BICTE, the Baptist International Conference on


Theological Education, held every fi ve years, will be held in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, from June 28-30, 2013. The last BICTE was in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2008. It immediately precedes the Annual Gathering which runs July 1-6 at the same venue.


Two retiring members of staff, both of whom retire in


July, were recognized for their service. Paul Montacute from Britain has worked with the BWA for 22 years as director of Baptist World Aid and was, for part of that


time, concurrently, the director of the BWA Youth


Department. Linda Falimy, originally from Indonesia, came to the BWA in 1981 and worked in the Communications and Promotion and Development divisions.


David Kerrigan, left, of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee and the Commission on Human Rights Advocacy, with Burchell Taylor, a BWA vice president


January to October each year, the young people pass through seven stages, starting with registration and ending with evaluation. In between, the youth receive training in cross-cultural mission, cultural adaptation and supervised practical training, several placements, and meeting and sharing of experiences, concluding with evaluation and closure of that cycle. During 2011, the work of Radical La-


tino focused on Central America, particu- larly Panama, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Some 113 churches received support. More than 10,000 persons were evangelized. More than 4,700 made deci- sions for Christ resulting in 111 baptisms. In addition, almost 9,000 children were reached and 781 leaders were trained. Alberto Prokopchuk is the BWA


regional secretary for Latin America and the general secretary of the Union of Baptists in Latin America.


Diverse


Storytelling By George Bullard


Baptists throughout North America


are very diverse, perhaps more diverse than any one convention or conference of Baptists understands. While not all Baptist conventions and conferences are members


of the North American Baptist Fellowship (NABF) and the Baptist World Alliance, the two dozen of the 35 who are members represent great theological, ecclesiological, and missiological diversity. We are at a point where we do not


deeply know the story of each convention or conference in the region. We may become myopic as to who Baptists really are in North America. During the past year the NABF engaged in a pilot storytelling project, in collaboration with the Associated Baptist Press, to begin telling the stories of what is happening among Baptists. A Storytelling Network is being formed


that we hope will empower an ongoing movement of storytelling so that we might celebrate our diversity as Baptists in North America, learn more about the work and ministry of one another, and fi nd higher ground for collaboration. One goal that will be proposed is that


the number of stories and their distribution channels will increase. Another is that a greater diversity of Baptist feature story news writers will be recruited to help tell these stories. We will be asking our member bodies to be more proactive in helping us discover the stories that need to be told so we will not be shortsighted concerning the richness and diversity of the Baptist movement in our own region. 2014 is the 50th


anniversary of the


formation of the NABF. It is also the 200th anniversary of the Triennial Convention among Baptists in the United States. The


APRIL/JUNE 2012 21


Triennial Convention was founded in 1814 with headquarters in Philadelphia. It met every three years and was the fi rst national Baptist denomination in the United States. In 1845, it experienced a schism over the issue of slavery and mission and led to the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention.


During 2012 the NABF determined to express our support and solidarity with Baptists in Mexico. NABF is particularly concerned about the Mexican and United States border issues, and the level of violence in some communities in Mexico and its impact on Baptist people, leaders, and congregations. To this end a letter of prayerful support was sent to the Baptist leaders in Mexico, and NABF Vice President Don Sewell traveled during July 2011 to the annual meeting of Mexican Baptists to personalize our support and bring fraternal greetings. George Bullard is BWA regional sec-


retary for North America and general secretary of the North American Baptist Fellowship.


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