January 8, 1970
1
The Foreign Mission Board held its regular monthly meeting on January 8, 1970, at 3:00
p,m. in the Board's Chapel, Richmond, Virginia, with M. Hunter Riggins presiding.
PRESENT: State Members: Mrs. John I. Alford (Georgia), Daniel W. Cloer (South Carolina),
J. Howard Reynolds (New Mexico), Bruce H. Price (Virginia).
Local Members: Mrs. R. B. Carter, Sr., W. Curtis English, Austin W. Farley, V. Allen
Gaines, David S. Hammock, Mrs. Clyde V. Hickerson, John W. -Kincheloe, Jr., Julian H.
Pentecost, Lucius M. Polhill, James E. Rayhorn, M. Hunter Riggins, Edwin L. Shattuck.
Staff: Baker J. Cauthen, James D. Belote, Louis R. Cobbs, Winston Crawley, Edna Frances
Dawkins, William K. Dawson, Samuel A. DeBord , Everett L. Deane, Jesse C. Fletcher,
Franklin T. Fowler, lone Gray, Cornell Goerner, Eugene L. Hill, J. D. Hughey, Frank
K. Means, Stanley Nelson, Floyd H. North, Keith Parks, Norman Price, Sidney C. Reber,
Fon H. Scofield, Rogers M. Smith, Truman Smith, W. L. Smith, Melvin E. Torstrick,
Joseph B. Underwood, E. L. Wright, Elizabeth Minshew.
The meeting was called to order.
The meeting opened with the Hymn: "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," led by Sidney
C. Reber.
Board members and guests were welcomed.
Rev. L. G. Moseley, a former member of the Board, was recognized.
Rev. J. Howard Reynolds, Board member from New Mexico, read a passage of Scripture and
led in prayer.
Minutes of the Board for December 4, 1969 were approved.
REPORT OF EXECUTIVE SECRETARY - Dr. Baker J. Cauthen
Dr. Cauthen gave the following report:
We have been greatly saddened since the last meeting of the Board by the death of Rev.
and Mrs. Howard Scott, who were scheduled to depart in January for the Philippines as
missionary associates. They were instantly killed in an automobile accident on their
way to Denver, where he was to preach on Sunday morning after having enjoyed Christmas
with their family in Cleveland, Texas.
This tragic word was followed in a few days by the sad news of the death of Bronson
Baker, twenty- two-year-old son of Dr. and Mrs. Dwight Baker of Israel. Bron was killed
instantly in an automobile accident as he was returning to school at William Jewell
College from spending Christmas with his grandparents. Our deepest sympathies reach
out to the loved ones of these in their time of bereavement.
This is the first meeting of the Board in 1970. It is an appropriate time for outlook
upon the decade into which we are moving.
It is with grateful hearts that we come to the beginning of the 1970's, for God has
poured out Wis blessing upon the work of this Board. There has been an unbroken
forward thrust since 1946 when Southen Baptists at the Convention in Miami, Florida,
were stirred to begin a great offering for world relief and rehabilitation on Foreign
Missions Night. This was brought into sharp focus two years later in Memphis,
Tennessee, when the Advance Program was set before the Convention. It was lifted
to a higher level in 1964, when the Convention at Atlantic City was challenged to
move toward the objective of 5,000 missionaries at the earliest possible time. We can
account for these blessings only in terms of the g!race of God and his wonderful
leadership and power.
We confront the new decade aware that world conditions are very unstable. Wars in
Vietnam and Nigeria linked with tragic conditions in the Middle East which threaten
world peace give reason for regarding gravely the outlook for the years ahead.
Projections concerning population growth and the consequent problems of hunger, need
for education, solution of tragic problems of proverty, hatred, racial antipathy,
and violence weigh heavily upon us.
These circumstances need to be balanced, however, with the fact that strong bases for
Christian witness have been established across the world in prior years, particularly
during the last decade. It is also to be remembered that remarkable opportunities
for Christian witness and service are found in most of the lands where we have
entered, so that Christian effort is limited not primarily by hostilities of govern¬
ments but by lack of Christian personnel and resources.
It becomes evident, therefore, that we must move into this decade with a firm determi¬
nation to press forward steadily.
