A18C Forum Held in San Diego

Sharing at Acts 1:8 Forum
Tiffany Smith, Acts 1:8 Challenge Coordinator the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC), shares at the Acts 1:8 Challenge Forum.

Fourteen state conventions, association representatives and numerous Southern Baptist entities were in attendance for the annual Acts 1:8 Challenge Forum held July 9-11 in San Diego.

Acts 1:8 representatives from Indiana, Louisiana, California, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Maryland-Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina and Arkansas attended. All of the states are at various levels of developing their Acts 1:8 Challenge strategies.

A vision tour of San Diego was held on Friday afternoon following the end of the Forum. San Diego is a North American Mission Board Strategic Focus City. You can learn more about the work going on in San Diego at www.visionsandiego.com.

The meeting is the annual strategic planning meeting for the Acts 1:8 Challenge. The 2009 meeting will be held July 8-10 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Check out more photos of the Forum here (a free Shutterfly account is required).

Below was our schedule:

Acts 1:8 Challenge State Coordinator Forum
July 9-11, 2008
San Diego, California

Wednesday, July 9

3:00 p.m. Check-in and Registration

6:30 p.m. Banquet
- Welcome
- Vision San Diego Presentation
- Embrace Baltimore Presentation

Thursday, July 10

7:00 a.m. Breakfast

8:00 a.m. Devotion – Robby Tingle, Arkansas

8:30 a.m. Welcome and Introductions

9:00 a.m. Update on Next Steps (Phase 2)
- Leadership Seminar Pilots
- A18C Event Planning Guide
- State Partner Pages
- Bi-monthly Conference Calls
- Dialogue

10:00 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. Update on Next Steps (Phase 2)
- A18C Curriculum; A18C Renewal – Jim Burton and David Nelms
- Consultant/Coaching Directory
- A18C Podcasts, Website and Doc Store
- Dialogue

Noon Lunch and Fellowship

1:00 p.m. A18C Assessment – Jerry Chamness

3:00 p.m. Break

3:30 p.m. Show and Tell (State/Association Best Practices)

4:30 p.m. Adjourn

5:00 p.m. Gather in Hotel Lobby, Leave for Dinner

Friday, July 11

7:00 a.m. Breakfast

8:00 a.m. Devotion – Tiffany Smith, Texas

8:30 a.m. Show and Tell (State/Association Best Practices) Continued

9:30 a.m. A18C Consultation Tools and 2008-09 Promotion/Deployment
- A18C Leadership Seminars
- A18C Renewal Weekend/Student Weekend
- A18C Pastor Practitioner/MOM Network
- A18C Regional Conferences & Training (Association and State)
- A18C Website Development (Phase 2)
- A18C 2008 Enlistment (advertising, promotion, direct mail)
- Updating A18C Church Registration in States

10:00 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. A18C Consultation Tools and 2008-09 Promotion/Deployment

Noon

Lunch and Closing Dialogue

A Passionate Soul Winner!

You Will be My Witnesses...
James McCollough, the "Witnessing Hitchhiker," left, in Indy with my son, Caleb.

My 18-year-old son, Caleb, and I are at the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, where I have manning an exhibit for the Acts 1:8 Challenge, among other responsibilities.

Speaking of Acts 1:8, I have met perhaps no better example of "You will my witnesses..." in my life than the Rev. James McCollough of California.

I have know James for nearly 18 years. James has used his "hitchhiking" ministry as a way meet people and tell them about Jesus. Believe it or not, he hitchhiked all the way from his home in California to Indianapolis, witnessing to people all along the way!

My prayer is that we all will have the same passion for sharing Jesus as James does!

During our meeting with James, Caleb prayed for God to protect James on his way home to California.

First Acts 1:8 Leadership Conference Held

Four Fields of the Acts 1:8 Challenge
From left, Tim Yarbrough of the North American Mission Board and national coordinator of the Acts 1:8 Challenge; Eric King of the International Mission Board; Robby Tingle of the Arkansas State Baptist Convention; and Dwayne Tanton, director of missions of Harmony Baptist Association; led a discussion of the four fields of Acts 1:8 at the first Acts 1:8 Challenge Leadership Conference Feb. 16.

I was privileged to be a part of the team that conducted the first-ever Acts 1:8 Challenge Leadership Conference Feb. 16 in Arkansas.

