It was a cool Wednesday night in the Ozarks during the fall of 2011, my wife and I had moved to West Plains, Missouri only a few months before and we were starting to get connected with a new church and a new town. This evening could have been reserved for a small group, or a local church service, but instead we were invited to a different type of religious experience; Saint Louis Cardinals baseball. Game one of the World Series between the Cardinals and the Texas Rangers was about to get underway when we arrived at the house of some new acquaintances just before the first pitch. 

Growing up in the rolling hills of Tennessee, I had been to small groups, dinner parties, and even sporting event watch parties before, but this one was a little different. One reason this was so different was because the passion on display was unlike anything I had seen before, but the other was the local cultural norms of these South Central Missourians. It definitely wasn’t the Southern Christian culture that I had been raised in, saved in, and served in. It wasn’t unbiblical; just different. 

That night I was exposed to a valuable lesson helping to shape my personal and professional missiology; to reach others we have to embrace them right where they are. This missiology is true for churches reaching people and that is true for a ministry serving local churches like General Baptist Ministries.  It is this missional model that Jesus exemplified over and over again. 

In John chapter 1, the gospel writer’s prologue tells the story of Jesus leaving a culture and stepping into another culture so that he can reach that culture. It is this same model that Jesus displayed throughout his three and a half year ministry giving him the reputation of being a “friend of sinners”. These people many times weren’t really sinners, just culturally different. 

What Jesus did was uncomfortable to some, sinful to others, but effective at his mission to reach people right where they were. It has been the same model foreign missionaries have been taught for years, yet when this concept is applied stateside we can get as uncomfortable as a young Tennessee pastor at a “small group” that could have been sponsored by one or two St. Louis based companies. 

As Americans we have some interesting realities in our cultural geography. Our country has the fourth largest landmass of any country in the world, yet many times it is treated like one people group with one culture. For comparison, the continental United States would encompass all of continental Europe along with the United Kingdom and Ireland! That is over 40 different countries and many more people groups in the same area as the continental United States. Yet the mindset remains that Americans are all the same with the same way of doing things. 

We know this isn’t true, though. America is one large place made up of many regional cultures. Some geographers proclaim up to 11 distinct regional cultures. We see these regional differences on really important topics like the right name for a carbonated beverage, the word choice for a few people, or the dialects by which we say those words. If we can be that encamped on things that don’t really matter, what about other regional issues like the Christian’s use of alcohol and tobacco? A woman’s place in the church? The church’s governance model or worship preferences? The expectation of the role of a pastor? Learning in the pulpit or in the classroom? Many not sinful, just culturally different.  

It is these differences in people groups that require a specialized approach to serving our churches and pastors right where they are, and that approach is the genesis behind the Regional Ministries for General Baptist. A ministry with the purpose of serving as a bridge between the various local ministry partners and the services and resources of General Baptist Ministries. A ministry to span cultures and reach people right where there are, just like Jesus did. 

This was the heart behind the Restructure Task Force developing this new ministry, and my heart as we begin the process of implementing it; providing culturally contextualized services to help ministry partners right where they are.

How we plan to do that is relatively simple as we create two grassroots opportunities for people to get and stay connected. The first way launches this year, with the introduction of regional conferences. These meetings branded as “For the Regions” events will become networking and training events held every other year in each region that we serve. 

The other opportunity to reach people is the development of regional support staff made up of pastors and leaders from the regions they serve. These teams will be the bridge between the needs of local churches and pastors and the services and resources the General Baptist Ministries offers for them.  

A crucial step in executing these two opportunities, was the foundational work by the Restructure Task Force in developing a regional structure for General Baptist Ministries. This structure takes each individual partner church and groups them into a service region. These regions don’t alter the church or any local associations, it just makes it easier for General Baptist Ministries to be able to be here for our local churches and leaders. 

We as a Regional Ministries team want to be there for you to help plant new churches, to revitalize your congregation, and/or help you be a “sending church” to the nations. Many of us are also pastors in the trenches with you and we want to work with you through the Church Leadership Network to help all of us become better leaders together. If you think we can help you, please put us to the test. Let us help find the right resource, opportunity, or network that might be exactly what you need but don’t know you are looking for. 

