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KBF Ofce <jlepper@kybf.org> December eNews from Kentucky Baptist Fellowship December 21, 2011 2:35:40 PM EST josh@kybf.org jlepper@kybf.org

KBF eNews
In This Issue
Church Spotlight Baptist Women in Ministry KBF Mission Offering CBF Offering for Global Missions Morocco Gift Cards Festival of Young Preachers Wakeful Parenting Martha Stearns Marshall Save The Dates Karen and Chin People Groups Mountain Hope Update Morocco UPdate On the Road Again

December 2011 WELCOME to our December edition of KBF eNews!

Kentucky Baptist Fellowship appreciates the opportunity to communicate with you in this format. You will still be mailed regular installments of our printed newsletter, KBF News. By forwarding this eNewsletter along, you are inviting others to join our mission.
Quick Links KBF Website Mountain Hope Website CBF Website

CHURCH SPOTLIGHT
Rabat Morocco Congregation at Lexington Avenue Baptist Church

Lexington Avenue Baptist Church in Danville is one of eight KBF churches in a partnership with an EEAM congregation in Morocco. Lexington Avenue has developed a strong relationship with the church in Rabat (the capital city of Morocco). As all our congregations embrace the season of Advent, consider how our friendship with African Christians in Morocco can help us to understand the themes of waiting and hoping. By Keith Stillwell, Associate Pastor, Lexington Avenue Baptist Church Hope is our theme during the first week of Advent at Lexington Avenue Baptist Church. We have every reason for hope. We are comfortable, free to express our faith, and we have ample material resources. As we think about our friends at our partner church, the Rabat branch of EEAM (le'Eglise Evangelique au Maroc - The Protestant Church in Morocco), we might think that hope, for them, would be harder to come by. These are primarily African students with limited financial resources and they face other restriction as minorities in a country that is not their own. Yet you would never guess that when you

worship with them as we did this past October, and as many of you did when they visited us last year. They sing with passion and an overflowing joy that is contagious. We sang "How Great Thou Art" in French and English and, even when they sang in French, I could understand every word in their expressions: "When I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made," "that on that cross my burden gladly bearing," "when Christ shall come with shout of acclamation, and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart," "How great Thou art." They felt every word and experienced the wonder, the pain, and the joy of Christ; and we did with them. These are Christians who truly know the hope of Christ, even in difficult circumstances. Each time we are with them, they teach us that hope comes not from external circumstances, but from Christ within. Click here to learn more about the Rabat Congregation.

NEWS
Baptist Women in Ministry Reforms in Kentucky
By Bob Allen, Associated Baptist Press

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (ABP) - Dormant for a decade, a Baptist Women in Ministry chapter in Kentucky was rebirthed Nov. 8 at Baptist Women in Ministry Day at Georgetown College. Pam Durso, head of the national Baptist Women in Ministry organization based in Atlanta, said when a group of women spearheaded by Becky Caswell-Speight, Associate Pastor (Children and Families Emphasis) at Broadway Baptist Church in Louisville, began discussing the need to support and network with women ministers throughout Kentucky they envisioned creation of a new organization. They soon learned that a Kentucky BWIM chapter had been in existence since the mid-1980s but stopped meeting about 2001. Members of the initial group shared stories and supported reinstitution of the organization. Twentyseven women from across the state and both generations met two hours at Georgetown Nov. 8 before moving to a chapel service where Durso was guest speaker.

Click here to read the rest of the article from Associated Baptist Press. Click here for more pictures from the event.

Build Up Hope: KBF Mission Offering Moved to Spring 2012

Materials for the annual KBF Mission Offering "Build Up Hope" will be available beginning in February, 2012. KBF will be encouraging churches to promote the mission offering in April 2012, which will lead up to the KBF Spring Gathering held at Georgetown College April 20-21, 2012. Contact Josh Speight for more information (josh@kybf.org, 502-426-1931)

CBF Offering for Global Missions

CBF Offering for Global Missions

From Uganda to Miami and dozens of places in between, you will find God working and changing lives through CBF ministries. With the CBF Offering, you join God's mission by investing in life-changing ministries of more than 135 CBF field personnel who share Christ with the world's most neglected people. What is the CBF Offering? The CBF Offering for Global Missions funds CBF field personnel, both sending them to and keeping them on the mission field to share Christ. They need your help. Will you give? Will you promote the Offering in your church so that others will know of this vital need? Click here to learn more about the CBF Offering For Global Missions. Click here to learn more about the eight CBF ministry areas which are helped by the Global Missions Offering.

