BGAV – Baptist General Association of Virginia

My dad grew up on a farm and brought that agricultural mentality with him years later when he raised a garden in town. Every year as children, my sister and I thought it was a good idea to plant seeds when the first signs of spring came calling.

As George has grown in his relationship with God, even in prison, he has felt God leading him to walk the Christian life just as if he were a free man. George was convicted to tithe.

In our excitement we quickly jump over the horrendous things that Jesus experienced during the last days of his earthly life. Furthermore, we seem to have overlooked Jesus’ deep love for us.

A relationship that began as part of a BGAV partnership with Panamanian Baptists in 2011 has continued to flourish because of strong bonds of friendship and dedicated volunteers, even though the official partnership ended in 2016. Those friendships proved valuable in February 2018, when plans for a mission team’s work fell through and the leaders were left with little time to reorganize.

Paul, in various parts of his New Testament writings, uses the analogy of athletes preparing for a race compared to believers taking the necessary steps toward achieving the goal that the Lord has for them. If that held true for those early Christians he was encouraging, I think it also has some merit for us today in how we prepare to lead others in Bible study.