BaptistLIFE Online

By Gayla Parker, BCM/D WMU Executive Director, Missionary for Missions Education and

Gayla Parker

Customization, Missions Innovator Specialist (WMU, SBC)

While in high school my youngest son, Jesse, was asked to write a poem using a particular structure. The topic was irrelevant. As you might imagine, writing poems was not on his top ten (or even top 100) list of things “I want to do today.” Jesse played on the varsity basketball team and would have much preferred a little b-ball with his teammates. But the assignment was due and to stay on the basketball team, grades had to be maintained. There is nothing like a little incentive to get an unwanted job done.  This is the poem that Jesse wrote that afternoon:

Running here and there
Looking for where I’m from
Going to the very depth of the earth
Looking for where I’m from
I’ve searched the deepest cave
And looked over the highest cloud

I am lost and searching for where I’m from
Then on a hill with a cross called Mount Calvary
I find my home.

By the time you read this article the Southern Baptist Convention will be over. There will have been much said about the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) Report. There are and will be varying opinions on the GCR report. But my prayer is this, when it is all said and done we can all agree on this, there are many in our world who are lost and dying without the eternal life that can be found in Jesus Christ. There are billions who are searching for “where I’m from.” We can be the GPS in their lives. We can lead them to Mount Calvary, the place that offers eternal life for all.

Over the next few years The North American Mission Board will be talking about GPS (God’s Plan for Salvation). Perhaps your church is already participating. If not, maybe now is the time to agree to be the GPS for someone who is lost and searching.

I’m forever grateful that Jesse found Mt. Calvary and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. But there thousands of children, students, and adults who are still wandering, “running here and there.” They have “searched the deepest cave” in the drug and alcohol world. They have looked “over the highest cloud” in the financially successful world. They have “swam to bottom of the sea and climbed the highest mount” in the sports world. They have looked “under every rock and behind every tree” searching in books and false religions. But they are still lost, running here and there searching. Take time today and be the GPS for them and help them find Mt. Calvary and the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

BCM/D WMU Executive Director, Missionary for Missions Education/Customization and Missions Innovator Specialist (SBC, WMU)

By Gayla Parker, BCM/D WMU Executive Director, Missionary for Missions Education/Customization and Missions Innovator Specialist (SBC, WMU)

Family meals have been the topic of much discussion of late. There are endless commercials about the importance of eating together. Counselors and psychologists are telling us not to neglect having a family meal time; it is important for our children to have that time together.

The success of Starbucks and neighborhood coffee shops is partly due to the atmosphere of sitting and chatting with family and friends. We all crave and enjoy a little down time around a table with food, friends and family. So why not use what already comes natural to reach out to neighbors?

While in seminary, our family table was an ironing board. Our apartment was too small for even a card table. So we improvised by putting the ironing board in front of the sofa, adjusting the height to table height and using placemats to cover the ironing pad. My husband and I would sit on the couch and eat our meals at our makeshift table every night. If we were having guests, we placed folding chairs on the other side. Setting the “table” was easy; line up four plates and glasses and place flatware on the plates. That was the only way it would all fit! For three years, that is where we enjoyed our Thanksgiving meals with our neighbors Robbie and Rudy. It was at that “table” that we prayed with our friends as one by one we graduated and left to serve in our called areas. It was at that “table” that we celebrated anniversaries and cried with friends after losing a child. It was at that “table” that we fed co-workers who did not know Jesus on a personal level. The kind of table did not matter, it was what happened around the “table” that was important.

Each of us prepare meals everyday for our families; so why not invite a few more families to join us? Invite a few neighbors over. Start the grill, put some hamburgers and hot dogs on, cut a watermelon and make some lemonade. Make enough to include any surprise guests that might show up for the fun. Ask everyone to bring their favorite side dish with copies of the recipe to share with the other guests.

Plan a few games for adults and children. Horseshoes, bean bag toss, badminton, volleyball, water balloons for the kids (well, maybe the adults too) and croquet.

Eat, play and take time for a little “table talk.” Pray before the meal. Share your God story as the opportunity arises. It may be the first time they have been around a believer in a casual setting.

Remember it is not the food or the table that is important; it is the talk that happens around the table that matters!

As a missionary in the Philippines “table talk,” food, and friends was my favorite way to share Christ with my neighbors. There is nothing like inviting the neighbors over for a little turkey and dressing on Thanksgiving when you live in another country.

