I recently had an incredible experience that showed how effective the Cooperative Program can be.
From left, front row: Lonnie Wright (Fla.), Troy Fulkerson (Ky.), Libby Eaton (Tenn.), Russell Schwab (N.C.), Shana Johnson (La.), Raymond Smith (Tenn.), Tim Huggins, (Ga.). Back row: Charlie Loper (Okla.), John Pitzer (S.C.), Drew Heironimus (Ill.), Michael Hendricks (Ky.) and Jeff Hammock (Ala.).For more than 20 years now, Information Technology directors/managers from several state conventions have been meeting to conduct common business. The group has changed its direction over the years, most recently discussing common problems and solutions to these problems. The members share ideas and visions on how to best use the resources they have been entrusted with. I have been with the state convention for five years now, and these meetings have always been extremely beneficial to me.
Last year, the group decided to do something completely different. We decided to add a mission trip in conjunction with our annual meeting. Tennessee was the host state this year and they had a partnership with the Montana state convention. We agreed that those who could, would come early and help the Montana convention with an IT project.
Raymond Smith, the IT director from Tennessee, coordinated the mission project. He determined that Yellowstone Baptist College in Billings, Mont., would be the recipient of our assistance. This college was founded in 1974 by Yellowstone Baptist Association and has an alliance with the Montana Southern Baptist Convention. It is an accredited school with a four-year bachelor of arts degree in Christian leadership.
The school recently relied on a local IT contractor charging them $125 per hour for design and support. They had about 20 computers and three servers for both students and staff. The servers were not functioning when we arrived, and their network was basically non-functioning. With the cooperation and teamwork from these IT directors/managers, we designed and built an entire network from the ground up, providing them with file sharing, security, printing, virus protection and an automated backup system. The work this group performed totaled more than 160 man hours of professional labor and saved the Yellowstone Baptist College more than $20,000 in labor alone.
I was truly amazed how God took all these leaders from 10 different state conventions and accomplished his goal. The spirit of cooperation and unity made me proud to be part of the Southern Baptist network. Each person participating was a Cooperative Program-funded employee of their state conventions.
This effort demonstrated the power of the Cooperative Program and the power of the God we serve to take 12 leaders and have them accomplish, in an unselfish way, his goal.
Pitzer is director of computer technology group for the South Carolina Baptist Convention.