Stories to inspire, challenge and educate.
To find stories related to FSW’s four priorities, click on the category below.
News from home stirs trauma—past and present—for Cuban pastor
Cubans in exile have been suffering alongside their activist sisters and brothers on the island, reported Pastor David Deulofeu of Templo Bautista de South Houston—Baptist Temple of South Houston.
Politics, partisanship and the powerless
Can you think of a word more maligned than “politics”?
Some people believe it’s a dirty term affixed to a despicable craft. That’s because, for the most part, it’s practiced so poorly.
Statement on DACA decision from July 19, 2021
Cooperative Baptist leaders expressed disappointment after a Federal Court in Texas ruled that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is illegal. The ruling prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from approving new DACA applications, but it does not bar new DACA applicants to submit their applications or affect the more than 700,000 recipients who already have applied successfully.
FSW partner Iglesia Valle de Beraca steps up when Matamoros floodwaters rise
Members of Iglesia Valle de Beraca in Matamoros, Mexico, have helped evacuate more than 600 victims of floods that submerged the city and surrounding colonias, just across the U.S.-Mexico border from Brownsville, Texas.
A modest proposal for imperiled pulpit plagiarists
Pulpit plagiarism has been making the news again.
“Again” is the operative word. This is not new. A couple of friends, now in their 80s, recall making a wager about which swiped sermon a famous Baptist preacher/evangelist would deliver to a captivated crowd at Oklahoma’s Falls Creek Assembly when they worked there as young men. That was at least 50, maybe 60, years ago.
Storm-damaged home to be rebuilt
You can understand if Maria Elena De Los Angels feels like Job. She’s one of the victims of the deep freeze that pummeled Texas last February—folks Fellowship Southwest is helping through its close partner, Hearts4Kids.
Mirando a los refugiados, pero viendo a Jesús
¡Mírame! Eso me susurró Jesús todos los días que estuve en la gira de Fellowship Southwest visitando los ministerios que componen su red de apoyo a migrantes. Por espacio de dos semanas, fueron muchas las veces que me encontré a Jesús por la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México.
Kyle Tubbs, CBF Oklahoma’s new leader, plans to “dream big”
Kyle Tubbs believes Cooperative Baptists in Oklahoma will “dream big” about their future. And from what Tubbs has seen, he’s confident that future is as big and bright and open as the Sooner State’s vast horizon.
Tubbs became the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma’s fourth coordinator June 1, succeeding Steve Graham. Previously, Tubbs led the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s national church-starting program. Before that, he started one of CBF’s most innovative congregations, Peace of Christ Church in Round Rock, Texas.
Looking at refugees, but seeing Jesus
“Look at me,” Jesus whispered every day as I participated in a recent tour of Fellowship Southwest’s immigrant relief network. Many times, I saw him on the U.S.-Mexico border.
• I saw Jesus in the anguished eyes of a deported veteran, feeling betrayed.
• I saw Jesus scrambling to scavenge used clothes thrown into the street by Mexican residents.
Love for the borderland brings Reeves full circle
I mowed my lawn Saturday morning. No, this is not an unusual chore, but it didn’t feel the same.
After spending 10 days along the border with pastors who sacrifice so much for their neighbors and talking with refugees who walked out of their homes with only what they could carry, it was jarring to go back to such a common, mundane luxury. It seemed just so inconsequential. (According to their letter, my homeowners’ association disagrees.) I rarely consider how fortunate I am to have this chore.
Salvadoran father’s story reflects the truth and courage of resisting Central American gangs
Goals most U.S. fathers take for granted—building a family and living in peace—seem like luxuries in Central America. And hopes of life free from the grasp of organized crime “gangs” feel more like fantasies than achievable dreams.
“No choice” echoes refugees’ desperation, pastors’ compulsion
A paradox of the refugee crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border sat smiling on the floor of a Chihuahuan desert shelter. She cooed and waved and charmed three Fellowship Southwest visitors.
IRS affirms Fellowship Southwest’s nonprofit status; gifts are tax-deductible
Fellowship Southwest received great news last week—from the Internal Revenue Service.
“We’re pleased to tell you we determined you’re exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3),” the IRS said in a letter sent to FSW Coordinator Marv Knox.
Iglesia abre aguas bautismales; los migrantes pasan
Los cristianos fieles siembran la semilla del evangelio que produce almas nacidas en el reino de los cielos, incluso en el pedregoso suelo de los caminos migratorios.
El domingo pasado, la Primera Iglesia Bautista de Piedras Negras, México, llevó a cabo su primer servicio bautismal desde el inicio de la pandemia del COVID-19, y fue una celebración infundida por la inmigración.
Church opens baptismal waters; migrants pass through
Even on the rocky soil of migration pathways, faithful Christians sow gospel seeds that yield bountiful blessings—souls born into the kingdom of heaven.
This past Sunday, Primera Iglesia Bautista of Piedras Negras, Mexico, conducted its first post-COVID baptismal service, and it was an immigration-infused celebration.
Grief, gratitude, hope & resolve
—Painting is “Easter Hope” by Rebekah Krevens—
As we begin moving to the other side of this pandemic, four words are on my mind—grief, gratitude, hope and resolve. I feel the weight of grief. It is a heaviness in my chest, a knot in my gut and a frequent dull headache. I feel this not just for the many lives lost, but for all that was given up…
Bernals’ ministry expands in Harlingen airport
What began as an airport ministry to asylum seekers has become an oasis to fill the spiritual emptiness of all travelers, whether migrants or not.
Migrante que cae del muro fronterizo recibe cuidado y amor cristiano
Ana María Zambrano García, de 32 años, viajó miles de millas desde su natal Ecuador para terminar incapacitada en un refugio para migrantes en la remota aldea desértica de Palomas, México, luego de caer desde lo más alto del muro fronterizo entre Estados Unidos y México. En su intento por pisar suelo estadounidense, Zambrano se rompió las piernas, la columna vertebral, y ahora está confinada a la cama de un refugio.
Memorial Day: An occasion for empathy and understanding
If you’re of a certain age, you may recall hearing Memorial Day called by another name, Decoration Day. And if the old-timers who mentioned it had their stories straight, the term originated as a call to decorate the graves of fallen veterans and evolved into a day to lay flowers on the graves of departed family.
Ana María Zambrano’s story in Palomas
Ana María Zambrano García, 32, traveled thousands of miles from her native Ecuador to end up incapacitated in a migrant shelter in the remote desert village of Palomas, Mexico, after falling from the top of the US-Mexico border wall. In her attempt to set foot on U.S. soil, Zambrano broke her legs and her spine, and is now confined to a bed in a shelter.