BY ALLEN TILLEY Pastor, First Baptist Church, Carthage, Texas


A pastor and church member from Texas discover that getting out of your comfort zone can be the most exhilarating experience of your life


“T


o comfort the afflicted and afflict the


comfortable.” This quote by Finley Peter Dunne gripped my heart and would not let


go. Being a pastor for almost 30 years, I realized I needed some affliction. Not physical or


financial affliction, but I desperately needed spiritual affliction, and so did my church. We had grown too comfortable spiritually. The last 12 years have been prosperous for our church,


the First Baptist Church of Carthage, Texas. We have grown significantly, both numerically and financially, added new facilities to our campus, begun new ministries, given more to missions than ever before, and called new ministers to our church staff. From all appearances, we are a successful church. There comes a time, however, when success gets in the way of the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Success lulls us into the sleepy belief that all is right with the world and with us. We start reading our own press clippings, and we mistakenly believe that we have “arrived”–whatever that means. The thought that God wanted “to comfort the afflicted


and afflict the comfortable” in our congregation became undeniable. The question then became how. How was God going to accomplish this faith-stretching task in our midst?


After spending time in prayer, I felt God leading our


church to go on a trip with Baptist Medical Missions International (BMMI). Specifically, I felt God wanted us to minister in Ghana, West Africa. I had been on a BMMI trip to Ghana about 13 years earlier, and it was a life-changing experience for me. My prayer was that our church would have a similar experience. We didn’t need “just another activity.” Our lives are busy enough without adding another item to our to-do list. What we needed was a fresh encounter with God. Dr. Ralph Izard came and spoke to our church about


how God was using BMMI to open doors for evangelism and church planting. It didn’t take long for his passion to infect our entire church family. We felt convinced God wanted us to be missionaries to Africa. The BMMI trip engaged


everyone in our church— from those who gave financially, to those who lifted up the mission team in prayer, to those who helped with the preparations. Our entire church became united behind the effort to bring medical help and


continued >


bmaamissions.org n theGLEANER


11


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32