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Year in Review • Five big religion news stories of 2013, page 9

Volume 107, No. 20

IB Insider

DECEMBER 16, 2013

‘Tell me the story of Jesus’

Nate Adams: How much does one life count? page 4

IBSA’s Sandy Barnard shared Jesus by lending this nativity from South Africa to an annual Christmas display in Springfield.

At Western Oaks Baptist Church, a Journey to Bethlehem includes costumed players and live animals.

The rise of atheist “churches” page 12 What color is your Christmas page 11 Pat’s Playbook: Doing business at church page 10 Gifting the pastor page 5

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See the center spread for six more witnessing stories.

Volunteers on the scene

200-plus respond to callout after tornadoes Washington | Bill and Shirley Sadler and their daughter, Valerie, were at church when a tornado swept away the top of their home Nov. 17. Two bedrooms and a bathroom, completely gone – Shirley said they haven’t recovered anything from that part of the house. Across the state, homeowners like the Sadlers are picking up the pieces a month after 24 tornadoes touched down in Illinois. A photo of the Sadlers’ destroyed house ran on the front page of the Nov. 25 Illinois Baptist, but the scene is different now. Instead of a lonely structure atop a mountain of debris, what used to be a home is now a hole in the ground. Bill and Shirley are staying in a senior living community in East Peoria, but it’s

a temporary arrangement. They plan to build again on the same property. “I don’t know how we would go through something like this if you didn’t have faith in God, and church friends and family,” Shirley said. Eight families that are members of the Sadlers’ church, First Baptist in Washington, lost their homes to the tornado, said Pastor Joshua Monda. He has been on call constantly since the storms for anyone in need of help. Shirley Sadler said he’s had his hands full. “I just can’t tell you how much we love him.” Across town from Monda’s church, Roland Manor Baptist served as an incident command center for Disaster Relief teams that came to help in

Continued on page 2

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Now is the time to share.

STARTING OVER – Bill and Shirley Sadler's home in Washington was destroyed during a Nov. 17 tornado. They’re planning to build a new home on the same site. Photo by Joshua Monda

Allen named Send coordinator Chicago connections key in pastor’s new role

Chicago | Uptown Baptist Church pastor Michael Allen has been named Send City coordinator for Chicago by the North American Mission Board (NAMB). He succeeds IBSA’s Tim Cotler, who moved from the local coordinator position to a Midwest regional role in NAMB’s church planting strategy that targets 32 major metropolitan areas in North America. The local “Send” strategy committee identified 184 areas and people groups in Chicagoland that need churches. The city itself has 77 neighborhoods. Allen says his goal is to plant 77 new churches, one in each of those neighborhoods, in the next five years. Allen has a big job ahead of him, helping coordinate the work of churches and church planting partners, including IBSA. “Just as Allen has adopted Chicago as his hometown, his heart is to invite a new generation of Southern Baptists to adopt Chicagoland as their mission field,” said Van Kicklighter, IBSA’s associate executive director for church planting. “It’s like what politicians say about Iowa,” Allen said. “All roads to the White House go through Iowa. Chicago is like that when it comes to church planting. We’re such a key crossroads of our country and the world. Just about any ethnic group you Continued on page 2