Morocco Gift Cards: Alternatve Christmas Gifts with Meaning

Kentucky Baptist Fellowship will make Morocco Gift Cards available again for Christmas in 2011. Choose a meaningful gift for a loved one and help refugee children and families in Morocco receive the basic necessities in life. Morocco gift cards work by allowing people to purchase greeting cards for various amounts. The card carries a simple phrase like: "A gift has been made in your honor which will purchase one month of food for a refugee family in Morocco by [insert name] to celebrate the Chri stmas season." The contents of each card vary according to the purchase amount: $5 for a blanket, $10 for a winter coat, or $25 for a month of food, to name a few. If you or your church would like to join in this meaningful Christmas project, contact Joshua Speight at the KBF office (502-426-1931 or josh@kybf.org). The gift cards are available to any church or individual to participate. Click here for more info.

EVENTS
CBF Field Personnel Bob and Janice Newell to Visit Kentucky: December 3-4
Bob and Janice Newell, CBF Field Personnel serving Albanian Immigrants in Greece, will be at Broadway Baptist Church and First Baptist Middletown on December 3 and 4. Commissoned with CBF in 2003, Bob and Janice have influenced this community most notably through PORTA, a spiritual and cultural center for Albanian Immigrants in Athens. PORTA is both an artistic and a reconsiliation center in a city that has often discriminated against Albanians.

Click here to learn more.

Festival of Young Preachers: January 2-5

Join the Academy of Preachers on January 2-5, 2012 for the 2012 National Festival of Young Preachers at the historic Seelbach Hilton Hotel and the Cathedral of the Assumption in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. The National Festival showcases and encourages young people aspiring to be preachers of the Christian gospel. This event is the only one of its kind, and is not a competition. It is a celebration, an inspiration and gathering of encouragement.

Kentucky Connected Young Preachers

Zach Bailes (Wake Forest Divinity, Third Baptist Church, Owensboro) Sam Chinn (McAfee School of Theology, St. Matthew's Baptist Church, Louisville) Roger Jasper (Pastor, Living Faith Baptist Church, Elizabethtown) Brittany Stillwell Krebs (Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, Minister of Music, Buechel Park Baptist Church, Louisville) McKenzie McIntosh (Trinity Baptist Church, Lexington) Anna Kate McWhorter (Berea College, Broadway and Highland Baptist Churches, Louisville) Molly Shoulta (Georgetown College, Georgetown) Kelsey Stillwell (Youth Minister, Lexington Avenue Baptist Church, Danville) Click here to learn more.

Wakeful Parenting: January 20-21 Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville

Children are a gift from God, and parenting can be the path by which God transforms the parent into the image of Christ. Wakeful Parenting is a workshop encounter for parents, grandparents, guardians and anyone who works with children, including teachers and children's ministers. Wakeful Parenting provides practical suggestions on how to parent more effectively and offer you a vision of parenthood that is more about transformation than training. The Wakeful Parenting Program brings a different understanding of "wakefullness" to your parenting. Would you like to know how to: be a happier and calmer parent parent with intention rather than out of reaction see "failures" as opportunities learn ways to take care of yourself be less fearful as a parent have self-quieting time for you and your children be gentle with yourself when you "blow it" Click here to learn more and to register

Martha Stearns Marshall Month of Preaching

Mark your annual calendar. Make plans now to participate each February in the Martha Stearns Marshall Month of Preaching. Beginning in 2007, Baptist Women in Ministry has invited Baptist churches to participate in Martha Stearns Marshall Month of Preaching by having a woman preach during the month of February. This annual event has been a deeply significant source of joy and discovery for many women and churches. If your church has never had a woman preach, our hope is that you can prayerfully and thoughtfully take small steps and help move your church toward being open. For churches that have a woman pastor or that often have women preach, this event is a great opportunity for you to stand with and support Baptists who are still hoping for and dreaming of the day that their church will have a woman preach. This is an opportunity for you to publicly voice your support of women in ministry, to be counted with other Baptist churches in celebrating the calling and gifts of women, and to remind your congregation that God does indeed call women to the work of the kingdom. But most importantly, this is an opportunity for your church to invite into your pulpit a woman who has never had the opportunity to preach. Use Martha Stearns Marshall Month as a time to invite and support a first-time preacher. Martha Stearns Marshall Month of Preaching provides us all with a chance to celebrate-to celebrate God's good work in our midst. Click here to learn more.

PARTICIPATING CHURCHES: Please email your Martha Stearns Marshall preacher information to josh@kybf.org.

