STATESBORO, Ga. — Christians who truly want to make a difference in the world always put the needs of others first, do whatever it takes to point people to Christ, and commit to a spirit of cooperation. Those are three characteristics common among difference-makers, said Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director W. Thomas Hammond Jr., the keynote speaker Saturday at the final of a series of church equipping conferences held across the state over the past month.

MOUNT VERNON, Ga. — Steve Edwards has built a successful women’s basketball program at Brewton-Parker College. He has been coach of the year in the Southern States Athletic Conference. He has coached in three national tournaments. But, for Edwards, who doubles as campus pastor, all those accolades pale in comparison to the spiritual victories his teams have celebrated over his eight years as head coach.

SWAINSBORO, Ga. — The plan was a simple one: post volunteers at two roadside locations in Swainsboro for a drive-thru prayer initiative. The result was amazing: 30 people surrendered their lives to  Christ in a single day.

McDONOUGH, Ga. — Beaming smiles. Hands raised in praise. Happy tears streaming down radiant faces. Those are moments Mary Catherine Conner looks for when new believers come up from the baptismal waters. With the click of a camera, the Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church communications director captures instances of euphoria. Tiny rivulets cascading off ears and elbows are frozen in time. So are those toothy grins that just can’t be held back.

DALLAS, Ga. – The Sons of Jubal brought their robust worship and singing to First Baptist Church in Dallas on Thursday. The Sons of Jubal are part of Jubal Ministries, which also includes the Jubalheirs women’s chorus, Jubal Symphony, and the Jubal Brass orchestra. The Sons of Jubal and Jubalheirs, each with more than 200 members plus instrumental accompanists, combine their voices a few times each year to form the Jubal Chorus.

CLAYTON, Ga. — In the cool of the morning, Kevin McDade steers a golf cart along the main thoroughfare at the Pinnacle Retreat Center, discussing his first impressions of the Appalachian getaway where he now works. “When you drive through the gate, the anxiety of the world kind of leaves you,” McDade said. “It’s a peaceful feeling that you’re entering a special place, a place of rest. You can leave the stress of the world behind you when you come in.”

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Scott Sullivan challenged church leaders Saturday to develop strategies to grow strong disciples who can unleash the power of the gospel in their communities and around the world. “My opinion is that the greatest gospel force on the planet is not in the pulpits; it’s in the pews,” said Sullivan, the discipleship catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board who preached in the first of a series of SPARK conferences scheduled across the state over the next month.

ATLANTA — Austin Reaves is convinced that Georgia State University can play a key role in getting the gospel around the globe. Georgia State is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse campuses in the U.S. with students from 177 nations, and that, Reaves said, perfectly positions the school for worldwide evangelism.

CENTRALHATCHEE, Ga. — Mark Williams has a simple explanation for why 120 people have become followers of Christ in this small Georgia community over the past two months. “God has just been moving,” said Williams, pastor of First Baptist Church in Centralhatchee, population 400.

More than 1,000 children and teens spent time this summer at Georgia Baptist camps that mix outdoor fun with Bible teaching.  Camp Pinnacle in the mountains of north Georgia hosted 546 students of whom 10 came to faith in Christ. Camp Kaleo had 346 overnight campers and nearly 450 day campers of whom 39 made salvation decisions.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. — This barrier island off Savannah’s coast is billed as the place where time stands still. It’s a place where families walk barefoot in the sand, where palm branches sway in ocean breezes,  where children delight in an abundance of seashells. David Laughner arrived here to serve as pastor of Chapel by the Sea Baptist Church more than 30 years ago and never left. He ministers in an ocean paradise.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Volunteers and Georgia Baptist Mission Board staff members gathered Monday at Lawrenceville First Baptist Church to fill backpacks with school supplies that will be distributed to local foster families. The initiative was organized through Mission Georgia, a Georgia Baptist outreach that provides gospel-centered care to the state's most vulnerable residents.

