 by Dr. Albert
Reyes, President
 Rollins
Lectures Leave Urban Imprint
On BUA Campus
Deep
impressions, thoughtful questions, inspiring directions.
Dr. Ray Bakke, President of International Urban Associates
and Interim Dean of the Bakke Graduate University and Dr.
Jesse Miranda, President of AMEN and Associate Professor of
Multicultural Studies at Vanguard University left an
unmistakable impression on the BUA campus during the 2006
Rollins Lectures. The focus of this year’s Rollins Lecture
Series was on the urban context for ministry.
I was deeply moved
by the presentations Drs. Bakke and Miranda made to the student
body, faculty, staff, and guests during the Rollins Lectures. I
was unprepared for the conviction that would visit me with
regard to issues related to the city. Dr. Bakke helped us see
the city in the scriptures in ways that brought numerous
biblical cities to life. Here are some of the principles that
left me wondering how we might impact our city and the cities of
the world:
 Seek the
peace of the city!
As of the year 2000, over 50% of the world’s population lives in
an urban context. We will continue to be an urban globe. Jesus
focused on the cities of the 1st century as well as
the Apostle Paul. Are we aware of the issues faced by the poor,
the under-represented of our city face every day? What does it
mean for BUA to be located in one of four cultural capitals in
the United States: San Antonio, Texas?
Steward a Tithe
to the City!
Dr. Bakke showed us how the city core in most urban centers only
receive mercy drops of goods and services while the majority
Dr.
Ray Bakke,
of
the financial resources are diverted to the suburbs.
Bakke Graduate University,
What does
that mean for BUA? Would we be willing to
International Urban
intentionally
encourage staff, faculty, and students
Associates
to move into the city
core to make an incarnational
difference?
Collaborate to
Make A Difference!
We can do more
together than we can do apart. I came away from the Rollins
Lectures wondering what kinds of collaborative efforts might
emerge as we consider the city core of San Antonio an urban lab
for our students. What kinds of degree programs might we
consider focused on urban ministry that would prepare our
students to meet the challenges of urban ministry in the future?
Bilingual,
Bicultural, and Urban!
Dr. Miranda shared some startling trends related to the use of
English in our urban centers. He stated that over 65% of
Hispanics in the United States prefer English as their first
language. New models of ministry will be required to minister to
Spanish monolinguals, bilinguals, English monolinguals in
predominantly Hispanic settings. He also mentioned that the vast
majority of Hispanics in the United States currently live and
will continue to live in our major cities.
The Rollins
Lectures left an urban imprint on my mind and soul. I have more
questions related to our relevance to the city than I did
before. The timing is just right as we begin to develop a new
campus for BUA. Pray with us as we seek the peace of our
cities, consider our tithe to the city, develop new
collaborative efforts to bless our cities, and as we continue to
prepare cross-cultural Christian leaders for an urban globe.
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New Campus
Development Underway!
These days you'll see them on the BUA
campus either in groups or simply standing like solitary
dreamers staring out across the highway.
But their
heads are not in the clouds, they're watching their dreams move
real dirt as new campus development is now underway at Baptist
University of the Americas!
Beginning
February 22, heavy equipment moved in to BUA's new 78-acre
campus and began dirt-work and infrastructure construction. A
special groundbreaking will be held later this summer followed by the construction
of Piper Village, the first phase of campus development.
This historic effort is being
funded through Crossing Over Together
a comprehensive campaign to raise a total of $ 9 million
dollars in capital
and operating funds for the next three years.
With over $4.5 million dollars committed already, BUA will soon
give every supporter an opportunity to share in this exciting
missionary vision that will serve generations of
emerging
cross-cultural leaders.
If you would like to learn more
about Crossing Over Together
or giving opportunities contact
Arnie Adkison, Vice President of Advancement.
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First
Kaufman Signs Innovative Barnabas Covenant for
Cross-Cultural Partnership
 The
biblical hero Barnabas knew something about developing and
encouraging partnerships for cross-cultural mission, and so
does First Baptist Church, Kaufman.
Compelled by a
passion to reach and serve the growing Hispanic community in
their east Texas town, First Baptist Kaufman and pastor Dr.
Brent Gentzel have forged an innovative new partnership with BUA
called a Barnabas Covenant.
Dr.
Brent Gentzel and Dr. Albert Reyes
sign the Barnabas Covenant March 8
The
Barnabas Covenant
is a mutual agreement between a local church and BUA "to develop
educational and ministry opportunities for individuals preparing
for mission and ministry and to strengthen the church's
cross-cultural understanding as as it seeks to be a 'whosever
will' people." Practically speaking, the church will provide
prayer and promotional support for BUA, provide volunteers for
campus projects and share expertise with BUA students through
training opportunities. First Kaufman will also provide support
for a student intern and include BUA scholarships as a line item
in their annual church budget.
In kind, BUA will
assist the church in developing a vital Hispanic ministry in
their community by providing student teams to lead community
canvassing, provide cross-cultural training of staff and church
members, and assist in recruiting future interns and mission
project partners.
To launch the
project, a student team traveled to Kaufman over spring break
and assisted with community canvassing as preparation for
several community outreach events the church has planned.
Student team leader Mario Samaniego noted, "The contextual
leadership class we had with Drs. Reyes and Ramos really
prepared us for helping the church establish what they needed to
do." In coming weeks a faculty-student team consisting of
Dr. Javier Elizondo, Sandee Elizondo and student couple Juan and
Nancy Acuña will lead cross-cultural training for the church
staff and members.
The first Barnabas
Covenant was signed in 2005 with First Baptist Church Oklahoma
City where students Alan and Griselda Escobar served as interns
last summer.
Just as Barnabas
drew upon the power of mutual encouragement to reach the ancient
world for Christ, so too are today's emerging cross-cultural
leaders.
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 by
Arnie Adkison, Vice President Advancement
Cleaning Out
Your Collection Areas
When was
the last time you cleaned out your “collection area”?
Over spring break
my wife, Sandra, and I tackled our collection areas.
For us it
was the pantry, the attic, the closet, the garage… (most people
probably think a two car garage holds two cars, but that’s just
silly!).
Now I’m not a natural packrat, but it amazes me how
much stuff even I collect! Piece by piece we evaluated our
stuff. Do we need this?
Will we need it someday? Maybe we should
hold on to it? Finally we
loaded a full minivan with things for
Goodwill (some of it probably begrudgingly). And we can still
only get one car in the garage.
Aren’t you glad
God is not a big collector of his stuff? The Bible tells us
that
all of creation belongs to him, but it’s not sitting in a
celestial closet somewhere. He’s not worried that he might
“need” that someday, so he’ll
just put it in the garage for a
little while longer. He doesn’t take things to “Goodwill Earth”
when he cleans out his garage. He has provided everything he
owns to be accessed by people—even people who reject him.
That
is an amazingly mature view of stuff.
We are very
thankful for all of you who take such a mature view of things,
and invest your resources at Baptist University of the Americas.
What a blessing you are.
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