Try explaining cornbread to someone who only knows cornmeal as a food for pigs! In the midst of laughter, sharing and talking came opportunities to share Christ. Now, living in Baltimore, I still see God work around our table when I invite our neighbors over to enjoy a summer meal on our roof top deck.

Just think about it, God does some of His best work around the table. It was around the “table” that Esther revealed the truth about an enemy. It was around a “table” that Jesus fed over 5,000 people. It was around a “table” that Jesus performed His first miracle of turning water to wine. David talks of God preparing a “table” in the presence of his enemies. It is around a “table” that Jesus broke the bread and drank the wine with His disciples on the last night of His earthly life.

It is around a “table” that we remember and cherish the events that followed His last meal.

The psychologists are right, family mealtime is important. It might be just the place that we welcome a new family member into the family of believers. Invite the neighbors over and enjoy this very special family mealtime and watch God do some of His best work around your family table.

Gayla Parker

By Gayla Parker, BCM/D WMU Executive Director, Missionary for Missions Education and Customization, Missions Innovator Specialist (WMU, SBC)

“The Parable of the Lost Coin” in Luke 15:8-10 came alive to me just a few months after our wedding. Freddy and I were living in seminary housing at Southern Seminary. In case you have ever wondered seminary housing does not come with a self-cleaning oven or self-defrosting refrigerator. So periodically I had to spend my day cleaning the oven and defrosting the refrigerator; otherwise baking became hazardous and the freezer was full of ice instead of food.

One Saturday afternoon after finishing my monthly kitchen chores, I decided to make cookies. Freddy and my seminary neighbors loved the chocolate oatmeal cookies that are cooked on top of the stove. I spooned the cookies out on aluminum foil and all that was left was cleaning the dirty dishes. I removed my wedding rings, placed them on the foil with the cookies, and started washing dishes. Once they were finished, I took a few hours to finish up homework for the weekend. By the time it was all done, the cookies were cool. I removed them from the foil, placed them in a container and waded up the foil and threw it away.

Yes, you guessed it; my rings were still in the foil. It was Sunday morning before I realized they were lost. It was Tuesday afternoon before I remembered where I had put them in our 225 square foot apartment. Freddy and I had looked through the trash hundreds of times but it was not until Tuesday that it occurred to me to ‘un-wad’ the foil. Just like the parable, we called our friends and neighbors and had a celebration party! To this day, making chocolate/oatmeal cookies causes me to shiver.

For those three days, the thought of my lost wedding rings consumed my thoughts. While in class, while at work, while at the library, while at home, when going to bed, when getting up it was all I thought about. Where could they be? How could I have lost something so precious? Would I ever find them? No other ring would ever be the same. When they were found the entire campus knew from my shouts of joy.

My rings were valuable, but only to Freddy and me. Souls, on the other hand, are valuable to God. So much so that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” The Parable of the Lost Coin ends by saying, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10 NIV)

That alone is reason enough to have missions education. Missions education teaches us from preschool to adulthood how to look for those who are lost. Children to adults learn how to look for needs and meet them, how to share Jesus with others as they do life with those who live around them, how to pray for their community and world, how to give so that missions can continue, and how to deepen their own relationship with Christ.

Missions education can happen through traditional organizations such as Mission Friends, Girls In Action, Children in Action, Acteens, Youth on Mission, Women on Mission and Adults on Mission. But it can also happen in numerous non-traditional ways through book clubs, affinity groups, chat lines, or customized programs for life groups. It is not important how we do it. It is however important that we do it so we can be well equipped to find the “lost coins” and rejoice with the angels when one is found.

By Gayla Parker, BCM/D WMU Executive Director, Missionary for Missions Education and Customization, Missions Innovator Specialist (WMU, SBC)

Gayla Parker

In Luke 19 we read about Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem. The vivid pictures in movies come to mind of Jesus riding on the donkey with hundreds of people gathered around singing his praises.

By the time this article is in print, I will have visited those roads in person. I plan on closing my eyes and imagine hearing the shouts, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” It must have been glorious.

As the people shouted, the Pharisees in the crowd became annoyed. So annoyed they finally said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” Today, we may not have annoyed Pharisees in our midst, but there are certainly others all around us who say, “I don’t want to hear about Jesus, keep that stuff to yourself.” “Don’t talk about church at work.” “I want to be your friend but don’t talk to me about Jesus.” We have all heard comments such as these.