Kentucky Baptist Fellowship is excited to invite you and your youth group (grades six-twelve) to the 2012 KBF Youth Mission Weekend. KBF Youth Mission Weekend is a weekend retreat for youth to gather together for worship, fellowship, and a full day of mission work in a local Kentucky community. In 2012, we are serving Kentucky in two locations - an urban and a rural setting - to give you more options and schedule flexibility (host sites subject to change): * March 9-11, Louisville, KY (Hosted by Broadway Baptist Church) * March 23-25, Jackson & Booneville, KY (Hosted by Emmanuel Fellowship Baptist Church) Click here to learn more and to register.

Save The Dates!

KBF Spring Gathering: April 20-21, 2012, Georgetown College, Georgetown KY Extreme Build 7: June 8-16, 2012, McCreary County, KY CBF General Assembly: June 20-23, 2012 Ft. Worth, TX

MISSION PARTNER UPDATES

Karen and Chin People Groups
(Burmese Refugee Resettlement in Louisville)

Lately, it seems the number 300 thousand has popped up a lot in the news. A few days ago, a California man was captured by police and accused of stealing over 300 thousand identities. Folks in Connecticut suffered for weeks after the massive wet snowstorm the last weekend of October. I saw an announcement during the ordeal that the power company hoped it could bring down the number of people without power to 300 thousand by the first weekend in November - a full week after the snowstorm.

On the lighter side, Macy's announced they plan to expand their New York store at Herald Square to a whopping 39 thousand square feet and create the world's largest shoe department. They anticipate it will carry more than (wait for it) 300 thousand shoes. (This is news Annette is going to love.) Annette and I just experienced our own 300 thousand "milestone." Today, on 11/11/11, the odometer on our '96 Mercury Villager rolled over to 300 thousand miles! Fittingly, it happened as we were about to park the van for the day in our church parking lot. God shared in our celebration of the HUGE blessing God gave us with this van. What a tremendous asset this van continues to be to our ministry. Click here to read the rest of the article. Click here to read an article from Associated Baptist Press about CBS News featuring Karen and Crescent Hill Baptist Church.

Mountain Hope
Click here for the October update from Paula Settle, CBF Field Personnel for Eastern Kentucky. Click here for Paula's November update.

Morocco
The EEAM held their annual Synode (General Assembly) in Casablanca November 18-19, 2011. This gathering of church leadership allows the EEAM to vote on important decisions including budget, vision and partnership involvement. Morocco held its parliamentary elections on November 25, 2011 which included a referendum on constitutional reforms.

On the Road Again: Traveling Around Kentucky With Our Coordinators

John Lepper, Coordinator:
John is taking a sabbatical until mid-February 2012. He is keeping a blog about his experience. Click here to read.

Joshua Speight, Associate Coordinator for Missions:

December 3: Bob Newell Mission Presentation, Broadway Baptist, Louisville December 4: Bob & Janice Newell Mission Presentation, FBC Middletown December 15: Peer Learning Group, Crescent Hill Baptist, Louisville December 20: 2012 Youth Mission Weekend Planning, Jackson John Lepper and Joshua Speight are available to speak/teach/lead at your church. Please contact the KBF office at 502-426-1931 for information and availability. Schedule seen here was up-to-date at the time of delivery.

The KBF office will be closed Dec. 26 - Jan. 2.

Financial contributions will be credited to 2011 if received prior to our KBF office reopening on Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

CALENDAR
January 3-5: National Festival of Young Preachers, Louisville January 20-21: Wakeful Parenting: A Workshop Encounter for Parents, Grandparents, Guardians, and anyone who works with Children; Led by Michael Sciretti, Ph.D.; Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville February 27-March 1: CBF ChurchWorks Conference, Norfolk, VA March 9-11: KBF Youth Mission Weekend, Louisville, KY; Hosted by Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville, KY March 23-25: KBF Youth Mission Weekend, Jackson & Booneville, KY; Hosted by

Emmanuel Fellowship Baptist Church April 19 - 21: A Baptist Conference on Sexuality and Covenant, FBC Decatur, Decatur, GA April 20-21: KBF Spring Gathering,Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY June 8-16: Extreme Build 7, McCreary County, KY June 20-23: CBF General Assembly, Ft. Worth, TX July 15-18: PassportKids! camp, Murray State University, Murray August 6-9: SelahVie, Shocco Springs, AL August 17-18: KBF Fall Coordinating Council Meeting, Crestwood

KENTUCKY BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP

Equipping & Empowering. Cultivating Partnerships. Engaging in Missions.

Phone: 502-426-1931 Fax: 502-426-1612 Office email: office@kybf.org Website: http://www.kybf.org/ KBF STAFF Coordinator: John Lepper Associate Coordinator for Missions: Joshua Speight Administrative Assistant: Shannan Posey Missions Intern: Chelsey Constant
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