New
Volume 108, No. 4
IB Insider
inspirations, page 12
Fresh Ideas for connecting with guests, page 11
MARCH 03, 2014
Recovery team shores up hope
Adams: Why ‘Baptist’ faith matters page 4
Prison, no blues page 8 Mapping marriage page 3 The bold look of Mohler page 4
‘Forgotten’ Filipinos welcome Illinois workers and their message
Floyd to run for SBC’s top post
Nashville, Tenn. | Pastor Ronnie Floyd will be nominated to succeed Fred Luter as president of the Southern Baptist Convention at this summer’s annual meeting in Baltimore. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, announced via an open letter that Floyd he will recommend Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas. It’s the first nomination to be announced. Continued on page 2
Continued on page 3
Look for it in this issue. And coming soon online at www.IBSA.org.
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Cebu. They took a 20-minute boat ride to work every morning. “Just enough to be fun,” Alexander said. Once they arrived at Gibitngil’s shore, they got off the boat and waded to the beach, carrying the supplies they would need for the day. Volunteer teams have been working at the school here since December under the direction of Baptist Global Response
A special series for Southern Baptists on our basic beliefs and our missional approach to life.
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SEAWORTHY – Illinois volunteers took a daily 20-minute boat ride from Cebu Island to Gibitngil. The team had opportunities to minister to teachers and work with kids, including daily music sessions led by veteran teacher Don Kragness.
For those who want a new outlook
Throughout the week:
For new Baptists
News and updates
Gibitngil Island, Philippines | Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham. On a remote island in the Pacific, school children march in place to a familiar song. Grouped around a flagpole, they sing and spin along with their leader, a man wearing a bright yellow T-shirt. It’s the morning exercise routine at Gibitngil Integrated School, and the final day in the Philippines for a group of Illinois volunteers. The team of six Disaster Relief leaders spent a week here to help repair the school, damaged during last fall’s typhoon. With so much destruction in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, this tiny island likely isn’t high on the government’s lengthy to-do list. But Baptist Global Response saw a need they
could meet here, and have mobilized a string of volunteer teams from the U.S. to fix roofs, construct a classroom building almost from scratch, and reinstate the school’s rainwater collection system. “We were told that for this little island, it might take the government two to three years just to get there to start the work,” said Rex Alexander, IBSA’s Disaster Relief coordinator. “We were working in what would be considered a forgotten area.” Now, the island and some of its 4,000 residents are well documented on Facebook. They smile brightly in photographs alongside the American volunteers. They sing in cell phone videos. Gibitngil Island isn’t forgotten anymore. During their week in the Philippines, the Illinois volunteers stayed in Medellin on the much larger island of
For new believers
By Meredith Flynn
See the world from a new angle
Point of contact pages 6-7