That is what that World Series watch party was for me. The Cardinals won that night in a low scoring pitchers duel. The series went back and forth leading to an epic game six and to “tomorrow night”. In 2020, ESPN ranked the 2011 World Series as one of the top five fall classics of all time. But for me, it led to some great friendships, a new passion, and the cementing of a missional philosophy that has stuck with me 11 years later. All because I said yes to the right invitation, walked into a new opportunity, and found the thing I didn’t know I needed that was perfect for me. 

Let us help do the same for you.

About the Author: Dustin Thompson is the Vice President for Regional Ministries of General Baptist Ministries, and he is also the Executive Pastor of Generation Church in Portland, TN. He is married to his wife Melissa, and together they have two kids and a dog who loves to cook.

Youth Camps and Conferences have always held a special place in my heart. God called me to ministry when I was 16 years old at a youth camp. I met my wife at a youth camp the following year. The first youth trip I ever led was to National Youth Conference as a 20 year old. I even got married at a youth camp at 21.

No doubt, my life has been changed by the opportunities I have had to be a part of youth camps and conferences. For the last few decades, General Baptists have heard many stories of life-change in young people through National Youth Conference. NYC served as an incredible event that no doubt has made an eternal impact on many students, leaders, pastors, and churches. Today, it is time to look ahead to the future of how we can EQUIP, CONNECT, and CALL the next generation to love God and serve his Church.

That’s why I’m excited for General Baptists to be partnering with some incredible youth ministries and churches to host the next generation of Youth Conference. We want to invite all of our General Baptist churches to join us this summer at YTH CONF EAST at Generation Church in Portland, TN, or at YTH CONF WEST at Real Life Church in Mountain Home, AR. By the way, feel free to call it Youth Conference, we aren’t offended. You can learn more about these great events, and even register your group by going to www.gbnyc.org.

Maybe you’re new to youth ministry, and you’ve never had an opportunity to be a part of a youth camp or conference. I want to share five benefits to creating a youth camp experience for your students this summer.

1) Escape “Normal”

As youth pastors and volunteers you spend countless hours trying to speak into the lives of the students you serve, often times only to be drowned out by the noise of everyday life. When a young person leaves behind their normal routine, their normal places, and their normal group of friends, even for a couple of days, they are putting themselves in the best place to experience God in an extraordinary way. The result can be life-changing. Camps and conferences are a great opportunity to help a student step away from the noise of their everyday lives to hear from God.

2) Have FUN

For years, youth ministries have been criticized for having too much fun and not enough substance. I tend to agree, in general. However, sometimes we miss the fact that one of the best ways to learn is by having fun. Go ahead and google it. Our brains, especially younger brains, are more receptive to new information and learning when they are at a state of play. Youth camps and conferences are some of the most fun environments I’ve ever been a part of. I’m no neuroscientist, but I’d say camps give us a great opportunity to leverage the fun we are having for the sake of teaching students about the Gospel. You don’t always have to trade fun for depth. Sometimes you can have both. 

3) Build Community

If you were to think of your favorite memory I’d be willing to bet it would not be from something you did alone. Chances are you shared that experience with someone else, and likely with someone you are close to. The shared experience that comes with a youth camp or conference is a great way to deepen relationships among your students. Building community is a byproduct of escaping normal and having fun, it is also a vital part of growing in our faith. Following Jesus becomes easier when we are surrounded by a community of other believers from our own stage of life. Youth camps and conference offer a great opportunity to build relationships that build community and deepen our faith in Christ. 