The conference was held at First Baptist Church, Star City, Ark., and was hosted by Harmony Baptist Association. Dewayne Tanton is the director of missions.

I spoke at the confernce, along with Tanton, Robby Tingle of the Arkansas State Baptist Convention, and Eric King of the International Mission Board. The new leadership conferences are one of many new tools being introduced in 2008.

Here's a link to more photos from the event, as well as other Acts 1:8 Challenge photos. Check it out!

Acts 1:8 "Doc Store" Now Available

Acts 1:8 leaders now have a new resource to assist them in promoting the Acts 1:8 Challenge in their church, association or state convention.

It's called the Acts 1:8 Challenge FedEx Kinkos "Doc Store" and is accessible via this link.

Promotion materials - from bulletin inserts, posters, displays to Bible bookmarks - are available for order today.

Try it today!

Direct Link: https://docstore.kinkos.com/actsone8/SplashAction.do

3,000 Churches Embrace Acts 1:8 Challenge!

Wow! More than 3,000 Southern Baptist churches have now "signed on the dotted" line to embrace the Acts 1:8 Challenge and made a commitment to be intentional and comprehensive in their mission efforts!

You can read more about it in the recent article in Baptist Press link. Here's an excerpt:

3,000-plus churches embrace Acts 1:8

Posted on Apr 30, 2007 | by Mickey NoahALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--More than 3,000 Southern Baptist churches have registered commitments to develop an intentional and comprehensive missions strategy through the Acts 1:8 Challenge.

Launched in May 2004 by the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board in cooperation with Baptist state conventions and associations, the Acts 1:8 Challenge is designed to encourage SBC churches to take a fresh look at how they plan and execute their missions efforts.

"It's a testimony to the passion that Southern Baptists have for Jesus' Acts 1:8 mandate to impact lostness and create disciples of all nations that in less than three years, 3,019 churches across the United States and Canada have embraced the challenge," said Tim Yarbrough, director of church relations at NAMB.

Direct Link: http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=25543

Nate Adams Teaches Acts 1:8 at Korean Gathering

Nate Adams, author of the Acts 1:8 Challenge doctrine study, The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Empowering the Church To Be On Mission (available here through LifeWay), was one of the keynote speakers recently at the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America meeting in Houston, Texas.

Korean leaders sought to better understand their role in the Southern Baptist Convention and focused on the Acts 1:8 Challenge as a way to effectively reach the world for Jesus Christ. Here's an excerpt from the Baptist Press article:

"In other words, Korean pastors want to be an effective part of the Southern Baptist Convention and gather annually as the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America to hear in their own language and come to more completely understand what it is to be a Southern Baptist.

"How is this done? Nate Adams, executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association, provides one answer. He spoke in English last year to the Korean gathering about the SBC's Acts 1:8 Challenge. In an hour-long presentation, Adams showed how Jesus' final command -– go into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the world -– meshed with the organization of the SBC's associations, state conventions, North American Mission Board and International Mission Board. Adams provided a Korean-language manuscript of his talk so his listeners -– probably all of whom knew some English –- could in their primary language ponder his words in the days and weeks that followed."

Study helps for teaching the Acts 1:8 Challenge doctrine study are available here.

Direct Link: http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=25527

First Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekend in Colorado

Recently, I was privileged serve as Bible study teacher during the first-ever Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekend.

The event was hosted by Cornerstone Baptist Church of Lone Tree, Colo., about 15 miles south of Denver. Michael Wright is senior pastor of the 18-year-old 220-family church. Wright said the weekend "forced us to become laser-focused on prayer and evangelism."

"Now our deacons are asking me questions like 'What can we do to make evangelism a lifestyle here, not just part of the church? How do we make missions and evangelism an everyday thing in my life?' This tells me that the Acts 1:8 program is going deep," Wright said. "That's music to my ears as pastor," he said.

The Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekend is one of many new implementation tools currently being developed for churches.

Churches desiring to jump-start their Acts 1:8 missions commitment should look closely at conducting an Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekend. I feel there is no better way to bring awareness to and a passion for God's mission in the world than through a focused event like a renewal weekend.

Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekends are led by laypeople, not pastors. The four-day session begins with a 24-hour prayer vigil on Thursday, followed by general and teaching sessions, worship/sharing celebrations, prayer time and fellowship meals from Friday night to Sunday night.

You can read more about conducting an Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekend in your church here. Audio of the renewal weekend and Bible teaching is available for download via this link as well.