In this passage Jesus says to the Pharisees, “I tell you if they (my disciples) keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” God will make Himself known if not through the praises of His people then through the earth He created. In recent history, Jesus’ declaration has been proven to be true.

Just a few years ago, we all watched the results of a tsunami that hit Thailand; a country where Buddhism prevails; a country that had just prior to the tsunami been in the news for the persecution of the Christian church for not following the rules of Buddha. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” For many months following the tsunami, believers from all over America went to Thailand to help in the midst of the devastation. One of those volunteers was a former missionary to Thailand. He asked a Thai pastor, “Has the trauma of the tsunami hurt your efforts to tell others about God?” The Thai pastor answered, “No! It has helped me. I have been telling my neighbors about the power of God and showing them in the Bible how God is all-powerful. Now I have proof, He showed His power in the tsunami.” “…the stones will cry out.”

Not so many weeks ago, we watched the devastation of the earthquake in Haiti, a country where over half the population practices voodoo. Soon to follow was the earthquake in Chile, where the works of Catholicism prevails. Both earthquakes were of a magnitude that has rarely been seen. “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

As believers, we have the opportunity to shout out His praises everyday in multiple ways. There are the verbal praises that come when we can share our praises of thanks with family and friends. When we tell our testimony. Or when we read a passage of scripture to someone who needs encouragement.

There are the praises that come through our attitudes, actions and reactions. When we react in kindness instead of anger, live with integrity, or work above and beyond the call of duty we are giving praise to God.

We also shout His praises when we serve others. Rather it be on a mission trip, taking food to a neighbor or serving in a clothes closet we sing God’s praises to those we serve.

And then there is our giving.  If you are a member of a church that gives to the Cooperative Program then your money is shouting God’s praises around the world every single minute of every single day.  It is through the Cooperative Program that our missionaries are able to serve all around the world. While we are sleeping there are missionaries in Asia who are making God’s name known in places where His name cannot even be spoken. In the winter while we are bundled up by the fire there are missionaries serving in the Southern Hemisphere that are outside making God’s name known on the beaches. While we are at work there are missionaries walking the streets of Baltimore and the other mega-cities in the U.S. making the name of Jesus known.

“If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” I don’t know about you, but this is one assignment I would rather not give to the stones. Jesus died for me and I want to be the one to shout it out through my witness, through my service, and through my giving.

By Gayla Parker, BCM/D WMU Executive Director, Missionary for Missions Education and Customization, Missions Innovator Specialist (WMU, SBC)

Gayla Parker

One of my husband’s pair of jeans has been around since the flood; I have no doubt.

It is evident by the color, tears and size of the jeans. Every spring when I clean out closets, I ask about those jeans. His reply is always, “No, don’t throw those out they are still good.” Good is matter of perspective. I’ve decided not to mention the fact that his waist size is slightly different in 2010 than is was in 1973 when we met and he wore those very jeans. (So, is mine in all fairness.)

Most of us have things that we hold on to. It is a favorite item or has sentimental value or reminds us of days gone by that we don’t want to forget. There is nothing wrong with that. But every once in a while there are things in our lives that we are called on to lay down.

Exodus 4 tells the story of Moses and his rod. “Moses answered, ‘What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The Lord said, ‘Throw it on the ground’” (Exodus 4:1-3) You know the story. The rod became a snake until Moses picked it back up and then it turned back into a rod. At the end of that encounter, God said to Moses, “This is so that they may believe that the Lord…has appeared to you.” (Exodus 4:5)

From that moment on the rod possessed new strength. It was with that rod that Moses used to part the Red Sea and lead the Israelites out of captivity. The rod had been Moses’ tool, but now it was God’s.

Brian Pruitt, a former football player for Central Michigan University, tells about letting go of football for awhile. Brian was a sought after player in high school, but was disqualified his freshmen year of college because of low grades. He had to lay down his football. It was his talent, but he had to lay it down. When he picked it back up, it wasn’t his anymore; it was God’s. God took that year to prepare Brian for the fame and publicity he was about to receive. Brian was no longer a football player, but a Christian who played football.

In my own life, there have been a few times God said to me, “What is that in your hands? Lay it down.” Each time was hard and came with struggles causing me to question. But in the end, there was new strength.

