When will the painting end?

Second full day of renovation at the dorm: The day was filled with more painting which is the first priority, since everything else will follow the completion of that task.  The hope is that we will complete this phase by Thursday. Our foreman has the agenda mapped out so that the natural flow of work accommodates all that needs to be done.

We have a neat group of individuals, all of whom are Tennesseans and have worked with the TBC disaster relief group or have done extensive mission trips with the TBC or IMB. For example, one person just got back from Cambodia, and another couple dropped in from Peru and will be here for our two weeks, before finally returning to the states.   Our foreman and his wife actually lived in Athens, Greece for two years as ambassadors for the IMB. There's a lot of experienced people here and we are glad to be a part of this effort. What a group!

Each day at lunch we have a meal prepared for us by someone at the seminary.  It's been enjoyable, but the real challenge is when we get a bite to eat in the evening and we are on our own - i.e. no missionaries to translate for us. We ate tonight at a "Kentucky Pizza" and though it said, Kentucky, they didn't speak with a southern drawl, unless that might be Southern Hemisphere...  Here's a pic:

A Day At The Seminary

Our work began today with the renovation of the first floor of a dormitory at the seminary.  Our role is to prepare the building for future teams who will stay here as they partner with local Argentine Baptist Chuches.

It's a lot of work for eight team members but we hope we can complete the renovation by the end of the second week.

Below are a few pictures of the outside of the dorm, the hallway, and examples of the rooms we are working in.   First, we paint.  Then we put down flooring. Followed by the construction of over thirty bunk beds.  I will keep you posted on the progress.

In Buenos Aires

Just a quick post...

We had a good trip down on Friday night and Saturday morning, about a ten hour flight from Atlanta.   By late morning, we were settled in the hotel, The San Remos, and after a quick rest we had the opportunity to go to an ESL class where we participated in a round-table conversational class for people who were wanting to learn English. By the end of the day we were beginning to feel the effects of flying through the night, so we were thankful to call it a day.

Today (Sunday) we worshipped at Nuevo Chicago, a church of about 80, which also has an elementary school of about 260 children. We spent the day with one of the missionary families and also others of our mission group.  We have a busy two weeks laid out for us and we start tomorrow with painting, which will be followed by putting flooring down in the dormitory.

I will try to post when I can, and Jan will also post some pictures along the way.

From Buenos Aires ...

Leadership Team Announcement: Collegiate/Young Adult Position Filled

After a prayerful and careful search process, the Leadership Team of  Calvary has offered the position of Collegiate Pastor to Micah Hoke, who is currently serving as an Associate Collegiate Pastor in Lubbock, Texas. Micah is from Midland, Texas and his wife Cynthia is from Lubbock.

Micah has been the Part-time Associate College Minister at Indiana Avenue Baptist Church in Lubbock since 2010. The local university, Texas Tech, is of a similar size to MTSU in that it has over 32,000 students. The college ministry at Indiana Avenue has grown from approximately 40 to 400 in the last three years, thus allowing Micah to develop significant staff and leadership experience in the collegiate area. Cynthia has also served as a Part-time Associate in the collegiate ministry. They met when they began working together and then married in May of 2012. He has a Master's in Christian Ministry and she also has a Master's degree. 


It's our hope that he will begin his ministry with us by the end of this month. Pray for him and Cynthia as they begin making preparations for the transition to Calvary.

Update: Three candidates to be onsite for Collegiate Pastor Search

In the process of searching for a Collegiate Pastor, we are now bringing in three candidates for onsite visits. The first will be here this weekend, the second will be with us next Wednesday evening, and the last will join us for the following Sunday. We will provide for interaction with the college students at the normal times on Sunday morning and Wednesday night.

In addition, the candidates will meet interact with the staff and then the Leadership Team.

Pray for the candidates and their families, for the college students as they meet these individuals, and for the Leadership Team as we evaluate how each of them seems to fit our ministry needs.

Collegiate Pastor Search Process

It's been a busy summer, much more so than I expected.  In part since I've been working very carefully and intensely through the search process for an individual who will serve in the collegiate pastor role.

I had intended to blog earlier about it but time slipped by rather fast. So here's an overview of how things are going in that process.

I posted the job on the SBC site back in May, and quickly began to receive resumes.  Now, almost two months later, in excess of 160 resumes have been submitted. The candidates have come from all over the world: some serving currently as missionaries, collegiate pastors, youth pastors, or as senior pastors. There's been a wide variety of educational background including seminary graduates. A good number had doctoral degrees or were in the process of obtaining a D.Min. or Ph.D.

There are a few that have filtered through to a short list of candidates, and have been involved in interviews on Skype or personal visits that I've made.  Three are under closer evaluation and it's my hope that soon we'll be able to have one or more visit with us.  Depending upon the timing of their visit, they will meet with the Leadership Team, ministry staff, and with a number of individuals involved in the collegiate ministry.

I will keep you posted on updates as things move further along.

Dr. Mark

New Leadership Team Members

Each year during the annual business meeting, Calvary elects new Leadership Team Members. They serve for a three year period.  The business meeting will be held on March 3rd, following Sunday School, in the sanctuary. This year’s nominations are listed below:
Thomas Bondurant (Bondy) – Bondy and his wife Gina have been members at Calvary since 2006 and have been active in the children’s and youth ministry. Bondy currently is a Sunday School Teacher in the Youth Department.  He is a commercial contractor here in Murfreesboro.
Phil Newman - and his wife Laurie, along with their family, have been members at Calvary since 2007 where they have supported and been involved in various ministries. Phil is a medical doctor and serves at MTMC as an Emergency Room Physician.
Fred McDonald – a previous Leadership Team member, will be filling a one-year unexpired term left vacant by Anthony Williams when he (Anthony) joined the Calvary staff as the MidTown Pastor.  Fred and his wife, Kay, have been members since 2004 and serve in the MidTown Ministry and as Connect Group leaders.