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the naba staff |
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| The NABA staff are always willing to serve and to offer any assistance that we can. |
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the naba staff |
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| The NABA staff are always willing to serve and to offer any assistance that we can. |
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Royce Sweatman, Associational Missionary for North Arkansas Association since 1994, has been named Associational Missionary of the Year by Ouachita Baptist University (OBU). The award is given each year by OBU to one Arkansas associational missionary. Andy Westmoreland, OBU president explained, "By selecting and recognizing one person ... we honor the outstanding work of all Baptist associational missionaries throughout our state......", writes Charlie Warren of the Arkansas Baptist News. Sweatman, born in Miami, Fla., grew up in Wilmington, N.C., and moved to Harrison in 1990, where he came on staff at First Baptist Church as associate pastor and minister of education and evangelism. As well as serving as associational missionary, Sweatman also has served as first vice president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention for two years. He has served on the committee on committees for the Southern Baptist Convention and as president of the nominating committee of Arkansas Baptists. But among Sweatman's accomplishments in his role as North Arkansas missionary, he is most excited about the association's involvement in international missions. "God has blessed," Sweatman says, "We've seen from 350 to 400 people go on international mission trips." Sweatman says his greatest achievement in his ministry has been working alongside pastors in north Arkansas in missions. "People from rural Arkansas have a heart for missions, and they will go to the tough places," says Sweatman. The association has multiple partnerships with Senegal, West Africa, working with five specific churches in a people group they have adopted, the International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries and Wycliffe Bible translators. A medical team of 12 are working with African missionaries and a team of five recently worked with IMB missionaries ministering to Lebou fisherman of Senegal. They have sent teams to Mexico, Brazil and several other countries and are preparing to send a team to Asia. All this is through a rural association with 59 churches and missions spread across four counties. The association also has been involved in disaster relief work, two Hispanic works and is currently working with Tri-county Association in Missouri to develop a ministry for Branson, Mo., tourists, says Warren. Sweatman says it's an honor he thought he would never receive. "I struggled in school all my life because I had dyslexia. I didn't know at that time what was wrong... I wanted God to use me, but I felt like I was limited," he said. "So it is not our abilities, it's our availability," says Sweatman. Article courtesy of the Harrison Daily Times |
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Rita Lancaster is the new part time secretary for the association. Her duties are to greet and assist all church members and visitors to the NABA office and assist Royce in a variety of ways. Just as Royce is very flexible in his role as missionary, willing to take on whatever needs doing to assist our churches in working together and reaching the ends of the earth, Rita wishes to let all our churches know she sees herself as a servant to the churches of this association as well as assistant to Royce. |
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Page last updated on February 25, 2008 |
