I was having a conversation with my 9-year-old son, Corder, about my new role as chief strategic officer for the South Carolina Baptist Convention when he posed the question. I thought of the complexity of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and its rich history. This year we celebrate 200 years of ministry, and I wondered how I could adequately convey to him who we are.
“Do you know those people who come to your school and mentor your friends, like Henry, who need a little help with their school work and an extra friend?”
“Yes,” he said, leaning forward in his chair.
“They are South Carolina Baptists.”
“Do you remember when Mimi, Pops, and Aunt Granny’s home got destroyed by a tornado this Easter and those men in yellow hats showed up and started cutting down trees for them?” I asked.
“You mean the men who prayed with them and gave them a Bible after working on their house?” he asked.
“They are South Carolina Baptists.”
“Remember when Daddy went to Japan and brought you back the calendar you use to pray every night for people in Asia who have never heard about Jesus? South Carolina Baptists sent me there. In fact, they send missionaries all over our state and the world to help people experience hope and have their lives transformed.”
“I want to be a South Carolina Baptist missionary,” he said and went back to eating Lucky Charms.
South Carolina Baptists are seeking to give orphans families, eradicate poverty and injustice, and show up to serve in times of disaster. South Carolina Baptists are driven to see lives transformed. More than a billion dollars has been given, countless hours of service, and hundreds of thousands of people have voluntarily worked together over the last 200 years with one mission in mind: saturate every life with the hope of the gospel, beginning in South Carolina.
I believe that Jesus will transform every life who repents and believes, even the ones who seem to be hopeless … like you and me. Jesus believes you can help saturate every life. I believe in you, too. You are South Carolina Baptists!