christ Covenant Church is cautiously planning to resume in-person gatherings. But decisions about when and how to return are complicated by where. Christ Covenant has called Sutton Middle School its Sunday home for 2 1/2 years. The church, which averaged about 500 in attendance before the COVID-19 pandemic, will be ready to reopen before the school does -- which has Jason Dees, Christ Covenant's pastor, searching for options that might even include a local synagogue on a temporary basis. The church plans to begin Sunday (May 17) holding small gatherings of perhaps 30-40 people at a venue known as The Collective, while continuing to livestream the services. Meetings of the full congregation likely wouldn't resume until August, but securing a larger venue for later in the summer hasn't been simple. "A lot of them are saying, 'well you can't meet here until we meet here,' so whenever they're comfortable having people in their building is a factor also," Dees explained. Christ Covenant's quandary isn't unusual. Although numbers weren't readily available, Travis Smalley, Send City missionary with the North American Mission Board and pastor of Lakota Hills Baptist Church in West Chester, Ohio, said the practice of church plants holding services in schools has become "a large part of church planting." "There's a lot of renting and leasing agreements," he said. For those church plants, the ability to reopen is tied not only to general guidelines and safety protocols, but to school district policies. Smalley noted that in Ohio, for example, where some school districts are contemplating alternate scheduling for the fall semester in order to protect students from the coronavirus, some school officials are newly hesitant about renting their facilities to outside groups. Some church plants might have to find new venues to meet. "What I've been really praying for is the strengthening of relationships between [church plants and] some of the established churches that are here," Smalley said. "Maybe they could provide space and alternative times to some of our church plants to meet." He suggested those relationships might grow beyond agreements for use of facilities and create partnerships for prayer, encouragement and help with scheduling. Some decisions will depend on relationships already built between church plants and the schools they've been using to meet. Mark Ford, pastor of Go Church in Ridgefield, Wash., said during the plant's 18 months meeting at Sunset Ridge Intermediate School, a friendship has grown with the school district's superintendent. The reopening plan set out by the state of Washington would allow Go Church to resume regular in-person meetings in Phase 4, likely in mid-July. Ford said the superintendent had assured him that the church would be able to host services at Sunset Ridge even if the school is not yet in session. "We're gonna do everything we can with each phase," Ford said. "There's a lot up in the air." Ford said Go Church members, like so many others, are realizing that even as the pandemic has pushed and stretched them to the edge of what they're able to handle, they've also been growing in unexpected ways. "That's the nature of testing. You've got to go past the point of where you think you can't handle it anymore to grow," Ford said. "God isn't finished yet. Even though we want it to be over, He's just not quite finished yet. There's another mile or two in the race." ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tess Schoonhoven is a Baptist Press staff writer. #JUNE20

by Stan Parker LANSING, MI – The whole world has been impacted by the COVID-19 virus. Our nation and neighborhoods have not been excluded. As Christians, we have to choose how we are going to respond. Will we complain as we have seen some in the nation do, or will we respond as Jesus would desire us to respond? On March 13, 2020 children from the Potter-Walsh neighborhood approached some members of Faith Fellowship Baptist Church. They were hungry. The children said that their schools are handing out lunches, but they are unable to receive it because no buses were operating. The scripture, Matthew 19:14 came to mind for those members, ”But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” As a result, the members took the children into the church and provided lunch. The following week the Governor closed all schools which meant children in the neighborhood would need to be fed. So, a call went out seeking volunteers who would be willing to come, and prepare lunches for the children in the Potter-Walsh neighborhood during the pandemic. The call was answered, and the ‘Lunch on Us’ Feeding Program was born. A group of volunteers rotate each week, and prepare 300 lunches weekly. The children are being fed each week. We praise God. After seeing smiles on the faces, one of the volunteers asked, “Why can't we put smiles on their hearts, too.” The next week gospel tracts were prayed over and added to the lunches. The following Monday the father of one of the children, came to pick up lunches for his entire family, and said he was thankful for the help, but was more thankful to receive a bonus. We asked what the bonus was; Jeff stated the gospel tract which prompted his son to read the track, and then asked why we don’t go to church? The dad said he really didn’t have an answer, but once the church opens back up, he and this family will start attending. Praise God. The praise reports have continued. A mother has started attending a small group Bible Study and says she will join us in worship once the doors of the church are opened. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some pain, suffering, and even death, it has not shattered God's love. Thanks be to God we are able to praise him, even in the midst of a pandemic. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr Stan Parker, Pastor of Faith Fellowship Baptist Church Lansing, President of the Michigan African American Fellowship, married to Charlotte. #JUNE20