One was leaving the mission field to come home permanently. “What is that in your hand? Lay it down.” There were Filipinos in my hand and I didn’t want to lay them down…they were lost and needed to hear the message of hope. “What is that in your hand? Lay it down.” It was hard to let go, but it was also clear that God was calling us home and asking me to let go of what I was so desperately holding on to. Once I let go, God did amazing things. We left 23 churches and now there are almost 50. Secondly, I still have the privilege of telling the God stories more than ever before! And third, I live next door to a Filipino, the very people group I laid down. God is full of surprises! “What is that in your hand? Lay it down….that they may believe.” The stories in the Philippines are no longer about the missionary who lived there, but about the God who stayed there. “Lay it down…that they may believe.”

This year God has asked me once again to lay down what has been in my hands, a project I’ve been working on for many months. I’m not sure what God will do with it, but I can say that I have already seen Him at work. When I get to pick it back up, and I know I will, it will be full of new strength that can only come from God.

“What is that in your hand?” What is the talent, gift, resource, job, or person that you are holding in your hand? Do you have a tool that needs to be God’s tool? Is God asking you to lay it down today? No worries, when He tells you to pick it up again, it will have new strength that can only come from God and all will “believe that the Lord…has appeared to you.”

Gayla Parker

By Gayla Parker, BCM/D WMU Executive Director, BCM/D Missionary for Missions Education and Customization, Missions Innovation Specialist (SBC WMU)

Last fall I was part of an event in Kissimmee, Fla. Nothing was going as planned. The Power Point presentation worked on the trial runs prior to general sessions, but refused to work during general sessions.

Conference leaders were delayed at airports; others were sick; lunch was delivered late, well…you get the idea.

In the midst of it all, I was to be the last keynote speaker on Saturday morning. By Friday afternoon, I was not even sure I would be alive by Saturday morning.

The stress was building and I knew it was critical to find some time alone with God. Instead of going to dinner with the crowd, I chose to stay behind and look for a quiet place to pray. I found my quiet place outside in a grassy area behind a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. It was there I sat on the grass and poured my heart out to God. My plea was, “God please remove the distractions and stresses from my thoughts.” It was about then I caught a glimpse of something moving in the water that had collected in a ditch. “Was that an alligator?”

Almost stopping in mid-sentence, the conversation with God ended. There just a few feet away was an alligator. He turned his head and looked right into my eyes. My mind was racing. “Do you stare back at an alligator? Do you look away? Do you run? Do you sit still? Do you yell for help?” I had no idea what to do should the alligator decide to do more than stare at me. All I knew for sure was that he had very sharp teeth that had potential to remove my shoeless feet from my body.

We stared at each other for several seconds (seemed liked several hours). Without taking his eyes off me he turned his body and started moving in closer. He stopped continuing to stare. Then he moved yet a little closer. He stopped again still staring into my eyes. And then for no reason he turned and went on his way. All I could do was laugh out loud and thank God for sending an alligator my direction.

You see God had just removed all the distractions and stresses from my thoughts! An alligator was not what I had in mind when I asked God to refocus my thoughts. As a matter of fact an alligator was nowhere in my thoughts. I was thinking in lines of God sending a passage of scripture to mind, or the memory of His presence, but no, God sent the alligator. And I might add that it was quite effective.

Before that prayer time began, I was totally stressed and physically and mentally exhausted. My heart and mind were not where they needed to be when I stood as a speaker in less than 24 hours. One glimpse of an alligator changed everything. It was immediate. It was complete. When the alligator left, my mind never went back to the stresses of the event. All I could think about was the alligator. God had already answered my prayer. And I praised Him with a very joyful heart.

How do I know the alligator was from God? When I returned to the church, I mentioned my alligator sighting to the pastor. He said, “Gayla, I have been at this church for 24 years and I have never seen an alligator this far inland. Are you sure it was an alligator?” Oh yes, I was sure. I had just spent several minutes eye to eye with my very special alligator friend.

It has been some months since that trip to Kissimmee and there have been other stressful moments. Whenever they come, I think about the alligator and how God answered my prayer in a way that I could never have dreamed or imagined.

Eph. 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine….” Gideon experienced it when he went to war with a few hundred men. Joseph experienced it when being sold into slavery led him to a place of leadership. And I experienced it when God sent an alligator instead of a Bible verse.

The year 2010 is well underway. My goals and plans are in place. But should the year turn out to look differently than I planned, I will praise God for His work that always exceeds mine. And I will remember the alligator.

For more information about mission education, contact Gayla Parker at gparker@bcmd.org.