ATLANTA, Ga. — Baptist State
Convention (BSC) staffer Ralph Garay has been named “Asian Church Planting
Missionary of the Year” by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board
(NAMB) for his role in planting 25 new Asian churches across North Carolina
during 2009._ь_ь
Garay, Asian church planting
consultant with the Baptist State Convention, received the award during the
recent NAMB-sponsored 2010 Church Planting Missionary Forum. A native of the
Philippines, Garay earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from the Philippine
Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Anna Lynn, and their two
sons, Paulo and Philippe, immigrated to the United States in 1995. He was
pastor of a Filipino-American church in San Diego, Calif., for 11 years before
joining the Convention staff in
2006._ь_ь
As one of the Convention’s
five church planting consultants, Garay helps oversee the work of more than 40
Asian church planters who are in some phase of church planting as they partner
with the Convention, associations and local churches. His work centers on
visiting the planters as coach, trainer, teacher, cheerleader and
accountability agent._ь_ь
Photo by John Swain Ralph Garay, center, Asian church planting consultant and a member of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina church planting staff since 2006, was named “Asian Church Planting Missionary of the Year” during the North American Mission Board’s 2010 Church Planting Missionary Forum in Atlanta Feb. 24-27. Presenting the award to Garay was Ken Weathersby, right, vice president-church planting for NAMB, and Van Kicklighter, left, NAMB’s church planting team leader for strategic planning and people groups.
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“With 234 different language
groups now in North Carolina, Ralph’s strategic thinking ability is a valuable
asset to effective church planting in our state,” said Mark Gray, church
planting team leader. _ь_ь
The 25 new Asian churches
started during 2009 include about as many language/culture groups, reflecting
the fact that Asians are one of the fastest growing minorities in both the
United States and North Carolina. Asians make up one very diverse element in
the Convention’s church planting ministry, which started 98 new churches during
2009. _ь_ь
That equates to a new church
being started somewhere in the state every three or four days on average. North
Carolina Baptists support this ministry through their Cooperative Program
giving and gifts to the North Carolina Missions Offering. Some 150 church
planters and their support teams involved in planting new churches made more
than 176,000 evangelistic visits and led more than 2,300 people to faith in
Christ during 2009. The church planting ministry is one of the Convention’s
biggest and most successful evangelistic efforts; since more than 90 percent of
the churches started grow into self-supporting churches and will continue to
reach people for years, it is also one of the Convention’s most enduring ministries._ÑŒ_ÑŒ
Asians include many
language/culture/nationality backgrounds but also represent a wide range of
income and educational levels, Garay said. He said Asians in the state
include very poor refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar (formerly
Burma). Some Asians may operate hot dog stands or clean houses, he
said._ь_ь
“But not all Asians are
poor. For example, Asian Indians own and operate many of the hotels along North
Carolina interstate highways. Chinese or Koreans are often students or have
well-paying jobs in the Research Triangle Park. Filipinos often serve in
nursing or other parts of the medical field,” Garay
said._ь_ь
Asians have brought their
religions with them. Several Hindu temples now stand in Cary and Charlotte;
Buddhist centers are now open in Greensboro._ÑŒBut for Asians who accept Christ
as Savior, the differences in their lives can be immense and immediate. For
example, Hmong people from Laos try to buy farms so they can raise animals to
sacrifice, as a way to appease the animistic spirits who they believe might
otherwise bring illness or misfortune. Once they come to understand that Jesus
Christ is the ultimate high priest who sacrificed Himself for those who accept
Him, they are able to set down a very heavy spiritual
burden._ь_ь
Although he works out of the
Baptist State Convention office in Cary, Garay spends much of his week on the
road as he visits the widely scattered planters, driving some 30,000 miles a
year in the process. _ь_ь
Known for his soft-spoken,
understated demeanor and hard work, Garay is quick to credit the hard-working
church planters and their families, as well as fellow Convention staffers,
associational staffs and others involved.
“I received this award for
everyone involved,” he said._ÑŒ_ÑŒ
He marvels that God keeps
raising up new church planters from so many other countries here in North
Carolina.
“But we keep praying for the Lord of the Harvest to send them,
so we should not be surprised. We should anticipate that God will respond
and help us in His work,” Garay said.