ATLANTA — Leading campus ministry at Georgia State University for the past 40 years has been a joy to Teresa Royall, an energetic lady described by her students as a living example of what it means to give your all for the Lord. Royall has led co-eds on mission trips around the globe, giving them their first glimpses of life in Third World countries. She has counseled countless students, led a never-ending number of Bible studies, cooked meals, wiped tears, and slept on floors with never a complaint.

ATLANTA, Ga. — Mary Gellerstedt is a living example of what it means to press forward with steadfastness in Christ. Her heart, her eyes, her mind are riveted on the Savior. It has been this focus that has given her the strength and desire to press forward in untiring service at First Baptist Church Atlanta for almost eight decades.

NEW ORLEANS — Bob Richardson needed more time. The southeast Georgia pastor was on his way to the airport after the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in New Orleans and had roughly five minutes to fulfill a promise he had made to a young lady at church to visit her grandparents while he was in Louisiana in hopes of introducing them to Christ. Five minutes just wouldn’t be enough time for such an important mission.

KENNESAW, Ga. — Hundreds of visitors and Civil War reenactors braved the heat of summer’s first weekend to mark the 159th anniversary of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Union and Confederate troops fought at the site on June 27, 1864, resulting in a tactical victory for the South under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.

CHATSWORTH, Ga. — With horse-drawn wagons full of farm implements and other necessities, settlers began arriving on former Cherokee lands along Holly Creek in northwest Georgia in the mid-1800s, establishing homesteads and, later, a church that will celebrate its 175th anniversary in mid-July. Holly Creek Baptist Church, which began with a handful of families meeting in a one-room log structure, survived meager early years to become a major player in the spread of the gospel in this part of Georgia.

CLARKSTON, Ga. — Georgia Baptists are taking the gospel to the state’s rapidly growing refugee population one backpack at a time. In fact, backpacks have become crucial evangelistic tools in Georgia, a state that’s home to more than 1 million people who were born in other countries — often in places that are hostile to the gospel.

CANTON, Ga. — Volunteers gathered Saturday at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Ga., to place flags on the graves of veterans for the Memorial Day holiday. Following a brief ceremony that included a 21-gun-salute, the playing of "Taps" and a benediction, volunteers spread across the cemetery in the rolling Georgia hills to decorate the markers.

McDONOUGH, Ga. — An academically and athletically gifted senior class at Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy has amassed more than $50 million in college scholarship offers this year, an astounding total for any school but especially one with only 81 students graduating. Class co-salutatorian Melanie Collier praised her classmates for being a “special class filled with special people.” “Something about our class is different,” Collier told her classmates in a speech during graduation exercises on Friday.

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – Lottie Moon was in a worship service at what’s now First Baptist Church when she heard God's call her to missions, prompting her to leave Cartersville for China 150 years ago. The 4-foot, 3-inch firebrand would go on to become a giant in the world of international missions, inspiring countless Southern Baptists throughout the generations to take the gospel to the nations while at the same time anchoring this Georgia community’s commitment to global missions.

WEST POINT, Ga. – Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers don’t receive pay for the work they do, unless they count the smiles, thank yous and hugs. “We get our necks hugged a lot,” said Ronnie Register, a retiree from First Baptist Church in Sparks, Ga. who, along with his wife, Linda, has responded to disasters across the country. “The people we help are so overwhelmingly appreciative.”

WEST POINT, Ga. – A week after a tornado demolished an entire neighborhood around Bethel Baptist Church, Pastor Chris Hendricks stood among the ruins on Sunday and declared that “our God has delivered us.” Members of the congregation gathered beneath a tent on the Bethel parking lot for Sunday worship, a brilliant sun beaming down on the twisted lumber that used to be their church building.

SUWANEE, Ga. – Pastors are feeling increasingly dissatisfied with their jobs and more than 40 percent have considered leaving the ministry in the past 12 months. That’s according to data released this week by the Barna Group, a research organization that monitors trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. 

CUMMING, Ga. – In a nation where senior citizens make up the fastest growing segment of the population, Ricky Thrasher offers an important reminder to church leaders: “The soul never wrinkles.” Thrasher, head of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s chaplaincy program, is offering strategies to help church leaders reach the 56 million people 65 and older whose bodies may be giving out but whose souls will live forever.