World news

Baptists in Louisiana have been active in helping reduce the effects of the massive British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The catastrophic spill has leaked millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf since an explosion on a BP drilling platform on April 20th. Baptist churches have been helping clean up beaches and offering facilities for cleanup workers.

Read more on this after the link.

CBWC Announcement

A new ministry tour has been added to events at the Gathering: A tour of A Rocha Canada and Small Ritual coffee house

Explore and learn about Arocha Canada at the South Surrey field centre. Arocha is an international conservation organization working to show God's love for all creation. Tour the farm, share a meal and engage in lively discussion around sustainable living, community gardens and theology.

For the second part of the tour, enjoy a coffee at Small Ritual Coffee shop, a community initiative of the Church at Southpoint. Small Ritual Coffee Society is a non-profit, social enterprise located in the South Surrey/White Rock area. Their focus is: to promote ethically sourced premium coffee, to foster community interaction, and to provide a venue for local artists (music, word, visual).

Meet at First Baptist Church at 9:30 am. Ends at Trinity Baptist at 4:30
Cost: $20
Max number of people: 30

This tour replaces the previously planned workshops on the environment, which has been cancelled.

For more information, check out Arocha at: www.arocha.org and Small Ritual coffee shop: www.smallritualcoffee.org

CBWC Announcement

Jeremy Bell, Executive Minister of Canadian Baptists of Western Canada, is pleased to announce the appointment of Bob Webber as Director of Ministry, effective June 1, 2010. As Director of Ministry, Bob will coordinate more than 50 ministry networks, denominational committees, camp boards and board committees of the CBWC on behalf of the Executive Minister.

“In the history of the denomination, we have always had a senior level individual coordinating our ministries and complementing the work of the Executive Minister and Chief Financial Officer,” said Jeremy Bell, Executive Minister. “In the past we experienced the gifted leadership of Howard Bentall and Bill Mains in these areas and so we look forward to Bob taking on this new role.”

Bob can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , at the Calgary head office 1.800.820.2479 or on his cell phone 403.575.1519

To read more about this announcement, click the link to read more.

Heartland News

Hundreds of homes in Emerson, Manitoba flooded during the last weekend in May. A freak storm battered Winnipeg and the surrounding area with more than 100 millimetres of rain in less than 6 hours, causing flooding that extended from The Pas to Emerson. The rains have been described as a “one in 50-year event.”

“I don’t think there’s a home in town that isn’t affected,” said Emerson Mayor Wayne Arseny, who noted that Highway 200 was under 15 feet of water. A power outage meant pumps couldn’t be used to control the flooding. Farmers’ fields are sodden with water. Damage to crops is not yet known.

Emerson, near the Manitoba-North Dakota border and on the east bank of the Red River, was one of the hardest hit communities. So many homes in Emerson have been flooded that the town of 700 has been placed under a state of emergency and the province’s Disaster Financial Assistance Program has been triggered to compensate homeowners for flood damage. More heavy rains this past weekend continued to batter the area.

Keith Needham, pastor of Emerson Baptist Church has been busy reaching out to those in the church and community who have homes damaged by the flooding and sewer backup. He has found several families in the church and the community who have sustained heavy water damage that will require expensive repairs and replacement household items not covered by insurance. Many families are not covered by insurance since the rainfall is considered sewer backup rather than flooding.

The greatest prayer need right now is for money to provide materials for rebuilding. The Mennonite Disaster Relief Agency is willing to coordinate and provide labour if money can be found to purchase the building and reconstruction materials. Pastor Needham has indicated that such cooperation among churches would be a witness to the community of God’s people working together.

Please pray for Emerson Baptist Church, its leaders and members as they reach out to the community to help clean up and meet both the physical and spiritual needs of the community. Pray also that the church can easily fix the water damage in its own building, which affected a classroom and bathroom, as well as the parsonage, which took on 2 feet of water.