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Hillcrest Church Office
December 10, 2003
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Here is this week’s WINNING WAYS
. . . .
SPECIAL NOTE: We’ve prepared an e-card that you can send
to your friends, inviting them to Christmas events at Hillcrest! Go to www.HillcrestAustin.org/ecard and follow
the instructions. Thanks to Tammy Wallace and Paul Waldo for adding this
feature to our outreach!
“A New Respect for an
Old Commitment”
by Tom Goodman
The New York Times is hardly the place to find friendly coverage of
conservative Christians and our convictions. That's why it was such a nice surprise
last year to read Nicholas' Kristof's piece titled "Following God
Abroad."
He applauds what he calls
"the new internationalism" among today's evangelicals who are
"saving lives in some of the most forgotten parts of the world.” He
brings to light the work of evangelicals who fight for international religious
freedom, resist the global trade in slavery and forced prostitution, and stem
the tide of AIDS in Africa. He's not entirely comfortable with us, and
complains about our "simple-minded moralistic streak.” But, he says,
"all in all, we should welcome this new constituency for foreign affairs
in Middle America. . . . I've lost my cynicism about evangelical
groups partly because I've seen them at work abroad."
Well, it's good that Times
readers got the word on the work conservative Christians are doing. But hang
on. The "new internationalism" of evangelicals is anything but new.
As Erich Bridges says in SBC Life, "Go back several generations, or
several centuries, and you'll find that the only outsiders who worked in many
far-flung places - besides colonial forces, traders, and adventurers - were
missionaries.
Bridges challenges his
readers with a pop quiz:
·
"Who,
beginning in 1793, spent four decades teaching the poor of India to
read, producing grammars and dictionaries in six Indian languages, and
tirelessly campaigning for laws against infanticide, child abandonment, and the
ritual burning of Indian widows on their husbands' funeral pyres? ANSWER:
William Carey, the humble British Baptist cobbler who became the father of
modern evangelical missions. He did much of his heroic work over the
objections of the powerful East India Company - not to mention the clerical
establishment of his own church.
·
"Who,
beginning in 1895, spent fifty-six years in India,
rescuing more than a thousand children from neglect and abuse as Hindu temple
prostitutes? ANSWER: Anglican missionary and author Amy Carmichael.
·
"Who, after
going to China in 1873, campaigned for an end to the binding of
women's feet and at the end of decades of selfless service gave her own food -
and life - to the starving? ANSWER: Lottie Moon, Southern Baptists' most
renowned missionary."
The only difference is
visibility. News of missionary labors "used to circulate in the churches
and the [religious] subculture," Edith Blumhofer, director of the
Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals, told Christianity Today in
response to the Kristof piece, "Now it's out there. It's up on the Web....
It's more accessible to other people."
This Sunday our church
will focus attention on international missions work and on the support our
church provides for missions causes around the world. All throughout the
Christmas season, we encourage you to support the "Lottie Moon Christmas
Offering," named in honor of the Southern Baptist missionary, mentioned
above, who gave her very life to both the earthly and eternal life of the
Chinese. For more information about the work your Christmas Offering supports,
go to http://ime.imb.org/.
We hope you’ll join our
effort at raising $22,000 for the International Missions Board this season!
Tom
The Nicolas Kristof piece
can be found at www.nytimes.com/2002/05/21/opinion/21KRIS.html (link requires registration)
The Erich Bridges piece
can be found at www.sbclife.org/Articles/2002/11/SLA6.asp
The Edith Blumhofer quote
can be found at www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/120/21.0.html
THIS WEEK: Discover
Hillcrest: A.M. Edition! Have you wanted to join Hillcrest but you’ve
been unable to attend our "Discover Hillcrest" class in the afternoon?
Then here's your chance! Pastor Tom will hold an "A.M. Edition" of
the class during the Sunday School hour on two CONSECUTIVE Sundays, December 14
and 21. It takes 2 hours to complete the class, so you should plan on
attending both Sundays. The fast-paced class will give you the information and
inspiration you need for meaningful involvement in our church. Join us from 9:30-10:30 a.m. for this special "Discover Hillcrest: A.M. Edition!"
Christmas Events at
Hillcrest: Go to our website for news about Christmas events at
Hillcrest, including our “Dessert Theater” and “Living Nativity”! Send an
e-card inviting your friends to our Christmas events at http://HillcrestAustin.org/ecard
FRESH NEWS AT HILLCREST
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