4) Equip Leaders and Future Leaders

As a youth pastor or volunteer one of the best things you can do for your ministry and your students is build a network of other youth pastors and volunteers you can learn from. Too often ministry leaders find themselves feeling as though they are doing ministry on an island. Events like YTH CONF are one of the best opportunities I’ve found to connect with other ministry leaders I can call on whenever I need to share some ideas with. Chances are you don’t have a big staff at your church, or even a lot of volunteers, but I’ve found when I look outside of my own local church for encouragement and coaching there are usually other leaders eager to help. These events also give us a safe environment to give some responsibility away to some of our older and more mature students. When we empower the next generation to lead we are ensuring there will be a next generation of leaders to take our place one day.  

5) Spiritual Growth

Most importantly, the goal of any youth camp or conference is to create an environment and experience that has been intentionally designed for spiritual growth. Escaping normal, having fun, building community, and equipping leaders are all parts of this intentional effort to help students grow in their walk with Christ. My friend Jeff Roth always said, “National Youth Conference is not about taking a student from A to Z in their faith in a weekend, it’s about helping a student take their very next step.” What a joy to watch a student begin their journey with Christ, or take a next step in their faith. I’ve been blessed to see God do this through the many camps and conferences I’ve been able to be a part of over the years. 

Whether you bring your students to YTH CONF 2023, or there is another opportunity that better serves your church, I look forward to hearing the stories of what God does in your youth ministry through the camps and conferences you attend this summer. Feel free to reach out to me at preston.owens@generalbaptist.com if you have questions on how to get the youth of your church involved this summer. 

About the Author: Preston Owens serves as the National Youth Coordinator for General Baptists. He and his wife Kellie have four kids Mollie, Parker, Laynie, and Hallie. Preston loves the local church and has served in various ministry roles for over ten years. You can connect with him on Instagram @owenspreston or by e-mail at preston.owens@generalbaptist.com

As I reflect on the forever memorable year of 2020, one thing that stands out to me was an
overwhelming need for each other. Many people found themselves completely isolated and alone and
struggling with feelings of anxiety, fear, worry, and depression.

It may surprise some of you to hear that there may be people who sit next to you in church every week that struggle with mental health needs, maybe leaders in your church and perhaps even you.

As a social worker I talk with people on a daily basis that struggle with these feelings and reach out looking for help and answers. The first thing to remember is you are not alone, and God did not intend for any of us to travel this journey alone.

First, we must seek the Lord, be in His word, and spend time in prayer. We hear through-out the scripture do not be afraid, don’t worry, and you are not alone which tells me that God knew we would need those words of encouragement.

Isaiah 41:10 tells us, “There is no reason to fear; you are not alone”.

Psalms 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted”.

God knows our needs and wants us to know He is right by our side. God also wants us to seek each other when we are in need. Remember that story in Exodus 17 when Moses held the staff while Joshua and the men fought Amalek. As long as Moses held up his hands Joshua and the men would prevail, but when his arms grew weak, they would begin to fall and the enemy would gain ground. God provided Moses with Aaron and Hur in his time of need. When Moses was too weak to do it on his own, his friends literally supported his hands through the battle.

We must have Christian friends and mentors in our lives to do just that; hold us up and support us in our times of weakness. Statistics from a recent study with Lifeway Research found that 1 in 4 pastors acknowledge they have struggled with mental illness. Too often we believe as Christians and especially ministry leaders that it is our job to be the strength and support for everyone else. When in fact, reaching out for help is necessary to have the strength and mindset needed to be able to minster to others. We need each other to pray, listen, support, understand, and care.

There are also times when it takes more than a friend to listen and support, and it is necessary to seek
professionally trained help. If you know someone struggling encourage them to talk with their doctor or
seek out a sound Christian counselor to talk with. If you need support, don’t wait to reach out. There
are some sites listed below that have some great resources for mental wellness.
https://www.focusonthefamily.com/get-help/mental-health-resources/
https://mentalhealthgracealliance.org/
https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/NAMI-FaithNe

You can also reach out to the General Baptist team for additional resources.

About the Author: Julie Mathias has been a pastor’s wife for 21 years. She is currently serving with her husband Andy at Salmons General Baptist Church. They have 2 boys; Caleb and Drew. Julie is a social worker and has worked in the behavioral health field for 23 years.