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Passing on the Faith in the
Contents
Highlights
Volume 48, Issue 1
Ministry Leadership Conference
Offers Time of Refreshing ...... 4
I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived
in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and,
I am persuaded, now lives in you also... you then my son,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things
you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses
entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach
others. (2 Tim. 1:5; 2:1-2).
Executive Council Plans
Ministries of Convention ....... 5
In Christ Alone: Theme for
Interlaken 2010 ..................... 6
Euroventure 2010 – Where
Adventure Meets Worship &
Bible Study ............................ 7
Children’s Ministry Certification
to be offered at Interlaken
Summer Experience 2010 and
2011 ..................................... 8
From the Editor’s Pen ............ 8
“Give Yourself Away” at
Singles’ Conference ............... 9
IBCM Holds Annual Reunion
and Meeting ....................... 10
Reaching Women in Their
Community ......................... 10
In Response to the Haitian
Tragedy – Do No Harm ....... 11
News from the Churches ..... 13
Highlights
Published by the International
Baptist Convention
Am Dachsberg 98,
60435 Frankfurt/Main,
Germany, Phone: +49
(0) 69 9540 8505, Email:
admin@ibc-churches.org
www.ibc-churches.org
Jimmy Martin, General
Secretary
Judith Lynn Maxwell, Editor
Cover photo by Judith Lynn
Maxwell
2 | Highlights 05/2010
• It is no secret to anyone who knows Laurie
and me that we became grandparents on September
11 of last year. I determined not to be the
kind of grandfather who always “happened” to
have in his wallet a picture available to show to
anyone, anywhere, anytime. So … when I spoke
at our home church, ICF in Oberursel, Germany,
shortly after the birth of James Steven King, a picture
of our newborn grandson appeared behind
me on a PowerPoint presentation I was using. I
also always seem to have available pictures on
my iPhone for any who are interested. The joy of
being a grandparent is BIG. My own father, who
had eight sons and daughters, now has more
than 20 grandchildren and too-many-to-count
great-grandchildren. I cannot imagine multiplying
my joy that many times!
The apostle Paul reflected on and rejoiced in
the legacy of his “son in the faith” as he wrote
to Timothy. Timothy’s mother and grandmother
had passed on the faith effectively. Paul also challenged
Timothy to continue the legacy by training
others in the faith. What we call “the faith” includes
both life and ministry. It is who we are and
what we do. It is both “caught” and “taught.”
The ministry of the IBC and its churches stands
on the strong shoulders of many people. Identical
twins Herman and Herbert Stout were the
products of strong family and church influences.
When they arrived in Wiesbaden, Germany, after
World War II, they joined a group of Christ-followers
who lived out their faith through a ministry
of mercy and evangelism as they fed and
clothed German street children and shared Christ
with them. When the Stout brothers returned in
1957 and 1958 to plant churches in Wiesbaden
and Frankfurt, they brought with them a zeal for
ministering to and reaching people. Their passion
was passed on to their churches, and working together,
the churches began planting English-language
congregations, more than 30 of them in
the first six years of the IBC (then called the ABCE
– Association of Baptist Churches in Europe).
Others followed the Stout brothers. Churches
were planted both in and beyond Europe. Today,
we have churches in Europe, the Middle East, Africa,
and Central and South America. Recently, an
international church in the United States has applied
for membership. It is my joy to meet both
former and current pastors and church leaders
who were discipled and who served IBC churches
in past years. Their legacy continues.
We have made a strong commitment as a family
of churches to plant new churches together. In
addition to those started in the past five years in
places like Ramstein and Goettingen and Nuremberg,
we have taken some big steps to improve
our effectiveness through recruiting, assessing,
and training potential church planters; mentoring
and coaching them; and helping them to
build sustainable churches by reducing obstacles
to growth and health. Currently, Bob and Carol
Marsh and Glenn and Sue Herschberger are raising
support so that they can begin new churches
in Darmstadt, Germany, and Panama City, Panama.
With the assistance of Converge Worldwide,
we are learning how to develop a good strategy
for passing on the faith through church planting.
In addition, we are supporting church planters in
several countries of Europe and the Middle East
through the European Baptist Federation’s Indigenous
Missionary Project, which enables us to
sponsor a church planter for approximately 250
Euro (or $375) per month.
It is also vital that we seek to pass on the faith
within our churches through mentoring, training,
teaching, preaching, and living example. One of
the greatest challenges of an IBC church is also
one of its greatest opportunities – constant turnover
of members. Whether yours is a church with
a largely military or international business or diplomatic
or student or refugee population, every
IBC church is constantly having to say “goodbye”
to members. Since we take the Great Commission
of “making disciples” seriously, we must
find ways of passing on the faith quickly and effectively.
It is a challenge to evangelize and then
disciple a person in six months to three years. It
is also an opportunity to make an investment in
someone who moves to the “uttermost parts of
the earth,” taking with them the commitment to
live out the faith they have learned while attending
an IBC church.
I recommend that pastors and leaders look at
their current church discipling/mentoring process.
If you do not have a specific strategy for
helping your members – as many as will – to
grow in becoming lifelong, obedient followers
of Christ, begin to pray that God will help you
to develop and sustain one. All of our churches
are doing positive things. Here are just a few. Recently
I visited IBC Stuttgart, and spoke with the
leader of MasterLife there Pat O’Brien. He told
me about reaching Chinese students with the